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Wow, that's some bunk casting. The thing looks kinda cartoony as well, can't say I'm a fan.

What Git and WM said. it might work with other sci-fi games. 40 K not so much unless you wann turn it into a Ork looted tank. Then you spending a lot to just mess it up.

I have had a similar experience with Ramshackle. Big solid pieces where one side is full of voids. That one side is also concave to the point that I had to build it up with plastic card just to get the pieces to mate. Attaching the wheels was a horrible experience since it doesn't drill well or cut easily.

That said I do like the look of the finished result and it fits in well to a post-apoc world RPG I was doing.

I like Ramshackle stuff, bought lots from them in the past. I do think there should be a disclaimer on the site along the lines of 'it's very cheap but it is VERY ramshackle' because the kits are never going to fit together well. I think you are best off gluing them with some thick epoxy (think I glued mine with a hot glue gun actually) and just accepting that you will get a beat up looking vehicle at the end of it, but if you are OK with a beat up looking vehicle then it's a great range.

If I had the money I would buy most of their vehicles for use as derelict vehicle scenery, but not sure I would use many of their vehicles as game pieces.

I feel a need to buy kits and assemble an article. Not only 'options for 40k' but also a discussion of the kits and manufacturers themselves. Quality, customer service, etc.

Okay, here's the SWM APC and the Ramshackle APC, with a Chimera Turret AND a Leman-Russ turret. No, none of these work with the turret rings on the vehicles, but the Rhebok is reasonably close. The 6x6 would need an entirely new turret ring mount built to accept 40K turrets.

It would be best to build from scratch, or kitbash appropriate WYSIWYG turret/weapon combos.

--B.

I still think the 6x6 works best with the missile turret.

It's a shame the ramshackle was so much work just to put together, but I suppose (hope) that it's one of those "you get what you paid for" things.

It's nice to see honest opinions on the alternative options for models and just to see what the alternatives are. Keep it up Brian.

 Dr H wrote:


It's nice to see honest opinions on the alternative options for models and just to see what the alternatives are. Keep it up Brian.

I really feel that a full article needs to be written, there are so many options out there now. I'm not sure I want to shell out for everything (like squads) so I may put out a call.

I SOUND THE LEAGUE HORN!

Or something.

We have enough people, and I have editing skills, to just PLASTER all of the new, cool stuff into an honest article here on Dakka.

--B.

 Briancj wrote:
I really feel that a full article needs to be written, there are so many options out there now.

Sounds like a good plan.

I'm not sure I want to shell out for everything (like squads) so I may put out a call.

Yeah, considering you are trying to cut down on the plastic collection, buying more things is probably not the greatest plan.

I SOUND THE LEAGUE HORN!

Or something.

We have enough people, and I have editing skills, to just PLASTER all of the new, cool stuff into an honest article here on Dakka.

--B.

Sadly, I can't really help. Unless you want to know about a selection of Airfix/etc. (mainly aircraft) models that I've built over the last 20-odd years... (read; not very useful). Should I have something of use, I'll let you know.

I suspect, for the most part, that I am going to call upon people who have already purchased, to write about their experiences, and get some product comparison shots. We'll discuss 40K compatibility, and then talk about other games.

I think, together, we can build a real resource for the community.

Nah, the Ramshackle will work, different variant pattern Chimera comes to mind. The question is how much does it cost compare to a GW Chimera/Rhino kit?

At this time:

Space Marine Rhino: $37.25 USD
Imperial Guard Chimera: $37.25 USD

Ramshackle Rhebok: $32.76 USD

Secret Weapon 6x6 (full): $59.99 USD
SWM 6x6 (no turret): $29.99 USD
SWM 6x6 (one weapon): $49.98 USD

Notes:

Both the Ramshackle kit and the SWM kit come with all of their turret options. The SWM turret alone is $19.99 USD, and only comes with one weapon. GW kits come with all codex weapon options.

 Briancj wrote:
At this time:

Space Marine Rhino: $37.25 USD
Imperial Guard Chimera: $37.25 USD

Ramshackle Rhebok: $32.76 USD

Secret Weapon 6x6 (full): $59.99 USD
SWM 6x6 (no turret): $29.99 USD
SWM 6x6 (one weapon): $49.98 USD

Notes:

Both the Ramshackle kit and the SWM kit come with all of their turret options. The SWM turret alone is $19.99 USD, and only comes with one weapon. GW kits come with all codex weapon options.

I think you really should compare it against a razorback or predator too, since your comparing the price WITH a turret, and the rhino doesn't come with one.

A good point!

Ramshackle Rhebok (full): $32.76 USD
Imperial Guard Chimera: $37.25 USD
Space Marine Razorback: $41.25 USD
SWM 6x6 (one weapon): $49.98 USD
Secret Weapon 6x6 (full): $59.99 USD


SWM 6x6 (no turret): $29.99 USD
Space Marine Rhino: $37.25 USD



Notes:

Both the Ramshackle kit and the SWM kit come with all of their turret options. The SWM turret alone is $19.99 USD, and only comes with one weapon. GW kits come with all codex weapon options for the given vehicle.

Shipping is not discussed, as your mileage will vary.

I really am surprised that you had so many problems with the Ramshackle Games vehicle kits. Curtis over at Ramshackle games has always prided himself on his quality control AND his customer service. I've made some pretty great looking vehicles and bits of terrain over the years using near-perfect "mis-casts" that I buy by the kilogram*. Sometimes I have to look very, very hard indeed to figure out why a given piece was thrown in the mis-cast pile.

Edit: To avoid any confusion, I thought I'd better clarify by pointing out that he sells his mis-casts to folks like me who like to make lot's of post-apoc scenery for their games. Every time I buy a 1kg box of mis-casts, it's pretty much guaranteed that I'll be able to put together at least one great looking vehicle from the bits I'm sent, not to mention stuff like generators, sub-stations, junk piles, wheel barricades etc. His actual vehicle kits make great scenery as well and are well worth a look for anyone who fields a Ork army in particular.

I'm planning on picking up a few of his vehicles and bikers next year for a Genestealer Cult army project as well.

Don't know what to tell you, Lead. The pictures show what I got.

They certainly do - and from the comments you're not the only one who has had problems recently. It's just got me scratching my head, that's all. I'm wondering if he's started to outsource his casting? Or maybe he can't be as stringent as he used to be for some reason? Think I'll fire off a few discrete emails and see what's going down. If I come up with an explanation I'll let you all know.

His customer support is still A+++ in my book. Maybe he got killed by his Kickstarter, and had to 'hire' help who aren't as good.

(responds to League horn) I agree, an Article would be very good to have! Let me know what I can do to help. Personally, I enjoy the extra pain-in-the-ass work of kits like that, but only when I get them free as review samples. For that kind of money, I wouldn't though.

Well the Puppet's war models came to about 50bucks a pop, Making them more FW like prices, still cheaper than some comparably sized FW kits but here, next to the GW Chimera kit

My thread has all of the size pics in it
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Here is my entry. First, the WIP...and backstory!

So, I wanted to make a junk pile. But not just a pile of bits, something with a STORY. Skalk's rules were 'no dioramas', but I still feel that putting some thought into the piece would help me build something with FEELING. I also saw some other wips, and knew I wanted to stay true to what I felt was the core of the contest. A junk pile. JUNK. PILE. Not a prefabbed bit with some stuff, not a crane, not a dead robot.

Junk. Pile.

When I was younger, my friend David and I used to crawl through a few junkyards, including one behind the University we attended. In addition to all the tech junk, there were sections of overgrown everything. You really had to watch your step, lest you need a tetanus shot, yanno?

So, that got me thinking about overgrown wastelands, old imperial outposts, and what would I use this terrain piece for? Well, now I have an idea. But how to challenge myself?

No pre-fab parts. Nothing. Not a single thing. Stuff I could find, lying around. And, do it in a day. It turns out I did it in about three hours. Stupid life.

Well, working in a 40,000 square foot makerspace, I knew I could find stuff for days and days. So, let's make this harder...and EASIER for people who might want to ALSO make junk terrain. Let's go for a walk.

So I did. I even took video, which I need to clean up and post.

Now I have a pile of part.s.



I took the bits, and then some scrap styrene to make a barrel. I like barrels, and it wasn't hard to make one. I'll try to put a tutorial together, as I intend to make and cast a bunch up. Barrels are fun! Short explanation: Take a plastruct cylinder, heat it up a bit, push it down causing it to bow out. Fill the ends, and use an xacto knife to carve in details. A bit of thin card makes barrel bands, and a bit of green stuff tubing or thing card for the ropes. I used green stuff, but I should have twisted it more, to get that rope texture. Lessons learned!

So, I laid pieces out, using a '303' marker as the basis of some lost Imperial Outpost, with marked parts piles. I was thinking about adding a monkey...but I ran out of time.

I wanted to leave room for lots of grass, so I could show that everything had been there awhile. I started by priming brown, and then going in with detail brushes to paint in rust, colors, and details. I used a bit of paint-rust technique, laying down some boltgun metal, bordered by black, then some brown for rust. The blue panel, I painted only in the center, leaving the edges brown and ready for rust. Striped the pipe and did some hazard stripes on the scab-red...thing. The single skull got bronzed flesh, then bleached bone.

After that dried, I went in with a brown ink wash, to take down the various things, as well as 'theme' everything under a single color. This is very important. So, in spite of a scab red thing and a bronze thing and a black and yellow striped pipe and a blue panel and half a vehicle axle, and... it is all tied together with the wash.

Finally, I went in with two sets of weathering powder, a 'dark rust' and a brighter orange rust. Dark first, then orange on top for the more exposed items. We're on a lush planet, here, so there's LOTS of rust. A bit of black to bring out the 303 on the marker, some touchups, and done.

Finally, I 'planted' tufts of Woodland Scenics grass, and used static grass for flocking the remaining open areas.

In spite of having less time to work on this than I wanted (three hours as opposed to eight), I really enjoyed this contest. I hope I have shown, here, that even a new player can get cool looking terrain, without having the bitz box most 'experienced' (old) players do.

















"303...What does it MEAN?!?"



Okay, I used ONE pre-fab thing, and that's a GW scenic dread base. Because it was allowed, and made my life that much easier.

BIG HUGE THANKS to Skalk for running the contest. I know how much work this is, and the fact that he's willing to run ANOTHER is...amazing.

Once again, the League has stepped up to show that good-looking terrain is within everyone's budget!

Lovely job there mate, I heartily approve- and frankly, no narrative, no b point, imo.

Nice Like the wasteland look you got with the grass growing through it all.

Great piece, very natural looking.

And I agree these competitions are great for everyone.

OH HAI. I HAZ A VIDEO FOR THE CONTEST.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWzMxrY1vLo&feature=youtu.be

Enjoy.

Cool little vid Bri, and nice tour of your work-place Lots of toys

Nice vid, and great workplace! I'd love to spend some time in those workshops...

Cheers.

Nice junk. Like the addition of grass to give it the overgrown look.

Your video is certainly worth the 5 point bonus for found junk.
The possibilities in your workshop are as endless as the workshop appears itself. Nice.

While I'm sure everyone in this thread knows...

Take a moment to view the contest entries here, and vote for your favorite!

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/240/563097.page#6348273

Send a PM to Skalk Bloodaxe with the title DAEMON PRINCE.

Remember ME?