Tuesday 15 July 2014

GW - Manchester

Just a little blog post about GW Manchester. I nipped in to get White Dwarf for the Armies on Parade info and discuss AoP with the staff, not that I'm entering there, just so I can get the inside scoop. Anyway I took a few pics while I was theres because I'm a 40k addict and that's what addicts do, alright?! This store, situated in the Arndale Centre is great value - hobby-wise. They always put in a lot of effort in their display, this fantasy diorama has been there for a a year or so now but it's still awesome and if I'm correct was recycled from a previous display that was 40k related but they managed to reconfigure it to something completeyly different.


I love the magical flames made from expanding foam. But I actually can see these turned upside down to make some truly organic fleshy towers as quick LoS blocking terrain. Use some sort of support in the middle - a plastic coat hanger arm perhaps, attach to a base - wooden disc or CD. Spray on the foam and then build a crater round it so it shows a ruptured demonic tentacle or alien flesh probe bursting from the ground


Great use of the Citadel terrain kits too and also the green fairy lights in the tower on the right. What crazy spells and incantations are being wrought to defend the keep or is it just the largest Warpstone gem ever discovered? Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I just forged a narrative all over the blog, I'll go get a tissue and clean it up, sorry, couldn't help myself.


Every GW has a table set up to showcase the Dark Vengeance box set and run taster games on, but I particularly like Manchester's as the colour scheme is awesome. Granted it's not red, but it's the next best thing and this isn't just yellow, it has plenty of black in there to give a painterly to the table not unlike the artwork in the books.


I love the background too, the dieing star/warp storm in a flame red sky. These are touches the board doesn't need to have but they'v egone the extra mile just to help create that first impression for those kids that drag their parent into the store to see what it's about.


Apologies for the reflection but there's no way to see this Imperatur Titan any other way, except for the back. It's really quite a construction. Scratchbuilding Titans is a massive undertaking. My matel Liam managed to make his Warhound and Warlord brilliantly. The Warhound is a thing of beauty, potentially better than the Forgeworld model but the Warlord was an exercise in understated but effective execution. He didn't get bogged down with the detail, which may have stalled the project, put just enough on to make it interesting and managed to reproduce the design accurately enough so it didn't look daft. So many times you see Titans that are just boxes on legs but his wasn't and I think this Imperator achieves the same goal. It's simple enough to have got made but detailed and accurate enough not to look like wasted effort and resources, the glowing red eyes help too.

There are a number of other good displays and their glass cabinets are full of high quality painted miniatures. I'll try and get some more pictures next time but if you are visiting Manchester it's worth nipping in to see what they've got on show.

7 comments:

  1. Very cool.. that diorama is awesome looking.. sadly nothing like that around here 8(

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  2. Doesn't look like the same shop I went to in 1986. Mind you, I mostly went in to buy TSR and I.C.E. role playing stuff then. I bet nobody remembers the best roll on the MERP Puncture Critical table: "Shot through both ears. Hearing impaired, dies instantly." Ahh, they don't make em like that anymore.

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    1. Sounds familiar ;) I got MERP for a birthday present, best roll on the fall critical table went something like - 'every bone in the body is broken, use a spatula!'

      Wasn't there another one about the 'nasal bone puncturing the brain - instant death'? A description that I've read in many books since and even seen portrayed on film, I wonder who copied whom?

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    2. dammit. I've forgotten that one. Dementia is creeping in.

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  3. I really dig that burned out buildings. Any chance you know how they accomplished them (or know how to get in touch with the guys that did it)?

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    1. Next time I pop in I'll ask how they did it but I'd hazard that it's there yellow undercoat spray then black spray over the top. There are clearly some other colours in there so fingers crossed they know what the recipe is.

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  4. I'd appreciate that. Yeah, it doesn't look terribly complex, and the buildings aren't the focus of the images, but they do look rather nice (and simple). If you could also get better pictures of those buildings, I'd appreciate that as well.

    I have a dozen or so buildings that I'm hoping to paint in the next two months myself, but I keep pondering solutions that are easy, quick, and good looking. This looks like it might just fit those specs.

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