Review Andrea Miniatures Sturmann 1940 1/16 review
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First, great review, thanks!
Sorry, for me, its a bit lacking,especially for the price. I live in a world where regardless if I can afford it or not, it should be worth the extra $$$ over a competing product. Alpine figure for $55-$65 is easily as detailed, with better casting on parts like the rifle and chin strap, for 2/3 the price. I hate white metal parts, why Andrea feels that it can't pull off those parts in resin is beyond me, perhaps they should look into the folks that people like Alpine use to cast their stuff. Alpine is all resin, with superior detail compared to white metal parts, not to mention weight savings. The small head is another bummer, its very reminiscent of some of the S&T figs that have the smallest heads I have ever seen. Speaking of size, can you tell me how it compares to figs from Alpine? After reading the review of the Andrea 1/16 Fallschirmjager figure that stated it was closer to 90-100mm and not 1/16th scale, I wrote it off. I thought about buying this one and mating him up with some of the Alpine guys, but if he suffers from the same scale issue, its another no go. I realize that every sculptor and company seems to translate 1/16th and 120mm differently, some using the term interchangeably, while making totally different sized figs. Jeff Shiu comes to mind, his 120mm figs being larger than other companies "120mm", and far larger than most Alpine 1/16. Finding out how this one compares to Alpine 1/16 would be very useful to me.
Thanks again for the review.
Sorry, for me, its a bit lacking,especially for the price. I live in a world where regardless if I can afford it or not, it should be worth the extra $$$ over a competing product. Alpine figure for $55-$65 is easily as detailed, with better casting on parts like the rifle and chin strap, for 2/3 the price. I hate white metal parts, why Andrea feels that it can't pull off those parts in resin is beyond me, perhaps they should look into the folks that people like Alpine use to cast their stuff. Alpine is all resin, with superior detail compared to white metal parts, not to mention weight savings. The small head is another bummer, its very reminiscent of some of the S&T figs that have the smallest heads I have ever seen. Speaking of size, can you tell me how it compares to figs from Alpine? After reading the review of the Andrea 1/16 Fallschirmjager figure that stated it was closer to 90-100mm and not 1/16th scale, I wrote it off. I thought about buying this one and mating him up with some of the Alpine guys, but if he suffers from the same scale issue, its another no go. I realize that every sculptor and company seems to translate 1/16th and 120mm differently, some using the term interchangeably, while making totally different sized figs. Jeff Shiu comes to mind, his 120mm figs being larger than other companies "120mm", and far larger than most Alpine 1/16. Finding out how this one compares to Alpine 1/16 would be very useful to me.
Thanks again for the review.
MrBMB
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I agree with everything you said but we differ on price but I am not saying you are wrong as you are right 
People buy watches of all prices and they pretty much all do the same thing. That could be said for clothing as well and especially cars/4wd, pretty much anything. I do agree with you that I would say that if Alpine miniatures did the same figure in the same pose I would take Alpines everyday of the week. Its the pose I wanted/liked, not the price
To answer your other question/s .............................from toe to top of helmet he stands around 115mm- 120mm depending on my eyesight.
I would say he won't go with other Alpine miniatures figures as ( my opinion) I think he might be a little skinnier which gives him a smaller look.
Let me know if you have any other questions
People buy watches of all prices and they pretty much all do the same thing. That could be said for clothing as well and especially cars/4wd, pretty much anything. I do agree with you that I would say that if Alpine miniatures did the same figure in the same pose I would take Alpines everyday of the week. Its the pose I wanted/liked, not the price
To answer your other question/s .............................from toe to top of helmet he stands around 115mm- 120mm depending on my eyesight.
I would say he won't go with other Alpine miniatures figures as ( my opinion) I think he might be a little skinnier which gives him a smaller look.
Let me know if you have any other questions
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Nope, just the price.
Alpine figs have (IMHO)better detail and casting, better faces, and many are based on photos, their recent HJ machine gunner being an example. I see nothing about the Andrea figures that sets them apart, other than the price, but thats nothing new for Andrea. This fig reminds me very much of the Verlinden SS figure that was released probably 20-25 years ago. I would say the Verlinden fig is about as well detailed, better cast, and about the same size, being one of Verlindens smaller variants of 120mm scale, actually being thinner and smaller than some companies 1/16 figs. Verlinden never could establish a standard size range for their 120mm figs.
Anders Heintz
A Fixture
Regarding the sizes it should be noted that 1/16th and 120mm is not the same scale. 120mm is more equivalent to 1/15th scale. Verlinden pieces were all in 1/15th which is the reason for them being larger. S&T figures by Rosengrant and Taesungs Alpine figures are true 1/16th, thus smaller than 120mm/ 1:15th scale. From what I've gathered the Andrea pieces are 3D sculpted and refined by a sculptor after printing.
MrBMB
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After doing the vid and having this together on my desk for a couple of days, here are my thoughts.
Is it expensive............ yes, is the quality/casting better and Alpine Miniatures............... no ( but to be fair Alpine in my opinion is one of the best out there)
I would say the parts go together very quick ( much faster than Alpines due to the key and lock and less pour blocks still attached) as you would have seen in the vid but there still is a fair bit of clean up on some parts to do, so the parts aren't as cleanly casted as Alpines
I think the main two issues for me is the metal parts, rifle and shovel/knife .
If Alpine Miniatures did the same figure ( I mean exactly the same looking ) in the same pose with the same parts assembly but did a better job on the gun and the other metal parts I would give the whole figure a 11/10. I am a bit uncomfortable comparing this figure to Alpine Miniatures because most figures aren't up to Alpines standard but I still buy them.
The rifle is very very close to the same size as Alpine Miniatures rifle
Price 6/10
Fit of parts 10/10
Pose and overall look 10/10 ( for me and I can't make up my mind about the head size with helmet on ) this is excluding quality of parts, this kit just has a more real look to it than most figure kits. I can't really explain it, you just have to be standing in front of it to know what I mean.
Quality 7.5/10 due to the shoulder casting area, the metal parts which aren't up to standard with the rest of the figure especially the rifle which could of been much better in resin. The rifle end annoys me the most for the price of the figure it should have been much more defined.
Again these are just my thoughts, I have been around for awhile and have seen my fair share of figures in my time.........................hopefully many more to come
Is it expensive............ yes, is the quality/casting better and Alpine Miniatures............... no ( but to be fair Alpine in my opinion is one of the best out there)
I would say the parts go together very quick ( much faster than Alpines due to the key and lock and less pour blocks still attached) as you would have seen in the vid but there still is a fair bit of clean up on some parts to do, so the parts aren't as cleanly casted as Alpines
I think the main two issues for me is the metal parts, rifle and shovel/knife .
If Alpine Miniatures did the same figure ( I mean exactly the same looking ) in the same pose with the same parts assembly but did a better job on the gun and the other metal parts I would give the whole figure a 11/10. I am a bit uncomfortable comparing this figure to Alpine Miniatures because most figures aren't up to Alpines standard but I still buy them.
The rifle is very very close to the same size as Alpine Miniatures rifle
Price 6/10
Fit of parts 10/10
Pose and overall look 10/10 ( for me and I can't make up my mind about the head size with helmet on ) this is excluding quality of parts, this kit just has a more real look to it than most figure kits. I can't really explain it, you just have to be standing in front of it to know what I mean.
Quality 7.5/10 due to the shoulder casting area, the metal parts which aren't up to standard with the rest of the figure especially the rifle which could of been much better in resin. The rifle end annoys me the most for the price of the figure it should have been much more defined.
Again these are just my thoughts, I have been around for awhile and have seen my fair share of figures in my time.........................hopefully many more to come
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I would say...sometimes! As I noted, the Verlinden figure I mentioned is actually very small, smaller than most of their 120mm kits and much more comparable to 1/16th scale. Their 2 man MG-42 team is the same, much smaller than their later efforts and much more comparable to 1/16th. I also have Verlinden 120mm figs that are MUCH larger than other 120mm figs. I get the feeling that as time passed and they used different sculptors, the size (and quality) was all over the place. I have many of Verlindens early figs in 120mm which usually compare fairly well to more modern figs quality and scale wise. Their series of Medieval knight figs actually have some that are more like 90-100mm than they are 1/15th. I have most, if not all, of the S&T 1/16th figs,and even in that range, the size fluctuates depending on who sculpted them. Alpine seems to be pretty steady across the board size wise,which is a good thing.
Ferris
A Fixture
Thanks for the review! I've been curious to get an up close view of these new Andrea figs.
Having seen the review, I am 100% sure that this figure was done by 3D scanning a reenactor, fixing the digital file, 3D printing and finally conventional rubber/resin casting.
This is why the fit is so perfect: the figure is digitally split in parts before the 3D printing step and these obviously then fit perfectly.
The creases in the smock particularly are reminiscent of other 3D scanned/printed figures I have seen.
I don't think the head is too small. It cannot be actually, because of the scanning/printing. It' does look small but that's only because it has a funny shapen without the helmet. With helmet it looks perfectly alright and we should keep in mind that head sizes vary naturally to some degree, and the reenactor used here could be on the lower and of the head size scale.
I am very disappointed about the casting quality. For this kind of money one should expect perfect casts. The shoulder area is the result of Andrea pre-removing casing blocks, but it is very sloppy. It is easy to fix of course, as are the other seams, but come on, this is not acceptable for this price level.
I wish Andrea had left out the base. It contains a lot of material we have to pay for, but casted grass? Yuk. anyone that can fix the casting blemishes can put some static grass on a base.
Overall, I'm still impressed by the realism of the figure. If it would be a perfect cast with very little assembly time (saving me precious time) I would be prepared to pay the figure's hefty price. But having seen this I'll finish my Apline one's first...
Thanks
Adrian
Having seen the review, I am 100% sure that this figure was done by 3D scanning a reenactor, fixing the digital file, 3D printing and finally conventional rubber/resin casting.
This is why the fit is so perfect: the figure is digitally split in parts before the 3D printing step and these obviously then fit perfectly.
The creases in the smock particularly are reminiscent of other 3D scanned/printed figures I have seen.
I don't think the head is too small. It cannot be actually, because of the scanning/printing. It' does look small but that's only because it has a funny shapen without the helmet. With helmet it looks perfectly alright and we should keep in mind that head sizes vary naturally to some degree, and the reenactor used here could be on the lower and of the head size scale.
I am very disappointed about the casting quality. For this kind of money one should expect perfect casts. The shoulder area is the result of Andrea pre-removing casing blocks, but it is very sloppy. It is easy to fix of course, as are the other seams, but come on, this is not acceptable for this price level.
I wish Andrea had left out the base. It contains a lot of material we have to pay for, but casted grass? Yuk. anyone that can fix the casting blemishes can put some static grass on a base.
Overall, I'm still impressed by the realism of the figure. If it would be a perfect cast with very little assembly time (saving me precious time) I would be prepared to pay the figure's hefty price. But having seen this I'll finish my Apline one's first...
Thanks
Adrian
Hi there
Great review and lots of interesting comments , agree with Adrian think it could be a 3D sculptor of a reenactor.
Personally I feel Andrea are struggling a bit in the market place still haven't worked out what's so special about these releases and the range but maybe that's me!
It is full of details and will no doubt sell
Thanks for sharing
Nap
Great review and lots of interesting comments , agree with Adrian think it could be a 3D sculptor of a reenactor.
Personally I feel Andrea are struggling a bit in the market place still haven't worked out what's so special about these releases and the range but maybe that's me!
It is full of details and will no doubt sell
Thanks for sharing
Nap
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