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So, late last year I pre-ordered the Raging Heroes premier release, the command set of Asharah, the Heroine, Eleriel and Alaniel, the Standard Bearers, and Moloss and Minion, the Musician, all in 28mm. So, time passed, their release date came and went, and a bit longer than 3 months kept passing before they were shipped, but I finally got them. Woot. So, here's the breakdown and my thoughts on the models themselves.

As a side note, the folks at Raging Heroes have been very nice and helpful about all the delays and everything. No matter what comes out of the small brown sack like envelope I received today, they are good folks and very nice, and given that I find myself wanting more of their mini's I would be happy to deal with them again.

So, here's the long awaited package from all the way across the pond!


A little surprising that it wasn't shipped in a box of some sort, but it seemed to do the job nicely. Having unpacked everything, it all looked fine, and the Twins came in their own little box. Go go packaging win.




So the first one out of his plastic pack was Moloss and Minion. Only one picture here, as everything looked pretty good, and it was in so many bits it was hard to arrange in someway as to convey what you are looking at.


All in all, not too bad.

Next up, Asharah the Heroine, and here is where it gets iffy...

Firstly, her heads. They range from ok and usable (the helmet) to "Wow... really? That bad?" (the vampire head) and the shouting head is sort of in between. The pictures pretty much speak for themselves, but let me say I was really disappointed. I really don't think the vampire head is usable at all without cutting off the face and installing a Reaper/Hasslefree head instead. The shouting head might be ok, but I am not impressed.
Anyway, here they are from bad to decent.



The second picture there really captures it. The vampire head doesn't look like anything really, just sort of a mess of vaguely recognizable features.
The helmeted head is rather nice though, as the shouting lips inside are visible, a nice touch. The crest (picture a little later) didn't come out so nicely, but honestly I thought the horns AND crest were a little much, so I might just GS the area the crest fits into and put on a top knot or something.

Next up the arms and shoulders. A little disappointing here too, as the faces on the shoulders are not well defined, so much so that I suspect the first layer of primer is going to cover them up pretty well. Perhaps not a big deal as I can free hand on the closed eye lids and make something of it, but don't expect to prime, base coat and hit it with a nice wash to bring out the details.


The eyes are so small they are hard to get the camera to pick up nicely. Also, I left out one picture since it was a bit blurry, but the shoulders are starting to show the other issue with this figure: WOW flash/mold lines. Normally flash doesn't bother me much, but in this case it is right over the eye of the one shoulder piece, and scraping or filing it will remove what little definition there is there. When I get to her spare bits, you will see more of the problem.

Since my verbal segue failed, here is a visual one: shoulder bits AND torso.


Negative points aside, those are some DAMN FINE SLEEVES! I really dig those.
Now, looking at the torso, note that her right leg is attached to that piece. The torso armor suffers the same lack of sharp, crisp detail definition that the tops of the shoulder bits do, with what should be sharp edges of various plates and lames coming out rounded and difficult to pick out. Not so bad as the shoulders in so far as I am not afraid the details will vanish under primer and some paint, but enough so that they will be more difficult than they should be to highlight and draw attention to on the model. In the next picture you can see that a bit better


So yea... a bit disappointing there.
Next up, her bits, and WOW does she come with them. Very nice to see in a single, blister pack model.


Downside: lots of mold lines, some of which are offset to the point of looking like miscasts. Not unworkable, though that crest and the other leg there at the bottom are going to need a good bit of work to balance that out. Still, after cleaning that up the weapons should look good and enhance a few other models nicely too.

Overall Asharah is ok, but just ok. The lack of crisp detail and rather awkward amounts of flash, not to mention the unusable head, really hurt what is otherwise a very nicely conceived model. It isn't the worst model I have ever bought and painted nicely by a long shot, but at the same time the price point makes me want to compare it to the likes of Soda Pop, Avatars of War and other small model makers, and it does not compare favorably to them. I know logically that this is their first model (in fact, mine is apparently #10) but I still think there was a lot of potential here that was not realized.
I will say though that how the model goes together is VERY nice. Lots of small pins built into pieces so I don't need to try drilling out a 1/10" hand make me very happy. This is a trait all the models share, and it is much appreciated.

Next up, the Twins.
A little bit of a mixed bag here as well. The banner, which I for some reason didn't get a photo of, is REALLY big, and very cool. So big in fact that I am thinking some paperclip or brass rod is going to be necessary to really hold it up, even though it is resin. Really cool though, with a second piece which really adds depth.
Also, the girl on the right of the pictures looks good, with nice detail that shows well. She and her... sister... both fit very well onto their legs attached to the base, though how well they hold the banner I don't know about yet.

However... her "sister" lacks some serious detail in the facial area. To be direct, she looks like a necron there. See the pics.



I couldn't really get the camera around to get a good picture, but she has no lips, just a cut in her face,and no eyes to speak of, just a divot beneath her brows. Again, possibly fixable with some nice freehand, but honestly when models cost this much I don't expect to be free handing basic facial features, and I am nowhere near good enough to do lips that trick the eye into thinking there are actual 3D lips there. The shame is that the rest of the models look pretty nice, with hardly any awkward mold lines and fairly sharp detail.


So... my over all thought is that the experience and models are not too bad for a first run for a new company. Their customer service was very good about answering emails with questions regarding the delays, and presumably those wouldn't be an issue at all in the future. I think the thought that goes into making the models, from concept design to how they fit together is very good, and shows a lot of promise. The actual execution, however, leaves a good bit to be desired, and I am not terribly excited to put these together and start painting. I really worry that the nature of the detailing is going to make painting these almost a chore, as the disappointing clarity will force the paint job to carry the model's look much more than is otherwise the case.
I would definitely buy from these folks again, but not before seeing many pictures of the actual 28mm metals themselves. I am sure the 54mm look great, but it didn't translate down well I am afraid.

Very informative review man, thanks!
I know it's not possible for yourself, the way you're planning to paint them (and espeically with the concerns with the detail you mentioned), but I would love to see those models with a light wash to bring out the detail so it was easier to see. I'm sure I'll get a look when they're painted.

Thanks for that, I'm looking at Molos and minion 54mm for my growing list of =][= enemies.

Nice review man. Thanks.

I'm still waiting for mine! Not as excited as I was though, sounds like I'm gonna be disappointed!

Da Boss: I try and give them a primer shot Wednesday when it stops raining and throw a little wash over them. Alternately, I have been knocking around the possibility of a Dull Cote priming, then trying washes from there. I might test that out with a spare model and see if it protects detail a bit more and wash.
In either case, until it stops raining, I won't have much to offer.

Waagh Gonads & Mr Flidd : Glad it was helpful to you guys. I am kind of wishing I had ordered Moloss in 54mm too, as even at 2x scale he would look cool for WHFB or an =][=munda villain.

Fortunately / unfortunately I am working from home tomorrow to bail water out of my house, so I will poke around with the models a bit more and see how bad the mold lines and the like are to clean etc. I'll tell you thought, I think these would be dead hard models in resin, or with slightly better metal casting. Sort of like getting a fixer upper house, so much potential, but quite possibly unable to be realized.

A very accurate review! I just received mine in the mail today. Like you said, it is not quite as flawless a transition down to 28mm as we would have hoped. I'm still liking them very much, though, and definitely a good first attempt at highly detailed minis. Raging Heroes has admitted it wasn't perfect, but it's more than decent overall and they seem to have learned a lot from it. I'm sure many people will be waiting for future minis to be released and seen in metal before ordering.

I think the left sister's face was downplayed in casting due to the angle and smallness of it; you really can't see her face unless you tilt the mini up and bring it right up to view.

I have the 54mm Asharah on the way, so we'll see how she looks in the 54mm. She'll be my replacement for a statue of Khaine for my Cauldron of Blood. There was a review on the 54mm Moloss & Minion that said it (after standard resin cleanup) looked like an exact replica of the 3d Model preview. I'm very much looking forward to it.

Thank you for the review, I really wanted the Ashara to see If I could work her into some sort of cannoness, but after seeing the pics I may just scrap those plans.

Your name is Eric Hammer?

You've got to name your first son Jack.

or Mc....

Still waiting for mine!!

Not that they'll get painted for a while but I want the curvey sword for my DP!