In Focus Review - Quantum Gothic Part III

August 26th, 2010
In Focus Review - Quantum Gothic Round III

Today we'll be taking a look at the latest resin scenery models from Quantum Gothic, plus a few of the older kits that we didn't cover yet as well. It's clear that this guy never sleeps, because just as soon as I get done covering the last release, along comes an announcement for new models. I guess I can't complain about that, because after all, this is good news for everyone.

Sentry Flamer, Gun, Laser Kits

First up are the new Sentry Guns. These comes as three pieces. There's not much to comment on in terms of clean up and assembly, because these are just as clean as the Quantum Gothic models that I've reviewed in the past. With no mold lines, and no flash, these were ready to go right out of the package. All I had to do was glue the weapon to the turret, and place the turret on the base. I could have glued the turret to the base, but decided not to. It makes storing them easier, and I like the ability to turn them freely 360-degrees.

In all there's three different Sentry Guns to choose from. The turret and base are all the same, the only thing that changes is the weapon. There's a Sentry Flamer, Sentry Laser and Sentry Gun (heavy machine gun). These come as single models, or in sets of two of the same. They also recently started selling these as bitz too, so if you wanted you could purchase the turret body, turret base, and the three weapons separately all as bitz to use in other modding projects.

They fit in perfectly with the rest of the existing Quantum Gothic line, and would clearly look right at home in a game of Warhammer 40k, Infinity, AE Bounty, and most any other Sci-Fi skirmish game out there. These are roughly 5.95 GBP each, and 10.95 GBP for 2 of the same, which is roughly $9 USD each, and $17 USD for two of the same.

Quantum Cannon Kit

Next up is the Quantum Cannon Kit. This is an 11 piece kit, and it's nice that all of the parts were quite clean and ready to go for assembly right out of the package. This kit shares the base it uses with the Catalyst/Missile Launcher, and Communication Dish kits. Assembly didn't take long at all, because of my familiarity with assembling those other kits. All of the pieces fit together snug, the barrel can raise and lower if you assemble it right, and by design it also rotates 360-degrees.

It's hard to have the Catalyst and Comm Dish and not this piece, because it simply completes the collection. It's a really amazing model sculpt-wise, as there's so much detail to enjoy. While it's amazingly detailed, it isn't a super complicated model to paint either. Cost-wise this is right up there with the other larger QC models, as it sells for 16 GBP/$24 USD.

Communication Array Kit

This is one of the older models, and it's an 10-piece kit. Clean up again was minimal. I found a very faint mold line, which took 3 seconds to eliminate. Assembly was also smooth sailing, except there's two small pieces with pipes running from them called Left and Right Rod. These two parts simply didn't fit like they should, and I had to do some filing and cutting to get them to go into place properly. They're also so small and so thin, that it really took being careful to not break them during the process.

Having said that, the rest of the assembly was a cakewalk. You also have the option of using it as a shorter Comm Array, by simply not gluing the dish assembly to the pole, and not gluing the other end of the pole to the base. You can simply take the pole out of the equation, and set the dish assembly right on top of the base. So there's some variation possibility if you choose not to glue everything together.

This kit sells for 14.95 GBP/$23 USD, and considering the size of it, that's quite a reasonable price point. It's also a really nice looking model. This is definitely right up there with the Catalyst/Cannon/Comm Dish kits in the looks department.

Armored Watch Tower Kit

This is also one of the older models, and is a 14-piece kit. All of the parts were pretty clean, as expected, and they all fit together quite well. Although after primer and paint, it will take some slight filing to get the tower to set on top of the shaft. The roof of the little crows-nest comes off, and they claim you can fit most single 28mm scale models inside as a sentry, which is a nice touch. I was able to fit a 30mm MERC Sniper into the tower with the roof on, so height is the only limitation, not necessarily scale.

The entire model sits upon a 60mm round base, which can be done up scenic-like to match any terrain tables you may use. However, the main model can be set free from the base, and used in conjunction with the Armored Walls set. By design this tower can butt up against the Armored Wall pieces, seamlessly integrating it into a single flowing fortified wall section. So there's some interchangeability to be taken advantage of.

My only gripe really isn't a gripe, but an observation more than anything. While I'd rather not glue some pieces in place to make storage easier, with this kit you might want to glue the crows-nest shaft to the longer base of the shaft, because without gluing it ends up a little wobbly.

This kit sells for 18 GBP/$27 USD, and considering this stands about 180mm tall once assembled, and how well it integrates with the existing models form the line, that's not a bad price. It's still a bit much, but if you have the other models from Quantum Gothic it's worth having.

Quantum Forcefield Pylons Set

Lastly we come to the Quantum Forcefield Pylons Set. This is a whopping 68-piece set, and it includes 4 pylons. What makes this kit so many pieces is the tiny little nut-like parts that you have to glue onto each of the 4 pylons. There's a dozen of these nuts to glue on to each pylon (six per side). Normally the Quantum Gothic models have been quite flash and mold line free, and for the most part this set is too, but the problem is each of these tiny tiny nuts require cutting the flash away from.

That's 48 tiny little nuts to trim flash from. I hated assembling this kit, because of those annoying little nuts. It took me almost an hour to sit there trimming flash from those 48 tiny little parts. It took me another 30 minutes or more to glue each and every little nut onto the pylons. There's a base that the pylons each sit upon, and I'd suggest not gluing these in place. If you don't you can use the pylons with the Armored Walls set. The pylons are by design made to butt up against the wall sections, allowing you to integrate the pylons into a single flowing fortified section of wall just like the tower kit.

This set sells for 18 GBP/$27 USD. These are really nice looking resin pylons, and they're quite tall, but if you didn't have the other Quantum Gothic models already, it becomes harder to justify paying that much for this set.

Conclusion

There's definitely a difference between the new and old sets. The old sets are quite nice, and they all fit in perfectly with the rest of the line, but the models keep clearly getting better and better as they move ahead. This is a good thing, because I can't wait to see what Quantum Gothic comes up with next.

Some of the kits can be a bit pricey, but for the most part each kit includes very clean ready to assemble resin parts, no bubbles, usually only faint mold lines, if any, and very minimal flash. Quantum Gothic has a very high standard for quality control when it comes to their model parts. This is something Quantum Gothic takes pride in, because they throw away resin parts that other companies would simply throw in a box and mail to you as part of a kit.

Many of the photos throughout this review show all of the models currently available, mixed in and on display with the models from this review. As you can see, when all together on the same table, this stuff is a sight to behold. The level of detail of the Quantum Gothic stuff is unmatched by most of the other sci-fi resin scenery models out there. My only complaint is that some of the older models are a little pricey, and the pylons kit took forever to clean up and assemble due to those tiny little parts.

The new kits are truly marvelous. Those Sentry models are fantastic, and the Cannon is quite impressive. Almost any of these would make fantastic objectives in most any sci-fi skirmish game. I can imagine a mission objective where you must infiltrate the enemy base, to blow up the Sentry Guns, or to set charges on the Cannon or Comm Dish.

When it comes to sci-fi skirmish games the possibilities are endless with this stuff. I truly can't think of better looking scenery models to use for Warhammer 40k, Infinity, AE Bounty, MERCS, Eden, Mutants and Death Ray Guns, and even Mongoose Publishing's upcoming Judge Dredd Miniatures Game could make use of these models.

I know it's a bit late in the month to mention this, but Quantum Gothic is offering FREE shipping for the entire month of August as well. So you have a few days left to pick up any of the models they have to offer with FREE shipping.

Quantum Gothic

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