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well i know what im doing to my servo skull tape!

Gitsplitta wrote:Little treat for you.

I picked up one of the servo skull tape measures GW started making. Mine works fine and seems very solid. Anyway, I could see getting it confused with everyone else's so I did a little custom painting. I could paint more of course but I didn't want to go overboard with it.

One of my biggest peeves, and part of what I feel makes it look tacky (though painting it goes a long way to helping that) is the screw holes. - Fill those with greenstuff and paint over it and I reckon it'll look significantly more solid and a lot better

I think it's a cool novelty item to begin with, but your paint job makes it so much cooler! You should also look into making it hover....

dsteingass wrote:I see them as sort of a limited run novelty thing. I like the tape measure myself, If I see one, I will most likely pick it up for the novelty of it, but in a game, I'll just use my simple hardware-store type tape measure and my plain old plastic templates.

I might buy the templates to use for the bolts. that is a good idea!

LOL 40k.... I'll consider that!

Well, it's definitely not as sturdy as a real tape measure from say, Stanley or some such. But then they don't make tape measures that look like servo skulls. Yes, it was expensive for a fairly cheaply made tape measure... but I didn't buy it because I expected to get good value for my "tape measure dollars"... I bought because it was unique and cool. When it stops working all together... it'll still be unique and cool and I'll probably finish the paint job and turn it into an objective or a turn counter. No biggie.

I guess what I'd say to people who object to it's quality is... "Really? You expected something different from GW, which is remember... a TOY company?" It's a novelty, not a tool & should be viewed in that context. Most "novelties" are crap... but just because they're built poorly doesn't mean they have no charm or aesthetic value. Accept it for what it is... a cheap tape measure with a one-of-a-kind shape. Then make your decision to buy it or not given those facts.

I'd have to argue with that sentiment.
Games Workshop is a premium toy company.
Their products are expensive, and generally to a rather high standard (ignoring the whole finecast debacle).

The model kits, tools and paints they provide are mostly rather well made (if overpriced), and yes it's a novelty - but that doesn't mean it has to suck, and from a company that supposedly prides its stock as 'the best in the world' it's not an unrealistic expectation.

But in the end - it's a bulky tape measure for £10 that looks and feels cheaper than the £3 on they offer.

If you're happy with it that's good, and painting it has made it look a lot better, and I think if you fill the screw holes it'll look better still, but for me I have 2 £1 tape measures I've been using for the last 2 years ( I lost one for a while, and quite typically, found it as soon as I bought a replacement...), so I'll stick with them

Nope, not toys, the shipping boxes say "NOT CHILDREN'S PRODUCTS"

IMHO, some of their product failures (i.e. products that do not do what they are designed/marked/sold to do) are:

-The Stippling Brush
-Codex: Catachans
-New glues

ONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dsteingass wrote:
-Codex: Catachans

ZING!

I guess I've always assumed that a certain percentage of GW stuff is crap... it just comes with a great story. Their models have nearly always had issues. The RT rulebook completely fell apart when the glue failed, Finecast is garbage for the most part. A good chunk of the vehicle kits (across time) have never fit together properly. When you buy the skull tape measure... you aren't buying a tape measure... your buying a model servo skull in the guise of something related to gaming. Expecting it to be a good tape measure is inconsistent with everything we know and love about GW, so why set yourself up for disappointment? It's just a cool looking little gadget, that's all. No more overpriced than anything else they sell. If you want to blow the money, go for it... if not, you're probably better off for saving your money (though, they're going to get it from you eventually... one way or the other).

The words "GW" and "value" should rarely if ever be used in the same sentence. That's just how it is.

HAHA.. Soo True Gits!
They have a plan for us....

hey gits! i like the skull... and it is very cool looking too! and... i never knew ...there where servo skull tapemeasures out there???

LOL Victor! You just came in on the debate that tape measure sparked. Yes, it's an overpriced little gadget they're making available along side the templates and such. It's NOT a quality tape measure, and it's expensive. But I think it's a neat little novelty all the same. When it ceases to function, I'll probably make it into a turn counter or some such.

i think that would be an even grander idea!...

and i just had a look... it costs 13 €s ... well for a tape measure thingy it is a bit steap...but for the look...it is not too overpriced in my view... beside.... who could compare...as i bet there aren´t many other skulls for that tool out there...^^

I wonder if the price has gone up... I think I paid $14 (US) for mine.

well... dunno what the doller is atm but that sounds a bit cheaper still... *shakes fist at GW *

Well, my FLGS gives discounts to regular customers too, so that may have factored in a bit.

I admit to wanting to buy the tape measure, cast the halves, and build floating Servo Skulls-counts-as-Sentinels for my non-existent AdMech army.

Those would be BIG servo skulls. Hate to see the species those came from. Perhaps you can wait a month or two and when all the tape measures break you can pick them up from other members of your gaming group for a song?



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Might make a cool flying gadget for a tech marine (counts as a bike).

Well, they'd be less a Servo Skull, and more of a GIANT FLOATING SKULL OF DEATH.

Sadly, I don't have a local gaming group, but I will wait for them to show up on eBay...

There £10 (GB) here same with the dice that I'm wanting to get both of... But 10 quid is steep even if a normal GW tape mesure costs £10 too. So its no difference really, but you can get a decent one for about £1.00 form B&Q? Or £10.00 for a smaller not as good one???? (This is the normal one not the skull, but people will be wantig £25 for the skull on ebay tho)... I bet you...

Briancj wrote:Well, they'd be less a Servo Skull, and more of a GIANT FLOATING SKULL OF DEATH.

You could convert it into a GW scale RoboSkull from Action Force (or GI Joe to you Americans)?

How big is the thing??
Also, where is the slider/button that you use to hold the tape out? Please, please please tell me that you have to pick the things nose in order to measure range. That would make my day and make me buy one!!

It is the size of a TAPE MEASURE!

See the ugly red eyepiece? Push that and the tape moves (in or out), release it and it locks in place. The reason I didn't paint more is that I wanted to lay off the places that would get the most wear (like the red button).

HAZZER wrote:There £10 (GB) here same with the dice that I'm wanting to get both of... But 10 quid is steep even if a normal GW tape mesure costs £10 too. So its no difference really, but you can get a decent one for about £1.00 form B&Q? Or £10.00 for a smaller not as good one???? (This is the normal one not the skull, but people will be wantig £25 for the skull on ebay tho)... I bet you...

The normal red GW Tape Measure is £3.10 (I actually have on laying around somewhere that I got given 2-3 months ago) and it's actually pretty good, with a decent case etc.
I don't tend to use it much, mostly because the ones I bought from B&Q for £1 each, are perfectly fine, but half the size - so takes up less room in my bag. The main bonus the GW red one has is the rubber case.

I normally use tape measures produced by a quality tool company here in the U.S. called "Stanley". They aren't exactly cheap either but the quality is excellent. Since they're tools, not toys... they've got to perform well and be durable.

My Stanley tape measure just bit the dust. Serve me right for using it for work as well as play :( It was probably a bit overspecced for 40k anyway, though, in that it had a 5m length...

The servoskull is amusing, but then I even bought the laser pointer they sold for the last edition

looks fine and proper.

What really would have made it cool would have been to move the release button to somewhere else and put a small laser pointer in for LOS.

Dit you pait the lense or is it an actual lense?

SL

Painted the lens. The original tape measure is just weathered silver with the red button/eyepiece.