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Other Stuff => Workbench => Topic started by: Anatoli on February 23, 2011, 03:13:08 PM

Title: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Anatoli on February 23, 2011, 03:13:08 PM
Made a small review of the Army Painter (Minotaur) "Tufts" currently sold through Warlord Games. The packs are small, have an OK price but should not be seen as anything else than "sample" packs or used if you have a small skirmish game project. You will need lots of these packs if you want to base an entire army in 28mm.

http://anatolisgameroom.blogspot.com/2011/02/army-painter-tufts.html
(http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g183/Anatoli_2006/SAM_0486.jpg)

Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Damien on February 23, 2011, 03:29:45 PM
Thanks for the review, I've been looking at these for a while, wasn't sure whether to pick some up. I think I'll try some now


Thanks
Damien
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: aircav on February 23, 2011, 04:05:12 PM
Try going to Antenocitis workshop they sell large packs

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/index.php/brands/?name=19
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Anatoli on February 23, 2011, 05:18:15 PM
I linked to Antenocitis on my blog as well, will order from them (large pack though for a 15mm army project) early next month. Will take pictures and measure the size of their "big pack" sheet as well as I can't seem to find any such information  :)
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Schogun on February 23, 2011, 05:35:36 PM
Looks like too few for too much...and no size choice...for me.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Plynkes on February 23, 2011, 05:51:57 PM
I linked to Antenocitis on my blog as well, will order from them (large pack though for a 15mm army project) early next month. Will take pictures and measure the size of their "big pack" sheet as well as I can't seem to find any such information  :)


(http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/Plynkes/Tufts.jpg)

A pack from Antenociti's. The numbers on the ruler are inches. There are tufts on both sides of the plastic so you get twice as much as you can actually see here. There are gaps on the sheet because, well, I've been using them, ain't I?  :)

Don't know if they are the same as the Army Painter ones, but they suit me fine. You can get big tufts or little ones, if I remember correctly - It's been a few years since I got them. They have lasted me ages.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Anatoli on February 23, 2011, 06:07:57 PM
Thanks for the pic Plykes, looks like a lot more - army size amounts of the stuff. Question is if it actually is cheaper to buy one big pack or just 4 small. Will probably end up buying the big pack since I'll need lots for 50+ FoW bases.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 23, 2011, 06:10:19 PM
Army Painter tufts are Silflor tufts.
"Silflor" is the USA trade name for "MiniNatur" - if you look on the Army Painter packaging you will see the "MiniNatur" logo on there.... as some people still doubt me....and even with that logo i've been told "No, they are made by Army painter!"  >:(


The only difference is the price, Army Painter tufts being twice as expensive as Silflor/MiniNatur.

What they are are the small packs cut in half, put in new packaging without changing the price: so you get half as many tufts as a Silflor small pack, but at the same price.
Quote
Will take pictures and measure the size of their "big pack" sheet as well as I can't seem to find any such information

*Cough**Cough* (its linked from every Silflor product!!!)

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/silflor (http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/silflor)


Quote
wasn't sure whether to pick some up. I think I'll try some now

See above  ;)
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 23, 2011, 06:27:56 PM
"Stats" FTI:

Army Painter Tufts measure 15cm x 4cm =  £3.99p (60sq cm)
Silflor 'small' pack is 15cm x 8cm = £3.96p (120 sq cm)
(The small packs vary though and can be as big as 15cm x 10cm)

Silflor full sized pack = 30cm x 22.5cm = £16.56 -> £18.45p (675sq cm)

So to get the same amount of Army Painter tufts as in a normal sized pack of silflor you need to buy 11 packs, which will cost you £43.89p.

Compared with £16.56 -> £18.45p I'm sure i dont need to point out which one is the better deal
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Anatoli on February 23, 2011, 08:01:40 PM
"Stats" FTI:

Army Painter Tufts measure 15cm x 4cm =  £3.99p (60sq cm)
Silflor 'small' pack is 15cm x 8cm = £3.96p (120 sq cm)
(The small packs vary though and can be as big as 15cm x 10cm)

Silflor full sized pack = 30cm x 22.5cm = £16.56 -> £18.45p (675sq cm)

So to get the same amount of Army Painter tufts as in a normal sized pack of silflor you need to buy 11 packs, which will cost you £43.89p.

Compared with £16.56 -> £18.45p I'm sure i dont need to point out which one is the better deal

That's exactly what I needed to know. And I know Army painter ain't making this stuff - it does have a MinitNatur logo on the back - clearly visible on the picture taken of the blister back.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Ray Rivers on February 23, 2011, 08:05:44 PM
What they are are the small packs cut in half, put in new packaging without changing the price: so you get half as many tufts as a Silflor small pack, but at the same price.

Ouch!   :o

BTW... I recently ordered a bunch of Silflor tufts from ... Silflor.  I tried to order them from Antenociti's site but when I went to payment I got a message saying something like the security certificate was out of date.

What the heck happened there?
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Captain Blood on February 23, 2011, 08:22:59 PM
I shall be restocking on tufts at Salute. From Antenociti's obviously. Jed is the undisputed king of the grass tuft. All the others are mere profiteers  ;)
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 23, 2011, 09:30:04 PM
Ouch!   :o

BTW... I recently ordered a bunch of Silflor tufts from ... Silflor.  I tried to order them from Antenociti's site but when I went to payment I got a message saying something like the security certificate was out of date.

What the heck happened there?

no idea at all, never heard of it...i will ask the IT company about it, but yours is the first report we've had on anything like that.... we've got the highest level of securiy you can actually have, far higher than most webstores and better than Silflor's (its the same level as Amazon and Paypal and cost us a lot of money to get!), and it is in date and fully validated, so I dont know what that message is about at all.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 23, 2011, 09:37:26 PM
on another note:

we're geting in Tufts by Fredericus Rex soon. I saw these a couple of years ago and they weren't that good - they seem to ahve vastly improved now and are a nice alternative to Silflor.
A little bit cheaper, packed different: you get a set number of tufts, and using different static grass colours/mixes to Silflors.

120 tufts for £3.75p iirc. piccies etc when they get in.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: D@rth J@ymZ on February 23, 2011, 09:46:54 PM
I've been using it in limited applications for the last couple of projects.  Pretty useful when only giving half a dozen models a couple of clumps per base or using it to break up the base on some scenery.  The finished effect is quite beievable too.

My only complaints observations are that some of the larger tufts are far too large and are a bit difficult to seperate into smaller pieces (minor).  Also, I find the glue on the base doesn't stick too well to my bases so I use a drop of Krazy Glue (or equivalent) first then apply a small tuft.

Overall, very satisfied and a small pack lasts a pretty long time (so far).
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 23, 2011, 09:53:57 PM
the glue on the base of the tuft isnt supposed to stick it to anything other than the plastic backing - its only "tacky" because thats how the glue dries when the tufts are produced, you are always supposed to use additional glue to stick the tufts down though.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Ray Rivers on February 24, 2011, 02:48:12 AM
we've got the highest level of securiy you can actually have, far higher than most webstores and better than Silflor's (its the same level as Amazon and Paypal and cost us a lot of money to get!), and it is in date and fully validated, so I dont know what that message is about at all.

Thought whatever happened was strange.  Probably my stupid anti-virus.  Not the first time I have bought stuff from you and your service is always very good.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 24, 2011, 10:19:08 AM
i'm checking into it anyway, i'll let you know what the IT boffins say
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Galland on February 24, 2011, 11:20:49 AM
http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/silflor

This ^^ nuff said.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Hammers on February 24, 2011, 11:28:32 AM
Army Painter tufts are Silflor tufts.
"Silflor" is the USA trade name for "MiniNatur" - if you look on the Army Painter packaging you will see the "MiniNatur" logo on there.... as some people still doubt me....and even with that logo i've been told "No, they are made by Army painter!"  >:(


The only difference is the price, Army Painter tufts being twice as expensive as Silflor/MiniNatur.

What they are are the small packs cut in half, put in new packaging without changing the price: so you get half as many tufts as a Silflor small pack, but at the same price.
*Cough**Cough* (its linked from every Silflor product!!!)

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/silflor (http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/silflor)


See above  ;)

I know no one is twisting my arm to go to Army Painter for my hobby needs but that kind of marketing hijinks are still fucking annoying. Gale Force 9 is up to similar things and so is GW.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: phreedh on February 24, 2011, 12:12:00 PM
I know no one is twisting my arm to go to Army Painter for my hobby needs but that kind of marketing hijinks are still fucking annoying. Gale Force 9 is up to similar things and so is GW.
Modeling twigs... =)

Agree with Hammers though... I've been looking at getting some tufts. Think Silflor will get my monies.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 24, 2011, 01:07:47 PM
I know no one is twisting my arm to go to Army Painter for my hobby needs but that kind of marketing hijinks are still fucking annoying. Gale Force 9 is up to similar things and so is GW.

Aye..  I'm not happy selling products that I wouldnt use myself, either through quality or price, so we dropped the Army Painter tufts to £1.99 and then never re-stocked. Obviously the quality of the product is fine, the price left a bad taste in the mouth though....

I know I'm not making any friends by pointing out the price differences and so forth, but its not that hard to find out for yourself, at which point what do you say to a customer who says "Why didnt you tell me if you knew already!?"

Nice folks at AP, lots of experience from their time with GW, but, well, the price is waaaaay wrong on this one....
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 24, 2011, 01:09:39 PM
Thought whatever happened was strange.  Probably my stupid anti-virus.  Not the first time I have bought stuff from you and your service is always very good.

Hiya, can you replicate the problem by any chance? We're trying to work out what caused it and so far cant replicate the problem, although we dont think it is anything to do with your AV programs...

if you can replicate it could you please drop me a note, or piccies, of when and how it appears?

cheers

Jed
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Ray Rivers on February 24, 2011, 02:14:33 PM
It almost certainly was a problem from my end, mate.  I use PC Tools Spyware Doctor with Antivirus and it has had some problems in the past.  Nevertheless, it keeps my PC clean so I go with what it recommends.

If, however, I run into any problems in the future, I will be sure to document them with screen shots and PM you here on the forum.  Which I would have done so when it happened but I didn't know you were a member.

Just to be absolutely clear.  I wholeheartedly recommend Antenociti products.  You put out some great stuff and I will certainly be dropping buy in the not too distant future.

Cheers!
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Dan on February 25, 2011, 05:24:07 AM
I bought a pack of Jungle tufts from Army Painter for my 28mm Vietnam project. I reckon I can do about a section and a half of troops bases :o
I know where I'm going to buy the rest of my tufts from.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Anatoli on February 25, 2011, 12:20:55 PM
Eh... went to AntenocitisWorkshop and added a pack of 2mm Silflor static grass one pack of silflor tufts. Total of order was about £18. The shipping to Sweden was 7.37..... is this for real?

Considering the light weight and minimal amount of product that shipping cost is outrageous. I just ordered 5 tanks from PeterPig made out of metal - shipping to Sweden was £4. Ordering from OldGLory, shipping to Sweden £2.

Come on.

Will look for some substitute in my local hobby stores here in Sweden  :?
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Bugsda on February 25, 2011, 12:59:12 PM
I've just been on the Army Painter site, they charge 5 Euros for postage.

I just can't seem to get hold of tufts, Anton always seems to be out of stock and I'm not paying an added 100% for postage to Army Painter.  :(
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Antenociti on February 25, 2011, 01:22:40 PM
I've just been on the Army Painter site, they charge 5 Euros for postage.

I just can't seem to get hold of tufts, Anton always seems to be out of stock and I'm not paying an added 100% for postage to Army Painter.  :(

we should ahve the new Fredericus tufts in within a week or two, plus a re-stock of silflor.

Have you signed up for e-mail notification when stock comes in?
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: DeafNala on February 25, 2011, 02:49:13 PM
Last week I almost picked up a few packs of those suckers. Now I could kick myself for not doing so...fortunately age has limited my ability to do just that. Hopefully they'll still be in stock next time I hit my not-so-local hobby store.
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Bugsda on February 25, 2011, 05:55:15 PM
Yep, I'm all signed up and the paypal account's primed and ready  ;)
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: jeffteaches on February 27, 2011, 02:53:07 AM
Last weekend I attended a hobby train show in Atlanta and picked up a variety of Silfor tufts and grasses at the Scenic Express booth. I have also ordered from them online before and received good service. BUT I have not compared prices and shipping to Antenociti, and I always prefer giving my business to people involved in our hobby.

I have used them on 20-30 bases alread. Dab of glue and good to go!
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: Blue in vt on February 28, 2011, 08:36:31 PM
I am a big fan of this product and use it heavily on my bases...up to this point I have ordered from Army Painter...but have used up my packs WAY too fast...when I started to look around for bigger packs I stumbled on all this info about how they are repackaged Silflor...and my eyes were opened...I will be ordering them in them from Scenic Express (though their shipping is nutty) or from AntenocitisWorkshop.

Here are a couple of examples of how I've used them

(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/MM90-10-combo1-1.jpg)

(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/clan4combo-1.jpg)

(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/MM90unitplus2.jpg)

(http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k285/csabick/BritSquad1.jpg)

Can some one give us a break down of which Army Painter colors = Silflor colors?  ie highland tuft=?

thanks

Blue
Title: Re: Army Painter "Tufts" review
Post by: D@rth J@ymZ on March 04, 2011, 07:14:09 PM
Wow, Blue...those look awesome!  :-*