The EM4 plastic dwarves have been around for many years. These models are very retro in style, and definitely in molding. This is very much the typical dark-age adjacent dwarf styling, with mail armor and a conical helm with nasal guard.
Their retro style does not preclude their use on the wargaming tables of today. Indeed these models, while basic, are easily converted and highly adaptable. Indeed they look great massed in units and as an army on the table top.
Which is especially good as they are cheap as chips. $0.46 individually or as a pack of 50 for $18.50 (just $0.37 per miniature!)
Molded in one-piece, this particular dwarf has a two handed axe. There is an integral base (which can be clipped down to whatever size you deem necessary) as well as a molded nub on the back suitable to gluing a shield on-to.
Indeed, this nub is sometimes thought to be a leftover piece of a gate - part of the molding process for these miniatures. It is not, and is specifically for placing a shield onto. Many older miniatures have these, either on the back like this dwarf or directly molded onto the hand that would be carrying a shield.
I've started to paint up a unit of these dwarves, to show how they look in massed formation and when painted. To do this, I simply primed them black, drybrushed with a chainmail metallic, and then filled in details with other paints. I used extra round shields from the Wargames Atlantic dark Age Irish (a great kit and available both as a box and single sprues from my store) to complete the models.
As you can see, even with the same sculpt, the unit looks good. Variation can be furthered by clipping off the axe head and replacing it with other axe, pick-axe, or hammer heads from your bits box. I will be updating this review when I have completed some of these conversions.
Painting the beard different colors can also assist in creating a varied unit, again even with the single sculpt and pose.
This review will be updated.
Please consider checking out the EM4 collection on the store. And if you don't see the EM4 products you want, email me at Mcdougalldesigns3d.com - I can special order the entire EM4 range.
https://mcdougalldesigns3d.com/collections/em4-plastics