...the wargaming show that is! I always find something new there every year. This year for me it was the laser etched scenery that seems to be sneaking into gaming more and more.
Is it a good thing? I had to find out. I got two 15mm kits from Warbases.com to try out. They were reasonably priced at £8 & £7 and I got started on the first on Saturday night. The first kit I did wasn't as precisly cut as I would have imagined but it went together after a bit of work. Thankfully the second, which I tackled today, went together like a charm. The 15mm kits are a little fiddly but not complicated. My overall thoughts on them?
CONS
Dirty. The laser etching leaves the edges of the HDF sooty. I assume this is from the heat of the laser. But they smell like lovely BBQs!!
A Fair bit of work. Whilst being quicker than a scratch build they are not a quick job to finish as the roof on each will take some time to fit the tiles. I suppose that it might be possible to find pasticard with a tile texture to speed this up but that will obviously add to the cost.
Detail. Resin cast stuff does have more detail but once painted I don't think there will be a great deal of difference.
PROS
Value. I enjoy puting things like this toether so I am more than happy with the price. For me it is almost like a double win as £7 or £8 seems like a good deal for a model kit that keeps me entertained for a few hours AND which I can then use again and again.
Weight. A good size building for the scale without the potential for many of them to turn into dead weight in a scenery box.
Robustness. I think the HDF will stand up well over time as it is pretty hard stuff. I don't know if paint will change this with the addition of moisture but I can't imagine it would make a great deal of difference.
I think I can safely say that I would be happy to buy HDF kits in future and having seen some nice ones already I think this is an area of the hobby that could expand quickly over the next year or so. With brands like Sarissa and Warbases generating new designs all the time, I will be keeping my eye out for any HDF releases.
I think I'm a convert. I also think Sarissa will be graced by my patronage in the not so distant future.
just spent 12 hours cutting out tiny bits of card board and gluing them in place to create a similar tiled roof, yours look better.
ReplyDeleteCut strips the length of the roof dude and then cut 3/4 through the strip for each tile. It means you can glue a whole row at once.
ReplyDelete12 hours eh?
;-)
Yeah but it is for 29 buildings
ReplyDelete29 BUILDINGS!! where is you next game set - Coronation Street or most of London?
ReplyDeleteThose look really good for £8 and £7 a pop.
Can't wait to see the end result of paints and end walls etc.
Yep, intrigued by these as I resisted them on the basis the resin stuff is more detailed and quicker to get ready (especially important for Dave as he is the building painter!)...... But they are more expensive and it sounds like you actually found the sticking time a bonus..... So enjoy the quiet time hanging around waiting for your daughter to show up whilst you can ;)
ReplyDelete