104. Bon Anniversaire! Salamanders part 6.

We're back on the 40k train baby!!

I know it's been a while, and I'm sorry.

There was a good stretch where I just lost enthusiasm for the hobby again... couple this with moving all of my hobby to another room (nothing kills a hobby groove like not knowing where anything is anymore), and painting for work and it just dried up.

I've recently been made redundant too (I'll talk more about this on the Science of selling yourself short soon).
As of the 1st of October I'm officially unemployed, so I've had to look for work.

Weirdly though, this kinda kick started my need to hobby again XD


So, let's see what I've been up to eh?

Post hobby move, I decided to get all of my bits out and get to work...
I didn't quite know what I wanted to do though, then I saw this guy, still BNIB sitting on top of the pile, and he just had to have the Salamander treatment.





Nothing drastic, but enough to start.

There is more coming... and soon.
So stay tuned, and refresh your memories by flicking back through the previous posts.

Thanks for checking in, and I'll post again soon!

-DH-

48. Random Update part 10. Going, going, gone! Some Experiences of the Second Hand Mmodel Market.

Hey guys, I know I said there would be another modelling update. I half lied.
My bad.

This update is about buying models on the internet.
Specifically from sources other than shops.

What sources you ask?
Well;

ebay,
Trading groups...

And well, that is about it.

Ebay
Now we all know that ebay is full of bargains and rip off, amazing service and complete bastards.
But despite being the soul destroying auction site of evil i managed to find some great stuff on there recently.
So I thought I'd share (and rub in) some of my loot.

SKULLZ ULTRAMARINE.



This guy I got for £10. Which, is really quite cheap considering how rare he is.
He has a little wear and tear; he's come off his base peg and there is some excess superglue, but nothing that isn't fixable.

GAMES DAY 2006 DWARF DAEMON SLAYER.



This is my bargain find (more so than the Skullz guy). £9.03 plus postage (£2.99).
Sure it isn't in the original packaging, but as I intend to build it I'm not bothered.
Came with an extra Damon head too!
DWARF COMMAND DRAGON SLAYER



The Dragon slayer from the dwarf command box. I probably paid too much for him (he is 1/5th of the £20 box, so say £4? I paid £6), but is is still less than, say, the new GW plastic slayer.  I can that win enough which is win for me. Especially considering....

AVATARS OF WAR DWARF BERSERKER REGIMENT (Well, half of one...).



Yup. Avatars of war do a regiment box for Dwarf Beserkers.. In other words, plastic slayers. With command options.
The box contains enough to make 20 'slayers,' but this was only half a box.
I paid £10.03 and £3 postage.
That's right! £13.03 for ten plastic models, as opposed to GW's £40 for 10 metal models.

Between this and my Dwarf bitz I'm sure I can throw together an interesting unit.
When you add in the Games Day slayer, The Daemon slayer and the Skull Pass plastic slayer, I only need two more for a 15 strong unit.
Which brings me to...

AVATARS OF WAR DWARF BERSERKER.



Make that 1 more.
I really like the Avatars of War Dwarf stuff.
I'll admit I didn't bid for this one, it was a buy it now and BNIB so I paid a little extra for him.
But still, he was only £9.95 including postage, and a much better sculpt than, say, the new GW plastic ones.

1:24 SCALE RED BRICKS

Another buy it now, and no image for this one.
£8.99 for 500 bricks. I don't know if that is a good price, but I love them!
Well, I love the idea of them. I am yet to use them. But I reckon they could be used to make some amazing basses and/or scenery.
Overall I think I did well over the past few months.
(I also bought a couple of GameCube games, which I was grossly over charged for. Swings and Round abouts, eh?).

Moving on...

Trading Groups.
The other source of models is via trading groups, such as those of Dakka, Facebook and so on.
These are often a mixed bag, with peoples issues being immediately obvious to everyone.

I've had a couple of bad scenarios occur (Items not turning up, people committing to buy and then letting you down/not replying to messages)

I'm here to endorse such groups though.

So long as you buy through paypal you are pretty much guaranteed a refund,

And as long as you send items via a reputable courier service (royal mail, for
example), you are covered for almost all losses (at least in monetary terms);
you get your postage cost back, as well as the value of the item sent (proof
required, sorry limited edition models) and the buyer as stated gets their
refund.

He's one of the best;



£20 including postage. Brand new.
I'm not complaining.

I've had some great trades too; I got rid of some OOP scouts in exchange for
the Space Hulk Genestealers. Both parties were happy; not only did we both get
something we want, we also got rid of something we don't want or need any more,
with the postage our only expenditure.
I also traded a Tau Etheral for Griff Oberwald.


Times are getting harder and harder, and hobby activities only ever get more
expensive.

So next time you're thinking of starting/expanding an army, have a look at your collection.
Do you need all the stuff you own?
Why not offload some of those projects that are never going to get done.
Use the money to buy new models, or second hand ones.
You might even find a good swap deal out there.



Got any nightmare stories about ebay/trading groups?
How about success stories?

Let me know in the comments an/or on twitter @DarKHaZZl3
Peace out, and thanks for reading

-DH-