Sunday 22 April 2012

Recreational Conflict Survivors 02

I bought this set of four Recreational Conflict 28mm scale survivors at the same time as I bought their combi Civilians and Survivors sets but I've only got round to reviewing them now. Sorry, I got sidetracked with loads of police stuff. All four figures are based on characters from films, computer games and literature. You may recognise the first two, but I think the second two will be much harder to place and only a true Vampifan will recognise the fourth figure in the colour scheme that I've painted him!
At the far left of this group is a figure based on Kurt Russell's character, R.J. MacReady from the 1982 flim, The Thing. This is still one of my all-time favourite horror films. He is posed holding a flamethrower in one hand and a bunch of sticks of dynamite in his other hand. I can't help but think that he could do a lot of damage with them in a zombie apocalypse game. I know that other firms have made their own versions of MacReady, after all, he is a popular character, but this isn't a bad rendition of him. One thing that you must be careful about when handling this figure is that the barrel of his flamethrower is thin and easily bent out of shape, so handle with care.
Next in line is Leon Scott Kennedy, a recurring character in some of the Resident Evil computer games and he also appears in the animated film, Resident Evil: Degeneration . Not being a computer gamer, I was not familiar with this character and so I had to do a Google search on him to learn who he was. Having seen some artwork of Leon, I have to admit that this figure is a very good likeness of the computer character. Hats off to sculptor Brian Cooke. Leon wears a sheepskin jacket and is armed with a pump-action shotgun. Apparently, he will appear in the fifth live-action film, Resident Evil: Retribution and will be played by Johann Urb. No, I've never heard of him either.
The third figure in line surprised me by her inclusion as she is teenage detective, Nancy Drew. I doubt if she'd even make it onto my list of survivors from media sources that I'd like to see sculpted. Once again. I must profess almost total ignorance of this character but I have learnt a lot about her by resorting to another Google search. In game terms, I can't see much use for her, although a team up with Hasslefree's Scooby Gang might be fun for a one-off adventure. I'm more inclined to use her as a generic teenage girl, most probably the daughter of a civilian. She may have some useful skills or knowledge but I don't see her as a fighter. In a zombie apocalypse I'd fear for her survival. Incidentally, that's a cardigan or jumper that she has draped over her shoulders, not a backpack.
As soon as I saw the fourth figure in line I knew who I wanted him to represent. He is supposed to be Harry Dresden, hero and contemporary mage from The Dresden Files series of books by Jim Butcher and TV series of the same name. But for me, being such a huge fan of Vampirella, I saw a remarkable resemblance between the figure and Vampi's old friend, Mordecai Pendragon. For those of you who have never heard of Pendragon (that's probably all of you) I've included this illustration to the left by one of my favourite Vampirella artists, Jose Gonzalez, so you can see what I meant about the resemblance. The figure wears the same coat as Pendragon in the illustration. Note that Vampirella is also wearing a coat - a very rare occurance! Pendragon is an illusionist. He wasn't that good until he met Vampirella and she became his assistant for a time. After she gave him a blood transfusion during one of their adventures, he developed the ability to perform real magic. At first he was seen as a coward and a drunk but he has always been a loyal companion to Vampirella and as his magical ability has grown, a powerful ally. For obvious reasons, he is my favourite figure out of this group.
These figures come on integral metal bases, which are small enough to fit onto slottabases or whatever else you use for your bases. However, in the case of Pendragon his base is almost as wide and as thick a 25mm diameter plastic slottabase. He is the tallest figure out of the group and that base, if stuck on top of whatever you use for your bases would have made him even taller. This was not acceptable to me. So I cut off most of his base, leaving just a thin strip beneath his feet, which I filed into a slottatab. I was then able to slot him into a 25mm diameter slottabase with his feet flush to the ground. It worked a treat and helped to reduce his size by a couple of millimetres.
Recreational Conflict are selling this set of four figures for $10.00. I have copied their colour schemes for all of them except my version of Pendragon. Their Harry Dresden version has a green coat and dark brown hair. It is undoubtedly an ecletic mix of survivors and they may not suit your tastes, or maybe you like one of them but not all. In which case, you'll be pleased to know that you can buy them individually at $2.50 per figure.

32 comments:

  1. Well that sheds light on those two on the right. I'd already guessed the first few Resident Evil games on the playstation give me some fond memories. Nice paintjobs Bryan and like how you done the wood on the fourth character

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    1. MacReady has to be the easiest to recognise. Any fan of the Resident Evil computer games will surely recognise Leon. But the other two are not so easy to identify. Yeah, I like how Pendragon's staff and wand came out.

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  2. I am just amazed how much I learn from your posts each time you publish them. I was wondering where I'd get a modern mini with a flamethrower for my games, and here you are, giving me the answer, hehe.

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  3. Nice minis, needless to say I recognised none of them.

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    1. Don't worry Joe, I'm young and I haven't recognized any either...not even the Resident Evil one :P

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  4. Remember, the only thing worse than a zombie is a zombie on fire!

    I wished MacReady had a different pose, the way he holds his flamethrower is a little awkward, but otherwise he's fine. And that mage is one big dude! =)

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    1. There are other figures of MacReady available, Robert. Still, I think the likeness of him is very close to how he appears in the film.

      I wish the mage figure was a bit smaller as well.

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  5. These are very nice and great paint jobs. I recognized Dresden immediately. I'm a big Dresden files fan. MacReady and Kennedy would be very useful, too. I'd probably pass on the Nancy Drew.

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    1. I know very little about Harry Dresden, so I was more than happy to paint this figure up as someone I am far more familiar with. I'm prabably the only person who has painted him as Pendragon. Whilst I agree with you that the Nancy figure is the least useful, I can always find a place for unarmed civilians in my figure collection. Victims and innocent bystanders do have their uses.

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  6. She's actually supposed to be Ashley Graham, also from Resident Evil 4:

    http://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-04/art/re4-ashley-graham-1.jpg

    But doesn't sound like you're familiar with that character, either, so Nancy Drew works just as well. Great review, thanks!

    -Brian

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    1. Well, how wrong was I? The name given to this character by Recreational Conflict is Nancy, hence my confusion. Even so, I hav3e never played any of the Resident Evil games, so I have no idea who Ashley Graham is. I feel another Google search coming on. Thanks for clarifying that, Brian.

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    2. I sometimes give the models joke names to amuse myself when putting them up in the webstore. :)

      Thanks again for the review.

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    3. There's nothing wrong with joke names, Ben.

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  7. MacReady was the only one I recognized.

    You have done a really good paint job...Again! As you say, the girl can be used as a civillian who needs to be rescued. The sheepskin coat is great looking!

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    1. I'm glad you like them, Johnny. I'm a big fan of Recreational Conflict's work and of late they have been producing some incredible figures.

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  8. You were right about the last two but great work, MacReady was my favourite!

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    1. MacReady certainly seems to be the most popular figure out of this set... and I'm really not that surprised.

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  9. The likenesses for Leon and Ashley were dead on. I recognized them right away. The one that took me the longest when I first saw these (just the bare minis, not your painted versions, Vampifan) was actually MacReady, because the body seemed a bit stockier than Kurt Russell did in the film. If you replaced the dynamite with a baby, it could be Zach Galifinakis in "The Hangover."

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    1. Having done a Google search on Ashley, I must agree with you; the likeness is uncanny. Once again, I apologise for not recognising her in the first place. I really suck when it comes to recognising characters from computer games!

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  10. Gotta agree with Fran (and you know I hate doing that!) MacReady gets my vote. I remember watching the film as a kid, and jumping all over the place. I've not seen the film for years, I'm gonna have to see if I can buy it on DVD now!!

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    1. Shock, horror! Ray agreeing with Fran! You'll be pleased to know that the DVD is still available. Amazon are selling it for £4.25 at the moment.

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  11. Noooo, now I will have to watch "The Thing" again... :D
    Nice paint job, as always, though to me the color scheme of the staff makes it looks like a baguette. But that could just be me being hungry ;)

    I have to agree with Robert: Zombie + Fire = Running torch. Way to start a serious fire.

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    1. There a re a lot worse things you could be doing than watching The Thing again, Stefan.

      I think you are suffering hunger pangs. I know baguettes can be big but I've never seen one that's about six feet long!

      Agreed. Flaming zombies are a menace.

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  12. Paint jobs are sweet as usual, I knew none of them....and I would probably classify 'The Thing' as a Sci-fi and not really a Horror (not that it matters), and the Nancy drew mini would be the one that is trailing the pack trips over and becomes zombie chow, there for allowing the pack to escape, see, not completely useless but close :)

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  13. Cheers for thst matey, another good and well balanced review.

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    1. Thanks, Irqan. I try to keep my reviews as fair as possible.

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  14. Even without recognizing them, they are all great sculpts to have, and would make great survivors/civilians in the zombie gaming world.
    Nice paint jobs too.

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    1. I quite agree with you, Adam. I think they are a nice set of useful figures.

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  15. I have been a lurker since ATZ:BDTZ Battle Report 02. Decided it was finally time to say thanks for a great blog and say hello. Ernie

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    1. Thanks for taking the plunge and introducing yourself, Ernie. You've been a follower for a very long time. Good on you, mate!

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