Wednesday 20 April 2011

Hasslefree Hazmat Troopers

Part three of my review of Biohazard Troopers looks at what are in my opinion, the best sculpted figures of this sub-genre, Hasslefree Miniatures' 28mm scale Hazmat Squad. These four figures can be found in the Hasslefree Adventurers range and are set HFA062. Oddly enough, these were not sculpted by Kevin White but by someone known only as Ebob.
I decided to give these a more subdued colour scheme than my Copplestone Castings and EM4 Biohazard Troopers and so I painted them Citadel Knarloc Green from the Foundation Paints set. I gave them a Citadel Thraka Green wash, then drybrushed them with Knarloc Green, to which I added a small amount of Citadel Bleached Bone for a final highlight. The visors were painted with a 1/1 mix of Citadel Blazing Orange and Citadel Blood Red, then given a coat of gloss varnish. The oxygen tanks were painted with Citadel Golden Yellow and highlighted with Citadel Sunburst Yellow. Gloves, boots and kneepads were painted Citadel Chaos Black and highlighted with Citadel Adeptus Battlegrey. The rifles were painted with Anita's Acrylics Metallic Black (which you might struggle to find so just substitute Citadel Chaos Black mixed with a small amount of Citadel Bolt Gun Metal) and given a light drybrushing of Citadel Bolt Gun Metal.
Looking at the figures in my two photos, at the far left is the leader, holding his rifle pointing up, whilst beckoning his men to follow. It's a nice pose that clearly identifies him as the leader. I must admit that I have no idea what make his rifle is, assuming it is based on something from real life. Whatever it is, it looks perfect for a contemporary setting.
Next up is a trooper getting ready to fire as he brings his rifle up to his shoulder. I don't have much to say about him, other than he is a fine addition to the squad.
Third in line is my favourite figure out of this group. I just love his pose, as he walks forward with his rifle held at the shoulder ready to fire as soon as he sees a threat. A lot of sculptors would have had him standing still as he fired his rifle, but Ebob has done something different here that I really like.
The fourth trooper in line is advancing with his rifle held down, pointing to the ground. Once again, the level of sculpting on him is just first rate. Another top notch sculpt in a range that oozes quality.
If you still haven't bought any Biohazard Troopers then you should give these figures very careful consideration. I am a huge fan of them and I just wish there were more in this range. Four figures just doesn't feel enough. However, I now come to potentially the downside to these figures - their price. This set costs £14.00 for all four figures, so they certainly aren't cheap. Compared to the prices of the Copplestone Castings figures (over £5.00 cheaper) and EM4 figures (less than half their price) these are quite expensive. I guess if you want high quality you have to pay for it. Hasslefree have an offer whereby if you buy two sets they cost £24.00, saving you £4.00.

22 comments:

  1. Great post Bryan. I have been considering picking up some of the other miniatures you have reviewed but having read the first line of your post. It seems I picked up the best of the bunch already. Love the red you used for the visors. Realy makes them stand out.

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  2. These are nice figures but I have mentioned myself about the poses in we could do with more, very good work on those though, nice paintjob (good colour). I believe Ebob is the guy from this site http://www.ebobminiatures.com/
    Keep up the good work.

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  3. Nice minis and very ggod job, love the background.

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  4. very nicely posed and photographed! :D

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  5. Great paintjob on these guys. That yellow on the oxygen tanks really goes well with the green suits. And I agree about the poses, very dynamic, no stale flat-footed figures here.

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  6. G36(C version ?) rifle. Nice reviews (bought two sets of them)

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  7. @Adam. I doubt if I'm alone in thinking these are the best sculpted Hazmat troopers available today. Just check out the other comments. Oh, and well done for purchasing these guys, Adam.

    @Fran. Thanks for the link to Ebob's website. He's a talented guy. I totally agree that we need more of these figures in different poses. A heavy weapons trooper and a medic would be nice additions.

    @Dr. Willett. The backgrounds are from the World Works Games Mayhem Bank set and the ground tiles are from their Streets of Mayhem set. I use that background for photographing all of my contemporary figures.

    @Jay. Thank you and welcome to my blog.

    @Luckyjoe. The yellow oxygen tanks contrast well with the green uniforms. Likewise, the red visors. Yep, the poses are dynamic, which is nice to see.

    @Ulu. Many thanks for the info on the rifles. I have heard of the G36 but I'm not very familiar with how it looks. Good on you for buying two sets!

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  8. I've just seen that Fran has also reviewed these four figures on his own blog-site The Angry Lurker. He very kindly provided a link to my site, so I'd like to reciprocate by posting a link to his site http://theangrylurker.blogspot.com/2011/04/28mm-painted-hasslefree-miniatures.html
    As Fran says, we bloggers have to support each other. Fran seems to think that my figures are better painted than his but that is an argument I will not be drawn into. There is nothing wrong with his paintjobs.

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  9. Like the work you have done here Vampifan, and I couldn't agree with you more about needing more in the range !! 4 tropers is barely a squad !

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  10. As always a top notch job Bryan. These are definitely on my miniature wish list. I figure that each of the different manufacturer Hazmat teams could represent a different government/corporate team in the games, ie Hasslefree is a Pharmaceuticals company team where as the Copplestone and eM4 are Military (one could be say a team from the USARIID, the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, while the other could be regular soldiers that were sent in to eliminate the Bio-Threat) if they were to be painted similarly. I cant wait to see the next set of Hazmat figures you review, I am sure they will go on my wish list too (if they are currently available, I know you mentioned reviewing the Hooroclix Hazmat figures and Horrorclix is currently unavailable and singles are getting harder to find for certain figures).

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  11. @The Extraordinarii. Too true, my friend. We need more and we want them now!

    @Doug. The next review will indeed cover the Horrorclix range, as much out of completeness as anything else. Finally, I'll review the Recreational Conflict range of Bio Hazard Troopers.

    I'm in total agreement with you about the different ranges belonging to different sources. That is the main reason that I have painted them all differently. I love your idea for the Copplestone and EM4 troopers working for different branches of the government but still connected.

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  12. Very nice too. The boy Slug picked up a set of these at Salute 2011. I'll be linking this post up for him on his facebook.

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  13. Thanks, Phil. Your boy has a good eye for figures.

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  14. Oh, I may repeat myself, but: they look even better when painted.
    Now, get them into a large batrep! ;o)

    Whiteface / Oliver

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  15. Hmmm, it's funny you should mention batreps, Oliver. I plan on playing my first game of ATZ sometime next week. Yippee! Team Vampifan rides again! Yeehaa! I can't guarantee any Hazmat teams turning up but you never who's going to come to the party!

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  16. Hi, Kirsten. I run this blog solo, so that makes me the person to contact.

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  17. Great post,

    Hopefully you check out my blog and show some support.

    I look forward to hearing your feedback

    James

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  18. @Mike. I'll check your blog soon.

    @Lemmiwinks. Thanks.

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  19. Hay buddy,

    Great work on all the figures you've done recently, they look fantastic. Cant wait to see them in acton in one of your bap reps.

    Things are going really slow on my page because of work, but i hope to have things sorted in 2 weeks.

    Anyway great work on all the figures and as always i cant wait to see more!!!

    Steve

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  20. Hi, Steve. Nice to hear from you again. It's always a shame when work or real life gets in the way of our hobby but what can you do? You just have to grin and bear it.

    I can confirm that a new batrep will be appearing very soon. I'll be playing a game of ATZ sometime in the next couple of days.

    Take care, mate, and I look forward to reading your next blog entry.

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  21. Lovely figures - thanks very much for the review, I've been wanting to pick up some of these.

    Just nominated your blog for a Stylish Blogger Award :) check out the most recent post on my blog.

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