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G'day dakka,

This post is a review of my dealings with Anvil Industry; https://anvilindustry.co.uk/

Before ordering from a company I always try to find reviews about them and was not able to find a recent one for Anvil, so am writing this to help others in the future.

The orders.
I placed two orders with Anvil for use in 40k and Rogue trader games, in the first order I bought parts from their Exo-Lords range (their SM analogue);
1x Set of Robed legs.
1x Set of Robed Torsos.
1x Set of hooded heads.
1x Set of double handed axes.
1x Mechanical arm conversion set (read; servo harness for techmarine).

The second order was from their 'Regiments' range (IG analogue) for use as naval armsmen. In this order I utilised their 'Regiment Builder' service and got the following;
1x Set of ballistic shields.
3x Gun tractor with phase cannon.
1x Custom infantry squad (for ten models), comprising;
Beret heads.
Void armour torsos.
Armoured arms.
Armoured legs.
Phase rifles.

Placing the order.
There were no issues with placing the order, Anvils' website is easy to use and navigate. The regiment builder is well thought out and is formatted in a step by step process with pictures.

Shipping.
The first order cost 4GBP to ship whilst the second was free, both orders arrived within the specified timeframe. The second order was placed on the 7th day of the month and I received it on the 18th which is very reasonable when one considers that the models had to be cast, packed and shipped to the other side of the world.

Communication.
Before placing the second order I contacted Anvil through email asking some questions they responded quickly, professionally and usefully.

Packaging.
In both orders the sprues/pieces were separated into individual zip lock bags, in the first order these bags were taped to the bottom of the box and the box was filled with packing peanuts, in the second the bags were loose in the box that was again filled with peanuts. There was no damage during transit.

The Models.
The resin that Anvil uses is of good quality, not very brittle and there was no excess mould release agent. The casts were crisp and clean with no warping or bubbles, flash was light to non- existent and mould lines were minimal. All gates and vents were sensibly placed and easy to clean up. Total clean up time for pieces was around half an hour, the majority of which was cleaning up mould lines in the recesses of the cloth portions of the exo-lords (the legs especially).
The detailing on the models is good to excellent, the servo harness is a little more chunky and flat than I expected but still good. There was no issues with construction as all pieces fit together perfectly, the rifle arms and axe hafts have indents sculpted in to ensure good, tight fits.

Issues.
There was only one issue with the orders which turned out to be a blessing, I ordered 10 Void torsos with integral backpacks and received five of these and five without the backpacks. This was not a problem for me though as when dry fitting components it was apparent that the plain backed torsos were a better fit for what I had in mind.
The only other critiques I would make is that for the IG unit it would not be possible to make all ten models in a firing pose as the arms provided have a mixture of set possibilities (all arms across both ranges are provided in matched pairs) and Anvil do not make arms that are made specifically to match the ballistic shields.

Pictures.
Below are pics of the models and conversions I have made using Anvils' parts along with GW, sorry about the quality of the photos but I suck.

Techmarine.




Naval Armsmen (using Anvil bodies/legs/arms and GW skitarii heads).



Naval boarding party/Inq. crusaders (using Anvil bodies/legs/shields, skitarii heads, Empire arms).



Gun servitors.



Chaplain and Honour guard (Using Anvil torsos/arms/axes/legs/heads, GW chaplain, banner and backpacks).






Closing remarks.
Overall I would rate Anvil with a solid 9/10 and would definitely recommend them and will be using them again myself.

I hope this review has been informative and of use.

Ingtaer.

Looking good. Do you think those riot shields would be suitable for not-boarding shields?

SM boarding shields? I fear they would be a little too small, the models pictured are about the same size as GW Scions and they are about knee to shoulder height. They are approximately the same coverage on MKIV armour but don't even really cover the torso.

Hum, that's a shame, they do look good.

I think it is worth mentioning that the Ballistic shields were originally designed for the Afterlife range produced by Anvil, and are intended to be attached to the arm holding a rifle, hence why there are no specific arms for them. As they are intended mainly for use with a model wielding a gun, I can see why you had issues using them for models with a melee weapon.

I agree that the Ballistic shields are too small for Space Marines too, they would only be large enough for a Combat shield, not a Boarding shield.

Great conversions though!

Thanks for taking the time to write a review. My experiences match yours with Anvil. Some of their older stuff does not look as nice, although the casting quality is top notch. Whatever resin they use is nice and durable with little flashing or mold lines.

Their newer black ops marines and human sci fi figures are legit. They do have a tendency to be a little blocky looking but overall are proportioned well.

They make a really nice large range of weapons. I've used many of them and they're all great looking.

As far as quality goes I'd put them right up there at the top of all the smaller companies, and better than most of the big ones.