- Nomads Starter Pack, image provided by Corvus Belli
Now that I’ve nearly finished painting my first Infinity miniature I can write an honest review of Corvus Belli’s miniatures. For those that don’t know, Corvus Belli is a company based in Spain that started with 15mm historical miniatures before branching out into fantasy and sci-fi 28mm figures with their own rules systems. I believe Infinity is their latest offering, a heavily anime inspired sci-fi skirmish game.
The set I am painting is the Nomad Start Force and features three Alguacil, a Securitate, a Mobile Brigada and a Zero. It is not a full force that experienced Infinity players would use, but it is playable in small games. So far I’ve only started painting a single Alguacil but I believe it is representative of the line. I don’t like figure reviews where the reviewer has not painted any of the miniatures as I am constantly noticing new details while I paint. No matter how closely I examine the miniature prior to painting I am constantly amazed by what I missed while painting. Unfortunately, this includes improperly cleaned mold lines.
Speaking of mold lines, the miniatures I purchased where nearly devoid of mold lines and showed no sign of mold lines’ older, meaner sibling, mold-misalignment. While there was a bit of flash which isn’t ever a concern unless it’s truly excessive, the miniatures are cleaning cast with no deformation or distortion of the figure. Mold line placement met expectation for a high quality product in most cases except for where it is most important: the face. Easily the most important part of the miniature is the face, and having to clean a mold line while maintaining detail is a major pain. While mold lines are part of casting, and it is the caster who decides where they go, sometimes it isn’t the caster’s fault that the mold lines run so heavily through the face. After all, the caster is constrained by the pose, which is the job of the sculptor.
Sculpting is crisp and clean with plenty of detail to catch interest, and plenty of smooth shapes for painters to explore. Looking at the image above you can see how the miniature have a good balance of small detail and larger forms that help define their shape and volume. While I prefer to lavish attention on these miniatures I can see a wash and drybrush painter being able to produce acceptable work.
I have to be careful when describing the posing. I find the miniatures slightly more dynamic than I would prefer, only slightly tempering my appreciation for these figures. However, dynamic poses are generally considered a positive and to see them so inventively executed is impressive. As dynamic as the miniature appear, looking like they are leaping, sprinting and twirling characters in a John Woo directed anime, they are technically very flat. The majority of the figures mass lies along the mold lines. Normally this results in the typical splayed-limbed figure we’re all familiar with. Usually figures are cast in multiple pieces to combat this tendency but Yannick Hennebo, the sculptor responsible for these Nomad figures, has kept all but two miniatures as single castings while maintaining dynamic poses. Because of this I can forgive a bit of mold lines running through their faces.
Once again, Infinity Nomad Alguacil from Corvus Belli, painted by Tyler Provick.
Having painted most of one of the Alguacil figures I can confidently state that this figures are easy to paint. It isn’t just the crisp detail, which is important, that makes them so pleasant. As I mentioned above, the sculptor has created a good balance between detail and flat areas so that all painting styles, from ink washes and edge highlighting to glazing is rewarded with plenty of interest and space for the brush. Those that prefer to do more than merely colour in the lines will be rewarded with plenty of space for freehand and markings. For example, I’m thinking of adding something to the front of the rifle since it is such a dominant part of the miniature.
Of course, this review is not representative of the entire miniature line. I’ve heard that some of the other factions tend to be spindly and difficult to assemble. I cannot comment on that other than to suggest that this set shows that there are single piece miniatures with good dynamic poses within Corvus Belli’s range so that those who couldn’t be bothered with fiddly miniatures still have options.
I have three criteria for a perfect miniature. I should look forward to painting it, each painting session should be fun and rewarding, and when I am done I want to keep the miniature wherever I am so I can look at it. These miniatures easily fulfil these three criteria.
- Tyler
Miniatures were purchased at full price from a local retailer. No consideration provided by Corvus Belli for this review.
