Setting Saturday: The Solar Empire

Another post from Cheapie Theater, this time one of the campaign settings I throw about.  It was designed with Traveller in mind.

The Burning Wheel: Declaration of Intent

This is a repost from another blog I contribute to, which I'm pulling all the RPG related stuff from to collect all the material into one place.  It was originally published at Cheapie Theatre on 12/10/13.

Relic Knights: Model Extravaganza Pt 2

More Relic Knight models, assembled!  Some of these were assembled last time but I either had horrific photos of them or forgot them in the first batch.  This time I had an actual camera to take photos with and I can tell the difference. See you after the jump!

Relic Knights: Quality of Miniatures

Just a quick post here, folks, to talk about the quality of the miniatures.

I'll be blunt.  I don't care for the resin-plastic hybrid material that Soda Pop used for Relic Knights.  It is a royal pain to clean mold lines, correct curves, and fix positions.  But my dislike of it originates from when Privateer Press started using it, so take that as you will.  The resin-plastic stuff just eats fine detail for whatever reason.  And looking at Kisa's ridiculously thin staff and a finger on one of the Novitiate models, it's also not good for thin details.  But neither's metal or polystyrene at the thicknesses we're discussing here.

That said, I've seen worse miniatures and I've seen better miniatures.  Heck, with any large miniature line you're going to get amazing gems and real stinkers.  It's like Ted Sturgeon said: 90% of everything is crap.  The models that were converted over from metal/resin seem to have fared the best though, having assembled Iron Chef and Princess Malya in both plastic and metal/resin.

Do I wish Soda Pop and CMON used a different company to produce the models?  Yes, I wish they'd gone with Wargames Factory because those guys do amazing work in polystyrene (just check out the plastic models for Malifaux), even if I'm paying a little bit more.  Because let's face it; gorgeous miniatures in plastic are still going to be cheaper than paying for gorgeous miniatures in metal.  Oh and let's not forget that plastic is far easier to customize than metal or resin.

The only real complaint I have with the sculpting is that sometimes anime faces turn out looking like little gray men.

Edit: I erroneously attributed the production of Malifaux's plastic models to the Plastic Soldier Company.  It is actually Wargames Factory, though the Plastic Soldier Company produces some nice stuff too!

Relic Knights: Model Extravaganza Part 1

Well, I figure I should share some models I've completed since receiving my Kickstarter goodies.  I apologize in advance for the photos; my phone's camera was all I had available to shoot pictures with.  It's image heavy, so see you after the jump.

Relic Knights: Some Assembly Tips

Well, having gotten into some of the small and complicated models (particularly Ameliel the Void Herald and the Royal Wrecker), I'd like to share some important tips for assembling Relic Knight models.  Because they're not exactly simple models and rival the Infinity model line put out by Corvus Belli in terms of complexity and madness.

• Test out the fit before you glue anything.  I don't mean just testing what needs to be trimmed to make it fit.  I mean clean off all the obvious flash and test fit things to understand how the model goes together.  This is extremely important for the Royal Wrecker model because you have to assemble it from the inside out to get things to fit correctly and you can't glue the pilot in before you get to the suit's arms and legs because you risk making it impossible to fit those parts on.
• Search for reference pictures when assembling and cleaning the model.  This is because there are some seriously non-obvious parts that get used in a few of these models.  You'll be wondering where something goes until you see it on a picture.  For example, I forgot the Broadside model had a lower jaw for the cannon's skull face until I looked at the box art again.
• There are parts that are not visible in the photos that you will need to use.  Examples: the Broadside has a control post that's generally hidden from view that goes between the handles in the gunner's hands, the Royal Wrecker has a part that links the suit's lower legs to the main suit body, and Relic Knight Candy has a small airfoil that goes on the mecha's rear thruster.  I only figured these out by examining everything and checking where the parts go.
• Plastistruct PlastiWeld is invaluable for cleaning up those tiny burrs and bits you get with this material.  It also has a general smoothing effect on rough areas like ones left by filing.  It only really works for very tiny bits, but it works to smooth things out.  Don't expect it to glue the resin-plastic hybrid though.
• Epoxy your models to the bases if you are using the base inserts, because the bond between the model material and the styrene of the base insert is not very good.
• Above all, be patient and work in good lighting.  Some of the mold lines are extremely subtle and you'll need good light to spot them and work them out.

That concludes this short blog post.