Thursday 12 April 2012

Cold Navy - In the Flash

Late last year I looked at the very interesting spaceship designs by Cold Navy. 

I picked up some Terran and Mauridian ships when he had a sale and they have sat in my shed, where they await a decent set of spaceship rules to play - or until I make my own (more on that later).  Ravenstar was great to deal with and very helpful with his emails, despite his lack of shopfront presence and price list - his blog seems the best source of pics. He even extended a BSG special to cover Cold Navy stuff so I got 20% off.  Nice guy!

The Cold Navy ships alongside some Firestorm Armada ships for scale. 

However, prepping them for an undercoat, I recieved a bit of a shock.  Either I got a bad batch or the master moulds might be wearing out, judging by the the flash, bubbles and miscast chunks; which equalled the infamous Firestorm Armada Dindrenzi before Spartan fixed their moulds. I don't mind a bit of prep but at times I felt I may as well have bought a chunk of resin and carved the spaceship myself.  Even after attacking the ships for an hour or so I'm still not happy with the current finish. 

Even after surgery to tidy them, these escorts look rough.

That said, Ravenstar has an excellent reputation in BSG models and I probably just got a bad batch.  Given his excellent customer service, I'm sure I could have sorted it with him but I have found playing mail tag with America is not worth the time, cost or hassle. 

Size & Scale:  They would go well on a table with GZG metals, but the although the CN cruisers were comparatively large, they were still dwarfed by the Firestorm Armada offerings.  That said, I find the FA ships kinda ridiculous on the tabletop (sometimes a battleship can't even move its own length in a turn)so no complaints for size. 

Plus
Beautiful, unique designs
Lots of interesting detail
Ravenstar has excellent customer service, helpful, with good emails and pics

Minus
Hard to find pics and prices
My models were shoddily cast with a lot of work needed with hobby knife, plastic filler and file to get them presentable
GZG metals > resin Ravenstar for quality finish; Firestorm Armada ships give you more resin for your buck

TL:DR
I really liked the service and the interesting designs, and I'd like to have written a nicer review, but after all the doctoring to make them presentable, I'd like to see how they paint up before giving a final verdict

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