Spleen Vent Time!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I hate GW 'super glue'!  Fullstop!  It's massively overpriced, thin and does not do the job!  Tonight I was finishing some touches to my Hexwraiths for them to be ready asap to induce terror into my foes when I needed to pop the skeletons back onto their steeds.  The Hexwraith/Black Knights kit is very nice especially if you do not stick the riders on but place them on top with the aid of the prong thing that sticks out of the horses themselves - this makes it very handy to field either Hexwraiths or Black Knights - and you do not need to buy two boxes!  Well the same skeleton broke several times that I have had to use my industrial superglue to get him to stay on his horse!  Yep bang goes one of my models as a swapable choice :(  Of course not going into the fact that scythes and arms keep on popping off all the time!!!!

The other thing is tonight which prompted my spleen vent is the fact that I picked up and subsequently dropped onto the floor a commission Grey Knight.  Being plastic and glued with GW super glue it would withstand this bump with very minor reservations - oh nooooooooo it damn well didn't!  Everything that could have come off did! (Blood pressure on the rise!)  The helmet, interceptor backpack, both arms, one hand, halberd and both shoulder pads came off didn't they!!!!

I don't normally go for GW glues as the price is not just worth it, but this time I thought to myself, "why not, it should be specialist in someway regardless being the same cyrano compound used in all super glues"; paid my £4:50-ish and was pleased until things kept falling off.  In my honest opinion - don't get it, its rubbish with a capital R, over priced and doesn't stick well.  Stick to known brands which cost less!

Vented!

Pro-Painted

Hi Again People of the Warhammer world/universe!

Well, what can I say for today’s post?!?!?!?

It is something that is a really annoying thing.........Pro Painted on eBay!!!!

Now, this hobby isn’t the cheapest by far certainly when you consider the fact that all we are doing is collecting-assembling-painting toy soldiers!  When a box of 5 mounted riders can cost you £61.50(!), you begin to understand the sheer costs involved at times!

Well, as I said previously, I entered the worlds of the GW hobby back in the 1^st ed days of 40K and recently fantasy and since then I have found the GW prices to continually go up and up (as we all have) well above the prices they should expect.  So what are people doing to combat the continual rise of GW prices? Shop on eBay!

Why not?  You can get some really fantastic things on eBay and sometimes some real steals.  eBay is also a real money saver (depending on the auction etc.) if you collect horde armies and the like.  However, in stating the virtues of eBay there is also one major problem out there that we must be aware of.........PRO PAINTED!!!

The legalities of such a statement are very wide ranging and could be interpreted in many ways.  For example I was having this discussion with a friend who said that due to the fact that I do commission painting for people, I could be classified as a pro-painter.  This is both true and false I added.  It is true that obtaining money for commission work means that I could be professional in this field but also at the same time, I do not obtain a living from painting other people’s models!  If I did, I wouldn’t be able to survive for one thing! 

But the continual increase of the pro-painted miniature on eBay has become a bit of a problem in my honest opinion.  Included in this blog are some examples of 'pro-painted' advertised miniatures on eBay – some are very good and the tag of pro painted is true and I would think about bidding/buying the miniature and some are laughably NOT pro-painted!

It seems that people think they can act in a GW way and overprice for what they are actually selling.  Of course I understand that some of you would definitely be saying “well if people are prepared to pay the rate wanted then why not?....” which I agree, although I would like to think that if people are reading this and maybe not too sure about something pro-painted on eBay, they might err on the side of caution!

Also it must be stated that some professional painters do indeed advertise on eBay.

It is nice to get a large profit for something you are selling, but basically painting something to a standard which is definitely not professional and then selling it as professional, is really not on.   

There was a wonderful thread on the Dakka Dakka forum entitled ‘Your heart sinks when.....’ which someone replied “you see pro-painted on eBay”!

How very true!

Cheers

Caveat: Please be aware that the pictures supplied on this post come from various postings on eBay and are not mine, some have been stretched for make them legible which might affect the quality of the photo and that I am not disrespecting the sellers in any way.  As stated, some of the pictures and painting qualities shown I would say was professional.

Start of the new blog!

Hi All


Here is the first beginning of my blog!  Never done this before, so here goes!....

Below are a few pictures I took today of some of my models!  Enjoy!

So what about me?  You are reading my blog therefore it is only fair to let you know who I am!
Well, I am in my early 30's and researching my PhD in Astrophysics and Planetary Science.  I am married with no kids (yet!) but plenty of pets to be getting on with!
I first got involved with Warhammer 40 000 back in the days of the 1st edition!  My brother's friend lent me his copy of the Rogue Trader rulebook and got me into Space Wolves.  From then, 2nd ed came out and the first model I bought for this particular hobby with Leman Russ the Primarch of the Space Wolves!  The model is metal (which I definately prefer) and cost me £5!!!!  I think I can hear jaws hitting floors at the moment!  Yes indeed the model or should I say three models cost a fair price back then.  Good grief hasn't it changed?!

Well, I left the hobby when GW decided to destroy two main enjoyments of the hobby: 3rd ed came out and the characters were axed and the second thing which is sadly still the case, the dilution of the lead content resulting in white metal (which isn't bad really) leading to a massive price increase!  I got back into the hobby a number of years ago and was very pleased to see that characters plus more are back!  So downsides would definately be the simplification of the rules for 40k and the 'newest' model medium - 'fine'cast.

It always seems that GW have to do something in order to justify massive price increases and the lastest one being 'fine'cast resin models in my honest opinion, is the worst thing to happen to the hobby.  I cannot state anymore than I absolutely loath 'fine'cast resin.  I will vent my spleen later on, but for the moment not now!

So what in the hobby do I do now?! I collect my beloved Space Wolves, Orks, Chaos, Inquisition forces and Grey Knights.  But recently as you would have guessed from the pictures, I have been spending rather a decent amount of time on Vampire Counts for Warhammer.  I've just got into fantasy and I am starting to like it more than 40k. The rules are more like 2nd ed 40k!  The pictures include my Coven Throne which took just over a week to do, Vlad von Carstein, an Enigma model called Dark Vlad and some skeletons.  Various techniques have been used on these models and I will like to go through them in due course!

Anyways, I will stop there as I do not wish to bore too much!  So here is the first of my blog!  Yippee!
Cheers
Andy