REVIEW - Terrain by Lucky Punk Miniatures

This post has been a long time coming, and even then its not complete, that I'll explain later!

A little while back I was sent a sample of some of the 28mm terrain produced by Lucky Punk Miniatures to have a look at, and I have to say, I love it. The range is currently reasonably small, and largely, and happily, composed largely of Rourkes Drift type defensive pieces, as well as a few other oddities which might appeal - there is more on the way, and from what I gather Lucky Punk is very open to suggestions if you've got a good idea! I'm also going to add at this stage that Chris also offers a painting service on the terrain (which might be good for you, if like me your not so focused on terrain)!

The sample I was sent included the following, all of these pictures are straight out of the box.

Sandbag Emplacement

Stone Krall Walling

Sandbag & Crate Barricades

Crate Barricades

Sandbag / Mealie Bag Barricade

Crates

As you can see, all the terrain is cast in resin, as such you do get a few bubbles as you'd probably expect though I'd say that in terms of quality the pieces are as good as you'd have got from many of the old Forgeworld terrain pieces. I've not found anything which you could not either ignore completely, or which could not easily be dealt with entirely with a little sanding and/or filling. Indeed as the majority are so minor I did'nt feel the need while preparing mine to do any additional work to them.

The modelling which has gone into the terrain is excellent, there is plenty of detail, including surface textures on the sandbags / mealie bags. I'd also add that to me the look is realistic, bags and boxes have been intelligently placed within the walls giving a robust and authentic looking structure, they fold and droop in all the right places too, so the bags look full and weighty.

The next point I'm gonna address is alternatives, there is'nt as far as I'm aware a great deal of similar ready made terrain out there, urban barricades are of course relatively common, but for armies like Praetorian Imperial Guard, or for Steampunk or Colonial gaming do look a little out of place! The one alternative I am familiar with is the Rourkes Drift terrain produced by Warlord which I raved about at its point of release. Now while I dont own any of that terrain, or specifically the bits which are comparable to Lucky Punk Miniatures, having examined it quite closely at a recent convention I have to say I dont think theres anything in terms of visual appeal which really seperates them. What does seperate them is the cost. Lucky Punk terrain comes in at about a third less per barricade then the nearest Warlord Games alternative. That does'nt leave much of a contest in my book.

So then, why is this review not quite complete? Well I hit a slight snag with painting!

As I mentioned I am not honestly inclined towards painting terrain, so I look for a short cut. For these pieces I settled on a light undercoat, then basecoating them with Dheneb Stone for the Sandbags, Khemri Brown for the Crates, Adeptus Grey for the stone work. I then elected to try a product I've not used before, Army Painter Strong Tone Quick Shade - followed by a coat of Matt Varnish. As you can see this simple technique produces a quick and effective result on the terrain, this I think speaks well of the detail!

However... as you may well be aware its been a bit wet here lately and disasterously I got caught out by a shower. My other sample barricades and the emplacement have had their Strong Tone finishes ruined so I'm now stripping them before starting again... arggh! I'll update the review with the other pieces as soon as I've had a chance to sort them out, however for the meantime thats no excuse not to go and take a look at the rest of Lucky Punk Miniatures range at http://luckypunkminiatures.blogspot.com!