Gunfighters Product Review (Great Escape Games) 28mm Wild West Miniatures

Hey all... I mean Howdy Partners!

I recently painted a box of 28mm Gunfighters from Great Escape Games and enjoyed painting the models so much I asked them if I could do a review on a few of their products. They said yes! The very next day some models arrived... 

So todays post I shall take a look at the box of plastic Gunfighters I received. There is also a female set too which I painted  a few weeks ago prior to this review...

The first thing to note was how well the items were packaged from Great Escape Games. We all know how it disheartening it feels to receive models damaged in the post and so it makes a big difference when companies package their kits professionally and properly. Also I really enjoy the vintage style box art for these models - very cool indeed and offers some colour inspiration for your models.

Inside the box are two identical plastic sprues and another sprue of plastic circular bases. Overall you are able to build 10 figures between the two sprues, with the legs, torsos and heads being applied individually as well as the arms and weapons. As a result there is a lot of variation available here which is very impressive from a small kit. You can have any pistol setup you want; Right hand, right hand aiming, left hand, dual wield, gun in holster held by right hand ready to draw, a shotgun and a rifle on each sprue and even other additions like a sheriff badge and basing materials (cactus and animal skull). It's been really well thought out and your gang will look unique however which way you decide to build it.

Construction and clean up was very simple. I cemented the legs securely to the base first (bases are provided in the kit as well) and allowed them to dry before adding on the rest of the body, heads etc. There were very few production/mould lines to clean up with my hobby knife. 

You can construct 10 miniatures with the set

As a miniature painter the one thing I always look out for is the detail in the faces of any miniatures I pick up. For me the detail and the expressions is what brings the figures to life and therefore one of the most important features. You have 10 different heads on the sprue and they don't disappoint, featuring loads of detail and character. The only catch is that the hats are attached to the heads so you cant customize what hat goes on what head. For me this is very understandable. The benefit is the sheer amount of weapon/arm customization we have mentioned earlier. There's only so much space on the sprue and I'm most of us would rather have more weapons! Perhaps in the future Great Escape Games could consider releasing a separate mini sprue of even more head customization options to buy separately as a possibility?

After priming the models with a leather brown spray primer I was ready to start the painting process. I recommend a brown primer for these figures as it works nicely with the leather browns, beiges and khakis we will be applying during the painting process.

I started by picking out the inner garments/ shirts as I always find it easier to paint inside to out. I used Vallejo Acrylic paints for the entirety of this project, mostly from the 'Model Color' range, however I used their airbrush paints for the fine checked lines on the shirts. The airbrush paints have a nice flow right out of the bottle and give a lot of control when painting fine lines such as these. 

The Model Colour range is ideal for the rustic browns and beiges you will need. Even the brighter blues and reds really fit well for a realistic look as the pigments aren't over the top or too bright. Highlighting any of the brown colours with Iraqi sand or Buff will work well. 

To paint the denim I applied a basecoat colour (Grey Blue, or Field Blue work well) and then gradually mixed in White Grey to the basecoat as a highlight colour. To get a really realistic and weathered finish apply a very light drybrush of Buff to the denim once dry to depict dust, or worn marks on them.

Painting these models was a real joy I have to say, I had a lot of fun here and was pleased to get some usage out of some of the blues and reds I wouldn't normally use for other historical painting projects . There is plenty of detail on all of the parts and weapons which were easy to identify, thus making the painting process a lot easier and allowed lots of opportunity for creativity, such as the checked patterns on the clothing and neckerchiefs etc.

Here are some of the poses and colour schemes I went for to provide some ideas for you. I kept the basing quite simple - Vallejo 'Brown Earth' texture paint  with a scattering of modelling sand/rocks on top. This along with some tufts and the basing materials included in the sprues offers a great look for the Wild West.

Conclusion 

At £15.00 (plus postage) I think the gunslingers set from Great Escape Games is really great value. There are a lot of customization options for your figures from the sprue and weapon types. It really is impressive how many options there are to be honest, with the only slight drawback being that there are only 10 heads all with hats attached on each sprue. Having the hats attached is a good thing as less fiddly but it does limit the options a bit. Perhaps more head and hat options can be made available in a separate sprue down the line? I'm sure a lot of folk would enjoy any additional options such as this.

The models are really crisp, detailed and take to primer and paint very well. I had a lot of fun painting these and preparing them for the gaming table. The added basing features were a nice touch also and go a long way to help with the overall theming.

With Wild West games such as 'Dead Man's Hand' (also from Great Escape Games) and newcomer 'What A Cowboy' from Too Fat Lardies there's never been a better time to put on a good spaghetti western and paint up your own posse / outlaws, so what are you waitin' on partner. Get yourself a set now!

Please consider my miniature painting service should you want your miniatures painted as they are in this article

Thanks for reading

Matt.