Day of the Rangers Kickstarter Review!

So something a little different today and not something that I've really been able to see on the internet so far.

Mid last year I backed the Day of the Rangers kickstarter by the guys over at Radio Dishdash and they arrived for me in the post just a few days ago. So I thought I'd crack a few out of the packets and show you guys what to expect.

When I first saw the campaign I was pretty well sold as I had been buying a ton of the Empress modern figures and these fit the bill quite nicely. I was mostly interested in the Somali figures that they were making as an addition to the empress insurgent figures that I'd picked up.

I backed the $60USD option which gave you 6 sets of 4 figures and then there was a pack thrown in for free as well which was nice. I grabbed all 4 packs (16 figs) of the Somalis, the ranger command, a regular ranger set and a delta set. Postage to Aus from the states was 25 USD which I found out once the figures were ready to post.

I've put up a ton of photos so you get a good idea of what you are looking at including some size comparisons with the Empress figures

The figures themselves are very nicely sculpted, particularly the US figures. There are quite a few mold lines on the Somali figures that I cleaned up (about 5 figures so far) but nothing that is really painful. There certainly isn't as much flash as say a Perry figure which is my industry standard for lots of flash. It is a tad annoying that some of those mold lines run across the faces and heads of the Somalis as the hair loses detail if you have to file it. Sometimes there are 2 mold lines across the face.

Not all the figures have as many mold lines as the ones I cleaned up (I did go and have a look at some of the other ones). The US figures seem to have less flash/mold lines on the whole.

The Somali figures have some really nice looking clothing sculpted onto them, I really like the look of the singlets and rag tag effect that it gives them. One thing that I have noticed is that the Somalis in particular are a bit smaller proportions wise than the US ones. As you'll see in the photos the legs are noticeably thinner than the Empress figures. Some of it will be down to pose and the fact that they aren't wearing as much gear but it is noticeable when viewed from the front. Perhaps its a sculptors choice to represent the malnourished Somali's during the famine? Who knows...

 The hands are small in comparison . Faces have really good detail and are similar to the Empress stuff. Weapon detail is also great. 

A Somali machine gunner

Front on view showing the relatively thin legs

There is some really great character in the poses that adds a real sense of dynamism to the figures

I included this guy just because I thought he looked a tad odd- when i put him up against other standing Somali figures he had massively long legs and just looked a bit off.

Really nice sculpt with the radio

A delta operator

Comparison shot between an Empress US Infantryman and the RPG toting Somali. They have slightly different stances but the heights are pretty consistent. I find that the real difference is in the size of some of the legs and arms- the empress figures are chunkier particularly through the legs. Also if you look at the hands the Somali figures have tiny hands in comparison

The US soldiers tend to be closer in thickness to the Empress stuff, obviously they are wearing more kit but the do look just a bit thicker in proportions

You can really see the leg differences here

and here

I obviously haven't shown you guys all the poses and there are heaps there that look really awesome. To be honest I reckon some of the other poses come closer to the Empress figure sizes, most of these Somali guys are out of a single pack.

All in all I really like these figures and I think that they will make great additions to the collection. I would definitely recommend the figures and I think they will paint up really nicely with all that cloth detail that they have. The Empress figures have probably just a touch more detail when comparing the US troops but to be honest its very little.

Recommended!