The Tale of Beowulf: 28mm Kickstarter

Medbury Miniatures haben derzeit einen Kickstarter für Historienfans am Start.

The Tale of Beowulf – 28mm Vendel Era Miniatures

28mm Metal Miniatures for Wargaming The Vendel Era (550-750AD)

The Tale of Beowulf

Is an Anglo-Saxon epic poem written around the 11thc. Set in Scandinavia during the 6th century. The poem tells the story of the Geatish warrior and king, Beowulf, and his legendary deeds, slaying monsters, earning the respect of allied kingdoms, rising to the role of king, and eventually falling to defend his people.

The poem deals with many fantastical elements, but the history it is grounded in is likely very real. Many of the story’s places and names in the text are corroborated in other sagas and real history often with similar or different names.

In the design of these miniatures, I have blended both the descriptions from the poem, as well as real-world archeological finds such as helmets, shields,  swords, and engravings contemporary to the period. This means that these models will not look out of place in a historical wargaming setting. There are 4 models however, where that is not the case; Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, King Beowulf, and the dragon. These models are directly Inspired by 3 Paintings by J. R. Skelton*.

Development:

I have been sculpting these figures over the last 6 months and we have done a soft launch of 20 figures from the KS on our website. Many more however, have been through master molds and are ready for production.

One area we are hoping to push the technology forward is with 3D-printed masters. Our models have been 3D sculpted to be visually and stylistically compatible with modern hand-sculpted ranges, however with the 3D design we can easily get a higher level of detail in the helmets and armor while still keeping it paintable. The main advantage is that we are now able to take a production mold directly from 3D-printed parts (all of the painted figures you see from us are these metal casts). This means that the minis will have a generally smoother surface area and will be 1st generation casts.

The horses for the mounted models were sculpted by us for these models. We have 4 sculpts being mirrored to 8, cast in plastic by Aetheworks in Australia. If the dragon’s Stretch Goal is met, they will also manufacture the dragon for us.

Why Kickstarter?

Despite having already created and published some of the kits available, the existing molds were done more as a hobby, not for retail production. This was done while researching, and learning metal casting techniques. Now that we have gained experience, and learned from industry professionals, we believe we are ready to complete, and upgrade this range by creating new production molds for all the figures available.

Narrative Core Set

The Narrative Core Set, contains the main characters from the poem, which are essential for retelling the story on the tabletop.

Wargaming Core Set

The Wargaming Core Set includes a Geat starter army with 38 figures.

Stretch Goals

Along with the narrative and wargaming core sets, we have lined up a variety of stretch goals should our initial goal be met. These stretch goals will provide a variety of new model types and alternative sculpts to choose from.

Gaming Systems

These models have been designed in pack numbers to seamlessly fit into any historical wargame that utilizes this historical period. Whilst all our promotional images advertise our models on raised 25mm black bases, once the campaign has ended, in the pledge manager you will get to choose between advertised bases or flat MDF bases that suit your game system at no extra cost.

Shipping

The Shipping Costs will be collected during the pledge manager after the campaign has ended. The below table is an estimate of the shipping costs you will receive. all packages will be tracked as standard, but you will have the option to upgrade to express or signed delivery in the pldege manager.

Quelle: The Tale of Beowulf – 28mm Vendel Era Miniatures