Dawn of the Lead

My Underworld/Blade/WoD-inspired miniatures project has started off nicely, as I’ve received all of the minis ordered. I thought that since I’m adding a whole bunch of nice new stuff into my collection, I might just as well review them for your viewing pleasure. I’ll kick the thing off with two of the biggest miniatures in the project, namely two werewolves from Reaper Miniatures: Jean Paul Werewolf (02747) and Male Were Wolf (02872).

Both models are very impressive. The Male Were Wolf (and I use this spelling very reluctantly) is well over 40mm from his base to the top of his head. Jean Paul is under 40mm, but his hunched posture suggests that he too would be over 40mm if standing up straight. As usual, size comparison pictures can be found at the end of this review. They come on integral bases which are too large to fit neatly onto a 25mm round base, so I went for 40mm bases instead, which made for a nice fit. The larger bases are a millimetre or so thicker than 25mm ones, adding slightly to the size of the already sizeable monsters.

The werewolves are multi-part kits, requiring some assembly as both have separate arms and tails. The parts fit, but they do require a bit of work with positioning and filing. Noticeable gaps were left after gluing the parts into position, so you might want to break out some greenstuff and fill those. As I’m usually too lazy to do any pinning, the greenstuff helps support the joins as well. Fortunately they’re both furry critters, and you shouldn’t have too much trouble replicating the fur texture in your greenstuff. Some mould lines were present, but they were very minor and I cleaned them up in a minute or so.

Jean Paul is in a dynamic posture. He’s a bit hunched and his legs and sense of movement make it apparent that he is springing into action. Jean Paul is snarling viciously, which combined with his long arms and exaggerated large, clawed hands make him very, very imposing despite the model’s comic book style. He doesn’t have fur covering his entire body, and his arms and abdomen as well as the insides of his legs are almost completely hairless. This looks ok for the most part, but there is one exception. His buttocks are bare, but he has a tail sticking out where his tailbone would be. The tail looks a bit tacked-on, like someone just stuck a wolf tail on a human rear. Other than that, there’s nothing to fault here. The model was sculpted by Ben Seins.

Jean Paul from the front, notice the greenstuff fillings

Jean Paul's infamous rear

Male Were Wolf is even better than Jean Paul in my view. He’s covered in fur from head to toe, and he lacks Jean Paul’s comic style. This means he looks very feral, and his whole presence gives off a feel of a slightly crazed, brutal and scary gothic monster. When you’re talking about a werewolf miniature, that’s pretty much the effect you want. The model is posed standing straight with his long, clawed arms spread wide and the pose fits the model nicely. In fact about the only bad thing I can say about this model is the atrocious name. The model was sculpted by James van Schaik.

Male Were Wolf fresh from the painting desk

If I didn’t make it clear enough before, these are big werewolves indeed. As you can see from the comparison picture below, they dwarf regular 28mm humans in both height and bulk. Good luck bringing those puppies down. Click for a larger picture.

From left to right: Copplestone Castings, Male Were Wolf, Foundry, Jean Paul, Hasslefree

Both miniatures retail at $7.99 apiece, which really isn’t a bad price for such hefty pieces of well-sculpted metal. They’re available direct from Reaper Miniatures or through numerous retailers.

Overall verdict: If 28mm werewolves are what you’re after, they don’t come much better than this. Both models are wonderful sculpts, capturing the essence of the creature they’re depicting. The separate arms and tails may cause some problems, but it should be nothing too time consuming.  Not even Jean Paul’s bare hindquarters can stop me from recommending these.