Ultramarines and bases

Despite the snow everywhere in the midlands my postman felt that he could finally stop being such a pussy and deliver me my mail.

Good thing too because he brought me both the first lot of resin bases I ordered from Dragon Forge and the collectors edition of the Ultramarines movie. Where to muse first?

The Ultramarines Movie:

When I first saw the first and second trailers I was not impressed. Indeed I believe a number of colourful descriptions regarding the quality of the film were expressed by myself with the main concerns centering around the lip sinking and the movement of the characters.

Now that I have watched the movie in full I must say I was wrong to judge too quickly. Then again, the producers did release simply appalling trailers so I think I can be forgiven.

The animation was, on the whole, a good standard. It felt like watching an hour of xbox cut scenes, which is a medium I think is appropriate to the 40k genre. It made it a touch comic book but without going full blown. I could almost see the screenplay story boards as I watched it, and it was easy to imagine Dan Abnet writing it for a comic book.

The main criticism with the animation was the movement, which I mentioned earlier. This was no where near as bad as the trailer made it look but the characters running was a little clunky and flat. It didn't appear that the characters had weight when they ran, it's difficult to explain I realise but maybe you will notice the same.

On the whole, the only major criticism with the movie was the length. It is really short lasting a mere hour. The story, although good enough, seemed to be crammed into that hour and it was obvious that every effort had been made to cut all unnecessary material. Within 20 minutes half the squad was dead. I don't think I even heard their names being mentioned (although I have been asleep for 6 hours so its likely I have just forgotten). The end battle sequence was good and it was a sneaky little twist but I do feel more could have been made of the other fight sequences.

Irrespective of that, I did enjoy the movie and I take back most of the bad things I initially said. As always, nerd fear got the better of me. I hope that Codex pictures gets some measure of success out of this project as then more will follow hopefully expanding the universe and using some different chapters. If they are going to be an hour long, I would recommend producing a series of short installments focusing on various chapters as I feel the use of media would really lend well to that sort of thing.

Dragon Forge Resin Bases

I got a second package containing some resin bases that I bought off the Dragon Forge store the first time the Black Friday deal was announced. I used the opportunity to finally get some resin bases having never previously thought them necessary. The world of hobby is obviously changing and basing is becoming as integral to a models quality and success as the model itself. I have tried my own basing but it is never good enough. I simply cannot get it right so I thought it was about time I give these a try.

The Product

I bought three packs of 25mm round bases from the wasteland I and II ranges, which also allowed me to pick up two 60mm bases from the same range for free. The quality of these bases is absolutely flawless. Simply flawless. I know enough about resin bases to be careful when selecting quality and I have seen some absolute clangers from other people so I was a bit apprehensive.

However, there isn't a single warped base or air hole to be found in the whole lot. The only imperfection (if it can be so called) is a small minority of them had a few flecks of flash. That's all.

Not only is the quality good but the designs of the different range lines are too. They display a balanced level of detail and a good amount of spacial area in which to position a model. I can't wait to use them in January when I finally get some more orks.

In conclusion to this mini review, Dragon forge bases gets a massive thumbs up from me. I took the liberty of ordering a bucket more of them, which I'm glad I did now! I can't see myself starting a new army in the future without accompanying it with a selection of these appropriate bases, they are just too good not to use.