The Silent Treatment

Hi, it's been a while. Waiting for my latest Old Crow order really drained my enthusiasm - it took no less than 5 weeks this time. But now it's finally here and I can pore over some more cool models!

Starting with the sculpts we've already seen, here is my second Sabre. A great cast with no bubbles this time.

Two more Gladius tanks, this time with "tank hunter" turrets. I wasn't too impressed with the design of these turrets from the pictures on the website, but they are really nice in person.

Gecko scouts, pick-up version. One of them has two bubbles on the underside, the other one is perfect. The rear compartment fits a (unbased) GZG guy perfectly.

Halberd assault guns. Neat design with two barrel options (the same as on the Sabre, I think) and a metal top hatch. This could probably be replaced with one of the tiny turrets that come with Old Crow's APCs. The hull consists of two parts, with the bottom being the same as on the Glaive and Gladius.

I also wanted to try some if the fancier turrets that don't come with any tanks and have to be purchased separately, so I got two "Tac Missile" turrets. These come as a resin sensor array with 4 impressively large missiles cast in metal (with barely a mold line to be seen!) Mounting these on a Gladius chassis makes for a pretty interesting support platform.

Since I now had two extra turrets, I also got two immobile turret bases. They look nice and chunky and will make a nice addition to my forces when they have to defend a static position.

There we go. Another batch of great casts (I'd say maybe 8 bubbles in this whole lot combined, and nothing in critical places) from Old Crow. I own almost their entire 15mm catalogue now, so I guess I'm done until they make some new stuff!

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and happy gaming.

Yet more GZG shenanigans

As I've mentioned before, I was the first person to start a 15mm sci-fi army in my gaming circle. Well, it didn't take long to convince a good friend and long-time gaming buddy to pick up an army of his own. He jumped right in at the deep end and ordered over two kilos of GZG product.

When I started this blog I certainly didn't intend to go on any sort of "name and shame" campaign against anyone, but in the interests of other current and future gamers I feel I have to add a few more pictures from my friend's collection to my review of GZG.

My friend bought a dozen vehicles, all wheeled. Here are a couple of them, an 8-wheeled APC and a 4-wheeled "Bobcat".

They check out okay at first glance, but a closer inspection reveals some serious pitting and mold lines.

The most startling defect is this large hole in the side which opens up into a huge bubble. I'm honestly not sure how you can get such a large pocket of air inside a 3-4mm thick metal wall but here it is.

I suppose these large indentations are intentional and there to save material, as they appear on all vehicles, but they sure are ugly enough to make it unappealing to turn the model on its side or back to represent it being destroyed during a game.

The Bobcat also has heavy mold lines all around.

More problematic is this huge lump of misshapen metal, presumably where the injection port was hastily clipped or perhaps even just twisted away. There's a reason I don't buy GW's Finecast - I don't enjoy resculpting missing detail! This one was the worst of the bunch but all 4 Bobcats had that area misshapen to some degree.

Then there's the mini hover drones. About half of these have a large chunk of the turbine missing, and fixing these will require a little more talent than the usual filling of holes with putty.

Not that GZG isn't capable of casting the turbines just fine - on the bottom side of the very same drones.

To finish on a positive note here are some nice mini aero drones, no complaints here.

Based on these models I'd give GZG a score of 5/10 for casting - barely above an enthusiast's first attempts to cast at home and really suitable only for gamers with years of modelling experience. Blah.

Alternative models: Macross Valkyrie jets

Like a lot of 15mm players I try to keep an eye out for interesting toys and scale kits that could be used for gaming. Browsing stores like Hobby Link Japan can turn up some really interesting finds. If you're not averse to the sleek anime-look or most of their models, you can find a plethora of mecha in various scales, including our own 1/100, and sometimes other types of models.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon a selection of 1/100 scale jets. Apparently they come from a series called Macross and transform between jets, jets with legs and normal-looking mecha, but these particular kits are "stuck" in jet mode.

 Now, there are two obvious issues with aircraft in 15mm. Firstly, they're a fair bit bigger than tanks and can overshadow the rest of the models. Some games (like Flames of War) get around this problem by using undersized aircraft, but this just feels weird to me. Second, at 15mm scale the table still represents such a small area of ground that it would be unrealistic for a fixed-wing craft to stay on the table for any length of time. Knowing this, I still decided to buy a kit and see for myself. The one I opted for is cheap enough and looks good enough that I wouldn't be too sorry if it turned out to be useless for 15mm and had to be relegated to the display cabinet.

Using HLJ's cheapest "it ships when it ships" option I had to wait a little bit over a month to get my order.

The box contains 3 sprues, an instruction sheet in Japanese (but illustrated well enough that assembling the model was completely unproblematic) and a large sheet of stickers.

Bandai uses some serious wizardry to make multi-coloured sprues in a single mold. Combined with the sticker sheet, this means that the model can be displayed as an anime memorabilia piece without any painting. A serious modeler or gamer will still want to paint it properly, though. Similarly impressive is that the model snaps together without any glue and all the parts fit perfectly.

Despite being advertised as 1/100 scale, the pilot is a fair bit smaller than my 15mm GZG infantry, even accounting for the New Israeli's hardsuit. If I decide to use the jet for gaming, I'll have to paint over the cockpit to hide the little man.

And a size comparison with an Old Crow Sabre, which is one of their heavier tanks.The size difference is realistic enough, and I don't think that a single jet would look too off on the table, size-wise. As for the other issue... well, in a world where grav tech exists, it cannot imagine that it wouldn't be used on jets, at least as a secondary system to provide easy VTOL and a safety net in case the main engine dies. This would make every jet capable of hovering and providing fire support for ground troops in the same way helicopters can today.

Even if your setting does not allow you to hand-wave these issues away with grav tech, the model still makes a fine terrain piece or objective, or can be used as an "instant death" ending in scenarios (you have to complete your mission before the jet arrives and bombs your forces).

I would not recommend it to everyone, but if you like the design aesthetic you might want to give it a shot. It cost me a about $20 US with shipping from Japan, which is a competitive price even compared to lower-quality local offerings (Revell, Italeri...)

Old Crow Reinforcements

Like I said at the end of my initial Old Crow review, I placed another order that same day (the 14th) and it arrived on the 5th, 20 days later - two days faster than my first order.

The packaging is again commendable, with each vehicle individually bagged and the entire batch encased in bubble wrap and packing peanuts.

Going roughly from smallest to largest, let's start with the Goanna Scouts. These come two per pack and are really nice sculpts, especially for single-piece models, but I would prefer separate wheels. I feel the block of resin that extends to the floor is a bit too much of a compromise, simplifying casting at the expense of aesthetics.

As with all Old Crow models, the underside is sanded flat, but unfortunately one of the Goannas does not lie level with the ground, looking perhaps is if the tires on one side were flat. Apart from that, the casting itself is every bit as flawless as I came to expect.

Second come the Outrider scouts. I opted for the grav version but Old Crow also offer them with hover-skirts or wheels. I was pleased to note that each vehicle comes with a choice of gun turret, missile turret or access hatch. This leaves me with some spares for the Goannas (which come unarmed).

Sadly the sanding is again uneven, as can be seen on the following image. Note the different thickness in the grav "flaps" on the two vehicles.

Next up are the Trojan APCs. These look very much like Slingshots but come with single-piece hulls and yet more spare turrets.

Unfortunately the casting on these is considerably worse than the other Old Crow models I've seen. The underside of one vehicle is absolutely pitted with bubbles and a fair few smaller ones extend to the sides of the hull, as well. Looking at this model reminds me strongly of GW's ironically named "Finecast" range.

Well, moving on to the Gladius grav tanks. Their hulls come in an upper and lower half, but unlike the Slingshot the pieces are not joined with the sanded sides, instead the sanded side of the upper hull goes on the smooth side of the bottom piece.

The bottom halves aren't cast perfectly flat, so there is a bit of a gap at the join. Since the piece is fairly thin, this can probably be easily fixed with a little heat-bending.

With the addition of a standard tank turret the Gladius makes for a really nice grav tank.

The Glaive APC is based on the same shape as the Gladius and uses identical lower hull pieces. Again, those are a bit warped. The Gladius comes with yet more spare turrets.

At this point I finally remembered to place an infantryman  in the shots to give a sense of scale. The Gladius is really chunky and looks like it could fit 10-12 soldiers in full gear quite comfortably.

The Sabre heavy tank comes in one piece plus turret. Its turret is much larger than the others and is the only one not compatible with the rest of the range.

The details are good and the sanding seems fairly level here. The hull is cast well but the turret has one huge bubble up front.

Once that is filled, the Sabre will make a really impressive main battle tank. I really will have to pick up a few more.

One thing to note about all these grav vehicles is that, with their bottoms being sanded flat, you are left completely to your own devices if you wish to mount the vehicles on any sort of stand or base.

After all these one- or two-part hulls I was quite surprised to find that the Lancer APC comes in 7 parts.

The top and bottom hull piece join with their sanded faces. The bottom piece is hollow, probably to save on resin, or perhaps so that an upside-down Lancer can double as a jacuzzi. The bottom hull is a little smaller than the top and I'm not sure whether this is due to uneven shrinkage or perhaps intentional.

The armoured panels attach to the sides, but came noticeably warped. The curvature is very obvious in this top-down picture. To compound the problem, the warping happened before the back was sanded flat, so if I bend the panels so that the detailed side becomes flat, the sanded side will curve. The Lancer is definitely  the "expert level" kit of this batch much like the Crow Lander was in my previous order.

(Update: assembling the Lancer was actually easier than expected)

I also got a "Comcen" turret for the Lancer. It has a simple but effective design, with a chunky support structure and a simple dish.

Lastly, Old Crow threw in a hand-signed note and two infantrymen as a freebie. These compare favourably to GZG's New Israeli (far left). The detail is considerably sharper and the metal looks to be of higher quality. Unfortunately the mold lines as every bit as heavy as GZG's.

And here is everything an hour later, after being scrubbed in detergent to remove any release agent. The parts did not feel at all greasy and it's possible that this step was unnecessary, but it's always better to err on the side of caution. You only need to see the paint peel off one model to never risk it again.

Based on this batch, I'm afraid I have to dock Old Crow a point in Casting (down to 9/10) as there were some quality control issues (uneven sanding, excessive bubbles on one vehicle) but so far these are still the exception and for the most part the casting remains well above average for resin models and I will happily place another order with Old Crow very soon.

GZG First (actually second) Impressions

It's finally time to take a look at Ground Zero Games, the closest thing the 15mm sci-fi scene has to an all-inclusive hobby company. GZG offer a (somewhat aged, but still solid and reasonably popular) 15mm ruleset called Stargrunt II as a free pdf download. They also have a very comprehensive range of figures - I count about 13 different factions in the infantry section as well as a wide selection of generic models, although I would say only 3 factions really have a full range of poses and armament so far (UNSC, NAC and New Israelis). GZG's vehicles aren't really arranged by faction, but they do come in several different, easily distinguishable visual styles, so it is quite possible to create distinct forces.

To be perfectly honest, this is my second order with GZG - the first time I was too excited to take photos as I went along, and I knew I would be making another order soon to round out my force, anyway.


Making an order is very easy. GZG run an online store with proper software, which is sadly still a rarity in the 15mm market. However, keeping with another 15mm tradition, they are extremely stingy with their pictures. Their 15mm vehicle range is well covered, but the infantry pictures are so small as to be just about useless. Some other sections (a lot of the 25mm and 6mm ranges) don't have any pictures at all. I'm probably not the only one who refuses to blind buy, so GZG really should get their act together here.

GZG's international shipping rates are a fair bit above standard. High enough that they would be a deal-breaker for me if the 15mm market were just a little bit larger. A lot of it is down to them insisting on recorded delivery, which is a costly service when shipping internationally. On the upside, my order shipped lightning-fast. I placed it on the 24th in the early morning and received a dispatch notice not 4 hours later. The package followed 4 days later, which must be a new record for UK air mail.

Every set is individually bagged and the lot is then bubble-wrapped for additional safety. This works well for the most part but I wish some additional protection would be provided for some figures with long, very thin metal gun barrels. There were no breakages or significant bending this time, but with the weight of the lead alloy models and the thinness of the barrels, I could easily see them being damaged.

So here we have some New Israelis. The first picture shows a unit of infantry in Hardsuits (same models front and back) although I cannot for the life of me tell how these are any different from any other New Israeli infantry. It's hard to see on the official pic, but you get a guy with a shoulder-mounted weapon of some kind, one guy with a heavy energy weapon, a leader-type, and 5 grunts.

The next picture shows the units, a Rifle pack A and a  Command & Comms pack. Now, keep in mind that these are the only 15mm sci-fi figures I've ever seen in person, and I never paid much attention to the Flames of War models that are popular in my game store, but I'm not very impressed with the sculpting and casting. I think the detail is very soft for its size, and the figures often look a bit "squished" - I don't know whether this is due to poor sculpting or sloppy handling of molds during casting. There is also significant flash present on some figures. See the neck of the guy on the far right of the top row here, and the head of the third guy in the bottom row.

Moving on, here are a pack of Mortar teams and Gauss MG teams. These are all pretty nice.

 Besides a load of infantry (9 packs total) I also got some drones. The wheeled missile drones here will supplement my existing autocannon and sensor drones. The casting looks nice from the front, but a look at the backside reveals heavy disfigurement of the rear wheels, probably where the injection ports are. This was the same on my first two batches of drones, so it's probably not an anomaly. It's not too difficult to fix them up, but not exactly my idea of well-spent hobby time.

The spider drones are much better casts and really have no issues apart from plenty of mold lines, but that's to be expected given their complex shape.

Speaking of mold lines, there is a huge gripe I have with GZG's figures. Two sets of mold lines on one figure! You can see this on the super close-up below. The first picture is raw, the second shows where the lines are. The third guy has three mold lines crossing on his head, although you'll have to take my word for it as he's a bit out of focus.

And the same deal here. Four mold lines on each leg! WHYYYYYY? My guess is this: To make some specialists, GZG cast up some basic figures, chopped off their guns and sculpted new ones. This is okay, most manufacturers do it. Even GW used to recycle sculpts all the time back before they shifted to sculpting on the computer. However, I don't recall a single case where GW forgot to remove the original's mold lines before recasting the model. This is inexcusably lazy and creates a huge amount of unnecessary work for every single customer. Shame on you, GZG.

Well, luckily I now have all the New Israelis I'll need for the foreseeable future and I'm ready to explore other companies' ranges. I might give Khurasan a try next time, I really like their Control Battalion.

So, my final ratings for GZG, using the same system I did for Old Crow:

Sculpting 6/10 - great designs, but soft detail and inexcusable double mold lines
Casting 7/10 - heavy mold lines, damage around injection ports, occasional distorted figures
Service 10/10 - same-day dispatch, good packing, proper online store software
Value 7/10 - GZG is one of the pricier 15mm companies, and the quality does not match the cost

GZG's chief advantage is their large figure range. Right now they are still the go-to guys if you want a visually coherent force, but once competing 15mm companies catch up (and they are catching up) in that department, I think GZG will have to step up in terms of quality control or reduce costs (I hear switching to resin is all the rage these days).

Am I being too harsh? Or do you agree? Let me know.

Ta ta!