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===== Original Post Jan, 6, 08 =====

My old FLGS in Toronto got the Anima card game in during the summer and we played it a few times. At that time, the first wave of Anima miniatures for the Anima Tactics game were also available. They FLGS only had pictures of the figures in the dark starter. While the figure for Shinigami Ayl was passable, the figure for Dark Cheshire was pretty ugly. Overall, at the time, it didn't seem particularily impressive. I did see some of the later-wave figures on the net however, and figured that I'd buy a few and paint them as one-off projects, as I find squad level painting extremely tedious and unenjoyable.

My current LGS in Sault Ste Marie Ontario finally got in their new order, and was able to get one of the four figures I was interested in. As there has been passing interest in the Anima figures, I thought it would post my first venture into the Anima product:

Part 1 - Packaging

The packaging is somewhat like the Warmachine in that Anima Tactics models come in resealable blisters. The blisters themselves are much fancier and curvier than the ones used by Privateer, Reaper or GW... which is strange, considering that I don't know any miniature modeler who buys models based on the blisters. Here's pictures of the figure packaging.



Front



Back

The Anima folks really seem to be pushing hard on the popularity of anime. The artwork for the figures (and the accompanying standalone card game) is generally top notch, with kind of a Magna-Carta / Square-Enix kind of stylized vibe - with very intricate character models - like the kind that are currently in vogue in Japan / Korea. - Though with slightly less production value - I suspect that a lot of their artwork must come from freelancers - which is good, as there are lots of top notch freelancers out there. After going over their website, I have the following thoughts:

1. Don't use hybrid 3D/hand drawn images. They look wierd and out of place.
2. Their website is horribly broken and out of date.

Here's the contents of the package:



1 color stat card, 1 ??? event? card, 1 ??? token card, 5 chits to represent power I guess, and the figure itself. No missing pieces, thank goodness.

Here's a closer picture of the actual figure components.



The Anima design studio have pretty big balls to try and tackle such detailed subject matter, but they've seemed to do ok.

There are lots of small fiddly bits in this model. Alis' spear in particular is very fragile, and was bent out of shape at both ends. The piece of flash on the spear tip needed very careful removal in order not to further bend the metal. The metal itself is of a very strange mix. It is not hard but it is not entirely ductile either. In fact, when I was bending the tab to get it to stay seated in the base, there were noticable creaks coming from the metal as I slowly bent the tab. There were however, no cracks developing as has been seen in recent Privateer Press castings.

While there was plentiful detail on her wings and on her spear, these details are shallow. I'm afraid to prime her with my standard Duplicolor prime coat as the slightly larger particulate might obscure these. I'll probably hit her with a dash of GW Chaos Black Spray.

The wings themselves have tiny little tabs which go into two holes in her back. These holes are not entirely large enough, so, although I did not pin the wings, I had to enlarge the holes with my pin vice and then greenstuffed a stronger bond. The leg went on with minimal work - just a bit of joint filling by the thigh. Overall, quite a nice model, though transporting it will be a pain.

Here's the completed assembly.





Final thoughts before painting:

I can not stress how impressed I am with the overall quality, considering that Anima has no market penetration and is probably working from a tiny budget. If I understand it correctly, this model is from the fourth or fifth wave of 3-4 model releases for this game. The quality of this model as compared to some of their earlier work is outstanding. These retail for around $10 usd / single figure of comparable quality to any GW release I've worked on recently.

Hopefully, I can pick up some spray tomorrow and get some paint on this girl.

===== Update 1 - Jan 7, 08 =====

Here's a 3 man shot of the figure scale between GW, Privateer and Cypher Studios. I didn't realize how small the Anima figure was until I stood it next to the other ones on my makeshift workbench (a.ka. the kitchen table). The Karskin Sgt, who is small-ish for a GW figure positively dwarfs the Anima fig. Same goes for Privateer's Female Journeyman Warcaster - and she's tiny by Privateer's standards, compared to something like a Knight Exemplar.



Left to right: Karskin Sgt (GW), Female Journeyman Warcaster (Privateer), Alis Testarossa, (Cypher Studios)

I started putting some paint on her too... but I'm a very slow painter. Like... glacially slow.



Ahh. Who am I kidding, I think I was just mesmerized by painting her butt.



I noticed a problem with the figure after I primed her. While it didn't look like anything, if you look at the full-size version of this "dakkasized" thumbnail (in the photo-dump), you'll note that there's a bit of an annoying line across the bottom of her face parallel to her spear. I thought it was primer buildup and gave that spot a good scraping with a dental pick, but alas, I think it is part of the model. It doesn't look like hair or anything. I hope I can fix this with careful painting, but it is a pain in the arse.

Now that I'm looking at the model in the photo, the red could use a bit of smoothing out on the torso too - and there was a wierd bump on her leg that I took off with a file.

Nice model and I like the review so far. Always nice to see high quality models from other manufacturers, and definitely looking forward to paint on the gal.

- Salvage

I love their figs.

Update 2 - Did some work on the skintones. I don't know what my problem is these days. Can't paint faces to save my life. Unfortunately wasted all that effort on getting a nice smooth red only to turn her into a fugly. (Well... fugly compared to the red. She's now forever demoted to the world of table top quality due to my negligence!)



I kind of got the effect I was looking for, but there is WAAAAY to much paint on her face. -EDIT- in the full size photo, the too much paint problem is MUCH more evident. I opted to change the eye shape from what the sculpt was to something closer to the original art. IMO Her eyes are too large otherwise.

Right off the top of my head, things I shouldn't have done:

1. DON'T USE AN OLD BRUSH FOR THE FACE. I was using an old brush which was starting to curl and fork a bit. This did not help. I fixed this half way through by switching to a new brush when I did the eyes, but damage already done. I might go at her face in the morning with a fresher perspective and a file to clean off some paint... maybe.
2. Damn GW Elf Flesh was drying up, so I added some water. There was still not enough water though, I should have thinned it some more. Though thinned elf flesh doesn't cover at all.

Argh. I'm too damn frustrated right now to type any more.

-EDIT 2- I went at 'er with the file and was able to fix some problems, and also evened out her eyes. More updates tomorrow. Camera is charging.

That looks like a neat model, but I saw fantasyflightgame's online store for these and the sculpts seem to be so-so compared to other minis. I think the only thing remarkable is if you enjoy the art style. I noticed that the models look rabbit-faced since they tried to make them look like ^____^ anime. Since you've seen these firsthand, is that true or is that just from photos?

Stonefox: I'm not sure what you mean by rabbit faced - unless you mean that the head is too wide. I think that the Anima line has strong entries and weak ones. Based on my experience with this one figure, I'm going to order in a starter kit. I already have the Bael figure on order, but I forget which other ones I asked for. There were a couple of Anima figures and reaper figures in my last order.

Update 3 - Not much to update:

To those who said the face looks fine: Looking at it again in the morning gave me a bit of a fresh persepective. I gave her a bit of a facial scrub with a file - carefully - and cleaned up her eyes and bangs a bit. Started with the basecoat on the gold parts. I'll probably hit it again a bit more before I go to bed.



Here's a direct comparison of yesterday's face vs. the "file away excess paint" and "patch" procedure. Probably not that much change, but I think the mouth and eyes were neatened up a bit, the eyebrow cleaned up and that annoying thick paint by her mouth filed away.



-EDIT- I just realized I have a full box of foundation paints. I should be using IYANDEN DARKSUN instead of dicking around with yellows!

Yeah, wide faces. Looks cute on chicks, but on models it does look weird. That one model, Aoi-something looks positively like a rabbit.

Thanks for these pics though. Looks like the face on this one is more angular than the official pic leads you to believe, probably because of their face paintjob.

edit: Could you take a picture of the Janiel model sometime if possible? Online stores only have the card art.

I really like that model. I wanted to do a similar pose for a Jump Cannoness with blessed weapon for my Sisters army. It's a shame her armor maxes out at protecting her ductwork, for while a noble endeavor, it really doesn't hit the heavy gothic plate look 40k usually has.
Still, it is very pleasing to see such a nice fig from a new company, and more pleasing still to see it so nicely painted!

Not too much action. Took a few days off to watch the NFL Playoffs. Spear is half done. Did some work on the base. Darkened up the wings. Those wings are going to be a PITA to work on.

I hate to say this but

DUDE YOUR SPEAR IS REALLY NEAT.

Seriously, sharp paint job.

Yep. Nice spear. Unless that's just from the flash, that looks like some nifty NMM action.

I got both starters to this game at a league swap meet on saturday for only $15. Picked up this fig and a couple of others. Figs aren't too bad, really.