Dead Man's Hand Plastic Gunfighters Review

 

Welcome back to the blog with my next review: Dead Man's Hand Plastic Gunfighters from Great Escape Games. I picked this box up as a small project for some skirmish gaming in the Wild West (I'd been watching a few Western's recently and wanted to scratch an itch). I'm intending to use the Ruthless rules, which I saw on the LittleWarsTV Youtube channel, and loved the look of these- I generally try to get plastic miniatures where possible (personal preference) and these appeared like good value (£15). So, what are my thoughts on the kit?

Value- 5/5

You can't fault the value on this kit- 10 miniatures for £15 is already fairly reasonable, but with the options you get in the kit, this could form the basis for many different kinds of miniatures for miniature games in the West- you could just buy this box and be ready to play a game.

The sprues contain twice as many heads as needed, and about twice as many weapons and extras needed too. The only note I would make in regards to value is that you will get leg and body repeats if this bothers you.

Quality- 3/5

The quality definitely isn't bad on these, but it's also definitely not perfect.

The detail is reasonable, and they should paint up nicely- there is even some fairly fine details on a few of the sculpts, such as watch chains etc. There is nothing amazing about them though, and you will get a higher quality sculpt from a metal Dead Man's Hand miniature. This is demonstrated best with details such as the sheriff's badge and holsters- you get to place them wherever you want, but, they look chunky and aren't always easily placed in a natural way. A deserved 3/5, solid, but not going to blow you away.

Build- 3/5

These models remind me of the kind of multi-pose plastic kits Games Workshop were making 10 or so years ago. You get a set of legs, a torso, arms and a head- which can all be mixed and matched. In theory, this allows you to combine any in combination with each other. In reality, you've got to temper your expectations as to how creative you can get. Take the 'drawing gun' arm pictured above for example. The nature of how this attaches to the model means that it needs to attach to the arm 'socket' and then onto the trousers/belt. Whilst you *could* attach this to any torso if you wanted, only 2 of the torso's actually enable the gun to glue onto the belt, as a result of jackets/coats getting in the way. So, if you want your poses to make sense, you aren't going to be able to create absolutely any pose you want. 

I don't want this to come off as too negative though- the models went together well- I only had 1 case of a hand not quite attaching to the gun to support it, and a few mould lines and very small gaps that will need filling. Other than this though, the building was a smooth process- and you do get the ability to create miniatures which feel 'your own.'

Looks- 3/5

The models do the job- and I am genuinely happy with the results and looks. When compared with other miniatures on the market though, I don't feel I can score these higher than a 3. They are just good- and sometimes that's all you need. If you're going to pick these up over the Metal gangs for Dead Man's Hand, you're getting them for a level of customizability and price, or because you like plastic, rather than that they end up looking better. 

Overall- 14/20

I'd recommend these overall, especially if you like plastic miniatures or don't want to make to heavy an investment. They're certainly a bit of fun, and at £15, you're hardly breaking the bank for 10 miniatures- and a way to play a new game, or build a unique looking gang very easily. I'm definitely looking forward to getting these painted and on the table!