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Saturday 4 February 2012

Why I loathe white metal kits

Failing completely to stick to my first quarter plans for this year, I decided to dig out my Warlord Games cuirassiers (I will use the French word this time, rather than "Kurassiere", as they will become Swedish when done and I do not know what the Swedes called such cavalry...) I made the plastic horses easily enough, and the metal riders glued easily enough into place atop their respective mounts. That is where it turns sour......

I know from long association with white metal kits that the parts usually do not fit, that the glue, even when the "best" superglue available is used, often takes an age to adhere, that I get blisters and sores from constant pinning and drilling and I have to be extremely careful not to try and glue my fingers to the pieces I am working on! Armed with this knowledge, I set out to affix the separate right arms to the bodies, choosing my weapons carefully from the options available, as several riders had scabbarded swords, so were not getting one to hold as well.

The riders come with proper hollows into which to glue the arms, so I expected little trouble. One frustrating Saturday later and I can say I DO NOT recommend these figures to anyone with any remaining sanity.

They look very nice on the box and I have built the Warlord dragoons with no issues, but those separate parts are a pig.

The holes are too deep/ too shallow/ out of kilter (delete as appropriate) and I had to resort to filling the arm sockets with liquid green stuff from that "big company" who started me on my road to white metal kit loathing. I will get them built, I will get them painted, I am certain the arms will spring loose the moment they are handled and ruin my paint job, but Tott's Cuirassiers will be at the WMMMS Show in March.

I see absolutely no need for the separate parts or the poor fit. Give me all in one next time. The metal sprues to which the arms are attached are big enough to warrant separate upper body halves, half with melee and half shooty weapons, so just do that instead Warlord and stop stressing me out with your cavalry kit!!!!!!

Rant over. I love their other 17th Century figures, which represent a very characterful and cost-effecive way for entering this period. Just DO NOT give me separate white metal parts again.......

G

2 comments:

  1. That does not bode well for my attempts to put mine together . . .

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    1. Rob,

      I have had no trouble at all with their plastic offerings, but the cuirassiers were something else and are still not ready to undercoat. I still have five arms to fit to five bodies. The final pre-undercoat stage will be some liquid green stuff to hide the cracks and try and stop the arms springing off the moment they are used!

      Gary

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