Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Warbase Ruins


I did this a few months ago and now have finally got around to posting it. It's my first Warbase building here and I started with the ruin for some WWII terrain. It's intended for 28mm and is made from laser cut MDF board. The walls are too thin, but I added some extra details like the shingles and broken bricks to add some depth to it, so overall I'm reasonably happy with the result as it works on the table.

The advantage of MDF buildings are they are cheap, very easy to assemble, and can give the the base parts of a structure that you can add on to saving you time of having to cut out the dimensions yourself. Also, the little fiddly parts like windows and doors they sell are very useful time savers. The negative is the buildings can be a little flat and boxy and the walls too thin so will need some extra attention to "fill them out" so to speak.

My overall opinion is I prefer resin and foam card buildings, but I will use some more MDF buildings here and there as they are great time and money savers and do fit the part.

*edit*Apparently, I sounded a bit negative which a reader very kindly pointed out which wasn't my intent at all. I was only trying to give a balanced opinion of which I seemed to have failed miserably.  I am happy with the product and for sure will be building more and I do recommend them to readers for the positive aspects I mentioned! I do like how it turned out especially for such a low cost in both money and time! A real bonus folks!:-)

Thanks for viewing!:-)

Miniature Company-Warbases

31 comments :

  1. You may be complaining all the time about the model, but it looks impressive in these photos

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    1. Thank you and I appreciate you pointing out how negative I sounded which wasn't my intention at all. I'll go back and add some more to the commentary to give a better balance of how I feel.:-)

      Christopher

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  2. Christopher,

    I think that's terrific. First off, until you mentioned about the thickness of the walls, I'd not have noticed. The eye is really drawn to the brickwork (intact and ruined) and to the fallen rafters. Second, I'm sure that these types of kits, available for a very reasonable price, are a real benefit to us all. It takes so long to make ruined buildings (modelling inside and out), and the Warbases kit just gives a really boost in terms of modelling time short-cuts.

    I also really like the rubble. Very realistic, without being too much in the way of figures being deployed in the building. All in all, a cracking piece of work.

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    1. Thank you Sidney!

      They are indeed a real boon to us gamers and really help us fill out our tables quickly and at a very reasonable price! Indeed the model affords one the ability to construct space how ones sees fit for your figures which isn't always possible on resin casts.

      Christopher

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  3. This looks really impressive, I would never have realised it was 'just' an mdf building unless you had said.

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    1. Thank you Lee and your right I sounded a bit of a snob which I hope I cleared up.:-)

      Christopher

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  4. Very nice! The details such as the broken/fallen bricks really add to the piece.

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  5. Looks great! I'm too tight to buy terrain myself but I am tempted by some of the MDF stuff that is available now.

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    1. Thank you! If you like building your own terrain they have some very useful windows,doors and other bits that are a pain to do by oneself and will really come in handy.

      Christopher

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  6. The extra detail really enhances the basic model

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  7. I think that this is a wonderful result Christopher. Iam really impressed with add-ons you have done. Great work!

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  8. Greate work on the building !!!

    best regards Michael

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  9. Very nice work on these ruins!
    Phil.

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  10. Excellent work on the building, and particularly on the debris inside. I think you've hit the perfect sweet spot of "just enough to grab attention and give the feel, but not so much that it'll hinder playing games in there".

    Well done!

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  11. As I've allready seen it in real I can only say it's even Better than on the pics.
    Though it wasn't that good a hide for my sniper...

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    1. Thank you Nick! That's true the sniper did have difficulties....

      Christopher

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  12. Thank you everyone for your very kind words of support!!

    Christopher

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  13. Great looking piece of terrain. Best, Dean

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  14. You've turned out a lovely piece of work, maybe a comparison pic with a standard one maybe?

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    1. Thank you Fran. I modified the link to go directly to the model as given in their web page.:-)

      Christopher

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  15. I think this is a fabulous job Christopher, I've just followed your link to see it in the raw and you have certainly transformed the kit - seriously impressive Sir.

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  16. It looks great Christopher AND I do agree with you on your caveats of these MDF kits. They provide an inexpensive, easy-to-assemble option for hobbyists BUT they do require a bit of work to make them really look their best. As I had mentioned on Phil's blog (Diary of a Gaming Magpie) many of these MDF kits often look too 'perfect' (i.e. square, even, plumb, etc.) for the periods and architectural styles they are meant to depict. Many of these buildings look their best when they are somewhat wonky and asymmetrical. That is why the resin models from places like Grand Manner often look so great as they do a great job in conveying the wackiness/bodging of how building were constructed prior to the late 20th century. Anyway, I'm blathering - this ruin you've done is excellent and I look forward to seeing it in your future AARs!

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    1. Thank very much Curt! MDF buildings have earned a place in the hobby world, but they won't replace resin/foamcard buildings for the reasons you gave. The nice thing is it gives us more choice and options.

      I absolutely love Grand Manor....but not the prices!! My resin option is often Hovels were you get a very nice price for the product. While not quite as good as Grand Manor they do have a charm I really like. Sadly, they are closing up shop this year.:-( I plan on going back and making some of my own buildings again like I did for my Old West and AWI. There is a certain self satisfaction from creating things yourself. However, I still have plenty of Hovels and MDF's still to do in my drawers first.

      Christopher

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    2. Oh, I mistaken on Hovel buildings closing down. They will keep selling, but only through their site. I'm happy they are staying open!!:-)

      Christopher

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  17. Wow! What a treat for the modeler's eyes!

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  18. Hi Christopher,
    I made this same kit when it first came out and agree with your comments. I can't remember how much it cost but I was gob smacked at the price at the time because they were one of the first companies to do MDF. Fantastic value and if you are trying to create a larger built-up area, these type of buildings are probably the way to go.
    Your building would make a good advert for the company.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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    1. Thank you Pat!

      Perhaps I will send them a pic. I'm always very lazy with that and as of yet haven't ever offered a company my finished material to advertise their product. Although, I have for some rule sets.

      Christopher

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  19. Thats one hell of a job Christopher...I'm truly impressed

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  20. Great to see these buildings can actually look good. I've never bought any for the reasons Curt mentions (and I prefer painting minis over buildings :) and I was put off by the pictures on the site. So get this one on the warbase gallery, it looks terrific.

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    1. Thank you very Much Michael and I will as soon as they have their gallery up and running.

      Christopher

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