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I actually went to this store the other day (my first time in a GW store) and it was very impressive. Not just the all the tables they had, but the employees. The staff member that helped me was excellent. He was informative without being pushy and I didn't feel like I was sold things I didn't want/need. They were out of a codex, so we ordered one online along with a few minis so I would get free shipping. He listened to what I wanted and made suggestions along the way, which was awesome...esp after reading some of the horror stories about GW employees. So if you find yourself in Maryland, you have to make a stop at the Bowie store.

BTW what do the different shirt colors mean?

Reds are employees usually and black shirts are managers. I think.

Also, I believe you can get free shipping by having them shipped to store instead of your house, no?

For some reason, they all seemed to have black shirts on Saturday, so I'm not sure of the distinction these days.

You can get free shipping to the store for any amount, but to get it to your home it has to be I believe over $30. I have stuff shipped to the GW store in Columbia somewhat often (pretty much whenever I want something that's direct only, I'll just go into the store and order it at the terminal and have it shipped there) and it's great and easy

There are no more red shirts in the USA and there haven't been for months. Several months ago GW sent every GW retail employee in North America a new black shirt that says "Ask Me" on the back. All employees in the stores, manager or not, now are required to wear those shirts. Of course, so many stores have only one employee these days that a lot of customers barely noticed the change.

Free shipping always applies if you get your order shipped to a store regardless of sales total. Free shipping also applies to shipping to your home if the order it $30 or more.

So if you find yourself in Maryland, you have to make a stop at the Bowie store.

We have multiple stores in this the immediate area that are like that. Pasadena and Jennifer Square Annapolis GW stores also have terrific and helpful operators that will assist you in getting what you need only with the level of help you actually want. We have it good around here when it comes to GW stores and the staff.

BrassScorpion wrote:There are no more red shirts in the USA and there haven't been for months. Several months ago GW sent every GW retail employee in North America a new black shirt that says "Ask Me" on the back. All employees in the stores, manager or not, now are required to wear those shirts. Of course, so many stores have only one employee these days that a lot of customers barely noticed the change.

Free shipping always applies if you get your order shipped to a store regardless of sales total. Free shipping also applies to shipping to your home if the order it $30 or more.

So if you find yourself in Maryland, you have to make a stop at the Bowie store.

We have multiple stores in this the immediate area that are like that. Pasadena and Jennifer Square Annapolis GW stores also have terrific and helpful operators that will assist you in getting what you need only with the level of help you actually want. We have it good around here when it comes to GW stores and the staff.

They had to get rid of the Red Shirts because the employees knew that wearing a Red Shirt was tantamount to a Death Sentance and they were very reluctant to go on Away Missions to the planet's surface...

BrassScorpion wrote:Aaron Dembski-Bowden book signing at the Bowie Bunker on Saturday at 1:00pm, May 28.

I didn't know that, might've come up--too late now, oh well!

I didn't make it to the Bunker on Saturday either, so I also missed the book signing.

However, I will be there on Monday, May 30. It's the only GW store open on Mondays for miles around and on Monday I have the time to be there. I will hopefully get some good painting and model assembly done.

Never done much at the stores. How does the modeling and painting work out?

Do you just bring in your model and they supply the paint? do you need to buy the model there that day?

Depending on when the family arrives tomorrow I may take a ride up there as I want to get some incubi. Tried to hit the pasadena store today after I got my haircut but they were closed for lunch and didn't feel like hanging around.

Nvs wrote:Never done much at the stores. How does the modeling and painting work out?

Do you just bring in your model and they supply the paint? do you need to buy the model there that day?

Depending on when the family arrives tomorrow I may take a ride up there as I want to get some incubi. Tried to hit the pasadena store today after I got my haircut but they were closed for lunch and didn't feel like hanging around.

Q: Do you just bring in your model and they supply the paint?
A: You can build or paint any model(s) at the store as long as it is a GW product. Some stores lend paint, some don't. Shared loaner paints can get bad due to customer abuse even when available. It's best to bring your own paint if you want to be sure of having the colors and quality you really need. Borrowing paint is best only as a last resort even at stores where it is a provided courtesy. I only borrow paint on rare occasion to try out a new color of if I forgot a specific color. That is really what courtesy paints are for. Stores where the courtesy is abused and customers start painting whole armies without ever buying paint often have the courtesy removed.

Q: do you need to buy the model there that day?
A: No. It could have been purchased that day, last week or last year. That's a good thing, if you buy an army of 200 models and want to paint it at the store it would be difficult to do that in a day!

Are they going to be open tomorrow on Memorial Day?

spyfunk wrote:Are they going to be open tomorrow on Memorial Day?

they should be but you can call 301-464-4651

They will be open tomorrow, May 30, Memorial Day. GW stores only close 3 days per year in the US and that isn't one of them.

If you missed the book signing by Aaron Dembski-Bowden at the Battle Bunker last Saturday I discovered today that they have some signed books for sale from that event. The number left is obviously limited so if you would like one you might want to head over there this week.

Had a great time stopping by yesterday, and finally matched name-to-face for Duane (the manager).

Good times... they also have a large selection of most of the new finecast boxes, which is good due to the potential for miscasts right now.

I also picked up my first finecast blister... am reasonably happy with it, but there were some errors that I don't think would be on a metal model (particularly the shield- one spot so thin you can see through it, and a corner of it not fully formed and missing a bolt head... not a really big deal, but not what I'd call "finely cast" either :-/

Still, nice to have the selection since if anyone does run into problems, they can easily exchange, and it seems like they've done so without problems.

Will probably be in again on Thursday

I am going to try and swing by the bunker this evening and get a big game of 40k in (~2500 pts). I got some new finecast minis I would like to try out.

If anyone wants to set up a game for around 5:30-6:00, shoot me a PM, otherwise I will probably be showing up around that time looking for a random game.

My high school is closed for graduation on friday, so I might be there How's the finecast selection up there? I was thinking about picking up an Abaddon People have been ranting about how great these new casts are, but I need to see for myself, having painted that model numerous times.

I picked up Marneus + Honor Guard and it's a bit of a mixed bag. Some air bubles screw up some of the detail a bit. The detail looks great (IMO), however I haven't started painting them yet - I will probably wait until I have better painting skills.

The Bowie Bunker had a ton of Finecast models to choose from when I was there yesterday. They had a relatively slow weekend so it's not terribly picked over for product.

I might stop by there again this afternoon. Still painting Grey Knights and working on a new conversion for Daemons.

Yes, there's a Lot there... and imho Samus_aran, Abaddon is one of the casts that seems to come out really well in this process. I checked a few Abbadons out through the blister while I was there and they looked spectacular, as have the pics of it I've seen online from people who picked it up. Seems to be one of the good ones, generally...

As someone said above, with the subpar casts it's not the detail that comes out that's the problem (as it's excellent)... it's the propensity to have detail not come out whether due to air bubbles or the mold not filling (or releasing the part) properly that's been a bummer...

Also, the daemon conversion BrassScorpion is doing is sweet and well worth checking out while you're there if he is (finecast skulltaker on plastic juggernaut).

Nurgle's Head Cheese wrote:
They had to get rid of the Red Shirts because the employees knew that wearing a Red Shirt was tantamount to a Death Sentance and they were very reluctant to go on Away Missions to the planet's surface...

And black shirts have better associations?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackshirts

A few more people are showing up at the Bunker now than the first week. It seems a lot of people just don't know it's there yet, especially a lot of the more occasional game store customers or kids who are dependent on their parents to get there. Slowly, word is getting out though. And I've see some local Dakka members in there regularly now.

I finished the main conversion work on that Finecast Skulltaker Mounted On Juggernaut tonight.

BrassScorpion wrote:The Bowie Bunker had a ton of Finecast models to choose from when I was there yesterday. They had a relatively slow weekend so it's not terribly picked over for product.

I might stop by there again this afternoon. Still painting Grey Knights and working on a new conversion for Daemons.

I picked up a finecast mini there on Memorial Day. I figured I'd give one a shot. Meh. For the one model I got at least, too many bubbles on corners and tips of things. The smaller fiddly protruding bits are apparently fragile. I initially thought the model had a miscast (missing) thumb, but then (miraculously) I found it, disembodied, in the blister pack. I spent a good 10 minutes trying to glue a 3 mm thumb back on tiny thumbless hand, with way too much superglue, and with eventual success. After that, I didn't have the mental fortitude to repair all of the large miscast corners with green stuff.

Superglue is not my bailiwick. At one point I had the Icons of Vilification glued to my left index finger.

On the positive side: The resin seems to "take" the superglue much faster than metal. Also, the resin is easy to work with. Mold lines seemed easier to scrape off than on plastic. The flat grey is easier to see detail on when working off flash, mold lines etc.

My suggestion: Consider buying these in a store (not on line), so you can give them a long hard look before buying. Look at corners/edges of things to make sure they are filled up, finger tips, sword tips, sharp corners. The flat grey makes these easier to pick out than semi-shiny metal (I wish I had done this).

That conversion looks fantastic . Having just struggled through getting a metal ogre's legs far enough apart to sit on a baby rhinox, I can appreciate how convincing that looks... and apparently it was pretty easy with the finecast model, which is even better .

Unrelated to the above- any advice on opening finecast "blisters"? They basically have to be cut open, right? I mauled the first one I bought, but would like to do a better job of it in the future (especially if I end up getting a miscast and want to return it... even if they'll take it with bad packaging, I'd rather not risk it).

RiTides wrote:That conversion looks fantastic . Having just struggled through getting a metal ogre's legs far enough apart to sit on a baby rhinox, I can appreciate how convincing that looks... and apparently it was pretty easy with the finecast model, which is even better .

Unrelated to the above- any advice on opening finecast "blisters"? They basically have to be cut open, right? I mauled the first one I bought, but would like to do a better job of it in the future (especially if I end up getting a miscast and want to return it... even if they'll take it with bad packaging, I'd rather not risk it).

Thanks for the comments on the conversion.

As for the "clampacks" or clamshells as they are more commonly referred to throughout the retail industry, I definitely cut them open. I cut all clamshell packaging open rather than try to tear it. I saw a documentary last year that was done with some humor about "worst consumer ideas ever" and clamshells were a nice long segment on the show. Of course, manufacturers and sellers like them because they do well at their intended purpose which is to prevent packaging being easily opened in stores by thieves who want to pocket the contents, but they are nearly impossible to open without cutting them open. Several hundred people each year end up in hospital emergency rooms because they chose to tear them manually and the ragged plastic severely cuts their hands open. There's even a secondary industry spawned by the problem as there are tools on the market specifically designed to open clamshell packaging. Scissors work just as well as does a nice sharp knife. I used my hobby knife to open the Skulltaker clamshell. For larger packages like the ones containing the Citadel movement trays I use scissors and cut my way around the edges.

My Space Ork army is being photographed at the GW Bowie Battle Bunker today. I've never taken all 200 models to the store at once before and it is proving to be an interesting challenge of packing and transport.

Mmmmm, I'd have liked to see that! Unfortunately I don't think I'll be out that way today- made the trek on Thursday, and the traffic was pretty crazy on a weekday to get there.

Not that it's not crazy everywhere else in this state around that time

Depending on when we pick up my dog from the vet, I may make it out there this weekend finally. I still haven't seen it.