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We have a brand new series of laser cut terrain up on kickstarter. We are using a new technique of blending styrene and MDF to create buildings that are free from the limitations of basic MDF and feature curved wall sections as well as recessed doors and windows. Here is a shot of the 4 main buildings.



We have some great stretch goals already listed and some more in the pipeline.





The Perimeter Walls and tower are off getting painted now so we should have painted pictures of those in a week or so.

Kickstarter link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/865632231/forward-operating-base-kiris-28mm-scifi-terrain

Jonathan Bowen
CorSec Engineering
www.corseceng.com

kind of look like card board buildings, I know they aren't but they look like card board

interesting Idea but I'm going to pass. good luck with the kickstarter though

I have to agree. Between the basic designs and the lack of surface detail, they look like home-made cardboard rather than commercial kits.

Clever idea using the styrene for curved panels, though.

Did you watch the video? They are not over detailed but the doors and windows have details. Most of the wall details are already accented. The idea is that we provide the sprue of detail parts and you detail them yourself.

We are working on a lot more bits to add as the campaign gets going.

They will never have the detail of a sculpted or injection molded part but we are stretching the medium as far as we can.

Yes I did see the video.

If you made the paper thin walls less pronounced it might help alot actually. if the roofs all over hung the buildings slightly and were made of thicker MDF board it would look a little better imho

On the Perimeter walls the overall shape is nice the curved design looks very good but you can see how thin the wall are at the top and it kind of ruins the look. Now if you added a vertical piece of thicker MDF piece behind the top part, giving the wall a tapered appearance, and changed nothing else it would greatly improve the design

I really do like the idea of hybrid kits your almost there but some tweaks here and there would greatly improve these kits. the curved edges are great

I'll keep and eye on this project

I think part of the problem is the paint job...honestly.

It makes them look like either toys, or less like scale model buildings.

Maybe have the initial pics show the detailed models, or get some painted to a higher standard?

I love your other products, and want to like these...but right now, they do not seem to the detail or quality or competing products - which could be untrue...but the basic paint scheme does not help.

best of luck!!!

 corseceng wrote:
Did you watch the video?

No. I detest having to watch a video to see product pictures. Just like every other kickstarter I have backed, or not, I'll judge it on the pictures provided.

Thank you, Insaniak.

I hate, hate, HATE when videos are required. I can't watch them, so don't ask me to or there will be resentment.

Well I wouldn't say it was required. We posted pictures of all the buildings on the page. Granted my photography skills and equipment are lacking but I was offering it as an alternative to the low res distance shot that I provided.

Here is the close up of the motor pool building.



@gamingdog

here is a picture of the back side of the walls. The prototypes are out getting painted right now and I was a bit premature in sending them off. I forgot to get good shots of them unpainted.



None of the styrene sections are hanging. They are attached to the MDF skeleton. So the paper thin walls are framed in MDF for strength. They can still be punctured so I wouldn't toss them in bag and go. However, I have been stacking them in a box without any sort of padding for a while and they have not been damaged. Granted I don't toss the box around but thats just common sense.

The roofs are going to get an overhaul. We played with the styrene but the painter didn't prime both sides and it showed a glaring problem. Some of them warped. The command center will get something similar to the barracks. It will add more depth to the roof line and create steps as well as a convenient place to grab onto it. The Motor pool will have full MDF roofs and the bunker will be getting another large piece for the back.

If you want to see the naked frames then I can probably get some cgi shots of them. I'll have some more pictures when I do the next batch of prototypes.

 BobtheInquisitor wrote:
Thank you, Insaniak.

I hate, hate, HATE when videos are required. I can't watch them, so don't ask me to or there will be resentment.

Same here. Just the pics. Loathe wasting my time looking at videos of product.

May not be required reviewing but if the video shows the product better and there is less effort in the pics then you may not be attracting the most potential customers.

 insaniak wrote:

 corseceng wrote:
Did you watch the video?

No. I detest having to watch a video to see product pictures. Just like every other kickstarter I have backed, or not, I'll judge it on the pictures provided.

This.

I shouldn't have to watch a video to get hooked by a hook picture.

The video should be there to "seal the deal" after the amazing hook pics.


There's nothing inherently wrong with this terrain. It is on the flat side with little surface detail, and its predictable in where it uses it's angles, and where it uses it's more curvey shapes, and there's a noticeable lack of a deep understanding of architecture, - all of which break immersion for me - but it's good table top quality terrain if you're not a terrain builder.

The problem is that it's a kickstarter, that it's lacking a wow factor, and for that, i won't fork over money. With a little effort i can make the same quality. With a lot of effort, i can make superior, and more realistic / immersive terrain.

I do wish you luck though, not trying to troll or be a jerk.

Well I finished the accessory sprue prototype design. It will show you all the bits that come in the kit. Hopefully we will have a few more of these sprues unlocked as the campaign progresses.

Here is a link to the update.
[url]
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/865632231/forward-operating-base-kiris-28mm-scifi-terrain/posts/587190[/url]

The Accessories sprue



I also did an alternative look at the Barracks. Just giving some ideas on what all can be added to them. The styrene os 0.020" or 0.5mm thick so it adds a little depth without looking like you slapped something on the side of the building.



I also added some shots of the MDF skeletons without styrene to show the internal structure.

Jonathan Bowen
CorSec Engineering

Ok, starting to look better, more details!

I would say;

1 - show unpainted versions
2 - show pics of the buildings, save the vid for details
3 - Thank you ..

keep up the great work!

Unpainted versions are a problem. It's really hard to see the white on white etching. MDF leaves a burn mark but the styrene doesn't. It justs melts a bit. I've tried about 15 different methods of washing and none of them work well. Maybe with a full photo booth and a pro-sumer camera but I just don't have that equipment in the shop.

Here is an example.



I have more and can post them here if you guys want to see them. I plan to do some videos for assembly tutorials as well but I need to work out my setup for that and finalize the production sprue layouts first.

That unpainted pic actually sells it far better than the pics on the kickstarter. Yes, the detail is a little hard to make out in places, but you can see that it's etched detail.

The pics on the kcikstarter. it looks like the windows and all of the panel lines on the walls are just painted on.

Well here are some more of the unpainted pics. I'm not sure what revision these are from. They might have been right before we sent the first set out to be painted. We scrapped those because he didn't paint the details. He just attacked it with a sponge to give it "texture" and covered all the details up.

These are starting to peek my interest.

With the flexibility, durability and affordability of the polystyrene sheets, I could see "textured" sheets (and small detailed pieces) designed for various scifi structures being a hit for people's custom projects to glue in Styrofoam or MDF boards.

Similar to the sheets of styrene you see for model railroads. (stone, brick, wood, plaster, etc).

We already sell door and window packs made from the stuff.

http://corseceng.com/28mm_flat_pack

The idea started when I needed a door for a scratch build terrain piece.

I'll try to get the production sheets done in the next few days and post some assembly videos soon.

 corseceng wrote:
We already sell door and window packs made from the stuff.

http://corseceng.com/28mm_flat_pack

The idea started when I needed a door for a scratch build terrain piece.

I'll try to get the production sheets done in the next few days and post some assembly videos soon.

Nice.

Hope to see you expand this line as I think it has potential now that I see where you are head and have seen some close up details of your product.

I do hope I do not come off as a troll with no solutions, but my initial thoughts of your products "cheap crap that looked like perforated card stock terrain."

Glad I decided to take a second look.

Hope you expand on products for people who want to build their own frame work for a building but can't achieve those fancy details to give it that scifi look.

I would also be in the market for some scifi textured floors. Though not sure if that is something you would want to do in this kickstarter (don't bite off more than you can chew). Perhaps the best material for that sort of thing would be MDF board?

Well the reason for the KS was to get some new equipment so we can do more stuff like this. If it funds, then we will get a vacuum forming machine and that will open some interesting doors. Plastruct and others concentrate on textured styrene for railroading but I'd like to open the doors for more gaming centric products and push it even further.

If it goes crazy then I have a silly idea that needs more research but I'd like to offer kits like these prepainted. We can print directly on the styrene and laser cut it out. However, that takes a more expensive laser. Currently we can't even cut thicker then 0.020" without serious melting issues. A better laser would allow us to cut cleaner and thicker material.

We do plan to continue to make more flat pack sets and some of the accessories in this KS will be expanded on and released in packs. We might even start doing mini kits for stuff like stairs and small terrain items.

The trick now is to overcome the bad first impression for a few thousand more people like with did with you.

I made my own vac forming machine. Rather easy.

Some 2 x 4s, Welded a few metal bars and steel sheets, square sheets with holes, heating elements from a heater and a powerful vacuum.

it doesn't give the most crisp detail but allows me to make quick, cheap terrain and a number of them in quick time. I've used it to make plastic molds to pour in 2 part foam mix.

I had considered making one but we really want something that will give those crisp details. We also need it to be accurate so we can laser cut the end result with decent precision.

These look average at best. The unpainted photos actually look worse than the unpainted photos. You oughta have words with your staff painter, these could have easily been painted with and airbrush to show some depth.

Even unpainted, these look worse that the MDF Infinity buidlings which have etched panel lines. i also don't see why the windows need diagonal struts.

Sorry dude, but I will not be pledging.

--Chris
www.chrisvalera.com