Hi everyone!
In March 2015, Raging Heroes launched their second Kickstarter: Toughest Girls of the Galaxy 2. The purpose of this Kicktarter was to raise enough funds to make “3 new female armies: Dark Elves, Lust Elves, and Sisters of Mercy, in both Fantasy and Sci-Fi versions”. The first Kickstarter from Raging Heroes was immensely popular, and this second project was expected to hit another big goal. From the start of the project it was announced that all backers of $175 and above would get 15 miniatures for free: so-called Freebies.
Being a big fan of dark elf miniatures, I had to back this Kickstarter of course, and so went in on the Lieutenant pledge – the lowest pledge amount to qualify for the freebies.
This review will consist of several posts, in which I will have a closer look at the miniatures from the Kickstarter. In this first review I will focus on the first 6 freebies: Sister Celenia, Xarsiss, Shaliah, Doralys, Sephea, and Liligrith.
The way I will present this review will be slightly different from normal, as it would be way too long to go into details for all miniatures. Therefore, I will write a short summary for each miniature, together with pictures from several angles (as pictures speak louder than words and it allows you to judge for yourself) and in the final post I will give a full overview.
I hope you’re ready, because here we go!
All the freebies are cast in resin. It is funny to note that the material used is not always the same (some are even in a different grey scale) and some minis are truly of better quality than others. The cleaning of these minis is intense, as a lot of release agent is used by the casting company.
Sister Celenia, Scout – Sisters of Mercy
Right off the bat, we start with (in my opinion) the best cast of the freebies. While the sisters were not my favourite faction in this Kickstarter, the quality of the sculpt has won me over. The details are super crisp and the material is very smooth. There are very little airbubbles, and no significant mold lines. The only mishap about this model is the sword that has large air bubbles running along the side. Other than that, she is lovely and will be fun to paint!
All pictures can be enlarged by clicking on the thumbnail
Xarsiss, Harpy Queen – Dark elves
Honestly, I am not much of a harpy fan. Don’t know why, but somehow the wings don’t seem that much fun to paint to me. This harpy is a bit different, as she has a slightly sexy look, yet most likely she is still deadly. Not my favourite freebie, but I can see some use for her in a diorama ;). The cast from Xarxiss is unfortunately of lower quality than Celenia. The material is slightly gritty, and some clean up is required to be able to paint her skin smooth. The material is a lot darker, and more mold release can be found on the cast. Perhaps this has lead to some softer details. But still, the details are very well done. I cannot find any mold lines or air bubbles in this cast. I do think some of the air vents are located on tricky areas. Overall, not the best in the bunch but still a good cast.
Shaliah, Death Dancer Soloist – Lust elves
At first, I was not a big fan of the death dancer, simply because I don’t enjoy painting arms and they have so many! But, the almost oriental details on the figures from this group, together with the dynamic poses has completely changed my mind. I love these ladies. So of course I also ordered a squad of these (not released yet).
Shaliah comes in a lighter resin and the details are superb. Some tiny air bubbles and quite some air vents to be removed, but this cast makes me happy! Will be so much fun painting all those elaborate details!
Doralis, Virgin Oracle – Sisters of Mercy
This is one of my favourite sculpts in the bunch. It is a very simple miniature, but I can see her used in so many settings. The cast is very nice and clean. No air bubbles or irregularities and no mold lines. And she will be super easy to assemble, I like that! Some vents are placed at awkward areas, so that will require a bit more time to deal with properly. Other than that, another top cast in the bunch!
Sephea, Executrix Champion – Dark elves
Oh yes, I like dark elves. No idea what an executrix is, but it sounds nasty. I love the big weapon she is leaning on. Not a big fan of decapitated heads, but in this case it does sort of fit the mini.
The cast on this lady is also very good. Only part that is a bit gritty is on her legs, so that might require some smoothing. The details are again very crisp and there is a great deal of different textures to have fun with (like the boots, the weapon and the skin). Some small air bubbles, but nothing major. No mold lines. I don’t really understand why the right arm was attached to the dress like that. In my opinion it creates unnecessary areas to clean and it would be better if the arm was attached to the sprue instead. But still, this is a great sculpt!
Liligrith, Exanguinatrix – Lust elves
Another unpronouncable profession, but definitely an interesting sculpt. This is not one of my favourites, but I cannot really point my finger on why. I do like the sinister lust elves, perhaps it is the fact that this in another mini holding a decapitated head, or maybe it’s all the braids. I do like all the details on the body, those should be fun to paint!
The resin on this piece is a little bit gritty, but not quite in the same order as the harpy. The details are again super crisp, especially the ornaments on the body are spot on. Other than a tiny airbubble on the tip of her tongue, I cannot find any. Also no mold lines. Face quality is particularly great. She should be quite easy to assemble, and the air vents are places on smart areas.
That concludes the first part, I hope you enjoyed it! The second part will be published on Tuesday 🙂
11 comments
Thanks Maartje; nice review.
I have my freebies and a whole batch of other bits from TGG2 too. It’s a very intimidating pile of minis at the moment!
Looking at the same six freebies as you cover here, I seem to have been lucky to have avoided the same issues with air bubbles…..I can’t find any so far. My Sister Celenia seems to be of the darker grey plastic though whereas yours is the light grey.
You’re right about the grainy quality on some of them though. What do you think is the best way to deal with that? I’m not the best at mini prepping so advice more than welcome as I want to do a good job on these!
Thanks
Ste
Hi Ste! Thanks for your message :). I think the best way to get rid of the gritty texture is to make a milliput wash. You can do this by adding water to some milliput and mix it until you get a watery solution. That way the milliput will fill the gaps. You can even sand it a bit afterwards.
I got my TGG2 minis last week and I think these are among the best minis I have ever seen in terms of originality and casting. Very few mould lines and so many details. I love your webpage and I hope you will have enough time to paint all those freebies. Keep on painting!
Thanks for you kind words 🙂
Excellent review. Thank you so much for posting it. Many of these are quite nice but some look surprisingly grainy. Hopefully some fine sanding sticks will work to smooth them out. I haven’t gotten any of my minis yet but I’m really hoping that the angels won’t have the same grainy texture that the harpy has.
Thanks! Yes, it requires some prep-work to get rid of the texture. But once it’s gone, you will have lovely minis to paint 🙂
Hello, just a comment on the resin coloration. It is literally just a variant amount of dye that it put in the resin when mixed. It is not of different quality. Resin is often made by hand and can vary sometimes in coloration. Just a helpful tip I found, hope it helps you
Thank you Brandon! That is very good to know, I will make sure to mention it in the next part of the review. Cheers 🙂
Hi Maggie,
I’m having a difficult time removing the release agent from the TGG2 minis. I followed raging heroes instructions, but some are still greasy after a couple of cleanings
Any additional tips for a newcomer to miniature painting?
Best of lucks with this blog
Hi Alejandro, thank you for your message!
Have you tried soaking the minis in simple green over night? You might also try to use a dish washing soap directly on the mini and gently scrub it with a tooth brush. For me, this helped remove the grease. Some minis took a bit longer than others though. It helps to lay the minis on a piece of tissue for a few days after cleaning (the grease can evaporate from the mini), then clean again.
Take your time with cleaning & assembly, you will profit from it later :).
Cheers!
I’ve tried both simple green and dish washing soap on mine and definitely had better results with the cheaper dish washing soap.
After leaving mine on kitchen tissue to air for a week or two I then left them to soak for 24-48 hours in plastic containers: some in a mix of simple green and water (roughly 50/50 ratio) and some in dish washing soap and water. I gently shuck both a few times during the soaking period and then brushed them gently with a soft toothbrush before rinsing and air drying overnight on kitchen tissue.
Both lots came out well but the dish washing soap did a better job.
Now I’m starting to put them together. Just spent three hours putting the fantasy Asharah together! I was being lazy at first and just tried super glue, but after a frustrating couple of hours trying to get the fiddly pieces to stick, I gave up and started drilling and pinning which would have saved me time if I’d just done that in the first place!!
Used .5mm pins which seem to have done the job nicely, and the figure looks great now it’s all assembled! 🙂