At the start of the year I promised more figure reviews of undead types other than zombies. During the Christmas holidays of 2009 I ordered this set - BCVIN6 Monsters & Mistresses - from Foundry Figures. The set comprises of eight figures, all approximately 35mm in height, which may be too tall for some collectors but not me.
I'm sure that regular viewers will have noticed that the backdrop that I have used for photographing these figures has changed from the usual grafitti covered concrete wall, pavement and tarmac road. I did not think it was appropriate for Victorian era monsters so I built this little set from the WWG Streets and Sewers of Himmelveil TerrainLinx sets. The cobblestone ground tile came from the Sewers set, whilst the walls are from the Streets set and the Sewers expansion set. I'll use this backdrop for any figures from bygone days or a fantasy setting.
The first two photos above show the bride of Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster. They come as individual figures and as a vignette featuring them both together. The sculptor has clearly been influenced by the 1930's look with Boris Karloff's portrayal of Frankenstein's monster and Elsa Lanchester as the bride. I think it's a good decision as theirs is the look that most people associate with these two characters.
The figure of the bride is very static but that is probably a good thing as it suits the character. She is not as tall as some of the other figures in this set but hair-do does make her appear taller than she really is.
The bride and monster combo is a delightful sculpt. The two figures are essentially the same as their individual versions but with a few subtle differences. I love the way that their heads have been slightly tilted so they lean in to each other and the monster appears to be smiling. How sweet! The monster has draped his arm across the bride's shoulders as if to say, she's mine! However, note the bride is holding a large carving knife behind her back. Does she fully love the monster and trust him?
The individual figure of the monster has him shambling forward. The musculature on his chest is well sculpted and he has a feeling of great strength about him. The bolts in his neck are prominent. If I was to be picky, I'd have to say that his head and hands are slightly too big and his legs appear to be too short.
These next two photos show two more figures from the set - the mummy and the female vampire. I ordered the skeletal Santa separately.
The mummy is not an an exceptionally great figure although he is well sculpted. As you would expect he is covered in bandages from head to foot with only his face exposed. I wanted his face to look like dark dried leather so I painted it with Citadel Bestial Brown then gave it two separate ink washes, first with Citadel Devlan Mud, then with Citadel Badab Black. I painted the teeth with Citadel Bleached Bone and dotted the eyes with Citadel Skull White. I did contemplate giving him a sand covered base painted to fit in a desert setting but opted for my usual urban rubble base instead.
I bought the skeletal Santa because I wanted a zombie Santa for my horde. He was the closest I could find to fit the bill. How was I to know that a couple of weeks later Studio Miniatures were going to release their Christmas zombies set? Skeletal Santa still makes a good zombie as there are so few bones on display. I've painted his bones in my usual pallid grey flesh tones that I use for the majority of my zeds, rather than paint them as bone. When you see him close up you can't tell the difference. Either technique works well. It just depends if you want to use him as a skeleton or a zombie. I love the way he has been sculpted. His base was a separate component and the section of roof and chimney stack is a great touch. On my base it is just a piece of rubble that has fallen to the ground. Note the toys in his sack and left hand. They are all scary monsters like ghosts and demons. This is a superb figure that I rate very highly.
The female vampire was instantly recognisable to me as I know she is based on a painting by Chris Achilleos. I have the book of artwork she appears in. She appears to be rising from the ground, as her feet are not visible. Her flesh tones are almost white. There is a hint of blue there from the Citadel Asurmen Blue ink wash but it is quite subtle. Her unfettered breasts stand tall and proud. She certainly has a nice rack! I particularly like the way her long black hair is blowing in the wind. It should come as no surprise that I like this figure a lot.
Finally, we come to the three humans in the set. I could have kept my Himmelveil backdrop for the dominatrices but not for the monster hunter with the flame thrower. She had to be photographed in a contemporary setting. Actually, this gives you a chance to compare the two backdrops without having to flip back to previous posts.
The way the two dominatrices are attired is just how you'd expect to see them dressed. I always say, if it ain't broken don't fix it. The lady on the far left is unnamed and is just called the Dominatrix on the Foundry website. Her cat-o'-nine-tails whip looks particularly nasty with its studded metal barbs. One lash of that will certainly strip flesh from the body. Like the bride above, she looks a lot taller than she is because of the way she has styled her hair. Her pose suggests she is in a contemplative frame of mind.
The other dominatrix is called Sadie Stern on the Foundry website. It would be hard to come up with a more appropriate name for her - Sadie reminds you of sadist and Stern tells you just what kind of demeanour she possesses. She could be the twin sister of the other dominatrix or they could be the same person but dressed slightly differently. At first glance they do appear to be identical but note that Sadie's boots are only knee-high not thigh-high. Also, Sadie's basque has shoulder straps, whilst the other one hasn't. The Dominatrix is wearing ear-rings but Sadie isn't. Finally, Sadie is armed with a small dagger as well as her cat-o'-nine-tails. Her right foot is resting atop a small circular box.
The vampire slayer called Hot Wax by Foundry is well equipped to take out a whole nest of bloodsuckers. You don't see many contemporary figures armed with flamethrowers and even less females so armed. The small bottle she is holding in her right hand will, no doubt, be filled with holy water. Of course a flamethrower is an ideal weapon to dispose of any undead threat. I could see her working well with a group of like-minded slayers. All three females are great figures and I wouldn't want to cross any of them!
Set BCVIN6 Monsters & Mistresses costs £40.00 for all eight figures. However, they can be bought separately for £5.00 each or £11.00 for the Frankenstein bride and monster combo. Skeletal Santa also costs £5.00. I scored by ordering them when I did as Foundry were offering a 20% discount on all of their figures as a Christmas gift incentive. I'd been after this set for a long time so I was glad that I waited. All of the figures are very well sculpted. As with all Foundry figures they come with integral metal bases but more often than not, these are far too small, so I ended up sticking them onto slottabases anyway. Apart from anything else, it helps tie them in with the rest of my figure collection. I think the two things that might put some people off buying them is their price (too expensive?) and their height (too big?). As a fan of all things undead, I thought this was a great set to buy and Skeletal Santa is a cracking good figure.
