Well I went and did it. I bought a bunch of stuff on ebay. What follows is a documentation of sorts and some things I learned along the way. I don't mean to sound whiny or sour grapes, just to point out some things that I could have done better and observations of a noob to trying to acquire some of this "classic" lead.
Along the way I'll also mention how I photographed things as I am supposed to be writing about photography.
All shots with the trusty Nikon D5100, using the 18-55mm lens. I tried using the M setting ( I need to find my manual to find out what that means) but ended up falling back on A (Aperture Priority). Set to f16, I used a 10sec timed shutter (misplaced my remote) and ended up using the Incandescent White Balance and an EV of +1.0 or zero as the white metal objects were washing out. The background was from a pack of 22" x 28" Poster board bought at Staples. The other side is a lighter blue. The lighting was my same desk lamp setup, but this time no other lights in the room on and dusk outside. The lighting seemed a tad harder than I would like.
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| Marauder Giant, Azhag the Slaughterer and a Lead Belcher |
The Giant and the Lead Belcher were Buy It Now items, the Wyvern I actually won.
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| Not the right wheels and no scythes. |
It was only after I got all the stuff that I thought to look it up on
The Stuff of Legends. You would think I would look there first but I thought it was complete, although unboxed. The wheels should have spikes and scythes that can mount on. I haven't decided if I will build as is, try to sculpt it, or source a second one to cast the missing parts from.
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| 4th Edition I think. Solid, if basic paint job. |
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| A little oops in shipping. |
I was a little bummed when I opened the box and saw that the banner pole had bent and the right wing snapped off. Although it is straight block painting, except for the wash on the scales, it was a solid effort. Someone put some love into it. Now that it's broken I feel there is nothing for it but to strip it. I'm also concerned that it will be impossible to take apart to easily clean and then paint the nooks and crannies of the rider and saddle.
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| I knew this is what he looked like. |
It was looking at this figure on
solegends.com that I realized he was missing the sword and barrel. This bummed me out as I had already lost out on an auction for an in box version. I was still feeling the sting of losing and the buy it now price was less than what the other one had gone for. At first the sculpting bodging of the missing items went through my mind. Then I thought I'd look on ebay again, and sure enough there was another in box Giant. I bid on it and won it. It has yet to arrive but I'm going to make a mold of the missing parts and cast them up.
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| Where the sword should be and a gap that needs filling. |
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| Other side where the barrel should be. |
Lastly, on a lark, I picked up a Safari Ltd. Cyclops for $10 at Michaels. I think he would work well for a Warhammer Giant. He's not bad for a prepaint and cheap. Just needs a base. And maybe a paint job if I'm being honest.
So I guess the lesson is, don't give up. Don't pay more than you're willing to pay. Do a little homework to make sure that you know exactly what you're getting and what it is worth to you.
Also anybody have any tips for breaking the Marauder Giant of his base. I'd like to see if can get his feet to hang off less.
Put the giant in the freezer, it will make the glue brittle.
ReplyDeleteTo get the Wyvern apart I would soak it in Acetone until the glue loosens (which may take a couple of days).
Thanks Jenevieve, I'll give those techniques a try.
DeleteExcellent tips, just make sure you take the wings off if they're platsic, acetone will melt them without any mercy. For the rest Acetone will take care of both paint and glue leaving you just some little brushwork to scrub the mess off.
DeleteHi JB, thanks for the reminder. I recall you mentioning that before. Azhag's Wyvern wings are definitely plastic. I'll try the freezer trick on those. Do bases melt in acetone?
DeletePlastics do yes, acetone leaves nothing apart metal, you can learn a lot here :
Deletehttp://leadplague.blogspot.fr/2014/01/the-helpful-hobby-guide-to-oldhammer.html
You can always get a bargain or two on ebay!
ReplyDeleteHi Ray, it remains to be seen if it was a bargain. It seems like guys in the UK can get scads of old lead for cheap. Over here it seems a lot of "rare", OOP, and "Pro Painted" stuff that people are charging what I would consider outrageous sums. My guideline was, could I get at a reasonable price (adjusted for inflation) or at least not more than GW price for the current model.
DeleteI dunno about cheap. Unfortunately a lot of vintage metal on Ebay.uk is sought after by those dreaded collectors (in particular 80s Citadel stuff) and as a result many minis at priced at £8/9/10+.
DeleteHi Red_Cardinal. I just seem to hear the "I got this for 99p" all the time. Or perhaps people aren't telling us what they really paid for all their stuff. As an example, someone was telling me that aberrant 20mm figures were too expensive. When I looked up Dark Future the cheapest figure was about £4/ one figure, not including the £20 for shipping to the US. So I'm more in mind to try current manufacturers for proxies. That being said there are things that can be found for a reasonable price on occasion. You just have to be willing to walk away from some items.
DeleteI'm wary of buying unboxed models on eBay (though I've done plenty in the past!). Always check that multi-part kits are complete.
ReplyDeleteHi Hugh, yeah I was mostly trying to caution others from making similar mistake. Not only was I comparing this model to another one, which may have been complete, but I also ended up getting an in box version for slightly less when I looked again.
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