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I'm looking to do some moderate conversion work and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction tool-wise? Should I go with GW or is there a better source?

I actually bought this tool, and I've found it quite useful. If you don't want to go to an art supply store and drop more money on serious sculpting tools or anything like that than its a pretty decent value that serves its purpose well.

I've been using Colour Shapers, ratehr than metal modelling tools. You should be able to get 2 or 3 different shapes for the same price, and if you need a hard surface, you can always use your knife.

I have one from when they were first released and use it all the time. Id say its well worth £5

K thanks alot... so a fiver is reasonable?

 Urien_Rakarth wrote:
K thanks alot... so a fiver is reasonable?

As two people have already said, yes.

I use colour shapers and got a full set of them several years ago - they are a lot easier to work GS with than metal tools (I also have a full set of metal sculpting tools).

You can get individual colour shapers for £2-3 and I would recommend them, especially if you get the "ultra firm" (generally they have black tips) shapers. The set I have are "firm" and sometimes I wish they were just a little more rigid, especially since GS is quite stiff compared to most things you would normally sculpt with for a lot of its working period.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Shaper-Black-Tip-Clay/dp/B0043GWDQ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786479&sr=8-4

£8.60 for a full set of ultra firms, or £8.30 if you want the firm tips:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Shaper-Firm-Grey-Painting/dp/B00399KKMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786479&sr=8-1

 Urien_Rakarth wrote:
I'm looking to do some moderate conversion work and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction tool-wise? Should I go with GW or is there a better source?

Do you have access to any art supply or modelling store? If yes, go there and buy everything you need instead of at GW.
I guarantee you for better price and better quality.

 Skippy wrote:
I have one from when they were first released and use it all the time. Id say its well worth £5

That depends, as other have mentioned you can get same thing for £2
There will be people that tells you "who care its just £3 more"

While there are people like me that will say, "yes but that is 250% more expensive".

Thats how GW makes money I guess :]

The tool itself is useful. The price...not so much. It is a standard tool. Like LunaHound said, check a local art supply store. Otherwise see what amazon.co.uk has. I think I got an set of like 8 sculpting tools in amazon for around $10 or so. I have lots more options than just that one GW tool offers.

I got one of those when GW first brought them out, very useful. It not greys value for money when you consider you can get a whole set of 12 from GF9 or Hasslefree for not allot more than the GW one.

If you look in almost any hobby store or website you will find sets of them for reasonable sums and they tend to come with little canvas wraps to keep them in.

Maelstrom and Wayland both carry GF9.

I have had it for about 8 years and it has had more purposes than i care to name! Definitely worth the bucks.

To be honest, IMO no. Nothing to do with the price though (£5 is the high end of average, but still average).Nope, its the blade. The blade end on the GW one I have is about 1-1.5mm thick, with no taper on the edge. The generic one I got at a craft store (same price) has the exact same blade size, but is about .5mm thick at the edge, with a taper. Doesnt sound like much, but its the difference between a precision tool and a (relatively) clunky block pushing stuff around.

However, if it is just for casual use, then GWs is fine.

Try http://www.squirestools.com/
Look at the blue book, section 23, last page.
you can get a whole set for £13.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Or section 2, pages 7 & 8 - you can get a tool for £2.

Found these:
http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/gale-force-9/tools/intro-sculpting-set-3-pc-/prod_4702.html

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Piece-Stainless-Steel-Wax-Carving/dp/B000V6MTDO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354466710&sr=8-1

What do you guys think?

 LunaHound wrote:

 Urien_Rakarth wrote:
I'm looking to do some moderate conversion work and was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction tool-wise? Should I go with GW or is there a better source?

Do you have access to any art supply or modelling store? If yes, go there and buy everything you need instead of at GW.
I guarantee you for better price and better quality.

 Skippy wrote:
I have one from when they were first released and use it all the time. Id say its well worth £5

That depends, as other have mentioned you can get same thing for £2
There will be people that tells you "who care its just £3 more"

While there are people like me that will say, "yes but that is 250% more expensive".

Thats how GW makes money I guess :]

Yes, LunaHound, we know, GW is the great satan and must be defeated.

It's a good starting tool, and worth the money, but I would get some other tools as well.

Grab the second one. It's best to have too many different tools than too few. You just might need one of those round ball shaped ones some day.

 Squigsquasher wrote:
Yes, LunaHound, we know, GW is the great satan and must be defeated.

It's a good starting tool, and worth the money, but I would get some other tools as well.

I think the issue is a disagreement of what "worth the money" means. Is the tool useful? Possibly for some - I don't care for what they are selling though.

The next question goes to the price - how is the GW price compared to the market price? In this case, several times more expensive than comparable (identical) tools. For the $8.25 that it goes for in the US, I can get a set of 5 wax carving tools without looking too hard. If I go to some of the more obscure sources, I can get a set of 10.

So - is it a useful tool? Sure. Is it worth what they are charging? No, probably not.

That isn't a slam on GW - it is a statement of fact. A lot of people really do not realize that a large majority of the items which GW sells are available elsewhere, often better items for lower prices. It isn't anymore of a slam than when someone mentions that you can get primer from other companies, clear coats from other companies, Green Stuff from other companies... And it isn't just GW who likes to do this markup game either. Army Painter exists entirely on repackaging and marking things up. CMoN does it in spades. Even companies like Reaper who are generally considered to be very friendly in terms of their pricing policies repackage and markup a couple of items (notably GS).

1: I have been using the GW sculpting tool it's great. But I'd suggest buying a cheaper version of the same thing.
Like these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WARGAME-MODEL-SCULPTING-TOOLS-X-2-FOR-GREEN-STUFF-ETC-/180737127890?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item2a14c5b5d2
Or this, which is the same tool :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/theBattleforge-Green-Stuff-Classic-Sculpting-and-Modelling-Tool-/251134529913?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item3a78c8d179

2: I'd recomend trying Milliput instead of GS for lots of work. It's a lot cheaper and much easier to work with.

SilverMK2 wrote:I use colour shapers and got a full set of them several years ago - they are a lot easier to work GS with than metal tools (I also have a full set of metal sculpting tools).

You can get individual colour shapers for £2-3 and I would recommend them, especially if you get the "ultra firm" (generally they have black tips) shapers. The set I have are "firm" and sometimes I wish they were just a little more rigid, especially since GS is quite stiff compared to most things you would normally sculpt with for a lot of its working period.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Shaper-Black-Tip-Clay/dp/B0043GWDQ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786479&sr=8-4

£8.60 for a full set of ultra firms, or £8.30 if you want the firm tips:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Shaper-Firm-Grey-Painting/dp/B00399KKMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786479&sr=8-1

For what it's worth, those are not £8-9, they're £13-14.

I bought it, did my best to use it, but soon found it to be a nuisance. I just use cocktail sticks now instead. =P

 Ovion wrote:
1: I have been using the GW sculpting tool it's great. But I'd suggest buying a cheaper version of the same thing.
Like these:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WARGAME-MODEL-SCULPTING-TOOLS-X-2-FOR-GREEN-STUFF-ETC-/180737127890?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item2a14c5b5d2
Or this, which is the same tool :
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/theBattleforge-Green-Stuff-Classic-Sculpting-and-Modelling-Tool-/251134529913?pt=UK_Toys_Wargames_RL&hash=item3a78c8d179

2: I'd recomend trying Milliput instead of GS for lots of work. It's a lot cheaper and much easier to work with.

SilverMK2 wrote:I use colour shapers and got a full set of them several years ago - they are a lot easier to work GS with than metal tools (I also have a full set of metal sculpting tools).

You can get individual colour shapers for £2-3 and I would recommend them, especially if you get the "ultra firm" (generally they have black tips) shapers. The set I have are "firm" and sometimes I wish they were just a little more rigid, especially since GS is quite stiff compared to most things you would normally sculpt with for a lot of its working period.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Shaper-Black-Tip-Clay/dp/B0043GWDQ6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786479&sr=8-4

£8.60 for a full set of ultra firms, or £8.30 if you want the firm tips:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Colour-Shaper-Firm-Grey-Painting/dp/B00399KKMW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346786479&sr=8-1

For what it's worth, those are not £8-9, they're £13-14.

I have some white Milliput, I don't like it at all. It's much too course and crumbly, and the fact that it's white means mixing it is a pain. It's good for basic structure but no good for detail.

it's one of the few P&M tools they have that I would buy, I have one myself and it's very usefull for just about anything, though depending on what conversions you're doing I would maybe look at buying a few others

I've been using standard Yellow and found it great - been fine on large and small detail, and good smooth surfaces.
If you've been finding it crumbley, sounds like it might be too dry, try adding a bit of water to it / your tools.

I've found it so much easier to work with the Milliput than Greenstuff. It's also so much cheaper than even buying Kneadatite direct.

As well as that, I pay £2.30 (It averages £2-4 a pack) for for a 113.4g pack of Milliput, and the cheapest GS I've found would be £15 for the same amount.