Savage orcs - bases WIP

Hello and welcome to my newest project. Not much to show today, just WIP shots of the bases for my savage orcs. Not all are done, obviously, and the tray is barely assembled. Still lots of work to be done.

 Here's a closeup of the strip bases. First time I've used these.

Some resin scenic bases are added. These are from Back to Base-ix, an Australian company. Yes, I have bases from literally the other side of the world.

Big stabba base. I know big stabbas are considered not worth the points, but since I don't plan on playing in any tournaments, this is not an issue. And they are just so characterful.

There you go. Have a great weekend folks!

Musings of a hobbyist - episode two.

Second episode of my podcast-ish slew of rants. Enjoy! Feedback much appreciated.

Episode 2 - November 2011

Mangler Squigs - done!

 They are finished at last. I really like how all the different colors play along on this piece. I was unsure to the last minute about the blue, but in the end it worked out pretty well.

I know there are manglers being released just days from now, but I must say I like mine better.

From the start I wanted to do something with leftover bits from other projects, and here is the result.

Not bad for leftovers, hm? I'm glad to be done with them nevertheless. On to the savage orcs, finally some proper muscle for this army!

Product review - Kromlech orc parts

Hello. Before we begin, I'd like to stress that the use of Kromlech-owned images is done without authorization and no challenge to their status or rights is intended.

My camera is simply broken and I was unable to take pictures myself, but I'm really anxious to drop my opinion on these kits by you.

A while ago I picked up some conversion bits from Kromlech, a Polish company specializing in such. Namely, I went after the orc parts. Here's a brief review of what I received.

Bare Orc Torsos

You get six per pack, two of each design. These are suitable for use with both, fantasy and SF miniatures. Don't be fooled by the bullet on the middle one, it can be very easily cut out or even painted as a tooth.

The sculpts are very decent, despite being just bare torsos, there is very convincing musculature. They fit the existing GW orc kits perfectly. As far as fabrication goes, there is one word I can use to make it justice - superb. On the six torsos I received there is literally not a single miscast - no air bubbles, no shrinkage, nothing of the sort. In fact, these are so well-cast there is barely any flash or mold line. Five out of five stars.

Kneeling Orc Legs

 Again, intended to use in both settings. You get three pieces in the pack.

The detail on these is incredible. You can see patches, some rough stitching, pockets, cloth creases and the like. Booths are iron-shod, with ankle straps and all manner of great detail. Every belt and boots design is different.

However, on the bits I received there are some miscasts. The "back" ankle (i.e. the lower one, on the kneeling leg) has some minor casting error. While easy to hide, it's still an error, I have to drop a star. Four out of five.

Running Orc Legs

Similarly, fitting fantasy and SF alike, There are no distinguishing details. Three pieces per pack.

And again, I was in awe of the amount of detail on these. Three different poses with boot treads sculpted, pants with flies, pockets, stitches... great, great stuff. They fit both the GW torsos and the Kromlech naked ones like a glove.

As far as casting is concerned, there's nothing special either way - no errors or bubbles, some typical flash. Nothing difficult to remove. Really, not a fault is to be found. Five out of five stars.

Overall

There is nothing more to say than how great these products are. Quality of the sculpts and the casting is very high, but even more importantly, these bits fill a void that desperately needed attention. No other company I know of, including of course The Company, makes such bits for orcs. With these, you can finally break the boredom that orc poses are as GW makes them.

The price is also very decent. Look at Kromlech's Ebay stroe and see for yourselves. Delivery is swift (but I also live in Poland, mind you), packaging is top notch.

And I saved the best for last.

I only purchased the six torsos. One pair of kneeling legs, one pair of running legs and a human head in some sort of samurai-style gas mask were all sent to me free. I shit you not.

There can be no other verdict - Kromlech gets five out of five stars from me. I will be returning to them often.

Thanks for reading, have a great weekend!

Mangler squigs - the 'squigs'

...or rather spiders. Since before the start of this project it has been my intention to use spiders instead of squigs, to reinforce the forest theme and to use the miniatures I already have and not have to buy anything.

I painted the abdomens in a color not to be used anywhere else in the army to make them stand out as a different species of spider. They are supposed to be mangler squigs after all.

I also made the rest of their bodies as understated as possible to make the blue really pop. Once they are put together on the base along the shaman, I think they will look decent.

Now just to base them and the project is done. Time for some rank and file orcs!

On the reasons why I prefer plastics

Hello and welcome to another week! My camera has hiccups severe enough to warrant a trip to the service, so it's a perfect opportunity to make a rant (like I need one...). Today I want to share with you the reasons why I came to prefer the "new" over the "old".

I'm talking of course about the shift many companies made towards plastic and resin miniatures and accessories, driving more or less away from metal ones. Normally I'm a fan of the old ways and the tried and true, but in this case I found myself drawn more and more away from white metal and embrace the ever more familiar sprues of plastic goodness.

It all began when Games Workshop released their first ever plastic multi-part regiment sets. I was immediately interested (like, I suppose, the most of us) and picked up the Night Goblins and the Orc Warriors sets. These were the times before the Internet became as major a source of communication as it is today, and I've never been a follower of technology, so I had no way of checking upon the quality of these products beforehand.

What I saw gripped me right from the start. There were, for these times, so many options, so many parts, so many possibilities to assemble the miniatures I didn't know where to start. Of course, compared to what we see today these sculpts are quite low quality (and I'm still dying to see new plastic orc boyz...), but back then... Whew.

Moving on.

Why was it such a breakthrough? Because before these products hit, we had blisters containing three or four metal models, normally quite similar to one another. I did not like it at all, not to mention the huge price decrease for a full unit at that time. Twenty orcs in metal would set me back three or four times as much as twenty orcs in plastic. It was a time before I started working full time and such costs would make it simply impossible to enjoy my hobby. All in all, plastics won immediately.

It was also the time I still played games quite often. One of my worst pains were chipped paint, broken off parts and the similar. Plastics provided an immediate solution. They were so light that they would never damage under their own weight and due to their chemical make-up they actually absorb paint, making chips impossible and with good varnish they would stand any rough-and-tumble.

Years passed, more and more plastic kits began to surface. Not all were better: if you remember, for example, skaven Night Runners or the previous dwarf warriors kits you'll see what I mean. Some kits, like the gnoblars, are to this day a huge waste of material and a perfect example of how not to design a sprue. But all things considered, the plastic was becoming a medium of choice.

And I came to notice quality was going on par with quantity. The days of metals being more detailed and better sculpted than the plastics were gradually becoming history. If you managed to observe new waves of plastic kits you'd clearly see the company was in the process of learning the plastic how-to. They even fiddled with the composition of the material itself. But I was still unsure. I still hunted auctions and other second-hand means of acquiring old metal models.

Then the seventh edition hit, and along with it the Battle for Skull Pass set.

This was the final argument in favor of plastic models. What I saw in this kit was a wholly new quality of models, even for plastic ones. I've never suspected that one-piece miniatures could be so detailed. The mass production of this kit also made the models very cheap on the second-hand market.

When it comes to true, multi-part sets, the amount of parts and the way they are assembled takes converting and kitbashing to a whole new level. As a strong supporter of personalized armies these are the things I probably love most about the hobby. You simply cannot achieve this level of possibility with metal models.

As my last point, there's something else. Metal can be stripped and repainted over and over, which is good for learning. You cannot do the same with plastics, not to mention resin. This, in my opinion, makes plastic models actually more demanding: by not being so able to redo my work, I strive to make my models as good as I can on the first go. I can see how such approach can make me a better painter and ultimately a better hobbyist. This is the mindset with which I sat to my orc army and it is my hope I manage to pull it off.

There you have it, I hope you enjoyed. See you on Wednesday when, hopefully, I can show you some actual models.

Mangler squigs - the shaman

While working on the arachnarok I remembered I'd left the shaman aside and decided to use him on this project. Having spiders instead of squigs gave a green light to adding someone to act as a guide or summoner. A spider whisperer if you will.

While I'm still under the impression of how much detail has been squeezed on such a tiny fellow, I'm not sold on his six eyes and eight limbs. Seeing him in the pictures I was sure the spider legs and the webs are artificially fastened to his back and that would be great. However...

...that's just not the case. You can see the legs literally grow out of the goblin's sides. I don't like this idea, it reeks of John Blanche and his "aesthetics". I was on the verge of cutting these straight out, but then I'd be stuck with the six-eyed head, which alone would look even worse. And I didn't want to lose the great headdress too.

That's it for today. The spiders are halfway done and once they are the whole gang is going to get comfy cozy on their base.

See you folks on Monday, have a great weekend!