Latest scenery received

[Tacgnol]

Being back on the job market has its benefits. Got to the local market for the first time in months and picked up a Fisher Price Play Village (minus the cars and parasol). Not my pic, my village is still in the boot and is in need of a good clean.



The doors are outscaled but not ridiculously so and the windows are perfect for snipers' vantage points. The steps are silly sized but also perfect for 28mm bases.

The shops don't have backs but can be placed back to back to create a shopping centre type affair.

[carlos marighela]

They do look well scaled. If I'm not mistaken those figures in the shot are Seth Nash sculpts for TAG, at least they bear a striking resemblance to his sculpting style.

[Argonor]

Never would have thought of that. Now I have to go scavenge my kids' toys     

[Antenociti]

Seem to be two different brands to me. It may be that the manufacturer is the same but they are definitely marketed through different channels.

Silflor and Mininatur are the same company, same product etc and they are sold through the 'same channel'. "Silflor" just happens to be the trademark name to the product as sold in the USA and how it was first known. When the company split the "other chap" retained the trademark whilst the "mininatur" chap retained the production plant and everything else.

So Mininatur is the correct brandname within the EU and RoW, and the same stuff is known as "Silflor" in the USA and, sometimes, in the UK, but it all comes form the same single manufacturer and outlet in Germant. The "other guy" really has nothing to do with it anymore.

A stack of ...well, tufts, you know that best invention since pre-sliced bread. These are Mininature, like Siflor and Noch also a German brand. I have not done a price comparison but they look very good.

I have, none of the new competitor versions compare very well against Siflor - those that are cheaper are lower quality, some work out to be more expensive AND are worse quality.
If we find an alternative we would instantly stock it, so far nothing worthwhile has turned up tbh.

Also good to know there are alternatives since Antenociti is almost always out of stock.

It's not for lack of trying! Honest 'Guv.... it comes in, then it goes right out.

Unfortunately the manufacture rin Germany stills insists on producing-to-order, he doesnt hold any stock pre-boxed.  So, if you are unlucky enough to put your order in at the same time as Scenery Express in the USA (and/or a host of other shops), then you can end up waiting as much as 3 months for new stock...and we have to pay in advance so... we really would rather do things another way....

It's very frustrating, especially for us as we are, essentially, breaking a monopoly and have to purchase through 3rd parties in other parts of the world - otherwise we would have to get supply through the UK "Distributor" who, essentially, doubles the prices as they have a monopoly on import.

Or, they did have until we kicked that particular door in.      He's tried a few times to find our source and, so far, failed.

Since that time even he has been forced to lower his prices, although they are still far above what they should be...(and nowehre near as good as ours)... but we live in fear of the day when they find out who is supplying us and the route is closed down. At which point, we have no doubts at all, he will ramp up his prices to 2x,3x,4x the proper retail price again.

its a bit of a sad story of gouging on his part to be honest - he was selling silflor at as much as 4 times the actual retail price for some time... you had no choice though unless you bought from abroad. The daft thing was that you could buy from abroad, have it shipped in and pay VAT and customs and still get it cheaper than the UK distributor was  reatailing it...which was what really made me determined to break his monopoly.

I do know exactly how to produce it myself mind you, but we dont have the capital to invest in the machinery,  If i did I would, without a second thought.

its all a bit of a a drama in fact 

[Hammers]

Silflor and Mininatur are the same company, same product etc and they are sold through the 'same channel'. "Silflor" just happens to be the trademark name to the product as sold in the USA and how it was first known. When the company split the "other chap" retained the trademark whilst the "mininatur" chap retained the production plant and everything else.

So Mininatur is the correct brandname within the EU and RoW, and the same stuff is known as "Silflor" in the USA and, sometimes, in the UK, but it all comes form the same single manufacturer and outlet in Germant. The "other guy" really has nothing to do with it anymore.

I have, none of the new competitor versions compare very well against Siflor - those that are cheaper are lower quality, some work out to be more expensive AND are worse quality.
If we find an alternative we would instantly stock it, so far nothing worthwhile has turned up tbh.

It's not for lack of trying! Honest 'Guv.... it comes in, then it goes right out.

Unfortunately the manufacture rin Germany stills insists on producing-to-order, he doesnt hold any stock pre-boxed.  So, if you are unlucky enough to put your order in at the same time as Scenery Express in the USA (and/or a host of other shops), then you can end up waiting as much as 3 months for new stock...and we have to pay in advance so... we really would rather do things another way....

It's very frustrating, especially for us as we are, essentially, breaking a monopoly and have to purchase through 3rd parties in other parts of the world - otherwise we would have to get supply through the UK "Distributor" who, essentially, doubles the prices as they have a monopoly on import.

Or, they did have until we kicked that particular door in.      He's tried a few times to find our source and, so far, failed.

Since that time even he has been forced to lower his prices, although they are still far above what they should be...(and nowehre near as good as ours)... but we live in fear of the day when they find out who is supplying us and the route is closed down. At which point, we have no doubts at all, he will ramp up his prices to 2x,3x,4x the proper retail price again.

its a bit of a sad story of gouging on his part to be honest - he was selling silflor at as much as 4 times the actual retail price for some time... you had no choice though unless you bought from abroad. The daft thing was that you could buy from abroad, have it shipped in and pay VAT and customs and still get it cheaper than the UK distributor was  reatailing it...which was what really made me determined to break his monopoly.

I do know exactly how to produce it myself mind you, but we dont have the capital to invest in the machinery,  If i did I would, without a second thought.

its all a bit of a a drama in fact 

Well, we are all for a bit of drama over here, as long as it doesn't involved a televised reality show. Thanks for giving us the inside scoop, it helps knowing when ordering.

I disagree with you on one thing; there are alternatives. The Noch brand compares very well with Siflor/Mininatur and has the advantage of coming in a range of nuances from sun scorched to lush green in one single sheet. (Are they repackaged Mininature?)

[Antenociti]

no the Noch stuff is made by Noch (who own woodland scenics).

The advantage of the Noch tufts is, as you say, you get the variety of colours in the single pack, which you cant get with silflor... which is why silflor bought out the smaller packs so that you can buy multiple small packs rather than haivng to splash out on a bit pack for each colour.

I, personally, prefer the Silflor, but the Noch tufts have their place.

Per tuft though they are more expensive than silflor by a fair amount, and the Noch tufts are too exact and dont have enough fibres: the tuft base is too perfectly round and the fibres too few.. they would be a good competitor if they were around 1/2 the price.

The killer for me, personally, is the lack of fibre which leaves them looking very flimsy and artificial, the fibres also do not stand upright very well.

Two small packs of silflor are better than a set of Noch tufts though and, per tuft, work out considerable cheaper.

[ardbeg]

I have to agree. I'm deeply disappointed with the noch tufts.
next time i will stick to the lovely mininatur ones.

[Hammers]

no the Noch stuff is made by Noch (who own woodland scenics).

The advantage of the Noch tufts is, as you say, you get the variety of colours in the single pack, which you cant get with silflor... which is why silflor bought out the smaller packs so that you can buy multiple small packs rather than haivng to splash out on a bit pack for each colour.

I, personally, prefer the Silflor, but the Noch tufts have their place.

Per tuft though they are more expensive than silflor by a fair amount, and the Noch tufts are too exact and dont have enough fibres: the tuft base is too perfectly round and the fibres too few.. they would be a good competitor if they were around 1/2 the price.

The killer for me, personally, is the lack of fibre which leaves them looking very flimsy and artificial, the fibres also do not stand upright very well.

Two small packs of silflor are better than a set of Noch tufts though and, per tuft, work out considerable cheaper.

People, listen up... Here's a pro talking (...and I like it!)

[Dan]

I bought 5 second hand assembled sections of bombed out 28mm WW2 buildings made of resin . I cannot remember the name of the maker but they were discontinued and then recently advertised on TMP as being sold by NorthStar (I think).
I will use them for both WW2 and for my Zombie games.

[Col.Stone]

they're probably Battleworks studios stalingrad ruins
http://paintedterrain.com/28mmTerrain.aspx
scroll down

[Mr. Peabody]

A massive box of nicely painted, weathered & detailed HO buildings (mostly DPM)... A set of Eric Hotz' roads will call this project 90% done before I even paint up my first mini!
Think we might have to do some 'Drive-in Movie' style monster gaming in the near future. Zombies & giant bugs come to mind. 

[Bravo Six]

Nice! Which project is that exactly Peabody? 

-Todd

[Bravo Six]

Just got this little scenery kit this weekend at Imperial Hobbies. Perfect for my pulp project involving undead worshipping cultists.



-Todd

[Mr. Peabody]

Nice! Which project is that exactly Peabody? 
-Todd

Um.... Another one?    Originally I was looking at HO buildings for inspiration for a Hue board, but only a couple of models show any promise. But they are sooo cheap on eBay & hard to resist.

I've wanted to do a generic 30's to 50's urban table for a while and these buildings look to do the job pretty well. Zombie/monster gaming is an obvious choice, as is gangster stuff.
I asked Mr Hotz to do up my road order with all white markings for a 'retro' look.

Really like the sound of your undead cultist theme, B6. Hope to play that with you at some point!

[Dan]

they're probably Battleworks studios stalingrad ruins
http://paintedterrain.com/28mmTerrain.aspx
scroll down

Thanks thats them.