My first Malifaux Purchases - Vague ramblings and such.

[Mage]

So, I ordered the Children of December and The Guilds Justice. I waited for them to arrive in the mail, and when they arrived, I was excited. Now, I have seen Malifaux online before, and been to a shop that sold it, and saw a game in action.Not trying to sound harsh, but at first I did not like the style of the game, nor the Mk1 artwork or style of miniatures. The price was a bit high for a set, but I think that was down to the individual shop.

Two things started me on the game: listening to a youtube video about the rules (by an English girl/woman, I cannot remember her name or her series, but it was good) which was a strong sell, and seeing the newer sets come out. Now, I am not going to lie, but the digital renders on the back, while a little helpful and I stress little, I would prefer boxes to have photos/images of painted examples.I did like the idea of Rasputina, but the previous set and sculpts were not to my taste. While I liked the little ice gremlins, the Golem was too fugly, and the style of the Rasputina model seemed off: with her white cowboy/callgirl outfit. I instantly loved the resculpt, after a little hunting on google search for painted examples.

I was going to order the Lilith plastic set, but found the Lady Justice one which I prefferred, for the reason of what seemed better quality and quantity for the same price.When I unboxed them, I have to say that the quality of the plastics and detail is impressive. The price is a little high for the model count, but this is not an issue as the quality is most certainly there.So, now I have the two sets unboxed, and on the counter ready for assembly tomorrow. Weather permitting, I can't wait to spray them.The plastic seems a little but more frail due to the slender nature of some of the models and joins.

Now that this is out of the way, I was wondering what would be best to get them off the sprue:

(1) a stanley knife or nail clippers, or something else.

(2) Should I wash them while still on the sprue, and in what way with what? Warm water and washing up liquid?

(3) How should I dry them if I go with 2?I plan to spray them with GW Chaos Black undercoat if it is not damp or raining outside. The Children of December will be first.

While I have been painting and modelling sometime, I am reevaluating my skill and trying to improve it, so I am asking basic questions I have know the answers to mostly, but I was hoping people with higher end experience and skill would answer them, and maybe keep an eye on my log here to 'mentor' me a little for improving.

Well, ramble over. Hope you enjoy reading/discussing this with me!

Edited November 28, 2013 by Mage
Post went screwy to a block of text

[Omenbringer]

Most people recommend clipping them from the sprue with straight clippers being sure to leave a bit of nub. Then you go back with a sharp exacto style blade and cut the remainder. This should prevent any accidental damage to the frail pieces.

I would recommend washing them as well to insure no mold release remains (which might affect paint adhesion). Hot soapy water followed by a hot rinse is a great method. As far as drying goes you can just sit them on a dry paper towel and wait an hour or two (turn over about half way thru). That should get most of the water though for really heavily textured models a few strong flicks after rinsing should get rid of any water that is in the recesses.

[Mage]

Hm, I do not have straight clippers, I have rounded pliers. I could use nail clippers further up the sprue or connector. I could cut the remainder off with a stanley knife?

Hot soapy water with a rinse, got it! Will put em on a towel to dry naturally.

[rythos42]

I have to agree with your point about the photos. I tend to get excited about a game if it has cool looking models, and unfortunately neither the boxes nor the books show you actual pictures of the toys until you either open the box or do a Google image search!

A friend pointed out that "sure you have photos of the models, it's on the back" and I had to say that a 3D render isn't at all the same. I hadn't realized how tiny the Rail Workers arms were until I had the plastic in my hands!

[Mage]

I reckon the company reason it is being helpful, but most sites do not have images of the models themselves. The 3d renders are ok, not bad, but they do not do the quality of the models any justice. Even then the goolge search doesen't yield too many results, well for me with my weak web-fu.

Either way, the models are great.

I don't entirely understand some of the changes from mk 1 to mk 2 (not that I am compalining) - larger models (Ice goelm), reworked models aesthetically (Rasputina), I understand rules changes/updates/streamlining, I guess it must be an entire range transference of both materials and refining the look of the game world while keeping the story the same? Sort of neat/tidy retconning.

[nagash13]

ok so for cutting models free from the sprue, i would say almost any of these will work:

https://www.google.com/#q=side+cut+wire+cutters&tbm=shop

then use one of these (not sure if this is what you called a stanley knife) to trim off the extra bit where you cut the model free, as well as scratch the mold line off the model.

https://www.google.com/shopping/product/893036794023939220?q=exacto+knives&oq=exacto+knives&bav=on.2,or.&bvm=bv.57155469,d.cGU,pv.xjs.s.en_US.v-r5CthikH8.O&biw=1193&bih=784&tch=3&ech=1ψ=-CeZUtTzOZPkoATR-YJI.1385768954728.9&wrapid=tlif138576910607341&sa=X&ei=kiiZUvn4AdHyoAT6kYGwDA&ved=0CHYQ8wIwAw

i was told the rulebooks and the box art have no painted models because the rulebook and boxes had to be printed before the models were finished. wyrd is not a big enough company to sculpt, tool, and cast the new plastics, then pay someone to paint them, then wait for all the others to be sculpted, tooled, cast and painted before doing the rulebook and box graphics.

[Mage]

DISCLAIMER: My photography is not great. Again, constructive criticism would be appreciated for improving all my skills with this thread. So, the first set I am working on:

The box art is quite nice, an improvement from the previous Rasputina one, not that it was bad, but this is better.

Below are the 3d renders in one shot:

A close-up of the Rasputina render, with a sneaky wendigo hand in the background...

A close-up of the Wendigo render. It is a cool pose, but somehow the cowboy dude seems a waste. Don't get me wrong, it is cool, but I reckon the wendigo on foot and a December Acolyte could have been included in the set.

At this point I think the renders would be better if the grey was just a couple of shades darker, so the detail would have more definition.

And, here are the Gamins in close-up:

Finally, the big guy. In the previous set the 'Ice Golem' was smaller, the name of which is on the art. The sprue refers to him as the 'Fist of December' on the other hand. I only realised now that the icicles on his chest look like mad nipples, so I may snap them off the model I have assembled at home. Disturbing.

So, those are the renders, next is the contents of the box.

PS: It was 'Joeyfaux' on youtube which I mentioned earlier. Good stuff, give it a watch.

Edited December 1, 2013 by Mage

[Mage]

As standard, you get the assembly guide. In the Children of December set, there is one sheet for each model. The render in the guides are a little dark, but do the job. I will only post one of these:

The bases come in a little zip-lock bag, handy:

A delicious foam sheet for protecting the sprues, along with the back of an Arcanist card. I'm sure these are useful in some way, but I threw mine into the rubbish. Not the card.

Edited December 1, 2013 by Mage

[Mage]

This is an example of what a spell card looks like, with rules blanked out for obvious reasons:

This is the stack of cards for both the Children of December and Guilds justice together. As you can see, you get a lot of cards with the two sets:

I am having trouble with putting up photos, some of them are 'too large' according to the site, so I will sadly have to omit some pictures. Which is a shame, as I wanted to do this in painstaking detail. Then again, most people on here probably already know the content, and what I am doing at least in these initial posts might seem pointless to them.

Well, here is a pic of my work space:

Next are photos of the sprues... I hope...

[Mage]

I might be missing a photo of one of the frames from the Children of December set. Anyhow, here are the frames:

I'd update this sooner but am having trouble getting photos on here. Some of them are too big, with a message saying 'error: remote file is to large' when I try to insert the pictures from photobucket via 'From URL' from 'Insert Image'.

Can anyone help me?

[Gujozec]

I'd update this sooner but am having trouble getting photos on here. Some of them are too big, with a message saying 'error: remote file is to large' when I try to insert the pictures from photobucket via 'From URL' from 'Insert Image'.

Can anyone help me?

In the 'From URL' tab, under the space where you paste the link to your picture there's a tiny box next to which it says: 'Retrieve remote file and reference locally'.

That box is automatically ticked, and it makes the forum copy the whole photo from the URL and save it here, instead of just using the picture from photobucket. You just need to untick the box before clicling 'OK' and everything will work properly.

[Mage]

In the 'From URL' tab, under the space where you paste the link to your picture there's a tiny box next to which it says: 'Retrieve remote file and reference locally'.

That box is automatically ticked, and it makes the forum copy the whole photo from the URL and save it here, instead of just using the picture from photobucket. You just need to untick the box before clicling 'OK' and everything will work properly.

Ah, thanks very much! I'm still pretty new to putting photos on forums.

---------- Post added at 03:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:27 PM ----------

Models being cleaned in soapy water:

Models left on a towel to dry:

Assembled models, with cork and sand on bases:

Rasputina

Fist of December (he requires gap filling on his shoulder and other joints)

Edited December 4, 2013 by Mage

[Mage]

More models assembled, but couldn't crop the photos on this computer...

Next up is some primed models, and pics with gap on Ice Golem filled in.

[tinfish]

The ops "English girl" is probably Joey (Warhammer joey, joeyfaux)

Same way I got into it.

Now.. I need to go look for an idiots guide to Malifaux, because it is really making me feel like I never played a table top game in my life lol, I just seem to struggle to grasp this one. Hopefully I can finish off reading the rules and suss it all out slowly once I get some time off work.

[RagingRodian]

Is that an Ice Gamin attacking your wallet? You should probably do something about that!

[Mage]

My wallet is fine now, thanks goodness! I have models painted to go up here, I just need to find free time that happens to be during daylight.