Timecast Scenics
Most of the reviews that you will have found in the
past on this site have been featuring "Official" miniatures or publications.
However the reviews section is not limited to the items produced by GW and/or
its subsidiary companies. When the guys at Timecast posted notes to a number
of epic Yahoo Groups about their new 6 mm sci-fi scenics, I jumped
on the chance to get my hands on some of them and review them here. unfortunately,
they arrived shortly before my prolonged absence from the site so its been
a while getting this article up for all to see! My sincere apologies to Timecast
for the delay.
So - what did I get?
The miniatures in question during this review can be found in the TimeCast catalogue under the following titles:
20/OWC1 Solar Power Station £3.50
20/OWC4 Hydroponics Farm £3.50
20/OWC7 Emergency Escape / air vents £2.00
Space Marines advance through the Hydroponics Farm and past a couple of Escape vents.
The Pieces and their castings:
Each model is cast as a single piece. Both the Solar Power station and Hydroponics farm packs contain one piece each whilst the emergency escape / vents pack contains three models. All of the castings were remarkably clean. There was some fine resin dust on a couple of the pieces but as usual a swift brush with an old paintbrush and its cleared. As a little experiment I didn't pre-wash these pieces before painting. Its a common occurrence with Forge World pieces that paint can flake off the finished model unless you wash it thoroughly before painting. Without washing, excesses of the release agent used in casting can stop paint from adhereing to the resin's surface. However these pieces appeared to be very clean so I went straight ahead with painting. They've now been in their current state for the best part of three months and no paint has chipped whatsoever! Nice castings - very clean!
A Closer shot of the Hydroponics farm and Escape hatches / vents - Land Raiders shown for scale
The actual models themselves:
The models themselves are very simply made. There's nothing overly complicated in any of the structures, and indeed "part spotting" is a relatively easy task. Don't get me wrong though, this simple construction does not mean that they are badly made - far from it. They're well scaled for epic, with all the doorways nicely fitting an epic infantry piece and the overal design and concept is great.
The downside is that I find myself thinking "I could make this if I put my mind to it" which is rather frustrating. The plus side however, is that it also means that they pieces are very simple to paint to a level which really does look good - there's no fiddly imperial eagles to worry about just simple structures and rock faces.
Talking of the rock faces this is one thing that I think I should mention. All of the pieces are based on a rocky style terrain. I'm guessing that its mainly because its the easiest way to keep overall size down; by having steep slopes leading up to the domes etc. It works well and looks good in the context of the terrain pieces themselves. The only problem that I have with it is that its hard to fit them in with other terrain pieces. The building style itself does not fit with the design of Forgeworld's, Epic40k, or Space Marine buildings and the steep cliff terrain means they can look out of place on grassy hills. Its a minor consideration and if you happen to have a lot of steep sided hills in your terrain collection (I know many do) then they will fit in perfectly. I can only talk from my own perspective.
All said, simple construction, cliffed edges and all other critisisms can be thrown out the window because they ARE nice scenics. It is also well worth noting that the fact that they may not fit in with other ranges can be seen in a very different light, and indeed the one in which I am now viewing them - They are different! It does make a very nice change to fighting over the gothic Human Cities usually seen in sci-fi gaming, most noteably of course those games in the 41st Millenium. To fight over a newly colonised outpost is quite refreshing IMHO.
Space Marine Tactical troops in front of two Escape hatches / vents
The Painting:
Because of the simple design of these models the painting was simple also. Undercoated in Chaos black spray, all the domes were painted codex grey. These were then given a thin black wash and whilst that was still wet, roughly blended back to codex. Rock areas were drybrushed with Shadow grey and then with Fortress grey. The pieces have rough patches on the lesser slope areas which I painted as grass with Darke angels green followed by Goblin Green. And that was pretty much that. Very fast, but qhite effective! Timecast themselves have painted theirs in a far more alien design, link below, its worth checking out for a different view on these models. .
In Summary:
My views on these pieces can be summarised very easily; I'm currently planning what I'm going to order next. Add to this the fact that the prices are very reasonable (well under what you would pay for similar sized items from GW/FW) and it shouldn't be too long before I'm rattling on about Timecast once again!
At the end of the day you have to decide one simple thing: Are you looking to expand you existing terrain collections or are youlooking to branch out into a new sector of the galaxy and want to fight over something new? If your answer is the latter then the "Otherworlds VI" line from timecast is one which recieves my reccomendation. The line also includes a Life support unit, Large accomodation dome (and it does look big!) water treatment plant and comms centre. All the pieces can be seen on the TimeCast website.
I also advise that you check out the other ranges they do. Their Range 3: Eastern & Central European 17th to 20th Century(6mm) line contains some interesting items. Among them a Russian Factory building with the price tage of just £3 a couple of which are definitely going to be in my next order!
Overall, WELL worth takig a look. If you do place an order with Timecast, Please mention this site in passing ;o)
So - what did I get?
The miniatures in question during this review can be found in the TimeCast catalogue under the following titles:
20/OWC1 Solar Power Station £3.50
20/OWC4 Hydroponics Farm £3.50
20/OWC7 Emergency Escape / air vents £2.00
Space Marines advance through the Hydroponics Farm and past a couple of Escape vents.
Each model is cast as a single piece. Both the Solar Power station and Hydroponics farm packs contain one piece each whilst the emergency escape / vents pack contains three models. All of the castings were remarkably clean. There was some fine resin dust on a couple of the pieces but as usual a swift brush with an old paintbrush and its cleared. As a little experiment I didn't pre-wash these pieces before painting. Its a common occurrence with Forge World pieces that paint can flake off the finished model unless you wash it thoroughly before painting. Without washing, excesses of the release agent used in casting can stop paint from adhereing to the resin's surface. However these pieces appeared to be very clean so I went straight ahead with painting. They've now been in their current state for the best part of three months and no paint has chipped whatsoever! Nice castings - very clean!
A Closer shot of the Hydroponics farm and Escape hatches / vents - Land Raiders shown for scale
The models themselves are very simply made. There's nothing overly complicated in any of the structures, and indeed "part spotting" is a relatively easy task. Don't get me wrong though, this simple construction does not mean that they are badly made - far from it. They're well scaled for epic, with all the doorways nicely fitting an epic infantry piece and the overal design and concept is great.
The downside is that I find myself thinking "I could make this if I put my mind to it" which is rather frustrating. The plus side however, is that it also means that they pieces are very simple to paint to a level which really does look good - there's no fiddly imperial eagles to worry about just simple structures and rock faces.
Talking of the rock faces this is one thing that I think I should mention. All of the pieces are based on a rocky style terrain. I'm guessing that its mainly because its the easiest way to keep overall size down; by having steep slopes leading up to the domes etc. It works well and looks good in the context of the terrain pieces themselves. The only problem that I have with it is that its hard to fit them in with other terrain pieces. The building style itself does not fit with the design of Forgeworld's, Epic40k, or Space Marine buildings and the steep cliff terrain means they can look out of place on grassy hills. Its a minor consideration and if you happen to have a lot of steep sided hills in your terrain collection (I know many do) then they will fit in perfectly. I can only talk from my own perspective.
All said, simple construction, cliffed edges and all other critisisms can be thrown out the window because they ARE nice scenics. It is also well worth noting that the fact that they may not fit in with other ranges can be seen in a very different light, and indeed the one in which I am now viewing them - They are different! It does make a very nice change to fighting over the gothic Human Cities usually seen in sci-fi gaming, most noteably of course those games in the 41st Millenium. To fight over a newly colonised outpost is quite refreshing IMHO.
Space Marine Tactical troops in front of two Escape hatches / vents
Because of the simple design of these models the painting was simple also. Undercoated in Chaos black spray, all the domes were painted codex grey. These were then given a thin black wash and whilst that was still wet, roughly blended back to codex. Rock areas were drybrushed with Shadow grey and then with Fortress grey. The pieces have rough patches on the lesser slope areas which I painted as grass with Darke angels green followed by Goblin Green. And that was pretty much that. Very fast, but qhite effective! Timecast themselves have painted theirs in a far more alien design, link below, its worth checking out for a different view on these models. .
In Summary:
My views on these pieces can be summarised very easily; I'm currently planning what I'm going to order next. Add to this the fact that the prices are very reasonable (well under what you would pay for similar sized items from GW/FW) and it shouldn't be too long before I'm rattling on about Timecast once again!
At the end of the day you have to decide one simple thing: Are you looking to expand you existing terrain collections or are youlooking to branch out into a new sector of the galaxy and want to fight over something new? If your answer is the latter then the "Otherworlds VI" line from timecast is one which recieves my reccomendation. The line also includes a Life support unit, Large accomodation dome (and it does look big!) water treatment plant and comms centre. All the pieces can be seen on the TimeCast website.
I also advise that you check out the other ranges they do. Their Range 3: Eastern & Central European 17th to 20th Century(6mm) line contains some interesting items. Among them a Russian Factory building with the price tage of just £3 a couple of which are definitely going to be in my next order!
Overall, WELL worth takig a look. If you do place an order with Timecast, Please mention this site in passing ;o)