Unboxing Malifaux - Vintage Hamelin

"Do you know any happy tunes?.."

The Vintage range of miniatures are sometimes found in prize support 'mystery boxes' as well as available to purchase via Wyrd Games various sale events or via their 'Guilder' scheme if you're lucky enough to be (or be willing to perform 'favours' for) a local Henchmen or attend certain events...I acquired mine via one of the aforementioned sales...it also came in a bag rather than a box...making this an unbagging I suppose...

The Vintage Hamelin bag contains enough parts for one miniature...namely Vintage Hamelin. It also contains a stat card for him though there are no upgrade cards.

Hamelin

Eons ago, Plague was a preeminent alchemist in Malifaux, well respected in his field of study. He developed a fascination with decay and aging, focusing his research on the manipulation of both. A tragic accident during an experiment involving the aether and a plague rampaging through Malifaux City nearly killed him. Drowning in his own blood, the alchemist tapped into the aether desperately. Screaming in agony, his eyes closed. The next day, Plague's eyes opened.

Few records remain from the years of the Tyrants of Malifaux. The only certain thing is that they were locked away, trapped because they could not be killed. Plague slept millennia in the necropolis deep below Malifaux City. He was awoken by Hamelin the Rat Catcher, a pitiful bully on the run from the Guild. Hamelin's death was messy and horrific, reminiscent of Plague's first rebirth. Immediately, the Tyrant went after His ultimate goal, only to be prevented by Kirai Ankoku who shattered His physical form. It took months, but Plague eventually reformed Himself. Now, He acts more slowly to ensure His victory in the long run, searching for a new method of ascension into the aether- and the acquisition of true immortality.

Plague is the most aggressive of the active Tyrants. He holds to a strange view, that all of the Tyrants are playing a great game, one which is only worth playing because existence itself is the gamble. While His first attempt at ascension, harnessing the power of the Red Cage, failed miserably, He has discovered new methods to try. With everything on the line, He refuses to admit defeat.

Vintage Hamelin - Sprue

The bag has one sprue in it as well as the aforementioned cards. Here's pictures of both sides of it...

Vintage Hamelin - Stat Card

Wyrd Games don't normally like my publishing pictures of both sides of the stat cards but as the stats for their masters are on their website I don't think it matters in this case...

Should there be any assembly issues with the model then they will be listed in the appropriate section and you can view larger versions of the smaller pictures or instruction pictures by clicking on them.

Vintage Hamelin - Instructions

Couldn't find any official assembly instructions so you'll have to make do with my pictures I'm afraid...

Some General Notes on Assembly

Many of these models contain quite small parts so depending on how dexterous you are you might consider getting yourself some tweezers. Dry-fitting is also always a good idea in case a part needs a tiny bit of extra filing or filling as some of the fits are quite tight. Where the parts on the sprue are quite thin (chains, weapon shafts, cables and the like) then it might be better to remove parts with a sharp scalpel rather than cutters.

Vintage Hamelin - Assembled

The main body is two fairly substantial pieces. The hair goes in a slot in the rear at the top, the face goes in the remaining gap on the side. The feet are separate, one has an obvious location point (a small slot in the base) but the other doesn't really. If you look closely there's a tiny raised piece on the cloaks front edge which aligns with an indentation in the other foot but it's barely noticeable. There's some delicate fingers on the models hands and of course the flute itself is fairly thin. Put the flute hand on first as the other hand goes in front of it and I doubt you'd get a good alignment if you try to do it the other way around. 

If you're using this as an assembly guide then read this bit all the way to the bottom before doing anything as I wrote it as I was going along...

There's a tiny feather that looks like it balances on top of the hat rim as well...some patience is definitely required for that...there is a location point which seems to want the feather put on before the hat rim is added as there is a tiny location piece on the bottom of the feather...as long as you don't accidentally chop it off thinking it's sprue that is but then if you attach it first you can't get the hat rim over the bloody thing... the hole in the hat rim isn't actually round so there is a correct way for it to orientate...though it will will slip into a number of other locations so be careful if you're fussy about thing being exactly right...therefore... 

...first ensure the head, hair and face pieces are flush so the hat rim will sit correctly, then add the hat rim ensuring that the indentation for the feather is above the edge and then add the feathers location piece into the slot that should be visible above the rim near the front...

Vintage Hamelin - Comparison Picture

Here's a comparison picture between the original metal version, the newer plastic one and the vintage version.

Vintage Hamelin - Rotational View

Here's a rotational view...

Thoughts and comments are (as usual) most welcome

Should you ever choose to purchase something based on one of my features or reviews then it would be nice if you could let the company know where the inspiration came from...who knows...they might be grateful to the poor unappreciated blogger who sent you their way...if however I've put you off a product...well...you can keep that info to yourself...