Bargain Ebay clearout

As mentioned in the previous post I recently did a spot of tidying up while at my parents house. I came across two items for quick sale which I posted up on ebay last Sunday. Full details for each sale follow;

Sale 1: 15mm Vietnam collection

This has been a popular lot so far with numerous questions and watchers lined up already. I have just gotten back from a short break with my partner and so as promised I have taken some pictures of the complete lot and also taken a complete inventory.

The ebay link is here

Pictures:

Inventory:

10x VC bases
4x recoiless rifle bases
2x RPG bases
10x US bases containing: 7x M60, 8x M79 and M16
2x M113 ACAV
2x M113 carriers
2x MUTT Jeep
5x Civilian bases
16x VC bodies
16x US bodies
16x weapons caches

Lot 2: Void 1.1 Broodmaster

This is an unopened box containing a Koralon broodmaster for the game void 1.1.

The ebay link is here

I hope this helps answer all the questions I received in a satisfactory manor. If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask. The auction ends late on Sunday so please get your bids in before it ends.

Plastic VS Metal- Model Musings from the Smurf

Original berzerker left, new berzerker right (Painted by Muskie)

Its no secret that GW concentrate heavily upon releasing fantastic plastic kits for us all to enjoy with each new army release. Indeed plastic kits have become such a staple part of our modeling lives that is now entirely possible to create a complete army just out of plastic.

In this post I would like to explore my own experiences with plastic model kits and ask myself; 'are they as good as they obviously seem to be?'

Plastic Kits: The past

The first plastic kits released by GW were done a little before my time so I don't actually remember/know what the first true plastic kit was. The first kit I ever bought was plastic and consisted of the £5 box of khorne berzerkers one of which is represented in the picture above. They were all absolutely identical but for only £5 my parents couldn't complain. As a result, the original plastic kits were therefore quite bulky and analogous and so  I would like to skip that era and focus on the release of 3rd edition 40k.

Look at the green bases!

3rd edition 40k saw the release of a seminal multi-part plastic kit, the space marine tactical squad. Within this box you received 10 plastic marines with separate heads, legs, torsos and arms! There was even a command frame for sergeants and heavy weapon troopers. Suddenly you could buy a whole squad in a box, command and all, without having to buy several different metal blisters and have odd guys left over.   

The benefits of this kit were enormous in almost all aspects. It was cost effective, originally retailing at £10. It was a modelers dream, with a seemingly limitless combination of poses. It was functional, being made of plastic meant that the figures were less likely to break, were lighter and could be placed into awkward terrain more easily. It was also designed with the intention to be upgraded with other kits so that devastators and assault marines could also be made. In short, the tactical squad revolutionised the way that we now collect and build our armies. 

Following on from that success, other releases received plastic kits too. The ork boyz kit has a particular place in my heart as it was the first kit to make orks appealing to me and began the orks ascent to gaming greatness. The strategy was also applied to warhammer as well and over the years it became staple to field a majority of plastic core troops and implement them with metal elites and support.

Plastic Kits: the Present

 
Currently, GW seems to be executing a policy of releasing as many plastic kit choices as they can afford each year for each major release. Due to the new technology they recently acquired (the ins and outs of which I know nothing about), the kits have become smaller in overall spru  size (optimizing packaging and therefore shelve space) but more compact in overall detail. Modern plastic kits are literally bursting with extra details and add-ons, which all lead to improved modeling customisation. The future can only improve this trend with more and more full units becoming plastic with metal being reserved for characters (although there are a number of plastic character models already).

Is the move towards plastic model kits a good one?

The advantages with plastic kits are obvious and I brushed over a number of them when I described the tactical squad above. However, there is one downside that I only recently realised.

When looking through my old White Dwarf mags I noticed that the models back then were so much better. Not in all cases obviously (I'm looking at you Naggash), but on the whole each model had more character. It dawned on me that each metal model had previously been sculpted with a pose and purpose in mind and so a great deal of effort had been afforded to each individual guy. The plastic kits are obviously pose-able but we, the consumer, pose them ourselves leading to some fairly dubious models at times. As a result, plastic models never seem as complete as metal models and never quite as individual. Yes, the kits have loads of detail and extra bits but these tend to be fairly minor in context. For example, the old metal chaos marines were all truly unique and allowed for some really characterful units.

Unfortunately the flip side to this was that everyone with a chaos army ended up with squads containing the same guy thus foiling the uniqueness of the unit on a complete army scale.

Conclusions

It seems plastic kits have altered our hobby world forever. They provide us with quality and convienience, which we now expect for each new army released. However, I feel they have also taken something away from the character of the individual model. Plastic armies look great altogether but individual guys are bland and boring.

Perhaps the greatest benefit a plastic kit can give us in this new age of hobby is a firm base to create our own individuals with green stuff and a strong bitz box. The power of the internet and hobby blogging in particular has opened the gates of our hobby to a new world of DIY sculpting and painting. Armed with a solid plastic base and boundless information, perhaps the sky really is the limit to our modeling success.

Look what I found!

This is the first issue I ever bought

I have been busy spending the past few days routing through all my stuff while I am here staying at my parents house. I found quite a few bits and pieces that I can't say I shall ever use again so ill be posting up a sale thread later as and when I ebay them.

Amongst my things I found all my back issues of White Dwarf and so I decided to organize them and also find a more suitable and accessible place for them. Flicking through the pages really sends me back to my childhood! When I was 11 I lived in Qatar, which was the result of my dads job. Funnily enough there wasn't a games workshop there so my only hobby outlet was looking forward to White Dwarf, which would come each month. I can still see myself lying under the bed reading (looking at the pictures) and inventing new army ideas.

So I am really glad to have re-discovered and re-organized a little piece of the past.


Looking towards the future, I bought this off ebay as it was going cheap. They are from the Anakin Skywalker Podracer toy set but unfortunately the engines are massive! I was hoping to use them for one of the fighta-bombas I'm planning but I fear they are a little too large. Maybe they would do for a busta-bomma instead?!

New Year Musings

Well the year is almost up and although a number of bloggers are reviewing the developments of the past 12 months I am more interested in how the next 12 months will turn.

In terms of Warhammer, I look at the current situation and all I can think is 'please God not more Lord of the Rings.' It's a futile plea I realise but a just and deserving one nonetheless. Apart from army book and codex releases, there isn't a great deal that needs doing.

Warhammer just received an excellent new book with excellent new rules and full support as always so it is difficult to see what could be improved this coming year. Warhammer has never really taken well to expansions in the past and the most useful expansion 'the empire tiles thing' is already available. It would be interesting to see if an expansion is developed and what form that would take.

5th edition 40k has also grounded well with, I believe, most players agreeing that the system is much better than its predecessor. Unlike Warhammer, 40k does lend well to new expansions and has seen a great many released already. Personally I would like to see a new flier based expansion for aerial combat and a re-release of apocalypse. I only suggest the latter because the book is a nightmare to read and some details could do with being brought into line with 5th edition.

Maybe Games Workshop will focus on a national 'cough fixed result cough' campaign like they used to do. I was a little young back then to participate fully but I do remember the storm of chaos and the 13th crusade campaigns. The Armageddon campaign sticks in my mind in particular as the landraider had only just been released and they wrote an excellent two part battle report in White Dwarf. Happier days indeed. If they did that now we would probably get a couple of pages containing an eclectic mix of unnecessary action effects, sloppy writing and yet more pictures of the damned eavy metal miniatures. Not to mention a picture of Matt Hudson looking smug and Matt Ward grinning inanely with his stupid hat telling us how the man of the match goes to some stupid scout sergeant or something equally ridiculous! I digress.

To tell the truth the only thing I really look forward to this coming year from Games Workshop is a price lock. It's wishful thinking I know but a man can dream. Please don't push us away GW because I seriously doubt our wives and girlfriends will allow us to spend the gas money on a squad of spacemarines because that will be the choice. I have been a loyal supporter of the hobby since I was 11. I love nothing more than opening up a new box of plastic sprus, laying them out on my table and thinking 'how cool could I make and paint these.' But if push comes to shove, I will choose to maintain my freedom (a house) and my health (food) above this hobby.

A bit over dramatic I'll admit but GW do have a nasty habit of hiking prices. The tactical squad has doubled in price literally since it's release.

What will I do this year?

Well my life is moving in all sorts of unknown directions at the moment so who knows where the hobby will take me. I may take this coming year as an excuse to scratch build most things as I already own a body of infantry figures for both my armies that I am happy with. Scratch building is great for hobbyists on a budget and it is a process I really enjoy anyway so thumbs up. I have already alluded to a number of modeling possibilities in a previous post, which I have not forgotten about.

I may try a number of different games with different systems. The Dystopian Wars range from spartan games has caught my eye in particular and I have just ordered the Prussian starter fleet and the carrier. My friends have all done the same with different factions. The game looks fun, the rules are cheap and the models look great and are also very cheap. Wayland games made them even cheaper for me which is always appreciated!

Indeed I may even take more advantage of games like rogue trader and deathwatch, where hours of fun can still be had without the financial hardship of creating a full blown army.

On the other hand, I may settle into a good well paying stable job in which case my hobby spending will continue to reign unchecked. Ahh such musings.

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.

New Year Project Musings

I haven't had a lot of time to be thinking about anything particularly engaging in the hobby world lately due to me doing 6 days a week on the night shift at Sainsburys. Instead I have being reviewing my bank balance and wistfully compiling a list of 'stuff to buy' i the new year.

Most of the items on the list are hobby supplies as my bitz box has been completely depleted over the last few years while I have been a student. As a result I will be mass buying plastic tube, rod, magnets, wire, tools, the complete vellajo game colour range etc...

Boring things, which should lead to exciting scratch builds. There is room in the budget for a modeling project though, I just haven't decided what yet.

The Options

A Custom Stompa

My ork army is getting to a point now where I could do with expanding it. All the modeling project options are for my ork army.

I have always wanted a stompa ever since I saw Irondogs 'tatter titan' here. Its just ace! Then recently when searching for inspiration for a stompa project I came across this over at the Waaahhh forum. Again, fantastic!

My ideas are leaning far more towards this style of stompa rather than the GW template kit. I like the kit but I think may be a little too used. I would end up rebuilding most of it just to make it look unique, although I may get a kit anyway just for bits to loot.

Some Heavy Stuff

My ork army is built around a core of Ork nobz led my Ghaz in a battle wagon and a unit of 19 ard boyz in another battlewagon led by a big mek. This doesn't leave much room for much else points wise as the rest is taken up with 6 grotzooka kanz.

As a result, I wouldn't mind expanding the heavy support element of my ork force so that I can field a few different builds. I would need some big gunz, lots of lootas and a boom wagon or two.

I really don't like the loota kit models. The shoulder mounted weapons just don't do it for me. What I want is some beefy drum and/or chain fed Gatling guns!

I really like the Kromlech field kannon supplied by Maxmini and they would obviously make excellent ork kannonz so I guess I will use them. No messing. I'll probably crew them with the forge world grot crew.

Looted boom wagon. Hmm I have a few novel ideas for these. A bit hard to explain them here but I may draw up a few sketch plans then post them up.

Fast Stuff

Nob bikers pure and simple. You hate them, I'm not keen. But they do offer a great modeling opportunity and they stomp face on the battle field. They would have to come with all the trimmings, cybork bodies, a painboy etc....

This will also include a warboss on a bike to lead them. I may even have a go at building wazzdakka, who knows.

Fasta Stuff

This is the project that is grabbing most of my attention. Recently I re-discovered a comic book I never read called 'Deff Skwadron' which featured the exploits of an ork fighta-bomma squadron. It is an extremely entertaining read, which was sadly cut short before its time. I'm hoping that the exploits of the Deff Skwadron may live on in my own battles as I plan on building 3 fighta-bommaz to represent the main characters from the comic, Uzgob, Raznutz and Killboy.

The link to the comic can be found here.

This last project really takes the cake for me at the moment. It is one of the cheapest options for one, it has the most challenging modeling potential and I think it will have the most rewarding finished results. Finally, it also provides a nice unit for apoc games, which isn't too high powered but is fun to use!

So there are my current modeling musings. If you have any preferences please let me know but more importantly If you have any insight or inspiration to share on any of the above topics please do let me know. I need all the help I can get.

We aint got a Clegg to stand on

They came first for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for me
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Martin Niemöller (1892–1984)