Hi everyone!
A few weeks ago I had a little chat with one of the great minds behind Guild Ball and he asked if I would like to receive some samples of their miniature. Of course! I love discovering new companies and seeing what pretty minis they make.
I was already familiar with Guild Ball. They ran a succesful kickstarter last year, funding their game Guild Ball. Unfortunately I had a little hobby break at that time and so I hadn’t taken part in the kickstarter. When I saw the first 3d renders appear online, I was really bummed because these minis looked really good.
This year I started taking a strong interest in 3d sculpting and I started learning to sculpt in zBrush. It was at that time that I got familiar with Guild Ball and I also started watching some of their live sculpting sessions. Wat I really loved hearing in those videos is how much the sculptors and developers thought about the quality of the cast. Making a lovely 3d sculpt is one thing, but making it perfect for casting and creating the sharp details that we look for in our minis, is quite another. I wrote a little post about 3d sculpted minis and how 3d renders do not always represent the mini you will actually get. So, to make a long story short, when I saw the sculpting sessions for the Guild Ball minis, I was already quite convinced that they knew exactly what they were doing, and it would be great 🙂
Guild Ball is a medieval football game in a pseudo-historical world. Sounds interesting right?!?!
In this review I will share my thoughts on two resin miniatures, starting with Silence!
Silence is part of the sinister Mortician’s Guild in the Guild Ball universe. This is a mini that comes in one piece (oh how I love that!). A little while back some WIP renders could be found on the Facebook page of Guild Ball.
The sculpt really excited me. It has a great combination of larger surfaces and small details. There is also a great opportunity for OSL effects. I mostly like his face, it reminds me of he-who-must-not-be-named and I personally love that. You can really make something creepy out of it.
Cast quality
Simply put, the cast quality is really great on this mini! The details are incredibly sharp. The raised edges are perfect. Not too thick to look weird and not too thin that it would require freehand painting to make it stand out. In their sculpting videos it was mentioned that the sculptors want to make these minis for display painters, but also for army painters that can use washes to easily shade areas. I think they did a perfect job!
(click photoos to enlarge)
Clean-up on this mini should be quite easy. On the bottom of the mini there are two little bits (from vents in the mould) that need to be removed. But since they are on not on a crucial area of the mini that should be easy and forgiving. Smart more from the designers again. There are only a few tiny bits of flash than can be easily brushed of by a tooth brush. I can only see one air bubble on his chin, but also that can be easily corrected by a little bit of liquid green stuff.
The only part of the sculpt that is a little rough is his face. But I think a little rub and a milliput wash will make it all better.
Overall this mini looks really great and I am very excited to start painting it soon 😀
The second mini is Spigot from the Brewer’s Guild. This is a very interesting mini, it has a very dynamic pose and I like the character feel a lot. His weapons are a broken bottle and a large beer mug. Wearing a cool point beard, moustache and barret this guy is really to play some ball :). Also, if you like painting stitches, this is definitely the mini for you, plenty of it to go around!
Cast quality
This cast also has very crisp details. You can clearly see how much thought was given to the depth of the stitches and other details. Again, they are raised but not too much. Also the details on the beer mug and his ornaments look really good.
This mini will require a bit more clean-up than Silence. As you can see on the pictures, there is quite some flash running along the mold lines. It is very thin, and a pass with a toothbrush should get rid of them quite easily. No many details are obscured and on some areas a little scrape with a scalpel will help. In fact, it looks more dramatic than it actually is. There are no air bubbles or any other rough areas. So apart from the flash, another top notch cast!
Assembly
Spigot requires a little bit of assembly. But since the joint is perfectly chosen – right at the border between the arm and the arm band (it’s not a bracelet right? sounds too feminine) – this should absolutely not cause any problems. Also, there is a little ball joint on the hand, and a indent of the same shape on the arm, so this should be easy-peasy ;).
Final Thoughts
I think the guys behind Guild Ball have totally achieved their goal to make miniatures that are designed for the painter. The quality of the casts is really good and the minis are easy to clean-up and assemble. There are lots of options for display painters to make something special and for army painters they should be really easy to basecoat & wash. Best of both worlds I would say!
I am really looking forward to see the whole range of miniatures become available. I believe I heard something about March, so let’s keep our fingers crossed. I will definitely be on the lookout 🙂
I hope you liked this review. There are plenty more to be found HERE. Have a nice weekend everyone!
