Red Copper Miniatures: New Kingdom Egyptians
/One of the things about re-basing an army is that you almost always end up needing some more figures…and that was the case with my 15mm New Kingdom Egyptians, now based for To The Strongest but short one commander and one unit of Billmen.
I’m also a fan of 3D printed figures: I like the fact that they don’t weigh as much as metal, are often slightly cheaper, and can give a level of animation you don’t often get with traditionally cast models.
One of the manufacturers that I have long wanted to try are Red Copper Miniatures, who specialise in biblical period figures with ranges of Hittites, Sea Peoples, Ancient Hebrews and, of course, New Kingdom Egyptians.
The only drawback is that as I don’t yet have a 3D printer of my own, and Red Copper just provide the STL files not finished models, I needed to find someone to print the models for me. A bit of time spent on the Internet showed me several companies in the UK that would print them, many via Etsy, but they all seemed very expensive for what you get. Step forward our old friends Baueda, based in Italy, but with a flat charge of €12.50 for p&p, who will 3D print all the Red Copper biblical range no problem at all.
I put in a test order, and a couple of weeks later a nice little box arrived with enough models to complete my Egyptians.
So, what did I think?
Well let’s get what I don’t like out of the way first: the figures have no bases. Which is a pain when you’re trying to stick them on to lolly sticks to paint them. I had to revert to putting them onto individual little pieces of card (old business cards cut into six squares!) before I could undercoat them.
Second thing: because the models are resin, and mounted on little pieces of card, you have to be careful when undercoating that the force of the spray doesn’t blow the figures all over the place.
Right…next…no: that’s it. Those are the only two things I didn’t like about the Red Copper 3D Egyptians: the slight annoyance of no bases.
So what did I like?
Everything else!
These figures are superb, truly superb. Look at what I managed to produce even with my rudimentary painting skills.
These were undercoated in GW Grey Seer, then painted in white Contrast paint. The white was then highlighted with acrylic white, and then the rest of the figure painted with Contrast paints or, for the bronze, a standard acrylic metallic.
The animation and detail are excellent: and the only reason they don’t look even better is that I’ve based them (following how I’ve based the rest of the Egyptians) as two identical lines rather than a unit of mixed poses.
Pharaoh’s chariot is just as good. The only negative is the way the wheels attach to the body of the chariot: I’m not sure I did it right, but it seems you just glue the end of the axle on the main body to the end of the axle on the wheel i.e. two very small surface areas rather than some kind of pin-and-hole device.
Overall, these are an excellent addition to my New Kingdom Egyptians…and I’ve been so inspired by the Red Copper scultps that I’ve ordered a Hittite army to fight them!
Highly, highly recommended!
