This miniature arrived, in the boxed set, and when I took it from the box the spear was so badly bent it was shaped like the letter C.

By the time I managed to carefully straighten it an look the upper hand was nearly broken away from the shaft entirely.

Now this would have been managable as the examples (both illustrations and box picture) indicate that the bottom of the spear should fit in the base. Unfortunatley the spear ends about 5mm short of the base.

Now I cannot tinker with trying to straighten the spear any further, because the hand will likely break off.

Unfortunaley my experience with the need to assemble all but 2 of the 8 miniatures I recieved and the problems with DSM3102 means I'm unlikely to purchase further DarkSword miniatures, unless I can be sure they do not require assembly - which neither your site, nor CMON indicate accurately.

Why is assembly a problem?
Because I'm the only miniature guy at my gaming tables the vast majority of the time. So my minis are handled roughly, which reduces DarkSword minis to display purposes, and I don't paint well enough to justify spending money on miniatures just for display.

I'm hoping that DSM1172 - Female Knight and DSM7414 - Female High Elf don't require assembly.

And now I can add Cocky Female Knight with Sword - DSM1172 and DSM7414 - Female High Elf to the multipart mini issue (neither of which appear multipart on your site either) as they have arrived from CMON.

In addition to the issues of ease of breakage the problem is compounded further by the need to correct the fit of the model's parts - requiring that I sculpt to repair the mis-fit of the parts, necessitating the purchase of appropriate putty. Given the fine detailing (and it is beautiful and fine) of the models this is a particularly irksome task.

Hi there.

Sorry to hear about the spear from Caldwell Set # 1. I can get you out a replacement spear if you like. Just drop me an email via our Contact us Section of the site (it will come to me so no worries).

Most of our models are multiple part miniatures as this opens up more interesting/dynamic posing. This of course is due to the constraints of the mold making and casting process. Many gamers RPG, Wargamers, etc - do collect and use our models. However, we are also geared towards the collector/modeler type of miniature enthusiast.

The other option for you/your gaming group are the bendy prepainted plastic minis that have been around for many years or minis like Reaper Bones that come bare plastic with some bend to it, but take paint easily and paint up nicely. These minis are more geared towards gamers vs. modelers/collectors and can get knocked around on a tabletop and shoved into a box no worries. From your comments about putting our miniatures together and knocking them around on your table, these might prove to be better options for you than our own pewter minis.

Thanks

Jim
www.DarkSwordMiniatures.com

Thanks for the reply Jim.

On the Spear; I now have a set of drill bits again and should be able to get it drilled and replaced with wire. Because lets face it sending the part to a remote part of Australia is not likely to work too well. Thanks for the offer to replace though.

On the multipart thing; it is less that they are multipart than that I cannot reliably find out which ones are multipart without buying them. Miniatures that are shown in your store as single piece miniatures (Cocky Dragon Knight) turn out to be multipart and so on.

If I could know if they are multipart before I buy I might buy more, at worst I would be making an informed decision and not get frustrated by the arrival of multipart models that seemed to be single pieces.

Regards
John