EPT
Writing another update to what I hope will become a semi-regular blog about my adventures in the WH40K universe!
In my last blog I wrote about what I was able to actually buy for my adventures into the dark future as leader of a Tau army.
![[image loading]](http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m490212_99120113011_TauBattleforceBox_445x319.jpg)
This box includes everything you need to start a Tau Army
![[image loading]](http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m490217_99120113011_TauBattleforceMain_445x319.jpg)
Mine won't be anywhere near as nicely painted as this
Right now, I have actually unboxed my battleforce and decided to start by assembling my firewarrior squad.
So I happily move along using some small side cutters to remove the little guys from their sprues. So I go off clipping and putting all the little pieces to the side in a small box. There are a few realizations I made in my sprue cutting adventures some of wish I had known earlier. I hope to provide some guidance to any of you who are thinking of getting started thanks to my
So when you have a sprue, keep everything off of one sprue in one place. Perhaps more important is to keep things that are adjacent on one sprue together when they are cut off the sprue. In the picture below you will see guns and arms circled in red. Those arms without a gun hold the gun next to it properly when put on the model. If you mix up the arms, then you need to discover which arm is supposed to hold which arm. This is something I didn't do, and the first unit I glued couldn't hold his fucking gun because his arm was too damn short. I thought I had just done it wrong, then I realized my mistake. This lead to ripping an arm off, and then having to file down the glue so I could re-adhere it (more on this trying process later).
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/kPu7N.png)
Alright, as you can see, keep that shit together all you newcomers!!
With all my bits cut off the sprues I realised, I really should remove some of the mold lines. Looking at my Tau firewarriors I learned three things about removing mold lines.
First:
Removing mold lines from fatigues (cloth for all you Power Armour fools) is difficult, trying, and in some cases unimportant. If the mold lines aren't obvious and aren't on smooth or flat clothing areas, I leave them. Of course if theres a plastic flake I will cut that off but little small lines, not a huge deal.
Second
Removing mold lines from armour is dead simple and completely 100% always necessary but takes forever. When I look back at my really old Chaos marines from my young teens, I realise that there are a lot of mold lines and god are they ugly. I decided that I wanted the details on my models to be there because they are supposed to be there. I do not want to see mold lines on my models if I can help it, they don't need to be there and they shouldn't be there. I spent six hours removing mold lines from my firewarriors thank god the Korean ESV weekly was running and I had some awesome SC2 to keep me entertained during the monotony.
+ Show Spoiler +
Interested in the ESV korean Weekly? Damn straight you are. Head over to http://www.twitch.tv/esvision to watch it live. Or you can click it anyway and watch whenever, Diamond has the weekly running on PERMA LOOP so no one can complain about timezone. The weekly is always on. Crazy, I know, kudos to Diamond and his mapmaking team for all the work thy do too
Third
Never use a file, and always use an exacto carefully. I tried to use a file but it wasn't fine enough and I got odd looking grain effects. Thank god I tried it on one of the bits I wasn't planning on using or that would have been pretty bad. Not only that but files are big and cumbersome in small areas and aren't too good at rounded surfaces I learned.
My lesson? Take an exacto knife, point the blade at a 45 degree angle away from you and scrape lightly towards yourself. Its faster then a file for small mold lines and more accurate. It makes the whole model smoother as well on rounded parts such as the helmets on my firewarriors. The best part? The small point of a hobby knife is damn small so I can get into some tiny places. Be careful though, if you happen to put the knife edge to the plastic you will make a small cut that might need to be filled with green stuff (an epoxy) later.
As you read in the title I wrote "WTF MOLDS!?". So far, I seem pretty happy about the process of removing mold lines and to be honest I really am. I was enjoying cutting, cleaning and preparing my firewarrior bits. That was until I saw the following
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/vVQSY.jpg)
The plate armor mold seeped into the fatigue side. The one on the left was ok, passable perhaps but the farther to the right you got the worse they ended up. I had 9 legs that couldn't be used. In the box you get 15 legs to choose from for 12 firewarriors. I could make half a squad of firewarriors that looked good, the other half however were ruined right out of the box.
I was pretty mad and disappointed. The next day I called GW customer service and I received the best help ever from a phone line.
A computer answered, I hit one on my phone for customer service and instantly Alex answered the phone.
This guy had no accent and spoke perfect english. The best part? He wasn't reading through a book with a script. I told him my problem and gave some information and was told I had replacement parts on the way. When I checked my email that night I saw something that blew me away.
It was a receipt for a box of firewarriors being shipped to me. No cost, no shipping. I have a whole new box of stuff coming because of some bad molds.
Congrats GW, you know how to make a newcomer happy to be taking part in the hobby!
Thanks for reading this blog, I think the length got away from me a bit.
Next time? Assembled units and my first foray into painting!
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