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Scoutdad
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Joined: 09 Oct 2006
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll pair it up with the pink panther Lyran CL. Wink
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jmt
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow, a pink B10 SCS with hello kitty motif and the fighters painted up like little frogs. OMG, it's the B-10 Inconceivable! Shocked
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Red24
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Joined: 08 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So for those of you who have now assembled both Starline 2400 and 2500 minis, which would you recommend for a seasoned wargammer just getting into collecting Star Fleet minis?

I recognize there will be slight fixes needed on the new resin ships, but I assume there are just as many needed on the pewter ones.

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Jon "Red-24" Woodland
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Jean
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Klingons with pink stuff and kitties playing around cast-iron frying pans -- the Klingon Diplomatic Corps ships. Smile
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djdood
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Red24 -

Without knowing more about what your tastes are and what your play-style is, it's hard to make a recommendation.

The metal SL2400 have a lot of good things going for them, have been around *forever*, and still have a lot of fans. I sculpted three of them. I'll always love them.

However, the new resin Sl2500 minis solve a lot of the problems with detail and symmetry the metal minis had. A bunch of folks (myself included) spent many, many hours re-researching the SFU ships to try and make these new ones more consistent and more accurate than ever before. They're not perfect either, but they are better in many ways. They have their own issues though.

The biggest question to answer is do you want/need bases that fit the hex-maps included with Federation Commander and also can your play style and table handle the larger minis of the SL2500 line?
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Scoutdad
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Red24:
To expound on Will's comments:

The 2400s have many pros and cons:
Pros:
There are a couple hundred different models available.
Every empire has minis available for them right now.
Theoretically, they are all in scale with each other.
ADB owns the molds and the masters, so they will stay in production.
Because of the way casting/recasting works, the overall QA/QC is a touch better.
[Allow me to explain this comment os as to prevent 5000 questions later! Wink ]
When a pewter, Starline 2400 mini is cast and it has a divot, or missing phaser mount, or air bubble; you can throw it back in the melter, remelt the material, and recast. All you've lost is a little time. This menas that any flaw detected, regardless of the size/shape/severity results in a recast.
When a resin mini is removed from the mold OTOH, the resin is set and cannot be reused. This means that the cost of that mini is gone unless it can still be sold. This leads to a decision making process not required with the Starline 2400 range. Namely, "Does this defect result in an unusable mini, or is it one that can be repaired / ignored by the end use consumer?"

Now, to further clarify: I've had over 60 different Starline 2500s in my hands since the run began. None of them have had defects that I considered irrepairable and only two had detects that others might have shyied away from attempting to repair. One was a Fed BC nacelle that was miscast and reuired some sanding to return to shape and one was a Fed police Cutter that needed to have the rear end rebuilt where a large air-bubble had resulted in a missing impulse engine. Both of these were one offs produced to enable painted miniatures to be photographed for inclusion in the rulebook. I would hope that such details would result in trashed, production run versions.

ADB has a very good customer service department and will work with anyone who receives a miniature that they consider defective.

Now, back to the OPs question:

Cons:
They are not as detailed as the new Starline 2500 resin minis currently being produced.
They are not in scale with the new minis, so if you mix 2400s adn 2200s on the table, there will be scale errors.
Some of the variants are recasts of other minis and this results in generational loss of scale / detail.

Starline 2500:
Pros:
Bigger.
More Detail.
Lighter and more resistent to damage if dropped.
The Federation decals look awesome! Rolling Eyes

Cons:
QA/QC (see above).
The line is limited to about 60 miniatures right now.
Not all empires are represented.
There is no guarantee that are empires will be produced. The plan is to do so, but if sales drop - who knows?

For what it's worth, I have well over 7 or 800 of the Starline 2400s, but I am plaanig to get as many of the new Starline 2500s as I can to supplement my current collection.
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Red24
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the awesome summary. I knew someone would pull through. Wink

I was totally set to get the 2500 line, until I started learning what was around since the last time I tried SFB (circa 84). I think I only ever owned a FASA Enterprise, so I've never had any of the minis.

ACTA:SF looks to be exactly the type of starship game I would get into. Light, fast to play, and all about Star Fleet! Because I knew that things were backlogged, and since my FLGS hasn't been able to tell me if or when he could get them in, I've been spending my time catching up on 25+ years of SFU history. Once I saw the ships Jim Lewis painted up from the 2400 line and the Zocchi models, I started thinking "why wait".

But I only want to get into one scale, so since it will take me forever to get them all painted anyway (bit of a perfectionist here), I'll go with the 2500 line as originally planned.

My one question for you is: Why do you consider larger a Pro? Just because they are easier to detail and paint. I would have thought that smaller was also a Pro because you can play on a "slightly" smaller surface.

Thanks.
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Bolo_MK_XL
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Why do you consider larger a Pro? Just because they are easier to detail and paint.


He means more detailed in the casting, able to do more on the computer and allow it to mold into the final mini ---

Though individuals may find the size easier to work with --
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Scoutdad
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 8:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Because I like to super-detail my minis (seethe examples in the links in the signature). Very little of that is done with decals (Fed hull numbers, names, red stripes), most of it is painted on.

When I was 18, the Starline 2400s were fine. Now at 48, I like the bigger surface to work on for mulitple reasons.
    Their is more molded on detail.
    The details I paint are bigger and even the details can have details.
    It's easier on the eyes.
    Their are more surfaces for painting details on
    and so on...


and as for size of playign surface.
That's not a big issue for me. We just use the same table regardless of the game we play.
and if you play ACTA: Sf, then the size of the play surface is based on the point value of the game, not the size of the minis.l
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Jim Lewis
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Joined: 25 Mar 2011
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 4:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've had some casting quality issues in my first Squadron Box, like mentioned in the other thread. The worst being mold-shift - some nasty results that I'd rather get a replacement from Mongoose than rebuild. I put the Federation DNG (I hope I'm correct in calling it a DNG) together and propped it up on a spare Gamescience Stand. I think it is a really nice mini once cleaned up (which seems it took several hours to do). The "white hot" resin plays havoc with cameras too...





I'm intending to christen this one USS Solidarity, NCC-2123 and will be placing an order with Will & Tony to finish it out when I figure out what to name the rest of the ships in my Squadron Box.
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djdood
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 6:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice assembly and putty work. I'll be doing the same, sometime in the next month or so, I hope.

To answer your question, yes DNG is the most correct term, as the mini is of the fully refitted DNG with guided "drone" weapons and flat engine struts.

Technically, the vanilla DN is the version from the old Tech Manual, with the engine struts "bent" up. However, no one is going to argue if you call this mini a DN though.

I'm looking forward to doing decal art for you, when you're ready to order.
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Red24
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 7:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got my first three Starline 2500 squadron boxes last Thursday, but I was at a gaming con all weekend, so I'm finally going on the prep and painting. Some of the Romulan ships had mold slippage and other issues, but having never prepped resin before, I plowed ahead.

It seems to take a while to get them cleaned up, but they turned out nice. Once I started to put primer on some, I realized how great they were going to look.

I've got a bunch of snaps posted up on Google+ https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/103588561671775506183/albums/5706656910462195105

The partially painted shots haven't uploaded yet, but they will be added to the album after they do.
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