Wamp Brushes Kickstarter (And Extras!) Unboxing

A few months back, I helped out with the production and running of a Kickstarter project with Brett over at Wamp. His idea was to get a set of brushes developed specifically for miniature painters from the best materials. Fast forward a few weeks from that and we exceeded our wildest expectations by hitting over £42k and over 6000 brushes, which were only slightly larger figures than the £850 and 160 Brushes we needed to produce to hit the minimum.

Add in a little time for pledge management, production and shipping, which brings me up to Saturday morning, when a large box arrived for me.

Yes, there is other stuff in the box, but that's secret and will be revealed over the coming weeks ;)

First things first - this won't be a review on the brushes. For one, while I wasn't directly involved in their development or production, I was involved in the project so anything I did say could be taken as biased. Second, it's one thing to review a miniature straight out the box, but brushes need breaking in and using to get used to them before you can truly make up your mind on them. Merkeysa also has some of the brushes on the way, so I might leave reviewing them to him if he fancies it. 

What I will do, however, is post up a load of photos detailing exactly what is in the box.

First up, the heart of the project - the brushes.

They arrived wrapped safe and sound inside the bamboo roll that was part of my pledge, which makes sense in terms both of transport space and a promise of structural integrity of the roll. If the brushes hadn't survived a bubble wrapped journey through the post in one, how would they even have a chance of surviving things most painters throw at them? 

There are 13 in total, ranging from fine detail and freehand to a vehicle brush and stipple brush. All but the Stipple brush are made of Kolinsky sable. The Stipple brush could have been made from the sable to keep the set uniform, but to do it's job properly it needed a stronger material to be used.

I forget which exact brushes are in this photo, but I believe that the one on the left is a liner, while the one on the right is a detail one.

They're going to require some vigorous testing, but I'm confident they'll be up to it. At least now I can relegate my current Games and Gears double headed brushes back to the brush stand.

Before I move onto the miniatures, here are the other things in the parcel. 

After hearing people rave about them, I asked Brett to include a PK Pro 30mm mini holder on a separate order that he shipped with the pledge. I currently use jam jars, but I thought I'd give this guy a go to see what the fuss is about. 

And again, this time modeled by my current assistant, Hush.

Next, some brush soap to look after my new brushes with. Never really used it before but I'm hoping I can get into the habit with it.

Next, two cool art books. Figure Art from Massive Voodoo is just that - a collection of cool miniatures that can be used for inspiration, while Figopedia vol 1 from just a quick glance through looks a lot more useful for developing technique on using light and darkness.

Now, the miniatures. I picked up the Wamp miniatures bundle which included all 5 Wamp miniatures, plus a couple of The Artist, which was the model Brett had created for the project. I've only got one at the moment, but I'll be picking my second one up at the Wamp Workshop at the end of August.

First up we have Gronk. He's a bust of an orc that is wearing some rather fetching headgear, complete with neck plating. He's about 4-5 cm tall and is a single piece of resin.

Next is Popeye, another Orc bust. He's about the same size as Gronk but goes up to 80mm when the plinth is added and in a few more pieces. He also includes a piece of resin that looks like some form of badly carved rock to act as a plinth. The spikes on the sprue go on the armoured strap along his shoulder.

Don't be fooled by the name, as Little Joseph is actually the biggest of the Wamp miniatures at 76mm despite being 30mm scale. That large of an expanse could just be empty space, but there is plenty of character to him, ranging from scars to veins and pimples, let alone his club and shocked companion (whom fits in Joseph's raised hand)

From the biggest to the smallest now, as we have a look at Professor Sprocket and W.I.D.G.E.T. The Professor is 15mm tall, while his robot is a little shorter. Despite the difference in scale to Little Joseph, these guys aren't lacking in detail.

Next is the somewhat seasonal Thugz Bunny, a Jason Statham impersonator stuck in a rabbit onesie with a shotgun. He sits on the eggs, guarding them from anyone who gets too close.

Finally, The Artist. A wandering painter armed only with a manbag of scrolls and a paintbrush (or paintball gun if you prefer), he's 28mm in scale. 

And that's everything! A complete range of shiny new brushes and yet more models to use them on. If you fancy any of the miniatures (except for The Artist as things currently stand) they're available from The Wamp Store and I expect the brushes will appear a short while after the remaining pledges have been shipped.