Fallout Hobbies Custom Decals

After participating in their Kickstarter campaign I have finally received my order from Fallout Hobbies. I have to say it has been well worth the wait and Ron was great to work with. Not only was he able to produce some amazing custom decals, he made sure to keep his Kickstarter backers well aware of the overall progress of the project and touched base with me to let me know when he planned to have my order out the door.

The Shipping

I had ordered a custom set of decals and their standard Military Airbrush Stencil 2. From the time the Kickstarter closed to the time my package arrived was indeed a while, but one should expect that from a business being built from the ground up and I had no illusions going into it that I would have a speedy turn around. That being said Fallout Hobbies kept us customers well informed throughout the processes. My order arrived today packaged in a durable cardstock envelope and both my stencils and decals were packaged in zipper bags with card stock backers. All of this was consistent with the high level of professionalism I have come to associate with Fallout Hobbies.

The Stencils 

Fallout Hobbies Airbrush Stencils are low-tac self adhering vinyl which are cut to allow use as either positive or negative stencils. Fallout Hobbies offers a variety of pre-designed stencils from simple lettering to complex Chaotic Stars symbols. If they don't have a stencil that fits your needs you can either provide them with a finished graphic to use, or have them design what you need. I will be using these for my vehicle lettering.

Please excuse my cruddy pictures but it is damn near impossible to get a good picture of the semi-gloss of the vinyl.

The Decals

I am currently working on a Gaunt's Ghosts army and really didn't want to go full bore into it until I had some quality decals to bring it all home. When I placed my Kickstarter pledge in mind I was just hoping that I might get something designed that would be decent enough to pass for the classic Tanith skull and daggers. What I received exceeded my expectations.

I had provided Ron an example of the Tanith patch and requested white decals in his Army Standard Spacing. This is a sheet of infantry, vehicle, and larger sizes. I also requested that the infantry decals be no larger than 5mm in diameter to fit the shoulder pads of standard Imperial Guard infantry. Due do to their small size over 200 infantry decals fit on the sheet! As part of the custom order process Fallout Hobbies will send you a proof to approve before they print allowing you the opportunity to ensure that your custom order will be exactly what you want.

The sheet included 4 extra large decals, 5 large decals, 18 vehicle size decals, and 209 infantry decals. Keep in mind that I requested specific sizes which allowed Fallout Hobbies to pack in a lot of decals. They make sure you get your money's worth out of each sheet.

The detail in these decals is amazing. Each one is crisp and clean. The lettering in the banner can be read on all but the infantry size decal, granted a magnifying glass is needed to read the smaller ones, but the detail is there even if you can't see it with your naked eye.

The quality of the decals does not decline as the scale decreases. Each is detailed and read well, despite my poor attempts and photographing them.

So many decals! With two sheets of decals in hand I don't think I'll ever need another Tanith decal but I know I'll be ordering different decals for other armies and projects.

I'm eager to get some more of my infantry assembled so I can start slapping these decals on my ghosts. I'll follow this post up soon with a review and photos of the decals after application. In the mean time I highly encourage you to stop by Fallout Hobbies and see what they have to offer. No doubt they either stock something you need or could make it for you.

WIP - Salamander Scout/Command Vehicle

After building an Imperial Guard Chimera using the Chapter House Studios six wheel kit I had a set of Chimera tracks left over. I used those tracks, a multitude of bits, and styrene stock to create my very own Salamander Scout/Command Vehicle. This will become part of my 8th Pardus Armoured Regiment, the heavy support for my Tanith 1st army. The following are pictures of my current work in progress prior to painting.

All of the weapons, the main gun, hull mounted weapon, pintle mounted weapon and a hunter killer missile (not shown) as well as the dozer blade have been magnetized.

I've always liked the look of a modified exhaust. This one was made from styrene and a Leman Russ exhaust.

Shown above with the autocannon option.

Unboxing - Sabbat Crusade 1st Edition

The Tanith 1st and Only, respectfully referred to as Gaunt's Ghosts, hold a warm place in my heart and a couple of rows on my bookshelf. When I saw that a new collection of Ghost related fiction was coming out in a limited first edition I had to shell out the dough. Considering I'm in the process of assembling a Tanith army I thought it would serve dual purpose as source material and reading entertainment.

Today it arrived and if there is one thing Games Workshop does best it's produce quality publications. I'm the proud owner of three Imperial Armour books and this collection lived up to the level of quality I have come to expect from GW.

My excitement began when I opened the mailbox to see the "Black Library First Editions" box art stairing back at me.

 After opening the box I was greeted with this lovely red tissue wrapped package sealed with a the Tanith emblem.

 I was very careful when removing the sticker. I have plans to scan this and start printing some decals sheets in the very near future.

The book itself is protected by a gorgeous gloss camo book sleeve adorned with the Tanith emblem on the front and spine.

A beautiful battle rages across the front and back covers in a combination of matte and gloss which lends a real depth to the image.

 A murderous vision of Colonel Commissar Ibram Gaunt graces the inside cover page.

The book contains a copious amount of new reading as seen here in the table of contents.

There is some additional artwork including illustrations of Gol Kolea, Tona Criid, and a couple of other characters. Not nearly as much artwork as I was hoping for but that's okay because it leaves tons of room for more stories, time lines, and maps. There is a page marker ribbon incorporated into the book. The inside back cover is a star map of the areas involved in the Sabbat Crusade.

I'm only on the Sabbat Martyr in the Gaunt's Ghosts series so I wont be publishing any reviews any time soon on the story content of this collection. With that in mind I am thoroughly pleased with my purchase. The book is one of uncompromising quality and I'm proud to set it on my shelf alongside the rest of the series. I'm also excited at the prospect of using the illustrations to help me design my Tanith army to be as true to the fluff as possible. I've already started to consider what bits I can use to recreate the banner and ornate pole depicted on the front cover of the book.

For die hard fans of the series this is a must have. Thank you Games Workshop!