BattleTech - The Board Game of Armored Combat
BattleTech Miniatures and Terrain => Gaming Terrain => Topic started by: Two Guns Blazing on 17 May 2019, 10:12:18
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Ok, I've bought myself the Invader (Clans) Faction Pack, and I really like these buildings, and will very likely be buying more. They do require a little clean up and assembly.
I have two weeks holiday coming up soon, and will be starting work on them then, and will post pictures here.
In the meantime, if anyone else has any they've assembled and/or painted, please feel free to inspire and motivate me with your work :)
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Context? Is this the IWM promo pack advertised in the beginner box?
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Context? Is this the IWM promo pack advertised in the beginner box?
Sorry Weirdo, I assumed the title of my thread would put it all in context. DFA Miniatures is a new-ish company that make 6mm scale terrain well-suited to Battletech. The terrain is 3D sculpted then 3D printed and then cast in resin to be sold.
They're very cool, but do require some cleaning during the assembly stage. I bought the Invader Faction Pack, which is a collection of 5 buildings designed in a style that is suitable for Clan buildings.
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I took it as Death From Above and you had them in the picture to show scale.
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Below is the building pack I purchased. As I said, they need some cleaning during the assembly stage, specifically, the bottoms of the various building sections are not cast perfectly level and as a consequence the different building sections don't fit well together, or at all in a couple of cases. So some sanding to remove an amount of resin from the bottoms of some of the building pieces is required to have them fit well.
I don't mind, I often find I have to clean or work on models to get them to fit properly, this is no different. The rest of the casting is very good.
Once I've assembled these, I fully intend to purchase a number of their other buildings as well.
(https://i.imgur.com/K0iAzo6l.jpg)
This is the hobby sander I have, which I will use to remove the excess resin from the bottoms of the buildings.
(https://i.imgur.com/OU77urUl.jpg)
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Very nice buildings.
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I cleaned and assembled one of the buildings from the above mentioned 5-pack today.
It was a bit of a pain in the arse, no small amount of sanding on the belt sander was required so that the pieces would fit, and I also had to use a hobby knife to widen the slots where the buttresses go, so they would fit.
I'm happy with the end result though. I **may** drill some holes and glue in 2-3 vertical antenna on top of the main building before painting.
This is a Clan Gate Control Building.
(https://i.imgur.com/j5Lgqzcl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/eNw4zLfl.jpg)
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I put another building together today, same deal, needed no small amount of preparation by way of sanding so that the parts fit properly and the building sat level on the ground.
This is a Clan Fire Control Tower.
(https://i.imgur.com/Re5Uwfyl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/ORTCMUNl.jpg)
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I assembled another building this evening. This one required a LOT of sanding on the belt and disk sander to get it to fit together properly, and to be level and flat on the bottom.
This is a Clan Sensor Control Tower.
(https://i.imgur.com/AHjed8Hl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/R7fnd7Nl.jpg)
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Would you recommend these to someone who doesn't own a belt sander or other large surface sanding stuff?
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hmm, that looks like you could use it for the superstructure of a generic ship . . .
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Would you recommend these to someone who doesn't own a belt sander or other large surface sanding stuff?
Firstly, it has occurred to me that I may have just received a particularly poorly casted batch and someone else may make the same purchase and have very little sanding to do...now on to my answer to your question;
Short answer - Yes, on the proviso that you accepted that you may very well have to do a lot of sanding by hand on a flat surface/straight edge.
Long answer - The casted detail is great, and I can see that the models will lend themselves nicely to painting. The only real issue I have is the bottoms of the buildings are poorly done, they can be uneven and misshapen, which is the source of the sanding requirement.
You can achieve the same result with a few sheets of good sand paper, a flat table surface and a straight table edge as you can with the belt sander, but what might take 2-3 bursts of 10-15 seconds each on the belt sander per piece, might take you a good 20-30+ minutes of sanding by hand for an entire building, and if you are doing several buildings, then it would get pretty old pretty quickly.
If you don't have a power sander (bench top belt sander is highly preferable) and you have no patience -> not recommended...if you have patience -> recommended.
They do have an excellent range of thematic buildings, and are adding to the range all the time, which makes them highly attractive as well, to me anyway...the only thing missing at the moment are really tall buildings, like apartment block sized buildings, but they may do those eventually.
I think my next purchase will either be a Clan Genetic Depository, a Fusion Reactor, or the HPG (Interstellar Communications) Buildings.
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Of course, if you are like me and base ALL model (building or otherwise) anyways, you don;t need to worry too much about the base sanding, as a bit of filler and glue fixes all!
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Of course, if you are like me and base ALL model (building or otherwise) anyways, you don;t need to worry too much about the base sanding, as a bit of filler and glue fixes all!
This is true. Some sanding to get a few of the bits to fit together properly would still be required, but very minimal compared to the bottoms of the buildings...
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hmm, that looks like you could use it for the superstructure of a generic ship . . .
Some of the building "towers" would not look out of place as a spaceship bridge, or sitting on the side of a aircraft carrier as the superstructure.
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Have to see it to scale, but I was thinking that building along with some MWDA DI Morgan turrets would work well as a generic gun cruiser/battleship.
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I'd recommend, though, that they change their logo before anyone who owns that particular image notices.
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I finished off the smallest building in the pack this morning, and it was fairly easy to put together, minimal cleaning required.
This is a Clan Spotlight Control Centre, and it came with a large spotlight to be mounted to the roof of the building, however I thought it looked a bit silly, so I didn't put it on and will instead put a few antenna on the top and make it some sort of small command building for smaller missions.
(https://i.imgur.com/8qpmjXGl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vGCuVh3l.jpg)
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There'll be no progress activity here for a while. I started assembling the last building from the above-mentioned 5-pack this morning and in one portion of the model I found an area where the resin had not cured properly so I ceased work on that model and have contacted DFA Miniatures for replacement parts...so I have to wait for those to arrive...I may have said the "F" word 4-6 times...
Also, I placed a new order for a half dozen more buildings to increase the variety of buildings for my gaming table/mission objectives. One of the buildings is a HPG (titled - Interstellar Communications), which will be cool...below is a picture of the 3D render for that building...it should make for a great mission objective.
Anyway, expect progress to begin again in a couple of weeks once I receive either my replacement parts and/or new order.
(https://i.imgur.com/lrt0xw2l.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/aYwWSYpl.jpg)
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looking at their other product, i'm surprised that Microsoft hasn't sued them already, given that many of their items look to be direct copies of the mechcommander 2 building models.
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Thought they looked familiar but I was thinking MW4. Some look like MCG too.
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looking at their other product, i'm surprised that Microsoft hasn't sued them already, given that many of their items look to be direct copies of the mechcommander 2 building models.
They've been around for about a year and a half now...I can't remember exactly what the buildings in Microsoft games looked like precisely, but I'm sure these guys have changed them enough to avoid those kinds of problems.
Also, I forgot that I also bought some pop up turrets, so I will be working on those while I'm awaiting my other stuff...
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@glitterboy2098 and Colt Ward
I've just done an image search on google and had a good look around for MechCommander buildings, and I couldn't see anything that looked even remotely like the buildings I've been showing in this thread. Are you perhaps talking about some game mods where people have redone vehicle and buildings etc perhaps?
I mean, there were a couple of things that looked vaguely similar...
"Hey, your storage shed is a rip off of my storage shed because it has four walls and a roof, just like my storage shed does!"
Can you link me to something is is clearly a copy that would require suing...
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lets start with the DFAM standard resource building
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2554/2940/products/Resource_470x.jpg?v=1531609990)
vs the MC2 resource building
(https://pcmedia.ign.com/media/news/image/mc2009.jpg)
note the factory in the background there?
here is another angle of the same game asset.
(http://www.gamer.ru/system/attached_images/images/000/261/118/original/1-4-2.png)
compare to the DFAM 'weapons plant'
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2554/2940/products/Weapons_Plant_470x.jpg?v=1541545361)
or how about the DFAM Mech repair bay
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2554/2940/products/Repair_Bay_470x.jpg?v=1541544996)
vs the MC2 mech repair bay?
(https://pcmedia.ign.com/media/news/image/mc2002.jpg)(https://pcmedia.ign.com/media/news/image/mc2006.jpg)
how about the DFAM Vehicle hanger?
(https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2554/2940/products/Vehicle_Hanger_1_470x.JPG?v=1531610420)
gee that one too..
(http://orig08.deviantart.net/bba3/f/2012/131/2/5/mechcommander_2_base_sitting_by_unh0lyfurball-d4zbq7o.png)
(http://www.gamer.ru/system/attached_images/images/000/261/117/original/1-4-1.png)
and quite a few of the interstellar communications and fuel depot options are very similar to map assets from the mechcommander 2 game, though they aren't near exact copies like the above, so might be safe.
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and quite a few of the interstellar communications and fuel depot options are very similar to map assets from the mechcommander 2 game, though they aren't near exact copies like the above, so might be safe.
I think the Mech Repair Bay is a bit of a stretch, it seems to have a few different features, enough to make it not the same...but I'm definitely seeing the close likeness in the other three examples you've shown, especially the Resource Building and the Vehicle Hanger.
I'm still not seeing any suing going on though, I think at worse if Microsoft even cared they'd send them a letter saying that a few of the buildings are too similar and DFA would just remove them from the range and continue on with the vast majority of their range that isn't anything like those MechCommander buildings.
On another note, I've got the pop-up turrets out and had a good look at them, and am happy with them. The casting on the weapons is really good and clean...the bases will require a small amount of clean up, but should be quick and easy to do...I'll make a start on those over the next couple of days.
I've heard back from DFA and they are happy to send me out the replacement parts I mentioned in a post above...it's a fair hike from there to here though, so will likely take a couple of weeks to arrive.
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Would you recommend these to someone who doesn't own a belt sander or other large surface sanding stuff?
FWLIW I've been able to take off a lot of excess resin quickly by using a metal file. One of the big ones intended to sharpen lawnmower blades and the like.
But if that's too aggressive for you, double sided tape some sandpaper down on your workbench and you're good to go.
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I'll recommend RYOBI tools.
I buy a LOT of them, especially the cordless as the batteries are used for everything:
Weed Whacker? Yep
Drill? Yep
Saws? Yep
Radio? Yep
Hand held Sander? yep
These tools don;t take a lot of space, but it is still nice to have them available, especially the handheld sander.
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I'm glad to see someone actually got their order. I backed the kickstarter with a large order, but the DFA team has had several issues fulfilling orders and had very spotty communication. I finally got word to day that the order ought to be shipping soon. Now several months after it should've. I'm going to have to hustle to get it all into primer and paint before the weather turns this fall.
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I'm glad to see someone actually got their order. I backed the kickstarter with a large order, but the DFA team has had several issues fulfilling orders and had very spotty communication. I finally got word to day that the order ought to be shipping soon. Now several months after it should've. I'm going to have to hustle to get it all into primer and paint before the weather turns this fall.
Well happy you got your order. I' am still waiting for mine as of today. I wonder about this company and I grant you that he email that he is having family issues. Well keep on waiting :-\.
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Yeah, I'm still waiting on the replacement part and the second order I placed...it has been a month now...I'll flick them another message at the end of this coming week if I don't hear from them beforehand...
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Well happy you got your order. I' am still waiting for mine as of today. I wonder about this company and I grant you that he email that he is having family issues. Well keep on waiting :-\.
Well, I haven't gotten it yet. It's supposed to be packed & ready to ship as off the last message earlier this month, but no shipment notice yet. It's a really good thing I wasn't relying on this stuff for any games.
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I've received an email advising that my new order has been shipped, along with the replacement part from my previous order...probably take a couple of weeks to reach me and I will update this thread at that time.
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I've received an email advising that my new order has been shipped, along with the replacement part from my previous order...probably take a couple of weeks to reach me and I will update this thread at that time.
:ticked: I'am not tickoff at Two Gun Blazing BUT I' AM REALLY TICKOFF AT DFA. I have not receive my first order from DFA KS. Around March 30 2019 he said he had 16 backer to take care of to finish the Kickstarter. Well its June 29 2019 and I just read a post yesterday from a backer wanting to know what going on. I got email from him (DFA) mid May 2019 that he had some death in the family so I gave him some room and didn't get upset . Now I read the post above and I 'am really pissoff. Two Guns Blazing I' am happy you are getting your stuff but where my stuff at. I 'am going to send him a email today to find out where my stuff at.
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You didn't happen to get a response to your message did you, DEZOAT? I pinged them several days ago and haven't gotten any kind of response.
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You didn't happen to get a response to your message did you, DEZOAT? I pinged them several days ago and haven't gotten any kind of response.
>:( No I have not at all. I posted on KS forum for roll call of backer who have not gotten their stuff. I'm not happy about this a little communication would be nice.
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You didn't happen to get a response to your message did you, DEZOAT? I pinged them several days ago and haven't gotten any kind of response.
>:( No I have not at all. I posted on KS forum for roll call of backer who have not gotten their stuff. I'm not happy about this a little communication would be nice.
I've had luck communicating with them via sending messages directly to them on Facebook. They haven't replied to all my messages, but they have replied to most of them. Perhaps you both could try Facebook, they have their own Facebook page.
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I've had luck communicating with them via sending messages directly to them on Facebook. They haven't replied to all my messages, but they have replied to most of them. Perhaps you both could try Facebook, they have their own Facebook page.
No I haven't use his facebook its funny when you look at his FB page it haven't been updated since March 31 2019. I say this his communication really suck. Two Guns Blazing let us all know when you get your stuff. I have bad feelin I 'am not getting my stuff the way this Kickstarter going.
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Well DFA just put out a update yesterday . Well see what happen now . I 'am still waiting see what come of it. Later.
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Time for an update on this terrain project!
My 1st order was placed using their online store sometime before May - order was processed quickly and delivered within the time frame I expect for packages travelling from the UK to Australia.
23rd May - 2nd order was placed using their online store, including a request for a replacement part for a poor cast from the 1st order.
...I made a couple of status requests by way of Facebook messages, as they never seemed to answer emails.
24th June - I received an email advising my order had shipped (the process time claim on their website is 3 business days, not a month, but people get busy, so that's cool).
...between early July and early August, I made several requests for the tracking number of the package and a status update. All requests were ignored.
...early August I initiated a Paypal dispute.
...I then received a Facebook message from DFA, stating that they'd been in hospital for 2 weeks and didn't realise that the "relay" company they use, no longer works with the courier company they use, and that my package had been sitting at the "relay" company for the end of June, all of July, and start of August...they said that they would resend my package...since then, and after requesting a status update, I've heard nothing further from them.
Paypal has not heard from DFA, so resolved the dispute in my favour and have refunded my money.
I'd be wary buying from these guys at this point in time. The company may come good in the future, who knows???
I'll try and salvage the poorly cast piece so I can complete assembly of the last building, and subsequently be able to commence painting.
In lieu of obtaining more of the DFA buildings, I am now thinking about making some of my own 3mm MDF laser cut buildings, which I have done previously. If I do, I will start a new thread for those.
Here's a couple of pics of the buildings I designed before, but I want something a bit more Sci-Fi-ish for my Battletech games, so will likely jump feet first into Inkscape again...and if you are wondering if I took these pics half-naked because my pants are hanging over the back of a chair, the answer is yes...
(https://i.imgur.com/72STjXTl.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/nfi1Y0Hl.jpg)
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That's a shame. I was hoping to order from them sometime. I wonder if Microsoft sent them a C&D....
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That's a shame. I was hoping to order from them sometime. I wonder if Microsoft sent them a C&D....
Yeah, it is a shame, I hope the company does eventually get to a point where they can run their business better, as they have some really nice buildings.
I get the feeling that it is more to do with poor business practices and perhaps being overwhelmed by the amount of work, rather than receiving any sort of C&D letters...
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I haven't gotten any of my DFA stuff yet either. I'll give it a few more days then start prodding for tracking info, I guess.
Those laser cut buildings look interesting. I'd like to see some more pics of those, certainly. Most of my laser cut stuff is madboard, not mdf.
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I haven't gotten qny of my DFA stuff yet either. I'll give it a few more days then start prodding for tracking info, I guess.
Those laser cut buildings look interesting. I'd like to see some more pics of those, certainly. Most of my laser cut stuff is madboard, not mdf.
Sorry to hear that mate...it seems to me they've overestimated the amount of work in casting so much resin stuff and have had somewhat of a meltdown over the workload...you may end up getting your stuff one day, fingers crossed :)
I'll post up some more pics of those buildings tomorrow, and if you like, I can put the files in a Dropbox folder and link them here so you can get them laser cut for yourself if you have access to a laser cutter. When I get around to making the new buildings I mention above, I'll make the files available here too for whoever wants to utilise them, it'll likely be a couple months though.
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Here's a link to the 6 different buildings (one of the buildings has 2 files). These are ready to be cut, you can just give them to someone with a laser cutter and they should be able to cut them straight away without any adjustments. They NEED to be cut on 3mm thick material though (I used MDF as it is cheaper)...if you don't use a 3mm thick material, all the sizes will be out and the pieces won't fit together.
They are designed in 3-story sections so you can build each building as high as you want, and in each file there is an undamaged top and a damaged top so you can make the buildings appear damaged or not. You can also stack the different buildings on top of each other for further variety.
They are designed to have a small 3mm x 3mm cube magnet glued into each corner so each 3-story section is magnetised to each other, but if you prefer, you could easily permanently glue the 3-story building sections together permanently.
They are SVG files, and I used the free program Inkscape to design them...if you want to look at the files, you can download Inkscape (for free) and do so.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/72aibbssuiqxi45/AABuhlKy8l_wN_dfiuuF6GYNa?dl=0
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>:( Well its 30 days after last update from DFA KS . I have not receive any e-mail or update from this guy. It looks like I got burn from this guy. On Monday I'am going hit DFA KS forum page but right now his lack communication really suck. I did get the rest stuff from Neo Tyrannis City Scape KS at least they communicate. I left a post 27 days ago to backer if got their stuff no hits there. Later
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>:( Well I posted today instead of Monday to give him chance to update. I see 2 backer already posting about what is going on. I don't have very good feeling about this KS . Its not looking good at all. His last update said that everything would be ship out to all the backer bye the end of August of 2019 well in 6 day will be in October 2019. You know what I was really looking forward to this KS now I feel that I got burn by this guy.
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Rule 6.
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Rule 6.
OK. Why was I told or given a PM the first time when posted ?
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Doesn't happen. PMs happen when everything's done. When posts get pulled, folks are expected to take the hint.
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I put in a small order with this guy about 2 months ago which still hasn't been sent, and he hasn't responded to my email.
I wish I'd paid attention to this thread earlier :-\
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My stuff finally showed up last week. Still never got any kind of reply to any messages.
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And you see, guys, why we are always careful about promoting businesses, and frown on self-promotion. I'm sorry for the DFA guy - his reach was further than his grasp, in this instance. But I'm sorrier for the people who've sunk money in.
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My stuff finally showed up last week. Still never got any kind of reply to any messages.
Hey R4360 are a backer of the KS or customer from their store? I still have gotten anything from them or reply from them. I' am backer from the KS.
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I was a kickstarter backer. You may want to check out the DFA facebook group, there some people posting there too.
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:o Well I got a email on the 18th of Nov. I just check the postforce it left UK on 22nd of Nov. I'll see what come of it. I still have not gotten any reply from any of the emails and facebook message that I send. I let you all know what it look like. So R4360 what did think of the stuff you receive ? Later.
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;D ::) Well I got my stuff. I' ll open the box on Thanksgiving day to see what it look like. Later
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;D ::) Well I got my stuff. I' ll open the box on Thanksgiving day to see what it look like. Later
So did you get all your stuff?
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Is there a website for these yet?
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Is there a website for these yet?
Yes....but beware kickstarter backers are still complaining they still don't have there stuff
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:'( Its with sad new that Dorian Sherratt creator Base system Kickstarter and DFA Miniatures have pass way. I hope those that back and brought from his store got their stuff. It explain a lot what happen. Sad indeed.