We’re taking a look at Knuckleduster Miniatures’ Linguine Western Faction – bringing their gun toting carbohydrates to the wild west! Included are six single-piece metal miniatures along with branded MDF slotta-bases. The models are at 28mm scale, designed for Knuckleduster’s Gunfighter’s Ball range; touted on their website as “the most detailed and finely-cast wild west miniatures line ever created”.
We’d say this claim was as potentially wild as the wildest of wild west bar room brawls … if we hadn’t been appreciating these models for the last couple of days! This is sculpting of the highest calibre, showing what can be done in digital when handled correctly by the sculptor and printed out and cast at an equally high quality.
Details are very sharp and crisp; these have been well translated through to the final castings which are equally sharp and crisp. There are minimal mould lines to deal with and we honestly can’t dispute Knuckleduster’s claim. These might just be the most detailed wild west miniatures we’ve seen.
It’s not just the sharpness of the sculpting and casting that impresses though, it’s the features of the characters themselves.
The passing of Ennio Morricone has brought his legendary Spaghetti Western scores to many a set of headphones recently. You’ll want to set the right mood with a playlist of his oeuvre when painting and gaming with the Linguine Western Faction! Sergio Leone’s movie cannon is the clear inspiration; taking even a cursory look at the miniatures you’ll recognise Clint Eastwood’s ‘Man With No Name’ but it is the likeness to other iconic characters that we really love.
Harmonica from Once Upon a Time in the West is present at his “You brought two too many” best, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and the Dollars trilogy are represented.
When you can clearly recognise the actors/characters in sculpts at this scale you know that you’re holding a fine model in your hands and each of these carries not just the likeness, but also the attitude of their characters. That’s when the painting queue gets bumped to accommodate these new models.
In short, we are very impressed! There are also mounted versions of these characters available, along with a set of henchmen.
