aliexpress finds.

[eilif]

My light box and drill bits arrived today (so just under two weeks China to the UK). The paint brushes arrived last week - so very quick delivery.

Already put the lightbox together. Its a great size of minis, the LED lights are very bright. The magnets holding the sides together don't seem to quite work (or I haven't quite figured it out yet, they hold 2 of the 3 pieces will, but the 3rd seems to float around a bit). First photos look good.

I will need to sort something for the LED power, as there isn't a switch, and pulling the micro usb from the light box feels that it will break stuff fairly quickly, and the way my iMac is positioned, pulling the usb cable out the back isn't too easy. A USB extension cable should make this easier. Top tip, don't cut through the carrying bag when un-wrapping. I hadn't expected a bag, and just thought this was a layer of packaging.

I just got mine as well.  Mine was held together with snaps instead of magnets and they hold it well. The two backdrops (thin mousepad type material_ are nice but unless you orient them sideways (I think they're intended to lay across the bottom and back)  you still get two dark corners in each picture where the fold of the box leaves holes.  I don't know if I'll be using the backdrops much or not as the satin plastic of the box seems to bounce the light better to the undersides of models than the matte finish of the backdrops

As with yours the usb plug seems flimsy and I don't want to risk unplugging it often. I got a longer cord and wall adaptor from a Kindle and it works great. I think any cell phone charge would work fine also, though the longer cord is probably the key. I think I'm going to leave the cord permantently plugged in and store it in a thick paper folder until I find a suitable plastic case for it.

The results though are spectacular, even with my basic phone.  Once in a while I will have to use a support to angle back a model with an overhang, but mostly I've just stuck a mini in there and snapped a picture.  From now on I'll be using this for just about anything that will fit in the box.

Here's a couple I took just now.

[AWu]

I got mine too and its great. Only thing sub par are magnets.. they just dont keep in together and I had to use duct tape.

[eilif]

Here's the listing for the one I bought.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Mini-Folding-Detachable-Photo-Light-Room-Box-Mini-Photo-Studio-Box-Lampshade-Photography-Tent-Backdrop-Lightbox/32765578391.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.lnmbDQ

Mine came with snaps, but the picture does seem to show magnets.  Nothing a pair of binder clips couldn't fix though if snaps or magnets fail.  I found a slim laptop case (sort of a thick padded envelope style) for $5 at a local computer collective. It holds the folded up box secure enough that I feel confident leaving the usb cable plugged in.

Also, I found the little hangers for the backdrop on the upper back of the box.  If you hang them there and pull the bottom out just a bit it hides the lower corner holes in the box.  Really happy with this box.

[YPU]

My static grass came in. The greens are very shiny, but the tan looks good. I will take some pictures of it in use soon (hopefully)

[YPU]

This is the grass you see from hundreds of sellers on ali, and probably my most boring post ever. 3 small heaps of static grass.







The dry grass is relatively mat, but the other 2 are very shiny. The dark one is very soft in feel, while the other 2 are very dry and hard bristles that clump together strongly. They all appear to respond to static charge the same as I'm used to, for those of you with a flock box or other static grass applicator.

[Daeothar]

ON 11/11, AliExpress had a 50% off sale, and I splurged big on a lot of buildings for my Dropzone Commander table (10mm), to replace the (already pretty good) card buildings that came with the game.

I was careful to not order above €22,- a time, so shipments could never be subject to import taxes (that's the way it works over here; 21% taxes and €8,- 'administration fee' from the carrier).

But I made about 5 orders, so I should be receiving more and more packages over the coming weeks. I received the first one this week and I'm really chuffed with the product.

It was 5 pieces of this building:

KiWarm Modern Miniatures 4 Story City Building House DIY Scaled Model for Sand Table Garden Micro Landscape Ornaments Home Decor

And I have another 5 inbound. They're basically simple plastic shells, just like the ones Eilif bought, and they will be perfect base material for conversions, kitbashings and tarting up. I'm already planning on putting a couple together to create a corner building for instance.

Then I have two of these larger buildings on the way:

KiWarm Miniatures Building DIY Scaled Model Modern Department Headquarter Station Building Layout for Micro Landscape Home Decor

These will be great as large office blocks!

And what is a dystopian, ruined and abandoned city without a rusting playground eh?

1:150-1:200 N Z Scale Children Facility Model Figure Building Scenery Layout

I also need loads of dead trees, so these will probably make for a great starting point:

6cm-10cm model making architecture mini model tree trunk ho, n ,g scale model train layout miniature plastic model tree arm

Plus street lights. I got two of these packs, to magnetize and put on sidewalks at regular intervals. These will actually light up, but I'm planning on simply snipping off the wiring bit and glueing a magnet in place. They're just that cheap...

50 Pieces Plastic Streets Lamp Model Model making 1:100 Lamppost Model Railway Street Lighting Model Kids Toy

Also, this KiWarm company is one to watch, as I see that they're regularly bringing out more buildings, and it looks like each is better designed than the last, with double frontages, more complex shapes etc.

If all their products are of the same quality as the first batch I received, a lot more of my disposable income will be transfered to China I fear...

Oh; here's a comparison of the buildings in question next to some 10mm (Dropzone Commander) minis on the right and 15mm models (Zvezda tank, Peter Pig Dutch and Battlefront German) on the left.

All things considered, I think they work better with the 10mm stuff, but it all depends on how stately and grand you want the buildings to be; in 10mm, one floor has a height of about 4m, whilst in 15mm, it's about 2,5m.

Squares on the cutting mat are 1cm btw...

[beefcake]

I also just received a bunch of buildings from Kiwarm. I was also really impressed. Here are some pics with a small review below.

2017-11-22_08-18-03 by Kieran Me, on Flickr
I put together the building in the middle first. Some of the plugs are quite tight but great for them to keep together well. It fights together really nicely with little to no gaps between the wall sections put together. For all of the pieces I would advise putting together the stuff that fits on the base of the model first (but not the outer walls) but to be honest if you stuff it up there is not much of an issue as it comes apart and goes back together easily. I will be gluing them together at some stage. I'll also put some acetate over the windows and paint them so that you can't see inside. They don't come with individual levels.
The one on the left went together easily as well. Much the same as above.
The one on the right is the most detailed with individual balconies but unfortunately they don't have any plugs on the balconies to keep it tightly together. A bit of glue will do the job but it could have been better designed. Pretty good scale (1/87) for 15mm things. Unfortunately I couldn't find any 15mm minis but you can see a tape measure below. The robots on the leftmost are 20mm tall to the top of the carapace.
I like them and will be getting more. I might also see if the 1/100 scale up nicely but if they bring out more 1/87 I'll be getting them. The colour is nice too and is already a nice building colour so wouldn't look too out of place unpainted.


2017-11-22_08-20-30 by Kieran Me, on Flickr

[eilif]

Thanks for those pics and reviews folks!

I missed the half-off sale (not sure how since I got the notification emails) but I've got a few more inbound. I'll pic and review them also.

Good to see those tree armatures. I'm both buildng my N-scale city and an HO scale layout for my son. Those might prove very usefull!

Those big buildings are particularly impressive.

[YPU]

My magnets (2mm and 3mm) arrived and they are great! Perfect strength for holding together plastic models, strong enough to pick them up by the arm or head if its magnetized on, but easy enough to take apart as well. Quite probably the best 2 euro's I spend in years. 

[Daeothar]

Nice.

I just ordered 100 X-acto blades for the princely sum of €5,95, with free postage.

I'm curious about the quality, but for that price, I'm willing to accept them getting blunt after a couple of sessions...

[eilif]

Got some 1:100 cars and a car shelter on the way. I'll report as to their effectiveness when they arrive.

My magnets (2mm and 3mm) arrived and they are great! Perfect strength for holding together plastic models, strong enough to pick them up by the arm or head if its magnetized on, but easy enough to take apart as well. Quite probably the best 2 euro's I spend in years.  

Sweet!
Do you have a link to them? I was just thinking of getting some magnets.

Nice.

I just ordered 100 X-acto blades for the princely sum of €5,95, with free postage.

I'm curious about the quality, but for that price, I'm willing to accept them getting blunt after a couple of sessions...

I bought two ten packs of different shapes for $1.10 shipped each.  I quite like them, but they appear to be a bit thinner than the excell blades (USA made) I've bought more recently.  One snapped while I was using it kind like a chisel (not with a hammer though), something the excell blades handle pretty well. Still, they're plenty sharp and don't seem to dull any sooner than others so I'll probably buy more.

[YPU]

Sweet!
Do you have a link to them? I was just thinking of getting some magnets.

Here you go:

http://s.aliexpress.com/qaYFJfIj

http://s.aliexpress.com/EvummQVZ

200 magnets for less than a euro free shipping. And they are what they promise to be.

[beefcake]

I've been tempted to get a cheap airbrush from Aliexpress. As I have 0 experience with airbrushes, do the ones that people use for painting nails work the same for miniatures. I see them on there a lot.

[Daeothar]

200 magnets for less than a euro free shipping. And they are what they promise to be.

Based on your assessment, and the fact that I'll be needing a shedload more for my DZC forces, I've ordered the same.

It was a hassle to find exactly the same auctions on the mobile app though. I can't seem to find an auction number anywhere, such as they can be found on Ebay. So I had to do a search for the auction title, which still yields many, many hundreds of hits...

[eilif]

Here you go:

http://s.aliexpress.com/qaYFJfIj

http://s.aliexpress.com/EvummQVZ

200 magnets for less than a euro free shipping. And they are what they promise to be.

Thanks!
Just ordered them and I added these 5mm's to have an even wider variety.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5mm-x-1mm-N35-Disc-Rare-Earth-Neodymium-Super-Strong-Mini-Round-Magnets-Craft-Model100pcs-lot/32801576789.html?spm=a2g0s.13010208.99999999.262.Ip4K2I