Victoria Miniatures 28mm Spanish Inquisition Figure Set, by Bill Michaels

KIT #:
PRICE:	AUD$35.00
DECALS:	N/A
REVIEWER:	Bill Michaels
NOTES:	Totally unexpected, especially for Monty Python fans!

“Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition!” was a line first used in Season 2, Episode 2 of Monty Python's Flying Circus, as the Inquisitor Ximenez and his two Cardinals burst onto the set.

The Spanish Inquisition series of sketches need no explanation to serious or even casual Monty Python fans. The recurring interrupting sketch featured Michael Palin as Cardinal Ximenez, with his assistants Cardinal Fang (Terry Gilliam) and Cardinal Biggles (Terry Jones). The recurring gag of the sketch was their total ineptitude in torturing their victims to confess to the sin of heresy. “Poke him with the soft pillow!” and “Bring out the Comfy Chair!” are famous lines.

Sculpted by Victoria Lamb, this set of three figures released in 2013. They are 28mm or “Heroic Scale” which is a popular scale for Miniatures Gaming. The figures are cast in a light gray resin, and are very nicely detailed. Both round and square plastic bases are included, so the figures can be mounted on whichever type is used in your gaming system. These figures replace an earlier, very similar version, that was cast in white metal.

The Cardinal Ximenez figure is cast in one piece. Cardinals Biggles and Fang are each cast in one piece except for their hands. Each of the two assistant figures has two sets of hands, one holding a more serious item (for use in a more traditional gaming scenario), and one holding an item from the famous Monty Python sketches. All of the figures are mounted by the feet to a bar of resin that fits in the slot of the gaming base. The hands with the equipment are attached to a separate sprue of resin.

Like many figures, you need to paint and then assemble it. These figures fit right in! The way the figures are molded, you really need to paint the entire figure before attaching the hands. I grabbed the base tabs with a clamp and used that as a handle for the painting process.

The first step was to give the parts a thorough wash, to get any remaining mold release off of the resin. I then spent a couple of minutes cleaning up a couple of small molding seams. I mounted the hands on popsicle sticks with little dabs of super glue. With the figures already in their clamps, it was time to get painting!

The next step was to prime the figures. I often will prime figures with black primer, as it makes a great base coat for later shadows and layers of color. But since these figures are almost all red, I used Tamiya light gray primer in the aerosol can. Using gray is the best primer to use for red-- it takes fewer coats to get good coverage than it does over a white or black primer.

Sidebar: For the painting of the figures, I used the “3 layer Acrylic” technique described in a recent book I had acquired. Wargames Illustrated Paints is a special edition from the UK-based publishers of Wargames Illustrated. The book is focused on techniques that gamers can use to produce great looking figures that don't take forever. I found the section on painting faces to be especially helpful. This is an excellent book, and inexpensive, too!

The figures were brush painted with a variety of Citadel paints. I really like these paints for brush painting- especially the metallics. I use them a lot for detail work in my aircraft models, especially in the cockpit. In this case, I used three reds for the robes, a couple of metallics for the details, and two tans for the faces.

Here's the basic painting process: The robes were painted with a dark red first. When that was dry, the main red was applied. As it dried, I added a second coat of the main red, avoiding the recesses where the colors should be darker. When that dried, a drybrush layer of light red (almost pink) to pull out the highlights. I was really pleased with how easy it was and how great it turned out.

I am particularly pleased with how the faces came out. Like many model builders I know, figures and faces were not my thing, and I usually tried to avoid them. But I followed the simple steps in the WI book, and the result was the best faces I've ever done! The eyes and teeth were easy-- a white background with a little bit of fine black detail. This is definitely a technique I'll use in the future!

As a Python fan, of course I went with the humorous version of the hands/equipment! Cardinal Fang is carrying the scroll used to “read the charges”, while Cardinal Biggles has the infamous “soft pillow with the stuffing all up one end”. I wanted to get the figures ready for an imminent club meeting, so the figures were simply mounted on the included plastic bases. A coat of dark gray paint completed the basing. (I may do a more involved vignette-style base in the future.) I never got around to putting a flat clear coat on the figures, and I probably won't bother. (I would clear coat them if I was going to be using them as gaming pieces.)

Highly recommended. Painting small figures like this are great change of pace, and a break from more involved projects. No airbrush cleaning, no decal silvering, just basic brushwork. These whimsical figures were a lot of fun-- I couldn't help but smile when I looked at them. It is a great little kit, and nearly everyone who see sees them knows exactly what they are.

Wargames Illustrated Painting, published by Wargames Illustrated, Beeston, Nottingham, UK. (wargamesillustrated.net)

Review kit courtesy of my son, who got me this for me for my birthday. It took a while to arrive from Australia, but it was worth the wait!

Special thanks to Pip Moss of the IPMS Patriot Chapter in Billerica, Massachusetts for taking all the great pictures of the completed figures.