Tre’ Manor is a sculptor who is talented beyond belief, yet he is very much stuck in his own strict perfectionist mentality of how he wants to create his models to their own, slight and slender – and rather tiny scale. Sadly, this means that his models do not scale well with other commercial miniatures, most importantly Reaper and Games Workshop/Citadel – which is a key factor in limiting his success. I can’t fault his personal choice to follow his own artistic vision – but sadly for me as an onlooker, Tre’ seems to constantly be launching Kickstarter projects, some of which fund while others fail, endlessly sculpting and resculpting the same range of barbarians that don’t fit in with anyone else’s models. All while much more financial success sits only a few literal millimetres away with a larger scale that fits in with the big dogs’ ranges.
They do fit pretty well with GW’s Lord of the Rings ranges, especially the earlier, more “truescale” models, as I’ve discussed before, but there we’re talking about a limited number of Tre’s models working with a limited aspect of the LotR ranges. Anyway, the purpose of this post is not to grouse on Tre’s choices, especially since he’s genuinely a really nice guy in all of my interactions with him. It’s just frustrating when you see a guy who is so nice and so bloody talented being so recalcitrant to doing some stuff that could make him SO much money and allow him to follow his own vision with a bit more financial security.
Beautiful Eivor is an elf-maiden model I picked up quite a few years ago when I did a large order of RBG models, and has was selected slightly fewer years ago to be used as a replacement-PC model for a D&D thief from one of the WotC D&D Boardgames. You know, Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, Drizzzztiness of Drizzzzzzzzt and all that lot. Obviously the model would work just as easily (or even more easily) as a ranger, and was probably purchased with that in mind, but the thief role came up, and this figure was available.
This particular model appears to be discontinued at this point in time, but with quite a large range for being a one-man, one-woman shop, I can understand how RBG could only keep a limited number of models available at any given moment. You can also see just how thin she is from the “flat” angle. Truth be told, her shortsword is so thin, I’m a bit scared to actually use her in any kind of game where the model might be touched. It feels like it’ll fall off with a sneeze or a solid glance.
Paint-wise, I went with a combination of dark earth tones with a nice dark blue cloak, because those colours say “D&D Thief” to me. I also painted what looked to be designed as sexy bare legs above her sexy thigh-high boots as leggings, because that also says thief to me more than the extra bit of skin, and in turn makes the tunic more sensible adventurers’ “work” clothing than sexy mini-skirt. I went with blonde hair in the end after initially planning on dark hair simply because I wanted her hair to stand out a little, and dark hair just got lost with the dark, mostly muted clothing.
Finally, here’s a size comparison. I’m sure that any japesters amongst you would opine that she actually is correctly in-scale with the Space Marine, but the Astartes model does work to show just how slight Eivor is compared to a “normal” GW model. In the end, Eivor is now finished, after quite a few years of being mostly-undercoated white with a messy bit of blue slapped on, sitting on a textured base. Not a neglected model month, but another neglected model finally completed!
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Beautiful work on a stunning figure, I applaud Tre for sticking to his guns with scale, but as you say can limit his appeal to be used with other ranges. With how many different scales there are at the moment it can be very hard to find the right balance
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It’s definitely a choice he’s made, though I’d personally go with sculpting in two scales – one for comparability with ranges like GW (imagine Tre’ sculpting Not-Chaos models compatible with Warcry!) and one for his muse and his (probably never to eventuate) own world and game.
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Nice work. I’ve thought about getting some of the Red Box elves to use with my LotR models, but the aesthetic of the models doesn’t quite match in.
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I found that the dwarves really fit well. I also used one of his elves as a Goldberry proxy in my own collection.
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I like Tre’s scale, I just wish he’d work more on his variety. He rarely sculpts anything truly new, it’s all very similar to the stuff he was doing when I got into the hobby in 2012. How many barbarians with the exact same build, helmets, weapons, shields, accessories, cloaks, pants, etc, does one need, exactly?
I haven’t been collecting minis for a few years now, but I still buy a few of Kev White’s now and again, because he keeps upping his game and pushing himself to sculpt better.
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My gripes with his scale aren’t really about the preferred personal aesthetics of him or my own – more about financial viability. Similarly, the point you made about him sculpting what are essentially the same half-dozen barbarians in the same wide-legged stance with the same weapons and helmets as that first Kickstarter, 6 years ago. Feedback for him on Dakka after the latest project failed to fund did include that very point, and people were asking after the pretty amazing lizardman sculpts that he’d previewed as another path to follow.
Unfortunately, as great as a sculptor Tre is, he’s rather obstinate in his single-mindedness. Probably a great guy to have a beer with but the last person you’d want to be working with.
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At Reapercon 2014 he previewed some amazing new minis, kind of an egyptian death priest feel. More in line with the classic Keeper mini. I’ve been asking for years about those, including the possibility of just buying the originals if he wasn’t going to sell them at retail (or, KS, since he loves KS). Never heard about them again.
He’s a really great guy to have a beer with, though I had to mute him on FB because he’s an anti-vax Trumper.
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Damn, you had to drop that last bit…
He’s shown off/previewed some pretty amazing sculpts, yet as you said, he just tends to release more waves of barbarians and middle-ages militia. Very frustrating.
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She’s brilliant mate – great colour choices across the board, but especially with the hair. She’s just so wee!! Lovely job 🙂
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Thanks Alex. She’s small enough that I didn’t bother doing eyes and just went with the “impression of eyes”. Which isn’t something I personally will normally do!
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I’m not familiar with the marines and their scale so hard to gauge. The figure looks like a true 28 to me which I think works fine when comapred to Hasslefree, Broken Dice and others but if she is closer to 25 then I would agree. Not familiar with the extent of the range either but from what you say limited isn’t going to attract a large buying public. Still a very nice figure and well painted. Reminds me of reaper miniature as well.
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Understandable – like Pat, and to a lesser extent, John, your hobby experience is coming from a different angle. The humble Space Marine is still pretty much the best generic marker of size for most of us gamers, though.
Shit, did I just call myself a gamer? I haven’t posted a batrep here in ages! I’m a fraud! Like a guy who owns a car calling myself a chauffeur!
Sorry – little snipe at someone’s attitudes again there.. 😉
Ahem.
Anyway, the RBG models are pretty tiny even next to a typical Hasslefree or Reaper model. When I finish another RBG model (I’ve got one on the desk right now), I’ll throw Hasslefree’s Ray and something from Reaper into the mix along with Eivor here to give you a better idea. 🙂
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Wow, I knew the Red Box stuff was a little on the small side but I didn’t realise it was that small – she really is a tiny little shrimp isn’t she? Nice work though 🙂
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That she is for sure – and thanks!
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Very nice, she would fit in well with the Mantic fantasy ranges
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She’s pretty slight even next to a lot of those!
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Enjoyed reading your thoughts! I like her and the blues and browns work well together I think! I long ago accepted that in one scale there are big and small figures and work on the assumption that if there’s only one choice in certain figures it’ll have to do if I really want those figures (little guys can get put on plastic scrap to at least lift them up a bit)! Personally, I think she looks fine next to the marine!
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Thanks John – yep, I’m often one to point out that humans IRL aren’t all a uniform size, so it follows that in miniature-land the same would apply. She’s just so slight that she doesn’t fit well at all with most similarly-themed models. Fine in a vacuum, but I’d like Tre’s stuff more if it were compatible with my larger collection. (And he’d also sell a TON more models!)
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Looks lovely- the blue shading especially.
Cheers,
Pete.
PS- When I saw the title of the post before the photo I did wonder if it was about the rather good Faroese singer of the same name….
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Thanks Pete. I hadn’t heard of her before I went checking to see what this figure was called, but found actually her while researching this model. Funny how things like that work sometimes. 🙂
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Great sculpt, and you’ve done an excellent job on it! That is a bit of a bummer about the limited range and the scale not fitting in with much else, but on its own, it stands very well.
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Thanks Alexis – she’ll work well enough as a boardgame D&D PC, or as a LotR model, but not a whole lot else…
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Nice sculpt and nicer paint job. Looks like 25mm scale, which is what all the old Ral Partha, Grenadier, and even Citadel was back in the 80’s. I still have a ton of 25mm and I love that scale, even though 28mm supplanted it. I found it much more realistic or just was more used to the less heroic poses. Now, I’m less of a scale guy.
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She’s a bit smaller than that in some ways. I don’t have a heap of old 70’s and 80’s “proper” 25mm stuff left anymore, but a lot of Tre’s stuff is slighter, as well as the height of the really old stuff.
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Such a lovely model! And you’ve really managed to do the delicate sculpt justice, mate! A wonderful piece! 🙂
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Thank you, KS – very kind of you to say so. 🙂
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