Tools of the Trade

Today I'm going to take a break from the models and talk about the tools I use. I'll try to point out which ones I think are essential, which ones aren't, and a rough cost estimate based on what I picked up.

Robotech RPG Tactics, more than any other game I've messed with to date, needs a good set of tools to get a good result.

The Workspace

First, naturally, is a well lit area to work with. This is true when working on any models, but with the 6mm scale and tiny pieces it becomes even more paramount that you have a clear view of what you're doing.

Clippers

Side cutters, clippers, shears, call 'em what you want - you need them. Trying to get a close and clean cut from the sprue using a hobby knife is next to impossible with RRT. Worse, trying to do so is quite likely to cause the smaller pieces to snap from the pressure. I'm currently using GW's product ( ~ $35 USD), but you can find adequate shears at Home Depot or other hardware store for much less.

Files

Files are usually a recommended tool, but not necessary for most people getting started with table top games. Typically the mold lines, which are what the files tend to be used for, can be handled relatively effectively with a hobby knife. Not so with RRT. Because of the tight sprues, even using shears won't get a clean cut even close to half the time. I won't say they are absolutely necessary, as someone very skilled with shears and hobby knives can probably handle the sprue nubs with just those tools, but I would place files in the "very, very strongly recommended" category.

I do not remember how much these cost me but I believe it was between $20 USD and $35 USD.

Dremel

I happen to have a Dremel. It is not by any means necessary for model work, but it certainly makes some things easier. In some areas it can replace files, but I still suggest picking those up for more finely controlled work. The model pictured is the Dremel 3000 which Walmart stocks for about $60 USD.

The one thing I use it for above all else is drilling holes for pinning and magnets. Theoretically the same work could be done with a pin vice (which is really a drill, go figure), but the magnet work would be harder due to the varying diameters. If you're going to magnetize, I do think a Dremel or other form of power drill is a necessity. The drill bits are about $9 at Walmart, but you can check Dremel's product page for locations near you (click the Buy Now button).

Dremel drill bits

Magnets! 1/4", 1/8", and 1/16" (6.4mm, 3.2mm, 1.6mm) diameter

Magification

Another non-essential. However, RRT is a game with tiny, tiny pieces to put on models (see Oh, Recon Pod for more on that). I find having a magnifying glass of some sort to be a great investment. I picked up a head mounter set of magnifying lenses at Michaels (local craft store), for about $30 USD. They provide 2x and 3x magnification (3x uses a flip down extra set of lenses), which is more than enough for putting the models together and for painting.

I also picked up a lamp that included a magnifying glass for when I really need the light on a piece I'm working on. In general the lamp is just a lamp and provides that good lighting mentioned earlier, but on occasion I use the lens. The lamp cost me about $40.

Putty

If you've put together any of the Veritech models, with possible exception for the fighter mode, you appreciate the pain of getting arms to line up for the two-handed GU-11 pose. I use cheap poster hanging putty from Walmart to hold pieces in place while I'm checking fits and positioning. The pack I got was less than $3 USD and well worth the investment in my opinion.

The Battle Is Won, The War Remains

I claim victory over the base box! It took a few days because classes started and I've only had a couple of hours a night to work on finishing the pods and getting the VTs finished up.

So, without further ado, the madness:

VF-1J Squad Leader, in an almost-3-point-landing dynamic pose

VF-1A : Ready Right!

VF-1A : Ready Center!

VF-1A : Ready Left!

Area Denial Squadron

UEDF Forces - not the best picture

Zentraedi Armada ... ish.

Raawr!

I'm gonna get you!

Marathon man.

Overall Thoughts

First off, yes, the pieces are tiny. Part of that is poor engineering on the part of the model designers, but part of it is also the scale - 6mm is much smaller than the 28mm heroic most people are familiar with. The fact that the primary models are about as large as tradition 28mm minis is besides the point - there's going to be some extremely fiddly bits.

Seams - they do exist (see the multi-piece gripes later), but they're not as bad as was feared. They will take a little work to address, but much of it will be handled with a good gap filling glue.

Tight sprues - the sprues are extremely tight, to the point that some pieces cannot be removed with side cutters unless you pare away the surrounding sprue.

I've discussed my issues with the VTs before, so I'm only going to recap, not rehash. The number one issue is bisectional pieces. There's no need for the legs or arms of the VTs to be multiple pieces. Beyond that issue is really just a matter of design - a lot of the pieces don't really "lock" together as the minis of more seasoned miniature games do, which can make getting things lined up right a problem. Having the swoosh flight stands for the fighters connect to the GU-11 pods and only providing a groove is asking for problems. The swooshes for the Guardian modes make the Guardians too crowded - it looks bad and would be a pain to try and paint.

The destroids (Tomahawk and Defender, at the moment) suffer much the same issue with multi-piece parts that the VTs do. However, I do feel they go together better over all. Not as many options as the VTs so they're much more plug-n-chug. They do, however, suffer from weak hip joints and I had to pin one of the Tomahawks legs.

The battle pods (Regults) go together amazingly well - I have no issue with them at all.

The officer pods (Gluags) have the multi-piece parts issue on the arm cannons. I can see the front plate being separate, but I don't see the need for the arms themselves to be split as they are - maybe make the forearms one piece and the shoulder/bicep assembly another? Beyond that, however, I found the Gluag to have weak hip joints that my or may not require pinning.

The recon pod (Quel-Regult) was the biggest pain next to the VTs, and possibly more of a pain since once you know what you're doing with the VTs they're not too terrible. The issue is that the pod has a plethora of tiny, tiny pieces. Seriously, I sighed at one point and sent the pieces flying across the table - they are that tiny and light. It's very common for the pieces to snap when removing them from the sprue. It also required manually trimming one particular piece by a substantial amount.

The recovery pod was pretty straight forward. Just need to watch out for mold lines on the larger pieces. Then again, I don't foresee the recovery pod being used that much in game.

Final Thoughts

I have to admit this was one of the more challenging builds I've done. It's somewhat painful, but in the end I like the result, so I think its worth it. That said, holy crap all that plastic really reduces to just a relative handful of models.

What's Next

Well, painting, obviously. That's the task I'll be starting this weekend. After that, there's the additional material for the core box that was added by the kickstarter - artillery pods, phalanxes, and spartans. Then I get to do it all over again because I'm a masochist and picked up a showdown!

Oh, Recon Pod ...

Got this fella put together tonight and, I gotta say, I see where people are complaining. There's a lot of fiddly bits on this model, and they are really, really tiny.

First up, the prep shot. You can see the really egregious items to the right between the back plate and the right leg. If you look closely, you'll see a tiny speck at the top of that mass of tiny specks - that's an antenna that goes on the face. It snapped clean with only minor pressure to the surrounding sprue - I hadn't even attempted to cut that piece out yet! A little glue and a magnifying glass went a long way to correcting the issue, but it's ridiculous that it's necessary. Apparently it's a common issue. Recon Pod is now my 2nd most hated model, trailing close behind the Veritech battloid.

Prep shot

Some sub-assembly done.

To make matters worse, the antenna assembly on the upper right of the model's face (upper left in the photo) has to be manually trimmed in order to fit properly in its slot. Sorry, "trim" might as well be a euphemism - I hacked that SOB down to about half its original size.

The painful assemblies done.

Ta-da!

After this guy I started assembly-lining six more pods, but ran out of time as classes start in the morning. My goal is to get all nine remaining pods finished by Friday so I can spend the weekend painting.

Say hello to my little friends

Gluag and Friends

First up, I cheated a bit. The three Regults were put together off-screen, around the time I first started putting the VTs together. I needed a palate cleanser after that wonderful journey ...

Anyway, the Armada so far is 1 Glaug, 1 Recovery pod, and 3 Regults. I only really documented the Gluag, and that was just the set up and final product.

Prep was fairly straight forward, although the fact that the Gluag and Recon pod share a sprue and said sprue is pretty well intermixed made it a little interesting. Nothing a quick parts check on the build instructions couldn't fix, though.

The parts, mostly separated, ready to go.

And the final product:

All your protoculture

My thoughts on the Gluag

The Gluag was a fairly straight forward build, at least partially due to its size. That said, the larger parts means that mold lines are much more noticeable - definitely glad I picked up a file set.

The two major issues I had with the model were 1) the thrusters on the back are connected to the sprue in such a way that is more or less impossible to detach them without obliterating detail and 2) thin joints. Both the legs and the arms have a relatively small surface area for bonding, which makes me concerned about them staying on the model. Well, if they pop off, I'll pin them. Until then, screw it.

The Recovery Pod

The Recovery pod is just about the most simplistic design in the box. Not a lot of pieces, and the pieces are large with only a couple of exceptions. Again, though, the larger model and pieces means the mold lines were much more prominent - most of my prep time with this guy was filing.

Are belong

Harpo, Groucho, and Chico

Ah, the Marx brothers. These three pods were put together in an effort to prevent me from putting the single VT (all three modes) I was working on through the wall. Great palate cleanser.I have no real issues with the Regults and they go together like a dream.

To us!

Add caption

That's it for the weekend. I feel accomplished, and yet not so much. Two days and I only got 21 models put together (23.5 if you count the almost finished fifth VT that I screwed up). Oh well. It's a learning experience with these little guys since I'm used to 28mm, and this is my first time trying to blog my progress. So, as with anything, they'll both speed up with practice.

It begins ....

Alright, here we go!

Let me start by echoing some sentiments I've seen around a bit ... WHO DESIGNED THE UEDF SPRUE?!?!?!?! Ignoring the general issue of the sprues being extremely tight, the UEDF are particular part heavy for no apparent reason. The Veritechs are the worst, though - everything split in half. Legs, arms, torso ... all split. Worst of all, for some reason, the cockpit is a separate piece from the main body of the battloid.

Okay, min-rant over. Here's what I've got so far.

The Guardians went together relatively easily. I gave them all 1-handed weapon poses to make life easier - even with sprue reference images provided by others it's rough trying to see how the arms go together!

Guardians

The Battloids aren't quite as bad as I mad them out to be. The cockpit really is the worst part.

Getting a solid base to work from - these are gonna be the mooks of the squad.

After doing some additional research, and picking up some sticky putty to make dry fitting easier, I finally managed to get the 2-handed pose to work. They're still rough, but not that terrible.

Standing guard ...

Here's the squadron, unpainted, in my display case. The guy on the left is the squad leader - hence the more dramatic pose. I will say this - those swoosh flight stands are crap. There is enough room - barely - to fit the arms, legs, and swoosh. It does not look good. It does not feel good. I'm seriously debating the Litko solution and get some custom stands made.

Rabble rabble rabble ....

You'll notice that they're headless and ordinance ... less. I'm looking at magnetizing both, but the more I look at it the more I'm leaning towards not. We'll see. Really, I'd just need to be able to swap out for an R head. We'll see. I'll post an update when I'm done with whatever I decide. Same for the ordinance - the wings are fairly thin and I'm not sure there's enough material there to survive drilling. I may just put all the ordinance on and just let my opponent know which ones are active. Alternatively, I'll model them without ordinance and do the same.

Moving on to the destroids! These guys aren't as big a pain in the ass as the VTs are, but they are still high part count.

One gripe I have, more for the Tomahawks than for the Defenders, are the week hip joints. There's not a lot of contact area. So, back to the old days of pinning for added structural support! If anyone's curious, I just use paper clips and cut off lengths as I need them.

Hip replacement surgery!

The Tomahawk is the only destroid of the base game that warrants any magnetizing. The spot light and the command upgrade are both designed to plug into the left side of the mech at the same place. So, I'm going to try and magnetize them. This is the spot light with the 1/16th holes drilled and the magnets inserted - let me tell you, this was a pain. There's not a lot of material to work with so if you mess up, that's pretty much it.

Pictured - a pain in the ass.

The following are pictures of the finished command Tomahawk complete with pinned legs.

Finished Tomahawk with both options magnetized and shown.

A look at the magnets in the mech itself.

Tomahawk with spotlight attached (front).

Tomahawk with spotlight attached (side).

Tomahawk with spotlight attached (rear) [good view of the seam].

Tomahawk with command upgrade attached (front).

Tomahawk with command upgrade attached (side).

Tomahawk with command upgrade attached (rear).

As you can probably see, the command module did not work quite as well as the spotlight with the magnets. What I'll probably end up doing next time is just magnetizing the core hull and putting a strip of metal in the connected pieces.

Here's another look at the Valks and a full group photo of the Area Denial Squadron:

Avengers, assemble!

'sup?

I've still got Zents to do, as well as the bonus material baggies from the kickstarter. Oh, and a whole other base game box. So, hopefully I'll be updating more frequently. My goal with the second box is to really give the reader a step by step look at the process I use to put things together ... as well as an appreciation for the "what the hell" aspect many of us are running into.

I make this look goooood .... not really. And that's a failed thumbs-up - I suck at selfies >.<