Limited Edition Frightmare from CMON

November 20, 2011 by beerogre

I just caught a glimpse of this on Cool Mini or Not... limited to 300 castings... it's the Frightmare!

I don't know what I would do with a limited edition Horse-Minotaur-type-thing, but I'm sure I could cook up a D&D encounter, or a Kings of War monster!

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cazboab

14 years ago

Horseroserous?

I wonder how long before its painted in rainbow dash colours…

chibi

14 years ago

Have some nagging doubts about the size of the upper body compared to the legs
Also the hooves could have been single rather than cloven to emphasis the equuine nature of the mare and differentiate from minotaurs.

elromanozo

Reply to chibi

14 years ago

Well, it’s an Aragorn Marks sculpt… This (french) artist have always put me off by some technicality that was a bit… Well, frankly, off. He’s well known for his Rackham sculpts (most of the kelts range, if memory serves).

I dare not say “flaw”, as most of his sculpts are very good indeed, but some of the details one could point out, and the proportions that constitute his style, are not to my taste.
That said, I believe this mini is completely true to the artist’s vision, and, in that respect, flawless !

ubiquanon

14 years ago

Nice mini. When you guys post these, could you please include a note on the scale. Assuming this is 28 but still…

chibi

Reply to ubiquanon

14 years ago

Clicking on the linky it says that the range is 32 heroic scale and the model is 40mm to the eye
Cost is 25 bucks

ubiquanon

Reply to chibi

14 years ago

Yeah, I guess by not posting the scale I have to actually go to the site, but still, it bugs me that they don’t post scale. It just seems the right thing to do… Here is this mini, and here is the scale, what do you think? I mean size does matter right?

beerogre

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Reply to ubiquanon

14 years ago

@ubiquanon – Looks like my fiendish plan has been rumbled!

cazboab

Reply to ubiquanon

14 years ago

Size might matter, but this guy… *puts on sunglasses* is like a horse…
*The Who start playing*

(sorry)

elromanozo

Reply to cazboab

14 years ago

Someone just HAD to do it…
It’s all right, I was thinking it…

manpug

14 years ago

Only 300 you say. Well I say THIS IS SPARTA!!!

Also most likely expensive as its from CMON.

elromanozo

Reply to manpug

14 years ago

CMON, expensive ?
Only because of postal fare. You actually pay for quality.

I frown upon people saying “it’s expensive” in this hobby… Well, most people. I know it’s not a relative term, but there’s no point in saying it when you get what you pay for, or more. We all pay good money for miniatures, even when we look for the best deal, spending amounts that would be deemed foolish by others with a different hobby, perhaps…

You see, GW could be deemed “expensive” when you’re paying through the nose for Finecast… But I’m the first to admit that the GW plastic kits are great, and some of the best priced stuff on the market for plastics right now… Save perhaps the Mantic undead.

As for the CMON stuff, it’s expensive, yes… Undeniably… But for limited edition high quality resin casts with almost no mold lines, no bubbles, and masterwork sculpts that put GW and PP to shame (YES, to SHAME, absolute and utter SHAME) ?

I’d say the price is more than right.

thc303

Reply to elromanozo

14 years ago

The price is more than right for you as a painter, certainly. The painter seeks out the finest, best proportioned, most detailed (rather than ‘blinged’ for the sake of it) sculpts for the challenge of doing justice to it and practising their craft. Paying a high price for a single sculpt (so long as it’s good) isn’t much of an issue.

Problem is, even painters have their limits (think of the Confrontation re-release pricing for example) and moreover, think of the gamer’s perspective. A unit of these (assuming there were alternate sculpts made for variety as well) will cost a lot more than a unit of the overmuscled GW Uglytaurs (and given that they are mass-produced injection-moulded plastic, I think those are too dear as well).

A balance of quality and price is needed I think, and not just for those who would be happy playing with cardboard chits. Plus on the subject of GW plastics prices, while sculptwise the newest kits are great and Dark Eldar are so very lovely, Catachans aren’t but they cost the same, the IG having had their price raised over years with no change. Fair from an army building perspective, but not from a quality one (and still too rich for my blood personally, though the Dark Eldar battleforce is VERY good value with discount).

elromanozo

Reply to thc303

14 years ago

Regarding GW, I did say “some” of their plastics… Not all of them, by a long shot !

Indeed, CMON mostly caters to painters, not gamers… No one denies that this is their target. I mean, just look at their website, it’s just not that type of community.

That said, a single miniature from Studio McVey is the same price (sometimes cheaper) than a miniature of identical size in Finecast from GW, and the sculpt is much better proportioned, more detailed, with less mold lines and bubbles…
Granted, Studio McVey don’t do space marines, but just look at what companies like Hi-Tech, Kabukui models and Scibor are doing, whether in metal or resin… Again, the price is nice and the quality is much better, undeniably.

Sure, they don’t do whole units… But we have to compare what’s comparable : These are “characters” or “heroes”, not rank and file.

As for the new Legacy miniatures Confrontation range, I have had the opportunity to see a few up close, hold them in my hands and even paint one… And I have revised my opinion of them…

They are awesome.

I have never… NEVER. EVER. Seen their equal.

The resin holds details that were hopelessly lost on the metal versions (I have compared two minis of the same sculpt, one in metal and one in resin). It even renders textures…
The resin mini is slightly bigger (no metal retraction when it cools).
The quality control is tremendous : No bubbles. I mean NONE… OH, all right, there was one bubble, less than half a millimeter wide, right under the generic flat base.
There was one easily disposed of mold line on a flat surface, and no flashing to speak of.
The parts were all fitted with angled pegs and holes, in the manner of the Alkemy miniatures or some of the resin PP minis, so that you can’t go wrong putting them together. They all fit perfectly, and they fit without glue, so you don’t have to hold them while they dry or use putty.
One exception was the horns of the Acheron gargoyle, but they’re not fiddly and fit right in on the head.

Based on this review, all I can say is that the Legacy miniatures deserve to be this high priced… Individually. My only grief is that they sell them in bulk or waves.

They would get better press if people actually saw their miniatures, and could buy them on at a time (the ones they’re interested in), because they would tell people how extremely good they are…

Indeed, individually, if you divide the price of the packs they sell, they’re akin to teh pricing of Forgeworld of Finecast, for ten times the quality… Or more. The big beasties (hydra, etc.) are actually almost the same price as Forgeworld critters of the equivalent size…

So… Yes, again, nice price for what you get.
Expensive ?
Damn right. But it’s a luxury item.

Finecast and old GW plastic boxes, on teh other hand, aren’t. Yet they’re teh same price. How come people buy THEM and then refuse to buy CMON stuff because “they’re expensive”, even hough they could be suitable for gaming (see Gamezone miniatures, Scibor, etc.) ?
Perhaps it’s just a matter of perception…

Anyway, this was my little rant, forgive me for that.

BoW Romain

elromanozo

Reply to thc303

14 years ago

To get back to the miniature at hand, I see this, and I think “beastman/minotaur hero for Warhammer”… Even without the horns.
Just glue two spare horns/branches/cones made out of green stuff to its head, I bet you it’ll need less work than a finecast mini…
And you’ll probably pay a comparable price for a way better quality mini.

BoW Romain

ubiquanon

Reply to elromanozo

14 years ago

Personally I’ve always desired a beastman army that wasn’t dominated by a minotaur (bull / man) blend concept. I know GW moved away from variation in troop design because uniformity on the battlefield has a strong aesthetic appeal (Bretonia aside) and because of the potential complexity with regard to rules, but I’ve always thought a beastman army should have multiple beast blends – Wolves, bears, tigers… pretty much any of the top tier predators of any given wilderness environment. It would make for a much more interesting army. Every now and then I get interested in the beastman army, but then my old frustration with the design limitation sets in, and i spend my money elsewhere.

thc303

Reply to elromanozo

14 years ago

Value is definitely a very personal thing, hence people paying for GW over Legacy – you can be almost ‘trained’ to prefer a certain style over anything else, especially if you associate that with the fun in a good game. I’ve even seen someone on Dakka call Infinity models ‘cheap anime crap’ (I mean INFINITY, for pity’s sake…) so there’s a hell of a lot of variance here.

chibi

14 years ago

I w0ould be tempted to have the werehorse as a goodie, or at least neutral. He resembles a barbarian.
But would also consider him for a beastman type, I like the concept tbh