by Dan Carlson
Blood and Valor players have an exciting future ahead of them! I have been chatting the owner of Phalanx Consortium and was informed that they have a new resin mix! Usually, I prefer hard plastic over any sort of resin minis. However, the guys over at Phalanx have created a blend very similar to SioCast; as tough as plastic, while still capturing the amazing details of printed resin!
The Old
When I initially purchased some Imperial Russian miniatures in 2022, I got what I expected. Highly detailed, but very fragile, 3d-printed resin miniatures. As a “not so grey” historical gamer, I find metal to be antiquated and poorly detailed – not to mention awful to paint. On the other hand, while resin is more detailed, it lacks the one thing I like about metal: durability. After spending a while in soft foam storage, I encountered minis that had rifle barrels bend and some even broke! My brother Tyler Cherrison also had issues with his French minis; one had burst open and spilled uncured resin all over his storage box, leaving the other miniatures unsalvageable. We tried to remain positive, and not create too much alarm in the community. Eventually though, Phalanx owner Chris Bennet heard about our trouble, and came to put things right.
The New
I was contacted by Chris after he saw the issues i was having with my resin minis. He let me know that they were moving towards a new resin mixture more similar to SioCast, and offered to replace the offending minis. I jumped at the chance to replace them. Being an awesome person, not only did he replace the 8 trouble causers, but he doubled down and sent me a total of 16 Riflemen!
Upon inspecting my riflemen, I was pleased to see that the detail was preserved. in particular, the finer details of the faces and rifles are still stunning. The material feels like plastic, can bend pretty far without breaking, and can be bent back to true using nothing but your own fingers (assuming you didn’t lose them to super rats in the trenches!)
I even accidentally dropped one and the bayonet did not break; something which would have required superglue and touchups on the original run. When trimming some of the supports for the model’s feet for the running poses, the older models didn’t have a ton of flex, sending parts of the foot flying across the room was a real hazard! On the new models, this was not an issue, and the supports came away cleaner than the old resin.
Adding Color
The new material takes paint very nicely. Thanks to the crisp details, everything stayed exactly where I needed it to be (I use Army Painter Speed Paints) with no bleed. Every “section” held paint well with minimal effort and the paint did its “auto-shading” as it usually does. This, combined with my patented “accidental zenithal method” (using 1 white spray can of primer and not always getting in all the hidden crevices) made for a wonderful painting experience.
The Future
While we were chatting about the issues I had with the older material, Chris was kind enough let give me some additional information to share with the community as a whole! As of this writing, all of the new products are in the new resin! The only exceptions are the German and French miniatures. These two factions are being revised with new sculpts more fitting with the later releases (Russians, ANZAC, Ottomans, Americans, and Brits) and will have options for early war and late war heads! Even the armored cars and tanks are being updated to this new material! Chris let me know that by mid 2024, the entire line should be converted over for in-house production!
In addition, Phalanx has plans to fill gaps by offering Allied Flame Thrower Teams and identifying other game-units not commonly represented with minis (Trench Catapults, anyone?)
Chris also says that that if you are a Blood and Steel player, you should keep an eye out! In addition to their token sets, Phalanx is working on some figures in the new resin, although even my roguish charm couldn’t convince him to tell me exactly what conflict the miniatures would be for.
I wanted to thank Chris for this information and for not only listening to feedback, but rectifying it and moving forward with new materials and manufacturing methods. Historicals tends to be dictated by older gamers resisting the move away from metal; Phalanx modernizing their miniatures is a positive step that is sure to be appreciated by the younger crowd getting into the hobby. If we ever meet, Chris, the vodka’s on me! This new material is a fantastic choice, and while I was hesitant to recommend the older minis, these new ones I can recommend as some of the very best!