HOBBY FAN [ MORE REVIEWS ] [ WEBSITE ] [ NEW STORIES ]

In-Box Review
1⁄35
Lumber Bundles
Fascine Lumber Bundles for the Churchill with Fascine Carrier Frame
  • move
by: Darren Baker [ CMOT ]

Introduction

With AFV Club having released the Churchill Mk IV AVRE with Fascine Carrier Frame, but no fascine to go with it, it is no real surprise to see AFV Club’s resin manufacturing arm Hobby Fan release a very large resin fascine to go with the model.

Contents

This product is packaged in a good quality cardboard box. Inside the box you will find a single Ziploc plastic bag that contains the resin parts and this is further protected by a good quantity of polystyrene peanuts.

Review

There are four parts to this fascine, basically four separate circular bundles. Two of the bundles are hollow and these fit together via a toothed connection ridge. The pour plugs present are easily removed; in my case I was able to break them free by hand. An examination of the four moulding did not reveal any obvious moulding faults that I could detect, but of course the design of this peace means air bubbles would have to be quite large to cause any concern. There is a small hole in the centre of each bundle that makes up a full ring, but I believe this is there by design.

Assembly is idiot proof being a case of little more than stacking the four pieces end on end. The real skill here will be the painting that is needed to portray a realistic bundle of wooden planks, working in different colours in a natural way, rather than just a monotone colour with a few washes thrown in for good measure. If this is done well you do have the potential for a realistic and pleasing result. I do intend to have a go at making a fascine from hard wood veneers I have laying around just as a comparison to this product, but it will take a lot of time and so this is a quick solution for those who don’t wish to tackle the scratch building task.

Conclusion

A quick and easy to assemble fascine for the AFV Club Churchill Mk IV AVRE with Fascine Carrier Frame. The painting of this piece is where the hard work will pay dividends as it is the painting that will make or break this product. While this has been designed and made for the AFV Club Churchill I wonder if it could be used with one of the WW1 tanks that are proving popular at the moment.


Churchill Mk IV AVRE with fascine carrier frame
SUMMARY
Highs: This is a cleanly cast piece of work and unusually for resin it is the painting that will test rather than the clean-up and assembly.
Lows: There are no obvious lows I can see to this product, but I have heard complaints about prices.
Verdict: If your scratch building skills are weak or finding suitable materials difficult to source, then this product from Hobby Fan is just what you need.
  Scale: 1:35
  Mfg. ID: HF079
  PUBLISHED: Apr 22, 2015
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 87.04%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 88.86%

Our Thanks to Hobby Fan!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

View Vendor Homepage  |  More Reviews  

Copyright ©2021 text by Darren Baker [ CMOT ]. All rights reserved.


Comments

CMOT
Kurt I have to say some of the prices I have seen made my eyes water, but it is an option rather than a must have and so it is up to the modeller if the cost and detail are worth it to the modeller.
APR 24, 2015 - 09:14 AM
gharker
My wife gave me a large gift certificate for the LHS. They had the bundle on sale. I now have one. It has it's base coat on and looks good so far. I would never have paid the price otherwise but under the circumstances I decided to splurge.
JAN 09, 2017 - 10:09 PM
Namabiiru
So the manufacturer released a kit which is missing an essential element of the subject just so they can release a separate (expensive!) aftermarket add-on to fill the gap? Talk about war profiteering... This offering at least allows you to choose how to spend your time: finding your own sticks or convincingly painting resin to look like sticks.
JAN 09, 2017 - 11:32 PM
Vicious
Lucky you if you have the luxury of being able to pay these prices and not complain!
JAN 10, 2017 - 02:23 AM
KurtLaughlin
Lucky you if you have the luxury of being able to pay these prices and not complain! [/quote] The ENTIRE hobby is just trafficking in luxury goods. Not a single item we play with is a necessity. No one needs ANY of this [auto-censored]. We have each, individually, chosen scale modeling as a HOBBY. In other words, the money we spend on modeling is money that we have determined can be wasted, spent on nothing more than our personal amusement. It is ridiculous and utterly selfish for ANYONE to complain about prices in the hobby. It just comes across as an expression of green jealousy that you can't afford to or don't want to WASTE as much money as someone else. Sure, you can say that something isn't a good value for the price, but don't try to put yourself in the same category as those folks who don't have enough money for necessities, or for any sort of amusement at all. To them, your complaints about the prices of little toy tanks sound no different than someone crying that the price of caviar has gone up or that a 5 carat gemstone diamond is a affordable at $200,000 but greedily overpriced at $300,000. Get some perspective. KL
JAN 10, 2017 - 05:48 AM
KurtLaughlin
The fascine is not essential at all. In fact, the vast majority of the tank's life in service and in action was spent without a fascine mounted. KL
JAN 10, 2017 - 05:55 AM
Vicious
Lucky you if you have the luxury of being able to pay these prices and not complain! [/quote] The ENTIRE hobby is just trafficking in luxury goods. Not a single item we play with is a necessity. No one needs ANY of this [auto-censored]. We have each, individually, chosen scale modeling as a HOBBY. In other words, the money we spend on modeling is money that we have determined can be wasted, spent on nothing more than our personal amusement. It is ridiculous and utterly selfish for ANYONE to complain about prices in the hobby. It just comes across as an expression of green jealousy that you can't afford to or don't want to WASTE as much money as someone else. Sure, you can say that something isn't a good value for the price, but don't try to put yourself in the same category as those folks who don't have enough money for necessities, or for any sort of amusement at all. To them, your complaints about the prices of little toy tanks sound no different than someone crying that the price of caviar has gone up or that a 5 carat gemstone diamond is a affordable at $200,000 but greedily overpriced at $300,000. Get some perspective. KL [/quote] Hobby is necessary?...no but not becose is not necessary you can't argue about prices if you think like that or you have a lots of money to waste or [autocensore] ...you buy a TV,holyday or a bike at any price?...basically if not strectly necessary you don care about the prices...BS!...you never complained about a rebox over priced?...or the prices of LHB?...
JAN 10, 2017 - 06:59 AM
KurtLaughlin
Arguing about value is fine, but that's not the same as cost. A $5 item could be a horrible value while a $100 kit may be a great deal. Just squawking about how everything costs too much is stupid. KL
JAN 10, 2017 - 11:31 AM
Vicious
Sorry but who decides for me if the cost is equivalent to the value or otherwise of a kit or whatever it is? .... Me, my self and I or Mr. KT decides for me whether or not to give value to an object and as a result if the cost worth my "squawking" or not .... Mah...nice piece of resin but for me the price is to much for what do you get
JAN 10, 2017 - 01:12 PM
Go to Forum Topic
   
ADVERTISEMENT


Photos
Click image to enlarge
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
  • move
ADVERTISEMENT