Prince August Wizards

 My previous posts on goblins and orcs showed that the classic fantasy moulds from Prince August make good stand-ins for 1/72 figures. However, I was not so sure whether the humans would match up scale-wise. I decided to take the plunge with the Wizards mould, which included a cleric-like model, a not-Gandalf wizard and a female sorcerer. There was a tinge of nostalgia here as the very first mini I ever owned was the not-Gandalf from this set, given to me by my big sisters boyfriend when I was about 10 (along with the non-Witch king from the wraith mould!).

The castings were good. Some venting was required to get the tip of the staff and the ends of the outstretched hands and the tips of the heads. Again, a hot mould was key to a good casting.

In the end they painted up well. I am not sure what the cleric has in his hand? A holy symbol of some kind I presume? In my castings it was a little nondescript, but if you want something specific a little green stuff could be used to make it into whatever suits your world.

Size wise these guys are chunky compared to a 1/72 model, but this is largely due to the bulky robes. Height-wise they are also quite tall, but this can be masked with clever basing. I used thin card bases built up with green stuff, whereas my 1/72 models are on 2mm MDF. This seems to even out any height differences. Alliance model on the left and Caesar on the right.

Prince August goblins and troll

My previous success with the Prince August "Classic Fantasy" orcs encouraged me to try out another of their goblinoid moulds, this time the Troll and Goblins mould. I was particularly keen to see if the troll could work as an Ogre, something lacking from my 1/72 collection.

Casting these chaps was a little trickier than the orcs. Some venting for the ends of the spear and the tip of the goblin's finger was required, as well as for some of the heads:

Details on the goblin casts were nice and crisp. The Troll however seemed to have very few facial features! 

 Green stuff came to the rescue here and I was able to turn these trolls into ugly, big nosed brutes. 

Scale wise I think they work very well as ogres with the 1.72 models (Alliance left, Caesar Right).

The pointing goblin also offers lots of potential for conversion. The pointing arm can be easily notched in the armpit and bent down. The model in the centre has a cleaver from a Wargames factory orc sprue.

Scale-wise, again these work well with the Alliance (left) and Caesar (right) 1/72 plastics:

The finished mob, looking for trouble:

Elheim Fantasy 20mm

Thanks to the friendly chaps at the Wargames Website, I was alerted to the new range of metal 20mm fantasy models produced by Elheim: 

https://www.elhiem.co.uk/ourshop/cat_1678863-FANTASY-20mm-RPG.html

Currently they produce a small range including an 'Evil Trinity' of bad guys plus an adventuring party (6 models). My order arrived very quickly and I have put together some rough shots just so those interested can compare these size wise with some Caesar and Dark alliance 1/72 models.

Below shows the first three Elheim adventurers with a Caesar adventurer (far left) and a Dark Alliance Cimmerian (far right). The first Elheim figure on the right side is the halfling, which is a welcome addition to the 20mm fantasy world.

The next three adventurers are below with the Caesar and Alliance models. The female elf in the centre is quite slender, if that is your kind of thing!

Finally the 'Evil Trinity':

The Caesar figures tend to be slightly smaller, but I reckon these work well with most of the 1/72 plastics in my collection. Detail is nice, especially on the evil trio, which would make great bosses for my Dragon Rampant armies or SOBH scenarios!

Prince August Classic Fantasy Orcs

I have been building a collection plastic 1/72 fantasy models for Dragon Rampant and SOBH. Although the Caesar and Dark Alliance 1/72 ranges cover most fantasy races, I have also been on the look out for some metal miniatures that might be compatible scale wise. However, there are not very many manufacturers that produce metal fantasy miniatures in 1/72. This led me to try out some models from the distant past of the 1980s. Prince August have been producing a wide range of moulds for home casting for decades, including several fantasy lines. These include the "Classic Fantasy" moulds marketed as 25mm, a slightly later range of larger 25mm Fantasy models and a more recent range of fantasy elves in 32mm. The classic fantasy moulds were the ones that interested me, as these had the appearance of "true 25mm" models, which would be compatible with 1/72 scale. I came across the Orc mould (PA655) on Ebay and couldn't resist snapping it up. 

Casting:

My previous experience with the larger 25mm PA moulds in the 1980s had been mixed, but this may have been due to poor technique. My first few efforts did not inspire confidence, however a few YouTube tutorials later, things improved dramatically. Heating the mould in the oven to about 100˚C resulted in much crisper castings. Making sure the mould is filled to the top also helps penetration of the molten metal. I still had issues with the tip of the spear and the end of the sword, but this was quickly solved by cutting small vents, indicated with arrows below, to allow air to escape:

These changes resulted in good castings almost 100% of the time. The painted models are shown below. Style is certainly old school and details shallow in places, but poses are good and there are nice details in the shields. Conversions are fun because if you make a mess of things, you can just recast the model and go again!

Compatibility:

In terms of scale, these models work well with Caesar (2nd from left) and Alliance (far right) 1/72 models. The Alliance models tend to be slightly taller than the Caesar models, but these work as large orcs with both brands.

Here is the whole rabble:

I am tempted to try more. The goblin and Troll mould is on the way!!!!