Wednesday 29 June 2011

Dragon Forge Resin Bases: Tech-Deck

Dragon Forge Designs



You see in the interests of thorough investigative journalism I felt it was wholly unprofessional of me to judge the wares of Dragon Forge on their admittedly brilliant Omega Prime bases alone. I felt I owed it to you, my loyal readers to order more of their product to ensure the standard remained consistently high!!! That's my excuse for buying these Tech-Deck bases, and also my excuse for buying my new Nomad army, because after having purchased the bases I needed to buy stuff to go on top of them!!! So in short I'm blaming you lot for me being skint and Jeff for making lovely bases, and that's what I'll tell the Bailiffs when they come a knocking on my door!!! 

Detail 9 out of 10

I love them. They're just perfect for mounting those space pikey Nomads on. They look like the decks of those lumbering ships they all live on and the detailing is as crisp as the Omega Prime bases while carrying a little more detail and profile than their stablemates. They have a really nice industrial feel to them and look as 'functional' as the Omega Prime bases look 'sleek'. As before there is a wonderfully consistent bevel (there I go again) and they don't add too much height to the miniatures themselves, which as we all know wargaming fans is really important when dealing with line of sight (Micro Art take note). They really do give off a cool space ship type vibe with the metal floor look, I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to paint them NMM stylie as that's what I'm going for with my Infinity miniatures, if anyone has any ideas I'm more than open to suggestions!

Quality 10 out of 10

As before with the Omega Prime bases these are a simply brilliant product. They are tip top in terms of casting and they just feel like a really good product. Also whereas with other resin base companies products I'd accept the odd defect or air bubble, its clear Jeff at Dragon Forge doesn't accept those sorts of blemishes in his product because he has sent me a few Tech-Deck bases he considers to be miscasts and I have to be honest from other companies I've used they'd be considered perfectly acceptable and fine, and to be honest so would I because I know what resin is like, so its very much to Jeff's credit that he doesn't. Absolutely no two ways about it these are in my opinion the best quality bases on the market that I've come across.

Service 9 out of 10

Again Jeff managed to get these bases to the UK in pretty damn quick time, 6 days to be precise from order date. So that's pretty good going. Sadly they spent 10 days in UK customs as they faffed and fecked around trying to decide what to charge me. They decided £3.21 was sufficient a charge eventually and bumped an £8.50 handling charge on top to make it worth their while scalping me... I hate customs I really do!!! However I hate Birmingham's Royal Mail depot even bloody more, because it sat there for a further 8 days, until somebody finally decided they could be arsed to send me a card informing me there was an import charge to be paid. Grrrrrr!!!! Throughout this time though Jeff was really good and said if the bases didn't turn up he'd sort out a new batch of bases for me. However this is a nice cautionary note, that if you are importing stuff from outside the UK the old tax man and Royal Mail can be a bitch to negotiate sometimes. However 9 times out of 10 things will sail through customs, but just a hint to all those importing to the UK from the USA, if you mark packages as gifts the automatic reader just passes stuff straight through customs, or so I've been told.

Price 9 out of 10


Coupling the detail, the quality and the service (taking out the delays by customs) into one product it would be rude of me to give anything lower than a 9 out of 10 and I wouldn't even consider it. I think Dragon Forge bases are really competitively priced and especially so when you factor in the quality of their product. Personally they are my favourite resin base company right now, hotly followed by Antenocitis Workshop who offer amazing value as well. Even with the customs charge on top I think these bases are well worth the asking price, and I'm confident in using these products as gaming pieces. On price to quality ratio they are really up there.

Overall 9.5 out of 10

Look let me be blunt here, I'm not ever going to give any product a full 10 out of 10. Just not going to happen... unless Scarlett Johansson delivers them too me in person wearing some nice lacy underwear, stockings and suspenders and some cherry red Mary Janes... too much info? Well Jeff and any others out there you at least now know what you have to do to get a 10 out of 10!!! Just remember to tell her not to sing good God not even I can forgive Scarlett this, my poor ears. What I'm trying to say in a roundabout way is that these are as close to a perfect 10 score as you're probably going to get off of me. I cant see myself ever going to a 10 because what happens if I do give a 10 and then one day Scarlett Johansson turns up on my door step with a big grin and box of resin bases? What then hey? I tell you what then, I've left myself with nowhere to go, that's what and I'm not the sort of guy to give 11 out of 10 because that would be a cop out and break my scoring system, and if I don't obey my own rules who will?

So what does this score actually mean then for the Rest of Dragon Forge Design's product range? Well as far as I'm concerned it verifies quite nicely the damn fine quality of their product. It also proves that for detailing they seem to be consistently high. It also shows that they can get their products to us Brits consistently quickly, certainly quickly enough for it not to be an issue ordering from the States; and finally on price you get all of the above at a more than reasonable price. While I can't say that 100% Dragon Forge Designs bases are all to the same high quality of the two sets I have ordered I think its possible for me to say on the evidence that I've seen it is highly likely, so I'd say if you see some other base designs you like the look of then give them a try because I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed. Peace out!

7 comments:

  1. I have purchased from two other Dragon Forge lines (Ancient Empires and Urban Rubble Wasteland) and experienced the same level of quality that you have reported here. I'll echo your comment that Dragon Forge is my favorite base company out there.

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  2. I'm really impressed with the quality level I really am. Had it not been for UK customs everything would have been perfect, but hey, I can't blame our customs officials on Dragon Forge. I've used other peoples products but DFD are my first port of call now. Just wish there were more ranges on the store!!! You can never have too much choice.

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  3. When you get through all 16 ranges I should have added a few more by then Jody ;)

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  4. Thanks for the review, might well pick some of these up for my own Infinity stuff.

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  5. @Jeff, on second thoughts you can have too much choice!!! Have mercy on my poor bank balance, I'll have nothing left soon. Honestly Jeff really pleased with the two ranges of yours I own so far and have heard nothing but good things from people who have purchased other base sets, like DJS has said.

    @Pacific what Infinity faction(s) are you doing? The way I look at it the Tech-Deck bases would be perfectly suitable for say the Ariadna's and there rust bucket old tech from their crashed mothership or my very own space pikey Nomads. On the other hand I think the Dragon Forge Omega Prime bases are perfect for Aleph and more than suitable for Pan-O and Yu Jing with their hi-tec (hehe dodgy trainers) ways. For those of you who don't get the hi-tec reference:

    http://www.retrogamer.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=13234&start=15

    Genius!!!

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  6. I have to agree about the quality of the Dragon Forge Designs bases, they really are the best. I currently own several sizes of bases from the Omega Prime, Broken Wastelands, and Concrete Rubble round scifi bases line, several sizes of the Round Lip Trench Bases, and use the pewter electrical tubing/hose and ammo feed bits that Jeff sells as well. Everything I have gotten from Jeff has been top notch with not problems of any kind.

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  7. @HuronBH what are those ammo feed belts like? I was planning on grabbing some with my last order but PayPal was having a bad day and I somehow missed them off the order. Any info would be appreciated, mainly how malleable are they? How far can you twist and bend them before they snap / break?

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