West Wind Werewolves 01

I was looking at my blog labels for Werewolves and saw that I had six, but only one of them was for a figure review - my West Wind Werewolf Bikers (see here for that review) . So here I am with my blog over three years old and I have never done a "proper" review of any of my werewolf figures. By "proper" I mean werewolves who aren't toting guns and/or riding motorbikes. I actually own a lot of 28mm scale werewolf figures from a wide variety of companies that I've collected over the years, although many of them are now out of production. They will all get reviewed in time, just as I plan on reviewing my all of my many vampire figures. I thought seeing as I have been looking at West Wind's Bad Moon Over Memphis range in three of my four past posts that would be a good place to begin with.

The huge brute at the left of the photo above is the Big Bopper, set GHB0002 from the Bad Moon Over Memphis range. He is 43mm tall from the soles of his feet to the top of his head and comes as a one-piece casting. Anyone who thinks that he is over-scaled should think again. He is just the kind of uber-werewolf that Selene went up against in the recent Underworld:Awakening film. Also, anyone who has played White Wolf's Werewolf: the Apocalypse role-playing game will know that this figure represents a lupine in Crinos form, the most powerful of their five forms, ranging from human (Homid) to wolf (Lupus). The other two forms are Hispo (a dire-wolf) and Glabro (a human with wolf features).

The black skinned werewolf in the two photos above is from set GH00012 Loup Garou (Great Werewolf), which is part of the Gothic Horror Vampire Wars range. This figure came in four parts - body and legs, right arm, left arm and head and he went together very well, with all parts being a good fit. I used epoxy resin to glue him, which I much prefer to superglue. He is leaning forward as if lunging to attack someone, which gives the appearance that he is smaller than the Big Bopper. Don't be fooled - he is still an impressive looking beast, full of aggression. With his long claws extended, he could easily rip someone's head off with a single swipe of his arm. Incidentally, in W:tA the werewolves call themselves the Garou, from the French, Loup Garou.

The two figures shown above are from set GH00011 Giant Wolves. So why have I included these in my review of werewolves, you may be asking? Aren't they just big wolves?

No, they are much more than that. These are akin to the dire-wolves of many a fantasy tale (see Tolkien's Lord of the Rings for example). Also, referring back to the five forms a lupine can change into in the W:tA RPG mentioned above, this is the Hispo form of a werewolf. Outwardly, it looks like an ordinary wolf but it is much bigger and much more powerful. I have no hesitation at all in declaring these two figures as werewolves.

Finally, is set GH00010 Werewolves, four human-sized werewolves. Going back to Werewolf: the Apocalypse, these figures would most closely approximate the Glabro form. They are still bipedal but nowhere near as large or as powerful as the Crinos form.

These are the classic bipedal werewolves that many folk associate with that species - a cross between man and wolf, bearing the features of both but transforming into something that is totally unique. I guess it is okay that they have still retained their trousers when they transformed, as they are still human sized. If they had transformed into their Crinos form, any clothing they were wearing at the time would have been ripped to pieces during the transformation process.
I like all of these werewolf sets a lot. If you're just starting out in building a werewolf pack, these would get you off to a fine start. They are very nicely sculpted in a variety of poses, heights and forms and best of all, they are very reasonably priced. All four sets cost just £6.00 each from West Wind's webstore.
It's not often that I criticise my own paintwork, but I'm not happy with how the eyes of these creatures have appeared in my photographs. I painted them gloss black, which looks good in real life but which is hard to make out in my photos. Sorry about that, folks. Maybe if I'd painted a dot of white either as a highlight or at either side of the pupils they would have stood out better. I'm also wondering if I should have painted the claws on the two huge werewolves a bone colour instead of black. It would have provided a better contrast in the photos. Ah well, it's all food for thought. Give me your thoughts on the subject and if need be I will modify them.