The Work Begins, Eureka Models Arrive

And so, after too much waiting and frustrations with the postal service, my models from Eureka Miniatures USA have finally arrived. I very big thank you again to Robert at Eureka, who tried to help track down the lost package and then went ahead and shipped me a full replacement order without charging me even though I offered to make a second payment (it wasn't Eureka's fault my mailman delivered the package to the wrong door). That is superb customer service and I would recommend Eureka to anybody.

I have spent much of today going through the models, trimming and filing where needed, washing them and then mounting them to temporary bases for painting (I use caps saved from drink bottles). The sculpts themselves look fabulous and I am very anxious to get to work applying some paint.

The models were all packaged very well from Eureka and were sorted nicely into small bags. After speaking to Robert at Eureka on the telephone, I know he hand picks each miniature to ensure that a customer gets as many of the different poses as possible. That was a nice touch and very appreciated. I did notice that the Eureka models seem to be made of a very soft metal compared to others I have worked with... I may need to be a bit careful handling them as much of my time today was spent making bendy things back into straight things. Overall I am very impressed with the detail of the Eureka models, which I decided to buy after seeing many great examples of them at Project Auldearn 1645.

The Eureka miniatures bagged and sorted

Trimming and filing

Miniatures mounted to temporary painting bases

The Size of Things

I am having issue with the relative sizes of two things: the size of the pikes included by Eureka with their pikemen models and the size of the miniatures relative to other models from different manufacturers. The first issue is something that Eureka can perhaps look at fixing, the second is a problem with the current hobby as a whole that we shouldn't have to deal with honestly.

The pikes that were shipped with my Eureka pikemen are far too short and I would also say too thick a diameter for the scale. Pikes of the English Civil War era were generally about sixteen feet, which would translate to approximately 80mm-90mm in length for these figures. As you can see in the photo below, the Eureka pikes are much shorter than that, measuring about 52mm in length. I could perhaps use them as short-pikes, but again, I feel the diameter is wrong. For comparison, the photo also shows a Northstar pike trimmed to 85mm. This is what I plan on using for my ECW armies as I think that will look much better on the game table and be a little more historically accurate.

Pike comparison. Northstar cut to 85mm (left) and the Eureka pike (right).

The second sizing issue I have has nothing to do with Eureka themselves but rather the differences in the absolute size of the models from the various manufacturers of miniatures. I ordered an ensign model from Warlord Games to carry the flag of my highland regiment, only to discover that there is no way the model will fit in with my new Eureka models. Both models are sold as "28mm" but the Warlord figure is much taller and the overall scale is much greater (look at the size of the head and feet) than the Eureka figure. It is extremely frustrating as a hobbyist to not have access to all of the wonderful ranges that are out there due to the size variations - I want to mix-and-match. Enough of this nonsense - it is time for standardization!

Eureka model on the left, Warlord model on the right. Not cool.