Earlier this year, I attended Wonderfest in Louisville, KY. It was the first time I had been to this show and it was mostly due to the encouragement (i.e. constant nagging) of John Lester that I decided to attend. For those of you who are not familiar with the event, I have been told that it is the Nationals for fantasy/sci-fi types. I can believe it. There were a huge number of vendors and a really excellent model contest. In addition there were the usual celebrities there to sign stuff and several workshops on how to do things related to fantasy/sci-fi modeling and the industry in general.

To say that I had a great time would be correct. I went expecting to spend some money and I did, though thankfully, not as much as usual as there weren't as many plastic kits on sale as at a 'normal' model contest. Much of what was vended were books, movies, collector's stuff, uniforms and, of course, resin kits of all types from anime to dinosaurs to horror and everything in between.

At the contest, I was particularly taken by a couple of entries. They were relatively large and were of a fairy creature with nicely painted translucent wings. Heading back into the vendors room, I embarked on a search for this kit. I found it at the CRM table where Chris was co-sponsoring several resin kit builders. Much to my dismay, they had sold every one of the kits they had brought and only had the display item. Looking at the display kit, I saw that it was absolutely flawless and almost didn't have any molding seams! I ordered one from CRM right then and there. Several months pass and the kit finally gets in. Since these are each hand made, it takes a while to fill orders. So now that it is here, what did I get for my C note?

First of all, it comes packaged in a very stout box with a picture of the finished kit on the outside. Opening it, I find a large base, a bag with the wings in it and another with the rest of the attaching parts. The main part of the kit is nestled in the corn curls. Opening the bags, I see that the parts are just about ready to assemble right then and there. The small, breakable parts are protected by either taping them or skewering them through the corn curls (see image). A great way to cut down on breakage. There are NO resin blocks, NO air bubbles, NO resin blobs, NO pin holes, NO seams that can instantly be seen..... If you haven't guessed by now, this is superbly made. It only goes to prove what I have learned in my short resin figure career. If you pay a little, you have to work a LOT. In this part of the hobby, high cost generally means high quality.

The parts are, the main body, the base, two arms, two large hair castings and three smaller hair castings, a name tag and four clear resin wings. Test fitting the parts, I noticed that very little preparation is needed. Parts fit quite well and though you may wish to pin the arms, it doesn't seem necessary. A bit of A+B putty on the joins and it should be ready to paint in almost no time. Though the figure is topless (it has a g-string), it has its arms positioned in such a way as to hide any 'naughty bits' so this is a figure that shouldn't offend anyone. That is why there is no warning at the beginning of this preview.

I mentioned that detail work was superb. Here is a look at the head. You can see the level of detail and the cleanliness of the castings. Included in the kit is a set of verbal instructions. Really there isn't that much to it and they could have easily been left out. However there are a number of interesting hints and suggestions given that add to the builder's options when it comes to building this kit. It is a fantasy kit so anything goes in terms of coloration. No law says the figure can't be purple with orange hair! If you are trying to guess scale, I'd say it is 1/5 or 1/6. The body is a pretty hefty chunk of resin.

No address, e-mail or website is given in with the instructions nor are any other bits of information printed on the box. There is a note stating that this is the first of a series, so I look forward to seeing the next release.

Review kit courtesy of me and my wallet (and this kit took a pretty huge bite)!

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