Cinder is another entry in the recent dragon line by Reaper. These dragon’s are the huge or limited edition ones similar to the sets found in Dragon’s Don’t Share, but rather, like Ebonwrath. In many ways, they remind me of the old Grenadier dragon of the month editions.
The figure comes in nine pieces; the head, main body, two arms, one leg, one tail, two wings, and base. It stands approximately 7 ½ inches tall with a 12 inch wingspan.
Let me start with the bad things about the figure.
Excess flash everywhere. Most of it, about 98%, is the type that can be removed with your bare fingers Mold Lines: For the most part, these are minor and easy to remove. Very minor issue on a figure of this size. None of them crop up in any of the highly detailed places. For example, I don’t see any on the scales, which would be difficult to remove. Instead, you see them on straight edge pieces like on the buttom of the wings.
Bent spines: This is probably the worst thing about the figure. The spines on the creature’s back have some bends. I was not able to straighten these out with my fingers, but had to use some small pliers and then smooth out the rough edges.
Tiny Base: The base is shaped like the letter U with slots for the feet. It works but I’d prefer to have something a little more solid. It would’ve been great if it came with a small square or round piece for use in d20 games that represented it’s size. Another shoulder shrug thing as I can easily get something fitting that need.
No Warlord stats. Not necessarily a mandatory thing in any way, shape, size or form, a stat card with the warlord details would’ve been a nice little touch.
Moving onto the good things.
Easy assembly. I hate assembling creatures. While there are nine pieces here, the sculptor did a great job of insuring that everything fits easily. A perfectionist might want to add a touch of sculpting putting to the areas where the slots join, but for the everyday painter or the lazy painter like myself, it’s not a big issue.
Great detail. The figure has some great detail sculpted into it. The snarling face, the lifted wings, the spines flowing down the creature’s back or the razor sharp talons on it’s feet and claws. Great stuff there.
Painting guide. Much like the old Warhammer boxed sets, the back has a color coded chart of what colors can be used to recreate the image of the character. For honrs and claw, you start with bone shadow and work your way up to linen white. For the wins, ghost white and blue liner. For the eyes, clear yellow. It’s a nice quick guide that’s a little more detailed than just labeling it one color without going into the actual techniques used to do so.
Easy clean up. I mentioned the flash as one of the bad elements, but it’s also thankfully easy to remove. Easy to paint. Because it’s a large monster, it’s easy to paint. While it does have different features, belly scales, base, horns and claws and regular scales, those details are nothing compared to some regular sized figures I’ve seen from Rackham with micro-detail that make me pass them by. I want to paint a figure within a few hours, not marvel as its intricacies.
For me, this figure will see some use in my Shackled City campaign. See, in that game, towards the end of the campaign, the party gets to tangle with a red dragon known as Hookface, a huge red dragon, which according to the Monster Manual, has a 15 ft./10 ft. space reach and 15 ft. with bite. Cinder will more than do the job in that case.
For those looking to add a touch of flame and feat to their games, Cinder is a great option.
