I received my models via the War Store last Friday. Before I review the models, I should probably give you bit of an idea how I tend to judge them. Usually I look for two things: sculpting quality and good design. For sculpting quality, I mean I would buy something like GW's recent models, AoW's sculpts or Scibor's stuff, something that has oodles of cool detail and an exciting pose. For good design, I want something that excites me because the design is interesting, original or fills a niche, even if the sculpting is not the best. This includes a lot of the models I buy from Mantic, WGF and Reaper. DFG's UAMC marines most definitely fit in the latter category.
By now you've all seen sprue pictures, so I won't bother describing what's on it. I will say that the extra weapons and heads will come in handy for conversions with WGF, Perry and Mantic figures, and the extra legs (12 per box) will be donated to my extra WGF Shock Trooper HW torsos (6 per box).
The models are in "true" scale, and look a lot like WGF's Vikings in terms of proportions and sculpting depth. They would fit well with Perry or WGF miniatures and would make Mantic models look a little "Heroic", especially Warpath infantry weapons. The UAMC marines would look like puny little humans next to hulking GW models. They are the same size as EM-4 soldiers, but look very different in style.
The parts with the worst definition are the arms. If you hate WGF historicals' "lego hands", you probably won't like these. They look like arms, but not like cut, Oo-rah! arms. Think "General O'Neill" after Richard Dean Anderson stopped caring. No definition.
The guns themselves look really good to me. However, and there is a big "however", they are 'realistically scaled', which means that they look smaller than most sci-fi pistols and their details are so 'correctly-proportioned' that they will disappear under primer and paint if one isn't careful. That said, they look like mean little sub-machine guns and remind me a lot of the good seasons of Stargate. Their design is really cool.
The torsos are about what you'd expect from a generic near-future mil-sci-fi design. The legs, however, have some issues and some positives. The design of the legs is weird, with the strapped-on pockets, groin armor, chronic noassatall/baggy thighs, and knee-shin pads. They look like video game cosplay pants. Personally, I think they look neat and very "special forces", even if the creases in the clothing look more like unsightly bulges. The pads, pocket and groin plate are all well defined and add interest to the legs that balances the torso (Mantic, take note). The variations for the legs make for some very exciting poses, but can also allow for endless marching tedium for the Perry fans.
The naked face is the best part in terms of definition and looks a lot like a Perry miniatures face. The helmets look good, too, but bulky like Gulf War-era helicopter pilot helmets.
The parts fit together well and the poses look more natural than any of the WGF historicals I've assembled, so long as you want the poses to be "aiming a gun" or "about to aim a gun", which in all fairness (or my opinion, I forget which) is way better than "marching with their guns on their shoulders". There were few mold lines except on the arms. For some reason the arms seem to be flash magnets.
The overall design is reminiscent of Stargate SG1, Starship Troopers (the movie), nBSG, B5 Earthforce and about 80% of Baen book covers. This is exciting for nerds like me who read a lot of mil-sci-fi and space opera and want some nice models that look both sci-fi and generic. With a few easy WGF or Perry part swaps, you can make just about any near-futurish* style Sci Fi military force you could want.
All in all, I'm very excited and already playing with my assembled models, making various machine gun chitters and that sound bullets make when they penetrate Jaffa armor.
*By near-future, I am speaking in terms of design. Deathstalker marines may exist as far in the future as Dune's Sardaukar or Hyperion's Swiss Guard, but they should be much more modern looking.
Originally Posted by The Dude
Reply With Quote
