Grishnak Models?

[Bubba Pearson]

Anyone here ever done business with a .ru user/company going by the name of "Grishnak Models?"  I saw some unique, really bumpin' Sisters of Battle-styled warrior miniatures by this fellow/company (featured on the Spikey Bits site, IIRC).  Nothing but a photo of some excellent minis was covered in that posting, so afterward, I binged the name, found an email link, wrote to he/she/it/them to compliment the creator and ask about availability.  I got back a polite reply, along with a catalog for five pretty good-looking resin minis, with options to purchase the parts to equip all five with heavy weapons (five each of heavy-melta and heavy-bolter type weapons).  I could just send 'em the PayPal cash for an order and hope for the best, but I sure would like to know they're legit before sending 'em money.  Anyone?  If I get no responses, I'll place an order and post the results here.  Nice looking models, and less expensive than GW, although they seem to be about the same price (and quality) as the offerings from Wargame Exclusive (and Artel, sort of), with a slightly different from GW, but easily recognizable AS look.  

 

Update: I did a bit more research on this, and discovered coverage of the minis by Dakka Dakka and a number of other sites and blogs, a 'home' website, an email address, some english translations of the original Cyrillic posts (the hobbyists are Russian), etc.  The website I found in one review had a statement that the folks that did these really aren't in the business of selling minis, but: send 'em a personal email (as I did), and they'll get back to you (my query resulted in a catalog, as indicated above, so it sure looks like someone is selling minis).  That's kind of unusual.  Anyhow, the five models go for $26.50, with the VERY nice heavy weapons and custom backpacks (5 of each) priced at $7.50 per set.  The heavy weapons on the models look just incredible, so I'll probably soon send 'em a small order for 5-15 of the figures and both sets of heavy weapons/backpacks.  I still hope to hear from someone here (hear?) that may already have done business with them, but I will be sure to post the results of any purchase attempts I actually make, along with all the specifics of how-to for everyone else if everything turns out cool.  

 

Stay tuned....

[radionausea]

I bought some from them but I hadn't updated my address on PayPal, so sent to my old address and then they were returned to Russia. I contacted them and they reshipped to my current address with no issues. Definitely worth the money, the sculpts are lovely and they are definitely legit.

[Bubba Pearson]

Thanks for the information. I was right on the cusp of ordering anyway, but thought I would double check here first, and what do you know? Success. I really love the look of the models with their heavy weapons, so now I have no excuse not to make a purchase. If you care to do so, I would love to see what you accomplished with the miniatures you bought: have any photographs? Thanks again!

[Spacefrisian]

Not with Grishnak but with Wargames Exclusives, delivery took a while cause customs stopped it for being a Russian company, the quality of those sister models is better than GW, and i doubt the plastic GW kits will be better.

 

No problem getting Raging heroes stuff, that only took 4 days for me, but they are from France if iam not mistaken. 

[foxlight713]

Not with Grishnak but with Wargames Exclusives, delivery took a while cause customs stopped it for being a Russian company, the quality of those sister models is better than GW, and i doubt the plastic GW kits will be better.

 

No problem getting Raging heroes stuff, that only took 4 days for me, but they are from France if iam not mistaken. 

 

I do agree Wargames stuff is excellent.

[Kraken]

I can confirm Grishnak and Wargame Exclusive minis are great.

WE models specifically are actually very nice to work with despite being resin.

 

Didn't have any problem with customs, but I'm ordering from Europe.

[Spacefrisian]

Iam from Europe as well.

[Krom4095]

Just ordered from Grishnak. 3 units of 5 plus 1-2 ea of the heavy weapon upgrade sets. Can't wait to get them. I'm in the States so I'll let you all know how long they take to arrive.

 

Also splurged and got one ea of the alternate Penitent Engines from Wargame Exclusives & Raging Heroes.

[Bubba Pearson]

My package from Grishnak Models arrived today (photos to follow later of the contents), after being placed on or about the 21st of February.  So, after a day or three for Grishnak Models to process the order, followed by about two weeks in transit from their location in Russia and across the continental US to my home, I am quite pleased with the delivery time, and was prepared to have to wait a bit longer.  My box was sealed everywhere with what I suppose to be Russian customs tape, and hadn't been opened again here in the US for inspection, as another customer experienced.  Wow, what great looking War Maidens (Battle Sisters in all but name, more or less, although they absolutely are not one-for-one rip-off copies of GW models).  I cut the tape all around the box, opened it up and first examined everything.  Everything was there: I received my order of three five-woman squads of 'Sisters, 4 each of the heavy bolter sprues, 4 each of the multi-melta cannon sprues, one sprue of the nick-knack special weapons and ... hey, FREE stuff!  Apologizing for not getting the order out more quickly (I had no problem with the time from order to arrival), an extra Battle Sister model was included, as were several additional sprues of the heavy weapons (heavy bolter and multimelta cannon) and special weapons (a flamer, a meltagun, parts for converting the bolters into combi-weapons, an extra helmeted head, spare shoulder pads, etc.).  All told, one complete extra mini sprue, with enough heavy and special weapon conversion sprues to equip/convert several more (three meltas, two bolters and an extra special weapons sprue).  Very nice.

 

Each squad of War Maidens (Battle Sisters, effectively), part number 01WM0101, came in a separate envelope, and included were: one tiny plastic baggie containing one sprue each of the five different sculpts of troopers, one of which appears to be a sergeant or officer, and another of which is kneeling (the others are all standing, one in a firing pose and the others with bolters loosely held in front of them).  Another baggie contained five GW-style slottabases (one for each trooper).  Each envelope also included one baggie containing a Special Weapons sprue, part number 01WM0102.  Just tossed in the box, without a cool brown envelope, were the five 01WM0103 sprues I ordered containing heavy bolters, belt feeds, a custom backpack and the like, as well as five of the 01WM0104 meltagun cannon and associated equipment sprues.  I wasn't aware that each 01WM0101 included a 01WM0102 sprue when ordering, or I wouldn't have ordered an extra 01WM0102 sprue, although I'm not complaining.  I couldn't be happier that each squad is made up of more stuff than I thought I'd be getting.  Getting more than I thought I bought (which happened in fact as well as in my mind) is absolutely a Good Thing in my book.   Your mileage may vary.

 

These are some beautifully accomplished miniatures, although now that I see them in person, I think the breast area of each suit of armor is accentuated to the point of being improbably out of scale -- I'd guess the breast bumps would stick out from the rest of the armor about an extra 5-7 inches on a full scale figure, so whoa (although, who really knows what the future may bring?).  I didn't notice this in the photos of the miniatures online or in the Grishnak Models catalog however, so it can be overlooked, and the rest of these finely detailed minis are very nicely done indeed.  I bought these models for several reasons, the most important of which being the GW AS models are and always have been just too darned expensive.   After that very important criterion, I chose these over other AS 'lookalikes' (or attempting to convert my own using parts from different suppliers, although I did buy goods from several suppliers to try my hand at exactly that) primarily because I was looking for professional warriors of the sci-fi far future who happened to be female, not to buy models that would titillate my testosterone hormonal levels, and these seemed like the least-sexup up models I could locate online that still could pass for Adepta Sororitas stand-ins.  I'm sorry I didn't notice the incredibly augmented breast augments earlier, but still, these models are gorgeous, the oversized breasts can be overlooked (more or less), and there's no partial nudity or anything, like some of the models available from other sources, so I still am very pleased with these 'kits.'  Great sculpts, good quality resin, well molded, extra stuff ... what's not to like?  I'll try to find my camera and post some photos to the thread over the weekend.  If you're interested in acquiring some for yourself, at roughly $25 US per squad of five, they're the best bargain out there, so send an email to grishnak.order@gmail.com requesting a catalog and snag a few for yourself.   

 

Bubba Pearson, March 8 2019

[Bubba Pearson]

Not with Grishnak but with Wargames Exclusives, delivery took a while cause customs stopped it for being a Russian company, the quality of those sister models is better than GW, and i doubt the plastic GW kits will be better.

 

No problem getting Raging heroes stuff, that only took 4 days for me, but they are from France if iam not mistaken. 

 

While the models are absolutely beautiful, and far beyond my abilities to create, I don't particularly care for most of the Raging Heroes female sci-fi troopers.  No disrepect is intended at all regarding your purchase, or really to the company (the minis look fantastic), yet It seems like as much, or maybe even more effort went into making them attractive women than went into making them represent effective female soldiers.  Again, they ARE beautiful models, and I still may buy some of the less egregious sculpts, but I really don't go for the half-nude, hyper-sexual look of these types of models -- including many of the female miniatures from GW, Wargame Exclusive, Statuesque and others -- when all I want is great models of troops that happen to be female.  I just received an order of some squads, individual models and bits from Victoria Miniatures in Australia, and just like her miniatures work (the first woman to win the GW Golden Demon contests), they are absolutely incredible works of art, while remaining soldiers that just happen to be female.  I bought the bits to try to convert a few of my own, but I sure wish someone out there was making female Space Marine-type models.  I mean, it's supposed to be the far future, and women already are serving in the armed forces of many nations, so where are the models?  Many of the fine fantasy lines produce female models that can be converted into futuristic sci-fi warriors, especially now that Victoria Miniatures and others are producing weapons, arms and heads for females in 28mm scale, but when it comes to heavy troops in full armor, there's just nothing available.

[General Strike]

I emailed grishnak and haven't heard back from them.

[Bubba Pearson]

I emailed grishnak and haven't heard back from them.

@HCMistborn: GM, the person (or just the company initials?) with whom I worked, often took a day or two for email turnaround.  Give 'em a couple of days and try again would be my advice.  As I discovered during minimal research, the web site associated with them says they are not really in the business of producing models and I think that's true.  They seem more like a small group of very talented and enthusiastic hobbyists willing to share their work for a few bucks than definition businesspersons.  That was my overall impression.  They definitely seem to know what they're doing, and nothing about our discussions or the transaction was amateurish or iffy.  The minis and bits are very well sculpted and executed.  They're affordable.  They're easy to assemble as-is (the squad 'kit'), and fairly easy to assemble and modify by anyone comfortable with moderate-to-advanced modeling skills (heating and re-shaping resin parts, cutting/trimming minis and pieces for best fit, use of putty (green stuff), cyanoacrylate ('super') glue assembly, etc.).  They double checked my order before sending me an invoice.  They alerted me when my order went out for delivery via low-cost regular post, and the safely packaged goodies arrived as expected, taking around two weeks for delivery, which was fine by me.  They absolutely made me a happy hobbyist, and now I'm hoping they ramp up and turn out even more miniatures and bits (there were photos of minis not now listed in their PDF catalog displayed on the web site) .  My overall experience?  I'm a fan, but as always, caveat emptor (your mileage may vary). :-)  Good luck and enjoy your hobbying!

[General Strike]

Yeah they just got back to me, really good prices. Wish they had heavy flamers in the catalog. I'm tempted to go in on these, especially since GW will probably charge 60$ for ten sisters.

[Brexan]

I'm struggling to wait for the plastic release and based on this thread I ordered some Grishnak models which arrived today. I have to echo the positive feedback. These  guys deserve a lot of credit and really have put GW to shame -  I doubt GW could produce anything much better. 

 

The models are stunning with fantastic detailing, including fleur-de-lys decals which other third-party models seem to lack. I believe the models are technically resin, but its very high quality and looks just like plastic. 

 

I ordered two sets of five sisters to use as Dominions, figuring it'd be a good way to differentiate from Battle Sisters in my army. I had debated ordering another squad to make two units of six, but as it turns out they sent me two additional sisters for free anyway!

 

It did take just over four weeks for them to arrive (in the UK) but it was worth the wait. In terms of their response rate, I made contact and had placed and order and paid later the same day.  Strangely they emailed me today with tracking information, but they've already arrived. No biggy.

 

I've bought a couple of models from other third-party sites - Wargame Exclusive and Raging Heroes - and while I'm very pleased with those, these Grishnak models really are a cut above.