Thursday, August 27, 2015

Tabletop Terrian - MDF vs Plastic


I have been casting my eye over a number of 4Grounds MDF kits, Its fair to say much of my gaming is 28mm based, but the recent WOTW's campaign has highlighted the lack of quality terrain in my collection for 15mm and MDF buildings suddenly allow whole towns to created for a fraction of the resin alternatives.....

I spotted these on the the Wargames Table Blog and thought they would be great in 15mm for the Eastern Front and the WOTW campaign.



I like to think its the finer details that make the table look the part and figured that telegraph poles would add a little something to the table and could be used for the various projects including the RJW if I found the right manufacturer.

However I am not convinced that the rise of MDF is necessary the best way to go for all terrain.
These looked great and seem to fit the bill and 9 in pack for £6.50 did not seem a bad price

But having extracted them from the spures and losing two at the base joint and then fiddled about trying to put the elements on, I am thinking that there must be alternatives which require less work and are not so flimsy.

Back to the drawing board......


Half an hour mooching about on the Internet and I found these little gems on E-bay.
18 in a pack for £3.50.

A single cast model which simply needed painting and basing, they feel far more study and in my opinion are likely to standup to the rigor of tabletop encounters far better than the MDF offering and only a third of the cost.


Meanwhile Furphy has kindly stepped up to help me out with some tabletop terrain.

I had picked up some of FieldWorks damaged buildings several months ago good value for money at around £10.00 - £15.00 per building.

I been putting them off as I hate painting buildings. Furphy has done an excellent job creating a style that would fit into Eastern Europe or Victorian England. 
You can see more of his work Here.





8 comments:

  1. Good job, love the building!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Guy's.
      Far better that I stick to the mini's.
      Regards
      Stu

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  3. I got two sets of the 4Ground telegraph poles in 25mm. I like them a lot and they do add to the sense of realism, but I do agree that even in the larger scale it is a bit of a pain to put together. Too much work really. :)

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    Replies
    1. Neal agreed, I got suckered in - in 15mm scale it definately feels like a false economy.
      Cheers
      Stu

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  4. Those are some nice poles Stu, they look sturdy enough for a Js2 to squeeze passed without chipping the paint .
    Cheers Gav .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Just looking for a miniature GPO man :-)
      Cheers
      Stu

      Delete