Fenris Games

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to be taken around Fenris Games. The photo above shows the hub of the busy operation. Fenris first came to my attention when I bought some of their resin bases. I recall asking in the shop if the price was per base only to be told it was per pack which struck me as astonishing value as they are very, very good.

This is Ian, sculptor and boss of Fenris. Ian has an impressive pedigree because he is an alumnus of the world famous KIAD - Kent Institute of Art and Design based here in Medway. Other alumni and Tutors include Roger Dean, Tracey Emin, Tony Hart, David Hockney, Zandra Rodes.

Ian graduated in Industrial Model Making and worked in an architectural studio.

Incidentally you will find him online disguised as 'Geronimo'.

Fenris goes back to 1988 where they were originally involved in play by mail but have been involved in tabletop model production for a decade.

Five years ago they moved production down to the Royal Dockyard at Chatham Maritime.

Fenris is a small two man operation.

Resin Production fascinates me. It looks so simple but there is a great deal of witchcraft involved. I have tried my hand at it with bloody awful results.

Ian kindly let me wander around with a camera. The Fenris studio is fascinating with all sorts of in-pipeline project material scattered around.

Two franchises in particular caught my eye.

The first is a new range of Lovecraftian horror models in production under licence: Cthulhu Wars. You may have seen them on Kickstarter. They are gorgeous. I took a couple outside to shoot them under natural light as flash whites out unpainted models.

The second franchise is Bronze Age Miniatures. These are 32mm heroic scale (similar to GW) metal models. I was so taken with them that I put my hand in my pocket and bought some.

First up are centaurs. I have some female centaurs from Eureka (Dark Temple) and wanted some male equivalents. The Bronze Age designs are somewhat bigger, which is perfect. Fenris supply them for £7 each complete with weapons and resin bases. Quality is superb with no flash. The miniature bases are a bit of a problem as they obscure the resin sculpting. A purist would saw them off and pin the centaurs to the bases but I settled for cutting the metal back a bit.

Next, the Amazons. I have some plastic Wargames Factory Amazon models (one the left of the photo). They are cheap but not great. The Bronze age equivalents are £4 but come with all parts including separate spearheads and Fenris resin bases. The scale comparison with the Salute 2013 Hero (right of photo) is interesting. Quality is great.

I will definitely be buying more of these.

It was a great visit. My thanks to Ian for his time - time being something he has not a great deal of as Fenris continue to expand.