28mm Marie Celeste Crew

You must excuse my excitement, but I just couldn't wait to share this wonderful discovery with you all. For the life of me I can't remember ordering this exquisite box of miniatures and so you can imagine my surprise when they dropped onto the doormat of 'Awdry Towers'; mind you I say 'dropped' but I never actually heard them arrive, I simply became aware that they were there, such is their ethereal quality.

Now I freely admit that there has been a noticeable absence of things nautical, here at '28mm Victorian Warfare' as I am, after all, somewhat of a landlubber – ships being a necessary evil, particularly when it comes to the transportation of the requisite components required in the blending of my beloved Earl Grey tea.  That said the mystery that surrounded the stricken Marie Celeste and its luckless crew saw them elevated to the front of the painting queue.

Box contents

The company, 'Mysterious Minis' and their sculptor, the prolific talent that is Ffwl Ebrill, have done a tremendous job on this project.  The hard plastic sprues are comparable to the best of the 'Perry Miniatures' ranges and the fine detail is so exquisite that one could easily be forgiven for missing it altogether; as for mould lines, they are simply non existent on this product - a real boon indeed!

The variation and historical accuracy are fabulous and careful construction means that virtually the whole crew of seven can be represented without a single pose duplicated. The Captain, Benjamin Briggs (third from left in the photograph below) is superb – his Abraham Lincoln look reminds one of Captain Ahab no less!  As for Roger, the Cabin Boy (far right) his expression is one of absolute joy, standing as he is next to the ship's Master, Bates. 

Ready for painting on Fenris Games bases.

 The miniatures were not as easy to paint as one had hoped, the clothing of a C19th merchantman’s crew was somewhat sober at best, and one’s painting skills were certainly put to the test.  In a bid to render the desired palette, I resorted to what felt like an infinitesimal amount of near translucent washes; time consuming, but ultimately rewarding.  

A lovely addition to the box was the inclusion of a white metal table and bench, just perfect to represent that last meal or to offer some clue as to the fate of the crew; you can almost read the date at the top of the parchment - April 1^st!