Will you Kickstart These Beautiful Bombshells?
September 7, 2012 by brennon
Bombshell Miniatures were the minds behind the wonderful Gen Con exclusive models this year, but they are racing ahead to create a line of their very own. Check out a bit more about this interesting Kickstarter below...
"For several years now I have been wanting to launch a new boutique line of miniatures featuring strong female characters. Although I'm using terms like "Bombshell" and "Babes" to describe the line, these characters are much more than either of those outdated terms. The concept needed something retro and nostalgic that evoked images of famous paintings like J. Howard Miller's "We Can Do It" and Rockwell's "Rosie the Riveter"."
"With this new concept, I want to create a strong recognizable brand that stands for excellence in figurative sculpting. My recent work (shown above) for some of the top companies in the gaming industry has brought me into contact with a fantastic group of creative professionals eager to collaborate on this project. From concept art and character design to sculpting and painting the finished models, my goal is to create beautiful figurative sculpture in miniature. And now we have an exceptional team of skilled and talented collaborators who share that goal."
Everyone seemed to fall in love with the recent Privateer Press miniatures and anyone who sculpts for Dark Sword Miniatures has a very good seal of approval on their resume. Let's check out some of the concepts for the 'Babes' on the horizon...
The concept work is looking superb and if the previous work is anything to go by this is going to translate over to some great looking miniatures. The real question then is will you fund the project?
The total is close to being smashed right now, only $4,000 or so to go.
What do you make of this latest Kickstarter?
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The art work is nice all in all but the Sally space lady is the best and reminds me of old sci-fi space movies like Flash Gordon.
The only thing I have against this line is that its just like every other “boutique” line that depicts women as mere sex objects. If they did look like the Rosie the Riveter poster then yes I could see this as different and would back it. For now its like Soda Pop and the others that do this type of models.
I said my fill and wish to not rain on the parade as the models above as examples do look complex and well made. I just hope they move to a more respectable depiction of the sexes.
I won’t be, the value for money from this kickstarter is somewhat modest compares to some of the miniature bonanzas put forward by Coolminiornot, Mantic and Reaper but even against some of the smaller projects I feel it comes up short, it would be fair to say that I’m not really taken with the models anyway so that’s definitely impacting my decision.
I should also clarify that as it’s all just artwork anyway, I’m a bit cautious on this one.
A few other companies have done the same thing with Kickstarter. One that springs to mind was Stonehaven Miniatures. However when you looked at the previous work from the sculptors it gives you an idea of just what they are capable of.
This fellow seems more than capable. Being a sculptor for Dark Sword and PP is no mean feat, so that’s a big bonus for him.
Obviously if the models don’t appeal to you that’s a different situation entirely but simple concepts can always breed something fantastic.
BoW Ben
Whilst very true it also works the other way just as easily, his previous work has all been done to a very high standard for some high profile production houses but I’d like to have seen maybe just the one or two finished minis from his planned line up, I believe Sonehaven already had a mini or two finished for sampling purposes if memory serves?
Either way, I hope it works out ok. I’m just getting wary of the Kickstarter bandwagon and the more cynical side of me is just waiting to hear news of some unscrupulous character taking advantage of the system at the expense of others*
*Not that I think that’s what’s really happening here, I’m just rambling off topic!
The pics of his previous work look pretty good. They’re not all to my taste, but a few of them actually represent some pretty good female character models. I don’t think you could really accuse any of these of being overtly sexist (though the whole amazonian-inspired archer thing with the exposed breast has really been done to death already, and is kind of blatantly exploitive in a Roger Corman sort of way despite it’s historic mythological trappings). The Privateer Press mini is one of the few (actually, probably the only) “pin up” minis I’ve ever considered buying.
The concept art for his “bombshells” look more like pin ups than his supposed “strong female characters” to me though. The repeated use of the word, “babe”, kind of contradicts the whole “strong female character” claim too. I’d say that the exclusive mini is the only one so far that could potentially represent a “strong female character”, the rest all having some impractical element that kind of shatters the cohesion of the concept in service of sexualizing the figure. Maybe the space one too though the pose in the art is very clearly inspired by the ’70s style of scifi movie/novel poster/cover art in the Barbarella vein.
As soon as I saw the phrase, “strong female character”, in his sales pitch all I could think of was Greg Rucka’s article for IO9, “Why I Write ‘Strong Female Characters'”. http://io9.com/5912366/why-i-write-strong-female-characters (Google for it if the url doesn’t show. It’s worth a read.) I have no idea if BoW’s spam filters have let me paste the url to that article, but they really should because it’s a good article that deals very maturely and respectfully with issues of gender representation, and it asks about just what the words “strong female character” can mean (in comics and novels, but I think most of the remarks apply equally well to our hobby’s visual representations of women as well and certainly should be required reading for any GM/DM who wants to really immerse their players in a believable world).
You took to words right out of my mouth. Great points @mpopke 😉
Those are actually rather nice looking art and models.
I happen to see this as a good find. Pinup art might be lost to some parts of the world who never experienced the trend after the war. In their community, these women are empowered individuals who have a strong sense of self. The characters protrayed in this range are not helpless maidens.
I have chipped in to this kickstarter in the hope that we do see a nice line of sculpts of female minis. I have hope that their WILL be some practicality to the sculpt that makes it more than JUST a ‘pinup’ mantelpiece fixture and preferably a useful tabletop/RPG figurine.
I think the talent is there and remember it does state (as Brennon also quoted above) that Although I’m using terms like “Bombshell” and “Babes” to describe the line, these characters are much more than either of those outdated terms. I don’t think these pieces go anywhere near the style of figures we see from Kingdom Death or even SodaPop so I’m happy. 🙂