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Is it me, or are all of these ridiculously over priced??
And what is the Hobby Vice even for???

Not just you, not at all. However, most of the modeling stuff is quite good. The airbrush is poor, but their pin vice is considered by many to be the best out there.

The hobby vice is for holding figures while you paint them, holding things tight for when you're gluing two disagreeable parts together, etc. There was actually a very thorough review here on Dakka of the citadel modeling kit that has everything in it and it was very positive. A lot of these tools are just very situational, like the vice.

I think it's just you. I've never heard anyone here ever say GWS products are overpriced, in their opinion.

Ouze wrote:I think it's just you. I've never heard anyone here ever say GWS products are overpriced, in their opinion.

HAHAHA
Hmmm, I have one of their OLD pin vices from 2002 and it is fantastic! Back then it also wasn't $18.

Their old saw was great too, for less than the price too.

You may want to read this post here which talks about the model kit, and I listed some cheaper alternatives later in the thread.

Yeah there are cheaper alternatives, but their modeling vice is very nice. Air Brush is poor for detail work, but works fine for base coating.

*insert snide comment about FineCraft modelling tools being the finest modelling tools in the world and therefore well worth their premium*

Most GW products are fairly pricey.

I find GW modelling stuff to be worth the price. Unlike their minis, it is easy to buy competitor's products, but these don't seem to measure up.

Main exceptions would be the airbrush and the fact that the plastic glue comes in a bottle with no control over quantity dispensed.

Most of the Citadel tools are good quality.

The polystyrene cement is the main exception IMO, being too thick and gloopy.

Equivalent or better supplies can be found elsewhere, however GW is convenient.

That's what poundshops are for...

The pin vice is good, but it's a generic make and I have bought the same product, or very very similar, elsewhere. The vice is ok just for pinching the odd thing, it's plastic so won't grip very tight but that's not what it is for. If you need to clamp something very tight you'll need a metal vice and you can get those in tool shops.

GW stuff isn't poor quality, I don't think it's the best but it's okay, but it's always over priced.

Of course you can buy everything in the store for a lot less at other places, but when you're in the store playing or painting, you're sort of a captive audience. If you need a tool you're not going to pack all of your stuff back up, drive down the road to Michael's or Hobby Lobby and buy a crafting tool, you'll go to the rack and buy one. If you're ordering it online, there is no excuse for paying twice as much when you can get the same tool (or better) from another web site.

If you're a GW fanboy with money to blow, you have to have GW written on everything you buy. The thing about it is, a lot of the tools are not made by GW, they're made by other companies who slap a GW label on them, like Gale Force Nine's tools. Zona makes a lot GF9's tools and you can get them at other places cheaper. The last GW tool set was a collection of tools from other companies without any GW branding on them at all.

Brother SRM wrote: The airbrush is poor

Maybe that's because GW doesn't sell an airbrush. A spray gun is something different and works reasonably well within its limits.

There are a few items where there are better and cheaper alternatives available.

The GW green stuff sculpting tool is next to useless and I have found both modelling sand and static grass cheaper in hobby shops. You can get finer sand too than the huge chunks of gravel GW sell.

At the end of the day, YMMV but it's worth checking out some stuff in independent hobby store if you've got an afternoon to spare.

Kroothawk wrote:

Brother SRM wrote: The airbrush is poor

Maybe that's because GW doesn't sell an airbrush. A spray gun is something different and works reasonably well within its limits.

It has the same base function, no? It's supposed to coat large swathes of your army at once. The first ones that came out would leak paint from between the joins and there were recalls IIRC. I can only assume they've gotten better since then, but that's a hell of a poor first impression.

Brother SRM wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:

Brother SRM wrote: The airbrush is poor

Maybe that's because GW doesn't sell an airbrush. A spray gun is something different and works reasonably well within its limits.

It has the same base function, no? It's supposed to coat large swathes of your army at once. The first ones that came out would leak paint from between the joins and there were recalls IIRC. I can only assume they've gotten better since then, but that's a hell of a poor first impression.

Exactly. Go buy a $300 compressor and a $100 airbrush for the best in quality.

The first GW one cost all of $30 + $15 for canned air. Compare that to an airbrush using compressed air and you get the same problems. Only difference is that you don't expect that quality in anything GW puts their name on.

Brother SRM wrote:

Kroothawk wrote:

Brother SRM wrote: The airbrush is poor

Maybe that's because GW doesn't sell an airbrush. A spray gun is something different and works reasonably well within its limits.

It has the same base function, no? It's supposed to coat large swathes of your army at once. The first ones that came out would leak paint from between the joins and there were recalls IIRC. I can only assume they've gotten better since then, but that's a hell of a poor first impression.

No, it doesn't have the same base function, any more then a brush for painting your house is the same as a 00 brush for painting eyes. They don't call it an airbrush, they don't claim it's an airbrush, and they don't describe it's use as being appropriate for airbrushing, despite it being persistently described by users as such.

An actual airbrush would be a much better investment then the spray gun, despite being more money initially; the canned air is very expensive to use over time, and reports from people who bought the spray gun indicates it's a flimsy POS that breaks easily. An airbrush can do all the functions of the spray gun but of course has much more utility as well.


Edit: And, really, a $100 airbrush and a $300 compressor? Sure, you could do that, but it's not the only option. You can get a combination Airbrish plus compressor for $100, or you could shop around on ebay and do less still if you get used.

Not sure how many $50 canned air - airbrush kits you've used but I used one and a buddy of mine used another. Both sucked worse than the GW one. So if that one is crap, well, the $50 non GW ones are on par with it.

If you're going to invest in an airbrush, get a quality one. The issues you'll find with the crappy ones will really irritate you.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Ouze wrote:
Edit: And, really, a $100 airbrush and a $300 compressor? Sure, you could do that, but it's not the only option. You can get a combination Airbrish plus compressor for $100, or you could shop around on ebay and do less still if you get used.

I would suggest using one with a tank - its more reliable and is not as loud. The other plus is that you can use it for more than air brushing. Its especially useful for projects around the house (nail gun, paint gun, etc.). Thats how I sold it to the wife at least. Sure I could spend the money on just a toy... but I can also use the tool. It will also make less noise so less chances to wake the kids.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also on a side note reading some of the responses above on quality - I toured a plant that made pneumatic tools. The thing that really amazed me was how they branded the tool - for Huskey, we use the red plastic handles from Vender A, for Craftsmen we use the blue handles from Vender B, for Master we use black handles from Vender C, and for our name brand we use Green from Vender D. The actual piece is the same they just change the handle and put a brand name on it. No other difference - internal parts are all the same. I would assume the same from GW. I don't think their plant actually makes the stuff other than the miniature models.

What a timely thread!

I just bought GWs "hobby drill" (aka pin vice) only to find, upon opening, that it is defective. Bummer, probably an isolated case though.

ps. I want no cries of "you're doing it wrong!" Trust me, the dang ol' boy ain't right.

Brother SRM wrote:It has the same base function, no? It's supposed to coat large swathes of your army at once. The first ones that came out would leak paint from between the joins and there were recalls IIRC. I can only assume they've gotten better since then, but that's a hell of a poor first impression.

As Ouze said: The Spray Gun is only for applying a basecoat of paint, it lacks the fine adjustability of a real airbrush. And you don't need a 100-300$ quality aribrush for applying a basecoat. It is basically a refillable spray can.

I have the hobby vice and think it is good, especially like me if you don't want to bolt a more expensive metal one to your oak desk. I had been eying up their pin vice but got an electric Tamiya hobby drill instead.

Also I don't find GF9 stuff that much cheap either.

True story I was in a hobbycraft store yesterday and had to laugh when I saw the GW small 200ml PVA bottle for £5.19 and walked no more than 10 yards for and saw 2 litres of the stuff for about £5 and was included in a 3 for 2 sale

notprop wrote:True story I was in a hobbycraft store yesterday and had to laugh when I saw the GW small 200ml PVA bottle for £5.19 and walked no more than 10 yards for and saw 2 litres of the stuff for about £5 and was included in a 3 for 2 sale

This In the Southampton Hobbycraft, you just walk to the next aisle and find better modelling tools and materials for half the cost.

I can understand people wanting to go "pure GW" with miniatures and paints (like me), but if newbies take anything away from this thread, don't waste your £££ on GW modelling products without having a look around for the alternatives first. It's the one area where money can be saved (actually you can save vast amounts of cash on GW miniatures too, but that's for a different thread )

The worst offender, price-wise, is the PVA adhesive. 118ml for £5.10, or £43.22 per litre. I think I spent about £2 for a litre of equivalent quality PVA from a hardware shop.

Well, I say equivalent quality, but the hardware shop one doesn't have a Games Workshop logo; presumably the logo is made from exotic matter that can only be produced at the Large Hadron Collider, or something.

Citadel Products are priced fair. I quite like their quality and price.

I think they are cheap, nay, they are virtually paying you to taken them from the store. And their quality is unparalleled by anyone else on Earth or even beyond.

I've even had GW staff tell me (after a few visits ofc) not to bother with their glue and whisper "just go to a hardware store down the road" :-D