Smurf Like Musings: Citadel Crapcast?

What exactly is the deal with the citadel finecast range? Not having a GW in aber (or any money of my own to buy a model) means that I have not yet seen the quality of the new resin sculpts for myself yet.

Lets just remind ourselves what GW stated on their website when the range was launched:

Andy Hall: Last week we announced something very special - so special in fact that it's nothing less than a new era in wargaming, as we launch the highest quality miniatures the world has ever seen - Citadel Finecast.

I think the key words to lookout for in that paragraph are 'new era' and 'highest quality miniatures', and they obviously suggest that GW have a really high opinion on the quality of their new range. Now is this well founded?

As I have already mentioned, I have not seen a finecast model with my own eyes yet and so I am making no opinion either way in this post. Instead, I thought I would just put the question out there; 'Are the finecast models any good?'

Looking around on various blogs I have noticed that many people have been really disappointed by the lack of quality. Now this would seem very at odds with the bold statement GW made regarding the quality quoted above. Many of the complaints made have also been accompanied with pictures of the main offenders and I must say, the ones I have seen have been truly awful!

Sons of the Grail posted up some images of the techmarine and servitor box and judging by the pictures, the quality is staggeringly bad! The casts are not clean and crisp at all! There are bubbles and blemishes all over, giant mold lines, uneven surfaces and more flash than you can shake a stick at!

I would also like to direct your attention to this thread. I mean wow, those are some very bad casts!

Finally, the giants themselves have go it wrong. This post on the regular GW blog describes the process of cleaning up your finecast model. If you view the skull taker model they are using, you can clearly see multiple defects, including a hole in the cloak under the right arm. So they make a huge fuss about the superior quality of the models and then feel they need to write an article showing you have to fix all the defects. It's all just a little bit weird.

So what are your experiences with the new range? Does it deserve the coined phrase crapcast? Or are these simply some rare bad examples of an otherwise outstanding range? Please let me know.

In the Smurf Case: Prussian Fleet for Dystopian Wars

It has been a week or two since my last post and in that time, many things have occurred. But those are all boring things and have nothing to do with ship shaped resin, so instead I decided to try harder and get some more Prussians painted.

  Here is Big Bertha and my 'as yet to be named' battleship

Navigating the treacherous skies surrounding my cereal boxes are two medium Geiger class bombers

These are all the ship models I currently have painted. A battleship, 3 cruisers and 2 squadrons of 3 frigates

A closer look at the cruisers

I tend to favour using 2 squadrons of 5 fighters in games not involving the sky fortress. I usually have 1 acting as a CAP for the battleship and the other on anti-flyer duties

And here is where they land when they run out of fuel and ammo

All that is left to finish now are the fliers that come with the sky fortress and 1 more squadron of frigates. They I can buy another sky fortress and some medium airships!

Smurf Like Musings: Sisters of Battle

Worrying times ahead indeed!

I have just checked out the rumours circulating over at Blood of Kittens concerning the sisters of battle and I cannot help but jump the gun and cry murder. It seems the sisters of battle are going to be rushed out in a 2 part white dwarf scam just like the blood angels where a few years back. The rest of the contents of this post assumes that the rumor is true.

My immediate question is why?

1) The blood angels treatment was totally naff when they did in the first time and I'm sure it pissed a lot of people off. Yet the scope clearly was there for a full blooded codex because that's exactly what they got, and a fine one too. Maybe its simply a case of 'we haven't forgotten you sisters of battle players. Here is a bone to chew on while we get round to the main show.' I hope so.

2) The grey knights didn't receive this treatment so why are the sisters of battle receiving it? I mean we all know that one of the smallest and most secretive organisations in the universe deserves a complete codex don't we but the Ecclesiarch, that's different. There is nothing important about one of the largest and most powerful organisations in the Imperiam. La la la, we aren't listening.

3) Sisters of battle are one of the original armies from 2nd ed. They have a loyal band of followers (pilgrims if you will) and boast (in my opinion) one of the best model ranges ever (except the exorcist!). Almost all of them herald from 2nd ed and just how good do they still look! They deserve better than this.

4) The sisters of battle offer a great opportunity to release an exciting range of new figures in a similar vein to the dark eldar and up and coming necrons. They offer the opportunity to explore the Ecclesiarchy side of the universe (rather than the inquisition) and possibly even the sisters of silence (how cool would that be)! And to also show off their new toys by creating some great sisters of battle plastics!

Conclusions

I really hope that this rumor has little merit because I really feel that the sisters deserve better than this. They certainly have a niche to fulfill in the universe and it seems a shame to relegate them down to a white dwarf appearance. That's like watching a serious documentary about world hunger on Channel 5.

Alternatively, if it is true, I hope it is only to buy time for them to release a proper codex and a new range of miniatures. They are cleaver though! They have come up with a way to make me buy a white dwarf! 

Oh Get You! Arn't You A Stylish Smurf?

Well, those of you who were in doubt as to whether Smurfs could be deemed stylish can put their misgivings to rest at last. Yes that lovely gentleman over at Ricalopia has seen it fit to nominate non other than yours truly (along with a host of other fantastic blogs) as worthy of the 'stylish blogger award!'.

Quite what the stylish blogger award is or where it comes from is a mystery to me but it does seem like an excellent way of introducing new people to blogs they may not be aware of (like mine!) and also getting a bit more personal with the people behind your favorite blogs.

There are some rule I must now follow:

What to do:

-- Thank and link back to the person giving you the award

-- Share seven things about yourself

-- Select 10-15 blogs who you think deserve this award

-- Contact these bloggers and let them know about the award

 So first thing's first, thank you very much Ricalopia for nominating me for this award. It really means a lot to me and I would like to thank my fiends, family and most importantly, my followers who have stuck with me through all the hard times and relished all the good times! Bla, bla, bla. Anyway enough of that, on to point 2.

About Me:

 Here's a picture of me (right) and Rob (left) as Tanith at Halloween

• I possess a BSc and an MSc in Biogical diciplines and I will be starting a PhD in July.
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• I have been playing wargames now for 13 years (since I was 10) and I had the pleasure of working as the club treasurer in Aberystwyth for 2 years. 
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• Dw i'n Saes, nau dw i'n dysgu Cymraeg. Yn anffodus dw i ddim yn dda iawn ar hyd o bryd! I'm English, but I'm learning Welsh. Unfortunately I'm not very good at the moment.
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• I like to play snooker with my friend Rob and it's also the only think on TV I will consistently watch. 
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• I have a great passion for music. I work part time in one of the only independent record shops left in the UK and I also play the guitar myself. Before moving to Aberystwyth I was in a band for 3 years. Some of the best times of my life were spent in that band.
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• The local wargamming club here in Aberystwyth is called Kaotica. It has served as my main source of friends during my time at Uni and I hold everyone whom ever attended in very high esteem. There have been some great drinking times.
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• Speaking of which, my favourite drink is Guinness, with ale coming in a strong second when the Guinness is known to be crap. 

10 Blogs that Deserve the Award

1) The Painting Corps. An invaluable painting resource. 

2) Bolters n Beer. A blog with a title that resonates with my idea of a perfect night out.

3) Pirate Viking Painting. There is always something new and interesting to see!

4) WarPaint....Get it On. A fellow Ork lover. You must check out his badmoons!

5) DiceRolla. A lovely individual with lots of things to say. He has been a fantastic supporter of mine since the begining. 

6) Mordian 7th Regiment. Another fantastic supporter of mine. He always has something new on the go and plenty off things to see.

7) A Guardsmans Guide to Glory. A good fiend of mine with a direct speed dial to forgeworld.  

8) Rogue Pom. Arguably my favourite blogger (now now kids there's plenty of appreciation for everyone!). Again, he's been a supporter of mine since the beginning and I'm sure if we met in person we'd get on good! 

9) K.M.B. A blog so packed full of awesome chaos conversions it makes blood drip out of your ballbag!

10) Nesbet Miniatures. A great mixture of tips advice and personal projects.

So there you go. All that remains is for me to say thank you again to Ricalopia for the nomination. I hope you enjoy the above links too!

 

On The Smurf Bench: Sisters Done Minus Backpacks

Just a quick update with the sisters of battle. I have finished the bodies and bases of the three previously shown and I am really happy with them. Unfortunately, despite trying to take good pictures of them for 3 days, I haven't managed to capture the detail. I wish Lauren hadn't taken the good camera with her.

Any way heres the pic: