Saturday, May 28, 2011

Still more on Citadel "Finecast"

Popped into my FLGS today (to get a birthday present for a friend), and while I was there I took a look at the finecast figures they had on offer.  I must say, they did look very sharp and cleanly cast, although it was a bit of a shock to pick up one of the new clam shell packs and notice that it did not weigh anything really. The prices are way out there of course, particularly for older models, such as the Green Knight, which was $38.  For a model sculpted in 1997.

CMDante has a great little review of a figure that he picked up, and as a "trusted reviewer" I think that it cements my opinion that the figures are fine... just costly.

In other gaming news, I managed to work a bit on the Baneblade last night (at the instance of my wife, who said "you are always talking about modeling, so do it"). 

Friday, May 27, 2011

More on Citadel "Finecast"

A few reviews have started to sneak out for the new Citadel "Finecast" figures, which as a refresher, are new plastic-resin castings of the old metal figures from Games Workshop.  No figures are supposed to be released until tomorrow, 5/28/11, so getting a review out ahead of time is pretty surprising.

The new figures are now packed in a larger clam shell blister, with a color picture of the figure in front. All the bits are now on a sprue, which I assume was intended to cut down on "pulling" costs and also helps to keep the figure squared in the box.

This review, on Dakka Dakka, points out some of the flaws and benefits of the new material, specifically that it is indeed light, takes superglue well, and has sharp detailing.  Unfortunately the cast quality seems to be poor, with some serious damage to some of the (optional) parts.

This review states that the figures are pretty much the same in terms of quality as they were in metal... just with a higher price.

Another in German

Not very excited about this change, and still disappointed in the price increase.  Hopefully I will be able to check some figures out in person at the FLGS, and see for myself.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

GW News II

As you may recall from just yesterday, Games Workshop has restricted sales out of the EU, and has created "Finecast", which is widely expected to be resin replacements for metal miniatures (at a higher cost, of course).

Today, the news is that GW will further restrict their "rumor" information down to a week prior to release, which will mean that White Dwarf will continue to report on items after they are released, and further, that there will be a price increase in the US and Canada, to the tune of 18%-20%.  Some of the older figures have had a pretty continuous price increase, for example Catachans (which I have about 100 of ), have gone from $22 for 20 to $58 for 20 in a ten year period. (263% increase)  So that is fun. 

All of this negative GW news should not really impact my spending on GW, since I have only been buying a couple boxes a year, and, well I have somewhere on the order of four more armies still in boxes anyway... it does however increase my interest in buying figures from other companies though.

Speaking of which, in a bit of positive news, GZG's online shop is back in action after a five month down period. If you have not checked them out before, you should.  GZG is the maker of Stargrunt II, Dirt Side II, and Full Thrust, which are all excellent games, and they have a wide assortment of miniatures to support those games.  Their newer 15mm figures for Stargrunt are particularly interesting, and at a mere £2.5 per pack, a company worth is affordable too!  I just have to tell myself that I do not need any more figures right now...

Monday, May 16, 2011

GW news

Everyone's favorite company, Games Workshop, has decided to restrict UK retailers from selling outside of the EU, so that means no more cheap figures sent abroad to folks like me.  This is particularly important for those in Australia or NZ, who pay ~40% more for the same figures.  They may be able to buy from the US, or get their packets sent to a UK freight forwarder.

On top of that, the rumor about GW switching to resin may be true, and of course with an accompanying price increase.  Resin figures interest me very little, since my (limited) experience with resin is that it is more brittle, flexible, and overall less durable than metal or polystyrene.  Increased prices mean I will continue my streak of buying no GW metal figures, which is a shame, because there are some that I really love, and would like to get.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Extremely Topical

Osama Bin Laden's compound in 1/285.  I think I would have shot for 15mm myself (~1/100), since it seems more game-able in a larger size. Still, speedy work there.

Also, I have jury duty this week, so I am both away from the computer, and reading more than usual.  Got through most of Path of the Warriortoday.  We will see what happens tomorrow, when the trial starts.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

April Roundup and some Stats

Well, that was fun.  Working through my little universe from A-Z was an interesting challenge, and hopefully entertaining as well. Results wise, I added some followers (thanks!), and went from 400 page views to ~650 page views in a month, so it was pretty successful on that measure as well.  The blog had some more international readers, including a number (or one frequently) from Iran, which is surprising really.  I made it over 100 published posts, which is easier when you add so many in one month. I will put up an index page to the A-Z posts sometime soon, which will also be useful as an index to the greater Deepest Sea project.

It is a pity that Blogger does not break down the US by state, because it would be interesting to see where everyone lives. Similar issues for other large countries I guess.

My most popular post continues to be my Warhammer Fantasy Role Play (WHFRP ) Estalian figure, which of course has nothing to do with D&D or the A-Z challenge, but remains very popular on image searches.... I really ought to retake that picture.

So what is next for the blog?  Well, it feels strange to go back to my slow posting routine, so I will try and think of something to keep it up.  Any ideas?  Are there gaps in the Deepest Sea information that you would like filled in particular?