During a recent visit to my Friendly Local Game Shop I was gifted a set of Stormcast Eternal miniatures for the Warhammer Age of Sigmar table-top war game. The host asked that I check it out and give them a little feedback on the product and I am an accommodating sort, so here we go!
I’m not being compensated for this (or any) posting. I am not now, nor have I ever been, a Warhammer player. I will receive no material consideration for my commentary or opinions listed here, those opinions are fully and solely my own, and they do not represent anyone else in any way. Any links provided here are direct to their source, no affiliate links, no redirects, and no click-through tracking (at least not on my side).
If anyone is interested in owning the kit I was given, please contact me and we’ll set up a time for a hand-off - I have already applied some primer and paint, and have cut out one of the models.
First up, my perception of Citadel/Games Workshop is that their models are sturdy richly-detailed injection-molded plastic. Tactical war gaming is not a genre that particularly appeals to me personally, but I am aware of the Warhammer brand and understand that it attracts a sizable fan base.
The Package
This particular kit - Stormcast Eternals Paint Set - comes in a single box measuring 23.6 x 15 x 4.5 cm (that’s 9 x 6 x 1-3/4 inches for those of us subjected to US measurements). Inside that package is a neat injection-molded tray (useful as a paint palette), a paintbrush, the injection-molded sheet of parts for three push-fit miniatures, and six pots of Citadel paint. There are no printed materials inside the box, but the front panel clearly communicates its contents. The back provides the precise color names and numbered, pictorial assembly instruction.
The Starter Brush
The included paintbrush is labeled a “Citadel Starter Brush” and is a plastic, round-handled brush. The closest I can match it in size and shape is a size 1 round brush, with what feels like synthetic bristles. They were stiff directly out of the package, but softened and flex immediately when dipped into water. A sturdy plastic tube fits over the bristles to protect them.
This is a higher-quality paintbrush than some I have picked up at the craft store (RIP Jo-Ann, Leonard Green Partners and their private equity ilk leave us all poorer), but it is still a “starter” brush that no one should expect to withstand months of regular use.
The Models
Citadel’s reputation remains intact. These figures are packed with detail and the push-fit assembly lines up both neatly and securely. The actual figures are pictured on the box (not just drawings or idealized versions). All components are mounted to their molding supports, so a hobby knife or a pair of flush-cut snips (not included) are needed to get the best finished result.
The Paints
Included paints are Retributor Armour, Leadbelcher, Kantor Blue, Corax White, Astrogranite, and Agrax Earthshade - all in 12 ml pots. These are real-deal Citadel paints and colors representing three distinct product lines: Base, Technical, and Shade. That’s all information taken straight from the packaging, inside and out.
The exact meaning of each of those product lines is left to the buyer to learn. As one of the uninitiated, let me break it down from my own experience:
- Base - these are “standard” colors and paints
- Technical - a textured choice that imbues dimensionality and grit to otherwise flat surfaces
- Shade - AKA a wash, it’s thin pigment to spread over a painted area to subtly influence its tone
My Impressions
While the back of the box has diagrams for assembling each of the minis and the artwork provides some guidance on the default color scheme, I’m really stuck on the fact that this is a starter kit that doesn’t give any guidance on how to paint these dang things.
There are six paint pots, but my hardest look at the box art only shows three colors! Even the simplest “paint by numbers” style insert would help here, and the overall product suffers for it. Marketers: if your product is basic enough to include a paintbrush, tell us a little bit how to use it!
There is an excellent beginner video for painting this kit on the Warhammer YouTube site (and I love to see that!) but there are no URLs to that tutorial in, on, or around the box. There’s not even a link to it from their own product page!
Painting and Assembly
Assembly was super easy and forgiving. Not gluing or cementing the pieces provides plenty of grace to tweak parts alignments and assembly sequencing. Thinking back to my childhood days of mutilating models and gluing my fingers together, the push-together assembly of this kit is a dream come true. That quick assembly is also a boon to a FLGS hosting game sessions: from checkout to combat in as long as it takes to pop the parts off their supports!
I had one concern going into the painting experience and it was confirmed once I started. These parts are all bare plastic and paint simply does not like to adhere to their smooth, non-porous surfaces. Experienced mini-painters know to always always always paint over primer, not plastic. It’s not the end of the world, and there’s certainly enough paint in this kit to base-coat a literal army of minis, but a factory-applied coat of primer would be a great elevating addition; I’d probably trade the brush for it.
Methodolgy
I’m a nerd, sue me. I left two models tangled up in sprue, cutting out and assembling the third. I only applied paint to surfaces on the two cosplaying Han in Jedi, and one of those I gave two thin coats of Vallejo Acrylic-Polyurethane primer in Grey (74.601) before applying a coat of Kantor Blue. One base got a single coat of primer, one was left pristine, and one I coated with Agrax Earthshade just for giggles.
Applying a shade to black plastic is, as expected, pointless. The primer-coated base got brushed on one hemisphere with the Agrax and the other with Astrogranite. The shade plays very nicely with the uneven brush strokes in the single coat of primer, while the sandy texture of the Astrogranite nicely embellishes the micro-pebbled surface of the base.
The primer coated the models well enough, but a second coat was needed to get consistent base tone. Two coats of thinned Kantor on the bare plastic covered about as well as the primer, but the dark tone of the underlying plastic shows through (this may be desirable!). The first coat of paint looked very dodgy after thinning the paint appropriately, with notable brush strokes and puddling in crevices and flat areas.
Flush-cut snips and my thumbnail were used to tidy-up the cut away sprue marks.
Conclusion
The Good
- Fast, easy assembly
- Generous variety and quantity of high-quality paints
- All-but-complete starter kit
- The included paintbrush is nicer than expected
The Bad
- A factory coat of primer would be nice
- True “starters” may not love the lack of painting direction
- Variety of paints could be overwhelming, confusing
The Ugly
Nothing truly objectionable here. This is a well put-together kit (I just want a little more instruction!)