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Thread: Details of a Giant

  1. #1

    Default Details of a Giant

    Here is one of the Zeppelin Staaken minis being released by Ares in October. This is a final production sample. Enjoy.










  2. #2

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    Thanks Keith, this looks great. Not sure what the engineers in the engine nacelles are waving at? At least the crew are large enough and exposed so they can be painted, I like that. Can't wait for these to land! I'll definitely be using these at Cold Wars.

  3. #3

  4. #4

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    That looks worth the wait. Will the tyres and bombs be painted a sensible colour when it comes out?
    Run for your life - there are stupid people everywhere!

  5. #5

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    DROOL!!!!!!!!!!

    So glad I have these on order!

  6. #6

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    How big is this behemoth? It looks absolutely spectacular even with the weird wheels and bomb-bay detailing

    I am steadily growing to like the larger in both WGF and WGS - I may even buy one for my mainline aircraft collection being a full-time WGS player. For display with the 1/144 Scale section

  7. #7

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    Just so...awsome!!

    Thanks Keith!

  8. #8

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    Those shootingarcs looks a bit complicated... May I please ask for a close-up, Sir?

  9. #9

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    Quote Originally Posted by Guntruck View Post
    That looks worth the wait. Will the tyres and bombs be painted a sensible colour when it comes out?
    Agreed on the bombs, but the tyres look fine to me - hard to be entirely certain in those photos, but they do appear to be light grey (not metallic, which would be very daft) which was pretty much the usual colour - carbon black wasn't a standard additive to tyres at the time. (Black tyres were only introduced in 1912, and patented, so not too common by WWI. The usual strengthening ingredient in tyre rubber was still zinc oxide, which gives a light grey tyre.)

    Indeed, here's an R.VI - the main gear looks fairly dark simply because it's completely in shadow, but look at the nose wheels:
    http://palmflying.com/wp-content/upl...aken-R.VI_.jpg

    Ooh, an even better one here:
    http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/AE/AE72-6/292-2.jpg
    Last edited by Dom S; 08-31-2015 at 06:07.

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    Dom thank you for that information - I have taken note of this being not all that familiar with WW1 / WGF aircraft but interested now I have played a couple of games

    So ... Just the bomb bay detailing potentially needs attention. Particularly if thinking about displaying this aircraft rather than using it as a game-piece - or in conjunction with using it as intended.

  11. #11

    matt56's Avatar May you forever fly in blue skies.
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    Great to see this close up, Keith! Like the others, I'm looking forward to my Kickstarter planes coming in for a landing...

    All the best,
    Matt

  12. #12

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    The bomb area and the entire undercarriage are out of the same metallic silver as the engine details I don't expect that to change on the ones we receive in Oct. I'm sure it's a bit of cost savings for Ares (and us) and is easily fixed if it is really bothersome. Your not going to see the bomb area once its on the table anyways, and the wheels are not seen very much either... except for the fronts. I've had it sitting on my desk for about two weeks now and I don't even notice it any more. I personally think it's a fair trade off for the better crew figures.

    I can also attest that the mini is just as tail heavy as the real thing as shown in Dom's photos! lol

  13. #13

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    Consider my defence of Ares retracted - that's just plain dumb, sorry - yes production compromises are always necessary, but there's simply no excuse for that one - it'd be understandable on a 5 dollar kids' toy, but....
    Last edited by Dom S; 08-31-2015 at 07:05.

  14. #14

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    it looks awesome i cant wait!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oberst Hajj View Post
    Your not going to see the bomb area once its on the table anyways, and the wheels are not seen very much either... except for the fronts. I've had it sitting on my desk for about two weeks now and I don't even notice it any more. I personally think it's a fair trade off for the better crew figures.
    I guess I may be thinking too much into the overall detailing - here we have a fair game-piece versus scale model debate IMHO. As a game-piece I agree with you as to the level of detailing on the underside versus topside to include crew figures for example: Whilst gaming the underside will spend 90 to 95% of the time out of sight unless the aircraft is mounted on a gimbal. Whereas topside the inclusion of crew figures helps to enhance bringing the to life - further enhanced by features such as the spinning and rotating propellers which are available from AA for example.

    Whereas for somebody wanting one of these aircraft for display (like I am thinking of) who blames them as this in 1/144 Scale looks spectacular and is not available to build as a construction kit. If to perfect this idea it entails brushing (pardon the pun!) up my painting skills ... Then so be it I am up for a challenge

  16. #16

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    It is dumb of them to select the tires and hidden bomb area to fore go extra expenses? Would you have preferred light gray wheels and painted bombs and the old blobs as crew?

    Once again, we do not get an accurate replica model, but instead get a nice looking toy to play our game with and people are up in arms about it

  17. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussietonka View Post
    Whilst gaming the underside will spend 90 to 95% of the time out of sight unless the aircraft is mounted on a gimbal.
    And not much then either as the wing tips will hit the ground before it’s tilted enough to see the bomb area much! Lol I guess if you put it on a lot of pegs you could get this babe to bank like a fighter.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oberst Hajj View Post
    It is dumb of them to select the tires and hidden bomb area to fore go extra expenses? Would you have preferred light gray wheels and painted bombs and the old blobs as crew?

    Once again, we do not get an accurate replica model, but instead get a nice looking toy to play our game with and people are up in arms about it
    I agree - the model looks great and I'm more than satisfied. All in all, excellent value for money and if I do find the tyre colour annoying I can always just get out a paint brush.

  19. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dom S View Post
    Consider my defence of Ares retracted - that's just plain dumb, sorry - yes production compromises are always necessary, but there's simply no excuse for that one - it'd be understandable on a 5 dollar kids' toy, but....
    That!
    Run for your life - there are stupid people everywhere!

  20. #20

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oberst Hajj View Post
    It is dumb of them to select the tires and hidden bomb area to fore go extra expenses? Would you have preferred light gray wheels and painted bombs and the old blobs as crew?

    Once again, we do not get an accurate replica model, but instead get a nice looking toy to play our game with and people are up in arms about it
    This is a premium product, not a cheap toy - I'm not "up in arms" about anything, but am certainly disappointed at such a bit of penny pinching on a model that they'll be charging 50 quid or more for over here. That's not a small chunk of change, and certainly enough that you might reasonably expect the tyres to be, well, some variation on a theme of tyre-coloured. The bombs are an easier "fix" and much less visible anyway, so such is life, but the tyres are far easier for them to get right than customers to repaint - all they needed to do was paint the wheels grey before putting the hub decals on - we'll have to try and paint perfectly neat circular rims, which is not a straightforward exercise....

  21. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Dom S View Post
    This is a premium product, not a cheap toy - I'm not "up in arms" about anything, but am certainly disappointed at such a bit of penny pinching on a model that they'll be charging 50 quid or more for over here. That's not a small chunk of change, and certainly enough that you might reasonably expect the tyres to be, well, some variation on a theme of tyre-coloured. The bombs are an easier "fix" and much less visible anyway, so such is life, but the tyres are far easier for them to get right than customers to repaint - all they needed to do was paint the wheels grey before putting the hub decals on - we'll have to try and paint perfectly neat circular rims, which is not a straightforward exercise....

    Well, it’s not even a toy, it’s a game piece. And last time I looked, Ares makes some of the best looking game pieces out there. Is it an expensive game pieces, yes it is. Did they decide not to make it more expensive by paying for an additional painting step to be done, yes they did. We as consumers have no idea what dives their decisions on such things. Perhaps it would have only added a dollar or so to the final costs of the mini, but what if it added weeks onto the delivery time to have the tires painted? There is a lot more to think about then just how much it cost to paint the small little parts per plane.

    Actually, at $80 retail it comes in much cheaper than a seal/paint it yourself from Shapeways once you start adding all the things you’ll need to pick up to make it playable. Not to mention it is of better quality. As for paint perfectly neat rims, sounds like a opportunity for your decal business to me.

    Every release there are complaints that Ares did this or did not do that with their miniatures. Perhaps we should show our displeasure by buying our pre-painted planes someplace else…

  22. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oberst Hajj View Post
    Well, it’s not even a toy, it’s a game piece. And last time I looked, Ares makes some of the best looking game pieces out there.

    Perhaps we should show our displeasure by buying our pre-painted planes someplace else…
    I had no idea there was an elsewhere to source such well kitted out pre-painted for Wings of Glory from? Have never come across it in the six months that I have known of the game anyway.

    For me when it comes to pre-painted game-pieces it is not just the aircraft which Ares supplies (I'm talking WGS here but I guess this applies to WGF too) but the equipment and kit each one comes supplied with. Not to digress too far but over in the land of WGS the Avro Lancaster Dambuster Edition has to be one of the most inventive gaming-pieces I have ever come across in terms of what kit comes with this aircraft ...

    In my humble opinion I know Ares has its faults ups and downs but we will not know how good we had it until it's gone if we go treading on this sort of ground so to speak.

  23. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussietonka View Post
    I had no idea there was an elsewhere to source such well kitted out pre-painted for Wings of Glory from? Have never come across it in the six months that I have known of the game anyway.
    That was my point Ares is the only company that as seen fit to supply this type of game piece for aerial combat. Wings is a successful game, but even so, no other company has decided it was worth their while to jump in and do a "better" job.

  24. #24

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    The ladders are wrong, something I pointed out a couple of months ago.
    Still, looks cool. And I'll probably have mine in hand before I finish painting my Shapeways models.

  25. #25

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    Yeah that is a much larger concern. In fact, I can't find any photos showing ladders there... or the guns on the tail edge of the wings

  26. #26

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    The wing gun and ladder arrangement are pretty darned close between the R.VI and the R.IV. This pic shows some good detail of the R.IV.


    This is the wing gun position on R30, which was an R.VI.


    In both cases, you can see the ladder is not attached to the trailing edge of the wing.

  27. #27

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    Every time I read complaints about how the new series of planes looks, I just remember those cold dark times after Fantasy Flight dropped the game when I didn't know if I would every be able to buy the planes ever again. It puts it all in perspective for me.

  28. #28

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    Good lord, but that's a big model... it's positively monstrous!

    Shame about the ladders... that will be a fiddly fix for the modeler at home! As for the bombs? Probably the easiest fix, and the least noticeable... I will not be putting my Staaken in a 45° bank at the top of... what... at least 5 or 6 long bomber pegs?

    Not sure how I feel about "cost-cutting measures" at the moment. Then again, the for these is already long-spent...
    Last edited by fast.git; 08-31-2015 at 15:44. Reason: Toned down the language some... shouldn't post when hungry. ;p

  29. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by fast.git View Post
    Good lord, but that's a big model... it's positively monstrous!
    Some just for fun photos...




  30. #30

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    And now for the other Giant...










    Sorry those all have my flame and smoke markers in them. I forgot to get shots of the HP by it's self and I don't have time to set the camera stuff up again tonight.

  31. #31

  32. #32

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    Quote Originally Posted by john snelling View Post
    Looks good.
    I agree. I was not, initially, predisposed towards the red engines... after seeing these photos, they're growing on me.

  33. #33

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    The lizard is drooling.

    Only thing I'm not immediately fond of is those red engines & struts. Not really a complaint, since that's so easily fixable.

  34. #34

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    Oh, and Herr Oberst, great job on the "just for fun" pics. Really does put the models in perspective.

  35. #35

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    One of the things I really like about these (and I hope it carries over to the final production models) is that they don't have that gloss coat we've been seeing on the minis as of late. They are nice and matte, just like they should be.

  36. #36

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    Quote Originally Posted by Oberst Hajj View Post
    Some just for fun photos...



    Love it! This really shows just how BIG these monsters are.

  37. #37

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    Thanks for posting, Herr Oberst.


    Looking forward to having one of each on my table.
    I, for one, appreciate the pre-painted models, as my hands and eyes are not what they once were.

  38. #38

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    Quote Originally Posted by Teaticket View Post
    Thanks Keith, this looks great. Not sure what the engineers in the engine nacelles are waving at? At least the crew are large enough and exposed so they can be painted, I like that. Can't wait for these to land! I'll definitely be using these at Cold Wars.
    i think theyre "communicating visually" with the enemy

  39. #39

    Cool

    Well I for one really love those models. So glad I ordered the Blue coloured Zep.

    Many thanks Keith for all the great photos!

  40. #40

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    So when does the raffle start......

    "He is wise who watches"

  41. #41

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    I think the modlsare fine, just the ladders that are a bit off putting but that's only a minor thing. I'm happy with having to do a little retouching on the paint jobs, its gross errors in the form of a sculpt that I don't like (such as the Sopwith Triplane upper wing and the "plank" wings of the wave 1 reprints) Ares have shown that these shouldn't be a problem so its annoying when they are.

    Anyway, as far as these are concerned

  42. #42

    LOOP
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    Sweet!!

  43. #43

    LOOP
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    About the gunarrangement of the Staaken...
    There are a lot of gun firering to the rear and sides but only one forward... Am I correct? So its weakest, hmm , point must be its nose.
    Looks like the best way to take one down is head on and than circle around for another go... but 34 pionts is a lot..

    Can't wait trying though

  44. #44

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    Realy do not need either bomber, but I will get the Zep Stacken because it look soooooooooo good

  45. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by LOOP View Post
    About the gunarrangement of the Staaken...
    There are a lot of gun firering to the rear and sides but only one forward... Am I correct? So its weakest, hmm , point must be its nose.
    Looks like the best way to take one down is head on and than circle around for another go... but 34 pionts is a lot..

    Can't wait trying though
    Yep, just one to the front. The two wing guns have nearly 180° arcs to the rear. The rear fuselage guns have about a 45° arc to either side (between the wing and tail). All are B guns.

  46. #46

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    When doing a head-on attack, don't make the mistake of getting caught between two of them as you try to loop back around. Trust me, it can get ugly.

  47. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by jbmacek View Post
    When doing a head-on attack, don't make the mistake of getting caught between two of them as you try to loop back around. Trust me, it can get ugly.
    I'll try to keep an eye on my speedometer and make my turns (hopefully) in time
    I get a picture of a Bristol Fighter in my head. Strange.....

  48. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by David Manley View Post
    its gross errors in the form of a sculpt that I don't like (such as the Sopwith Triplane upper wing and the "plank" wings of the wave 1 reprints)
    Oh gawd, don't start Chris off again.....
    Run for your life - there are stupid people everywhere!

  49. #49

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    I have seen red engines before ... But on a Vickers Vimy. So those I don't mind. As to the red struts as well it's the game-piece versus scale model debate coming back into this equation again.

    So this aircraft is the Handley Page O/400? Would be mildly amusing to have in my mainline aircraft collection after working for so long with Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 Turboprops! The level of detailing seems IMHO to be better on this aircraft compared with the tyres & bomb bay / wing ladders featured on the Staaken. Maybe I'll be getting hold of an O/400 to display instead as a WGS full-time player with closet WGF interest. Especially when the get as spectacular as these two examples.

    Tell you what I may also be able to offer - talking of my mainline aircraft collection: Quality paint detailing service for those without the time or resources yet would still prefer darker tyres and detailed bomb bays ... Experience - ten years of building and painting aircraft construction kits ... Severely discounted services open to Aerodrome Members!

  50. #50

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    Staakens were never used as FICONs. I stand corrected.

    And I thought I was the only one thinking "park a F.2B or DH4 in front of the Staaken, and Goodbye Giant"....

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