I was wondering if anyone had experience of the two companies and what peoples preferences were towards the quality and style of the bases. so far I have found the following options:
Dragon Forge Concrete rubble bases:
Secret Weapon Miniatures Urban bases:
Any ideas, comments, reviews or other comments would be appreciated. Cost wise the two work out very similar in price but the Dragon Forge bases seem to have a slightly larger range.
Obviously once they were received each base would have minor conversion detail like extra rubble, soil, bricks, weapons and body parts added on. When trying to decide on a theme I was considering just sticking with one range but would a mixture of the two work?
Any thoughts and ideas would be great, also feel free to vote in my short poll on the side for which is your preference.
Thanks
13 comments:
I'm going to throw my two cents in for the Secret Weapon ones. I've used his bases before and like them.
Believe it or not, I'm starting my new Deathwing and I ordered the very ones you have shown in your post. I got the 40mm ones along with two dreadnought bases.
I wanted a destroyed look to my bases but not so much that it was just piles of rubble like most urban bases tend to end up being.
As the man behind Secret Weapon I'll admit a certain amount of bias up front -- but I think you've picked the two best companies out there. I use a combination of my own bases and Dragon Forge as well and, having seen the quality of products from nearly a dozen other companies, would only buy from Secret Weapon, Dragon Forge and Dark Arts.
That said I think you're looking at two very different styles with my Urban bases and the set from Dragon Forge.
Jeff did his in cement squares and we did ours to represent broken tarmac.
Both sets are great sculpts though, made from the same resin and using the same techniques -- so why not add some variety and use both?
I also offer a new customer coupon "ONE10" that will give you (and anyone reading this) a one time 10% discount on a single order.
I'm with Mr J on this one - You've pcked the best companies out there. I have used both companies and can vouch for the quality of their products.
I think Jeff at Dragon Forge may have the edge based on his longer time in the business and greater range, but Mr J is bringing some really cool and innovative products to market as well.
Either way you will be happy with either companies product.
Not a lot of help I know.
Pom
Thanks for the responses guys, feel a little honoured that Mr J has responded didnt realise you ran Secret Weapon.
It really is a tough choice as both bases are good and sort of cover off different aspects of city fight terrain. Im guessing those of you that have used both types have used a few bits of city fight terrain and rocks to modify them slightly? do you have any pics of them side by side as it might be good to see them in a force.
i am starting to lean towards dragon forge for the guard as there are more choices that cover the various model sizes and then secret weapon for my marines, though could do them the other way round :)
just a thought Mr J have you considered doing brass etch roman numerals for things like marine or guard shoulder pads? lots of I, V and x's would be easy and cool :)
cheers
millest
Yup, brass etch roman numerals are in the works. The brass is simply the most expensive item I create so launching a new line is a low priority.
There are two new lines of bases on the way using an entirely new technique. The first full miniature. Bits of skeleton and skulls by the sack. Two new head swap options -- with four more options being sculpted... LOTS of good things coming.
Jeff does have the advantage in terms of product breadth as he's been at this for five years. If you're looking for off sizes you'll win there.
Where we really differ is scale. His sculpts tend to be a bit larger than mine -- which is what actually prompted me to launch SWM. If you look at things like bricks on any of the bases out there you'll notice that they tend to be larger than the heads of your models! I didn't like that so I sculpt mine at a truer scale.
Beyond that, like I said, we use the same resin, silicone and casting techniques. We also chat a lot and I love his products.
I don't have any side-by-side pics for you as I've been swapping out my DF bases for SWM -- the better to advertise when I gave -- but I'll see if I can dig some up.
"the better to advertise when I gave"
should read "game" of course. My bad, moo moo.
hmm, got me thinking again now :)
cant wait to see some pics of your bases with models on as sometimes its hard to picture it.
just out of curiosity seems as i havent played for a long time, what are the most common sized bases used and needed in things like an IG army?
youve got me edging towards your bases but just curious as to how easy is it to add things like the City Fight terrain to the bases and make them look convincing and add variety to the force?
definately interested in the roman numerals as they would work well on my guard. your other projects sound good, just hope their IG heads :)
cheers
Pics of models on my bases can certainly be done:
http://blog.secretweaponminiatures.com/search/label/User%20Gallery
If you're doing a 40k Guard army you'll need a TON of 25mm bases and a handful of 60mm bases.
There's room on all of my Urban Streets bases to add some other goodies too.
Check out the SWM blog product updates to see some pics of the current and incoming head swaps. The next three projects are all different gas mask heads!
mr justin looking at the blog i see some storm troopers on the straight edged urban bases, seen here:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_kR3DnatrKNM/S9XSE8UbwxI/AAAAAAAAASM/16kC_CKvW5M/s1600/UrbanStreets-TheBeardedSnot.jpg
are these modded bases or are all the bases that thickness?
how thick are they in relation to standard plastic bases?
might have to see about picking up some bits and peices in a few weeks.
The straight side bases are 3mm thick (+ sculpting) instead of 2mm thick like the beveled bases. The SWM beveled bases are the same thickness as the typical plastic beveled base.
awesome thanks for the response, will have to place an order in a week or two (depending on when the brass comes out ;) ) then get some bits on the way for modelling.
thanks.
now a quick one for all the modellers out there, paint guard assembled or with the arms seperate?
cheers
millest
I'm afraid that the brass numerals will take more than a couple of weeks. Probably not until early 2011. I'll keep an eye out for your order though.
As for Guard - I paint 'em with the arms attached myself.
I think a combo of both would add variety to your army.
~ Pax Urbis Pax Imperi
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