Thursday 19 January 2012

Sarissa Precision System Infinity Terrain

     The Frontline Gamer recently revealed to the world over Christmas the new scenery from Sarissa Precision. This is HDF laser cut Sci Fi terrain suitable for just about any system -  but especially Infinity. The modularity of  the System stuff really appealed and so did the look of it, I'm not really sure it will fit with the Infinity board I am  creating from scratch out of Foamed PVC but at the very worse I will have two different boards to game on ! As soon as it was released I put in an order for some trial pieces and some of their Western themed buildings for a Malifaux table as well (more about that another day). Delivery was quick and I was really impressed with the level of detail laser etched in to every piece. They went together so easily they almost built themselves. There had been some discussion on the Infinity forum about HDF / MDF soaking up paint. I wasn't convinced so as a test I took the smallest building, I assembled it, undercoated it once with my standard grey Halfords spray primer, waited till it was dry, added some weathering details, hairspray and salt masked, airbrushed with Vallejo Air grey and then finally scrubbed in water. I have added a few highlight chips in places. The entire work was done in the space of a day with lots of spare time in-between. I think I could easily have finished a table full of buildings to this standard in the course of a single day (that would be an interesting trial to carry out Steve if you are reading this !).
     I can say this did not soak up any of the undercoat, it dried to a perfect smooth finish, none of the detail is obscured and it hasn't degraded in any way at all from the washing and salting treatment it got. I've decided to add some pictures - including some extreme close ups for people to see the effects themselves. Please excuse any mistakes you find, it isn't yet finished and was a trial piece.
     The only issue I have is the laser etching is so very fine - but deep, it was very difficult for me to black line details like the doors, ideally I would them to pop out more and not look as 2D from distance. I am still working on some ideas so may come back to this later.

Front view showing detachable ladder


Side view - at the bottom you can see the struts they sit on - these fit into holes on the roofs of larger buildings allowing you to stack any way you want. What a good idea !


Back view - the front's and backs are identical -allowing me to slip out the back when the enemy comes knocking at the front.


Here you can see where the detail around the door and panel lines doesn't pop out enough from a distance. It is there as the close ups will show but is fine detailing.


Close up of the ladder - these are modular detachable and cool !



Front detail of the door area, the surface of the HDF took weathering powders, inks, hairspray and salt really well and I think looks realistically weathered enough for wargaming terrain.


     Hope this helps anyone thinking of buying the System Terrain, Sarissa Precision seem very easy to deal with and nice people and have a number of new pieces on the way. Any questions just ask !



2 comments:

  1. It looks good! Although I think some additional colours might break the monotony a bit. It might help make the door stand out more as well.

    What is this "salting" you mention? I haven't heard of it before. Enligten me! :D

    Also, congratulations on creating your own blog! I've been bloggging for three years now (firebroadside.blogspot.com) and it's a lot of fun! Just remember to do it in your own pace and write about things you enjoy! :)

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  2. Hi Martin thanks for the comment - I do think you're right and for the next building I intend to pick out doors and some panels with a contrasting colour. I also picked up the Sarissa accessory panel set so might have a go at pimping one up with those and some resin extras I have from Jed at Antenociti.
    I did take some pictures of the salt weathering process so will post up a tutorial later and have a look at your blog.
    Thanks
    GD

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