Hurah! First batch of models received!

[tneva82]

Yesterday I finally received first order of ACTA models. All in all seems like I avoided casting issues which I was dreading, except for one little problem: Practically no holes whatsoever for the flying stick. Ah well. Need to buy a drill then.

Won't be assembling the fleet(atleast fully) for a while since I figure they will take up transportation to Finland better unassembled but still happy. Nearly complete 3rd age EA fleet with good start for centauri's

Oh and the primus is HUGE! Is the Octurion even bigger? If so holy smokes! Painting that ship is going to be "problem".

Oh and the fighters are just cute . Those are going to be some effort to paint but mainly due to sheer numbers. Nearly 300 invidual EA fighters and 24 sentri's is not fast process...

[Locutus9956]

Yeah the drill holes are not a miscasting problem theyre just too small as drilled but it doesnt take long to fix with a pin vice or a dremmel etc

They DO actually fit the Metal AoG stands I find (with a bit of force though ).

Oh and yes the Octurian is about half as long again as the Priums, half again as wide and about twice as tall and chunky.

Its abosolutely huge. I have in fact only seen two bigger models, the Victory and the Posseidon and neither of them are as bulky (the Posseidon is largely hollow and the Victory is very thin just with big wings.

The Octurion is a veritable brick of metal. It makes a very good paper weight actually

[Burger]

Wait til you see the Adira then

[tneva82]

Yeah the drill holes are not a miscasting problem theyre just too small as drilled but it doesnt take long to fix with a pin vice or a dremmel etc

I'm not talking about SMALL holes but NO holes...Either that or I'm blind as I don't see any holes in my ships...Well except Primus which has one.

But rest don't seem to have holes that I can see.

Oh and yes the Octurian is about half as long again as the Priums, half again as wide and about twice as tall and chunky.

GULP!

[High Sierra]

this is because the company mongoose use in the states clearly either dont care about/have never heard of customer services and blatantly arent interested in fixing issues with moulds.

[tneva82]

this is because the company mongoose use in the states clearly either dont care about/have never heard of customer services and blatantly arent interested in fixing issues with moulds.

Well no holes is frankly small problem. This thing called "drill" has been invented

Minor issue all in all. Haven't found any other problems with the models so overall I'm happy with the order.

Now just waiting for vorlon transports being released.

[CheesyRobMan]

May I suggest small magnets as an alternative to drilling? I use a pair of 5mm-dia disc rare earth magnets to mount all my models on their stands, one glued to the model and one to the stand. This means they come off for transport or if dropped without breaking, but they'll be held in place pretty well when required. The magnets aren't expensive, I paid about 5 pounds for 50 of the things.

[tneva82]

May I suggest small magnets as an alternative to drilling?

If I could figure out good source for those I might try.

Good idea though. Do you know good place to get those in England/Finland?

[Wulf Corbett]

Good idea though. Do you know good place to get those in England/Finland?

https://sslrelay.com/www.domsdecals.com ... shopscript
Go to 'Product Overview', then scroll down to 'Accessories'. These may be TOO small though, they're meant for 1/600 scale aircraft!

Wulf

[MongooseMatt]

this is because the company mongoose use in the states clearly either dont care about/have never heard of customer services and blatantly arent interested in fixing issues with moulds.

The company we use in the States is Mongoose, and we very much care about customer services, as I think most people on these forums would agree. Issues with moulds is an ongoing process that, because of wear, never ends - we replace moulds practically every month.

As for the stand hole problems, this is always a factor with metal miniatures, as the metal can shrink and expand such holes at an unpredictable rate. Different sculptors have different methods of dealing with this, from huge holes to 'drill here' marks. An additional problem is that the 'standard' flying base of the industry has a little 'nobble' on the top of the stand that is meant to be inserted inside the model, which is simply too thin and weak for any decent sized miniature.

This is something we are very much looking into.

[tneva82]

Go to 'Product Overview', then scroll down to 'Accessories'. These may be TOO small though, they're meant for 1/600 scale aircraft!

Hmmm...You haven't tried these yourself then? Has anybody tried magnets of these size to hold ACTA models?

[Wulf Corbett]

Hmmm...You haven't tried these yourself then? Has anybody tried magnets of these size to hold ACTA models?

I use my own method with square-section brass rod.

Wulf

[cmdtorch]

here is what I'm using to mount my ships, yes I have to drill out most of them to fit on these. http://www.rattleheadgames.com/catalog/NJM1100.html

[Abraxas]

this is because the company mongoose use in the states clearly either dont care about/have never heard of customer services and blatantly arent interested in fixing issues with moulds.

Extremely unfair. While I agree that many problems arise in their minis, MP has been nothing but helpful in getting any problems rectified.

Maybe a better attitude and a little more respect will help...

Just a suggestion.

[H]

this is because the company mongoose use in the states clearly either dont care about/have never heard of customer services and blatantly arent interested in fixing issues with moulds.

Extremely unfair. While I agree that many problems arise in their minis, MP has been nothing but helpful in getting any problems rectified.

Maybe a better attitude and a little more respect will help...

Just a suggestion.

tell that to the people who paid for motherships over six months ago.

[Destroid]

If you think about it it's easy enough to find out where to drill, on some ofthe EA ships [only other ships I've assembled are Minbari] you look for a filled in looking circle that's roughly at the centre of gravity for the ship in question. Some ships have small holes that need widening and deepening, and the Hyperion is just plain annoying, I just ended filing the bottom down to flat and drilling a hole from there. The Omega's another fiddly prospect, either got the option of using the large hole on the rotating section or getting two small bases for the holes[filled or otherwise] either side of the rotating section.

[prelude_to_war]

I'm all for drilling/pinning/adding magnetic adapters to my minis. But not everyone is...I believe it's in the game's best interest if the bases fit the minis right out of the box/blister. AoG seemed to be able to do it, along with other game companies out there.

[tneva82]

Thanks for the magnet tip btw! Having thought about it the idea is bloody brilliant! It fixes more than drilling hole problem!

a) no need to drill holes
b) model drops from table to floor(we all have had this happen...) no more base snapping off leaving you with model that needs to be re-drilled. Hurah! That redrilling isn't easy to do in middle of tournament for example and even at home it's not fast process. Instead at worst case base snaps but I can have spare bases lying around so ship to spare base and off we go...Ship might be in pieces and paint chipped but atleast it can be used to play...
c) ease of transporting! No more worrying about how to transport them without flying base snapping off! Instead I(atleast should. With my luck magnets won't detach regardless of what I try ) can separate models from bases and carry them separatly. Along with some spare bases for case b.

The idea was so good I'm now determined to find SOME magnets that work for this. I have got tired of flying bases snapping off and extra trouble they cause for transportation. This deals with both! Hurah!

EDIT: Add fourth advantage:

d) During game if models start to get in a way in close quarters I can snap the model off the base and play with bare base until there's room again! Albeit for a while it looks visually odd when there's empty base but I have suspicion that the big models are going to otherwise be poking each other a lot...

[H]

I have been pondering a complete re-paint and re-base of my Narn. I need some magnets too! (I was gonna go for copper rods, but Magnets sound sbetter for transport

[tneva82]

I have been pondering a complete re-paint and re-base of my Narn. I need some magnets too! (I was gonna go for copper rods, but Magnets sound sbetter for transport

Noticed that my source of ACTA models(or SST models for that matter) has neodymium magnets sized 1x1, 1x2 and 1x3mm. Anybody with experience on magnets could tell wether any of these are strong enough(and suitably sized)? Thinness kind of worries me.