Some times there is nothing nicer than a big wadge of metal arriving in the post and today that pleasure has been brought to me by Baccus! In particular they are from the Human range of Command Horizon Sci fi miniatures.
1 x Infantry
1 x Scout APC
1 x Medium Tank
1 x Heavy Tank
1 x Walkers
I have been buying from baccus for a long time now and I'm not sure I've ever been disappointed with the models I've received. I've never bought from the scifi range however, so here they are and here I am!
First impressions
This is a good weight of metal for £25, everything looks to be there and at a first glance the casting certainly looks good.
Heavy Tanks [CHH10]
The casting is really quite neat on these guys, nice crisp lines and they're a nice solid build. The turret and gun barrels are more akin to what you might actually find on a modern tank in terms of scale. As such, the barrels are a bit more prone to bending, but the ones of mine that were bent just needed a little reshaping to put them back in order, the quality of the metal used as well means that they didn't get brittle after bending back like some minis do.
As you can see, in front of each tank is a sprue with three different turrets on. This comes as standard with each pack and means that I can paint them all up and really customise my force each time I use it. So thumbs up on that one.
We also have here a comparison of the Baccus Heavy tank alongside the Heavy tank from Plasma Blast Games, as you can see there's really not a lot in it. The only really noticeable difference is in the size of the turrets.
Something I did find with the heavy tanks;
it would seem that the metal is poured into the mold from the back of the vehicle, unfortunately for two of my tanks, that meant I had these holes in the back. The rest of the cast was fine, though the area immediately around the hole lacked some of sharpness to the edges that is present on the rest of the model.
To be honest though, It's not too much of a problem and it's something I can easily fill in with a spot of greenstuff.
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| The armour is definitely weaker in the rear of these tanks.. |
Medium Tanks with Medium Weapons [CHH6]
These smaller brothers to the ones shown above, are of a good casting quality and again come with the triple selection of weapon sprues. It is possible to buy the medium tanks with the heavy weapons sprue found in on the heavy tanks.
In this instance the plasma blast medium tank is slightly smaller than the Baccus tank, again the only notable difference in the turrets.
Assault Light Walkers [CHH16]
These guys are bigger than I was expecting (you can see what they're like compared to a Heavy tank in the second picture) though their larger than expected size definately isn't a bad thing, it gives them a nice presence.
One of my guys did arrive bent completely back, looking like he was ready for a little limbo action, but it was able to bend it back without any issue. There is a good level of detail on these models,the legs, for example, are not just solid sticks, but have joint details and the cockpits look like their constructed from several differnt parts.
The flash from where the metal is poured into the mold is on the very bottom of the base of the walkers needs a touch of work, a good effort has been made to trim this back as far as possible before it reaches you, but I still needed a little knife work and a file to get it flush.. though this isn't really a big problem.
Infantry Stood [CHH11]
These guys are much more akin to what i'm used to from Baccus, strips of infantry minis! I haven't been let down with these sci fi models either, they're all of a good casting quality, the sort you'd expect from Baccus and the poses and proportions all look good.
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| Don't worry, they'll not be going on any bases like that.. |
Scout Personnel Carriers [CHH2]
There are six of these in a pack compared to the 3 in a pack you get with the tanks (but then there are no weapon sprues!) I went with the Scout models to use as APC's as the Light Personnel Carriers look a little more like IFV's to me and anyway, I quite like the scout models.
They're hollow underneath, just like the rest of the tanks and as 'hover' vehicles, i'll need to have them raised. The two features make this a little difficult as there's not a whole lot for me to drill into if I wanted to use pins/brass wire to raise them up. though Ben has suggested the little lego cylinders - though these can be a touch pricey - so maybe some doweling insted, and if i'm using mdf bases attaching it the base, or even drilling a hole that would fit the dowel wouldn't be too hard at all!
Here's the APC/Personnel Carrier alongside it's Plasma Blast counterpart. There's a height difference, but not much of a length difference, I prefer the extra detail on the Baccus model too.
P&P
Baccus charges 10% of the total order for UK postage, which is definately one of the more reasonable postage rates i've seen in the miniatures market, the products i've received have always been in a box, which means that theyve been spared from some of the squisshing that can happen with the padded envelopes. Delivery tends to be 2/3 days!
Conclusion
I'm very impressed with the Baccus scifi miniatures, they're of a good build quality with lots of details. The more practical look, with hatches/bumps/panels etc gives them a rather refreshing feel when compared to lots of companies that are produceing very 'smooth' finshes on their scifi vehicles atm.
I must admit that i'm a little dubious of the thin gun barrels he guns on the tanks, aesthetically they're really nice and give the models a much more 'realistic', near future quality, but I can imagine, especially given that i'm able to chop and change with the different sets, that I will end up bending one of them irreversable at some point. However I can cross that bridge when I come to it.
It was a shame to find those holes in the back of the two heavy tanks, but for me it has been the exception and not the rule when compared to the rest of the scifi miniatures that I bought and of the other minis i've bought previously from Baccus.
If the rest of the Human range is of the same quality as these then I'll be happy to rate them a rather solid and respectable 8/10!
Edit: Baccus are very good at sorting out replacements for miscast models, and in general a very good company to deal with!
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| The force. |
