Thursday 21 March 2013

Unboxing Grand Manner

Viktoria with Dave's packet
Actually this story started some weeks or even months ago. When I planned my new gaming table I asked me which terrain pieces to acquire. There are a lot of excellent manufactureers for 28mm terrain, but the awesome stuff Dave Bodley of Grand Manner caught my eye again and again. One of our group fellows has a large collection of Dave's buildings and at Crisis 2012 I was able to satisfy myself of the quality.
Anyway I didn't place an order until February when Grand Manner offer a nice discount which balanced the high shipping cost. So I gathered with Axel and we ordered some painted and unpainted models. Delivery took reasonable four week and yesterday the packet from England arrived. This turned out to be a very entertainng event for Viktoria who was very well practiced since she opened a parcel from Granma and Grandpa earlier this day.





So Viktoria and me opened the box with greatest curiosity and Mrs Monty documented everything after she recovered her self control.

W A R N I N G
Dave's packages are very well packed with insulating material to protect the worthy contents.
I highly recommend, to unbox them either when your wife is away or after you collected the vacuum cleaner to show good will!


Viktoria and me opening Pandora's box of styrofoam snippets.
The result of our work...
Considering that Mrs. Monty had cleaned the living room this very afternoon, Viktoria and me were careful not to scatter the stuff all around. At least as much care as possible for a two-and-a-half-year-old who attaches great importance to tear every snippet at least once before putting it into the garbage bag...

However after digging which would have done honour to any professional archaeologist we discovered the much desired parcels.

With great attention and shaky hands I started to unwrap the bubble sheets. And guess what I found inside:
Another protective layer of bubble sheet...

Once again: The shipping charge might be high, but transport companies got expensive lately and Dave avoids neither efforts nor material to garantuee the undamaged arival of his stuff. Thumbs up mate!
Unwrapping the first piece step by step.
Just before dinner Viktoria and myself had unboxed and unwrapped everything and after she got to bed I took the time to have a closer look at the terrain pieces.
I was far more than satisfied, actually I was steamrolled by the quality of Dave's stuff. Even the "simple" Wargames Standard painting service comes out great. It's absolutely fine for most games and for smaller pieces it's rather affordable since Dave charges the original cost of the model again for painting. For larger buildings that can get quit expensive but anyone must judge himself whether the result is worth the charge. I avoided it this time but seeing Axel's painted things I really got doubtful.

But look yourselves:
Two gun positions usable for many periods.

A corral and to circular huts for Axel's Africa collection.

Finally my first three buildings for my new gaming board: Two houses and a pigsy mainly for Napoleonics.
Last but not least I prepared a close-up view from my Night Watchman's Cottage. As you see the casting quality is excellent. I didn't recognize any clear molding line and there are only a few flashes at out sticking corners. Naturally the whole model shows recess of mould release but I hope to get them cleaned away easily. Then the heavy tast of painting and not disfiguring the house will await me...
Close-up view on the Night Watchman's Cottage.
Conclusion:
Dave's terrain pieces are expensive. Maby some the most expensive on the market but at least the models are worth every penny. I've seen a lot of things that were only slightly cheaper but suffered either from a lack of casting quality or material quality. Both are without fail at all pieces I've seen from Grand Manner until now.
The painting service is very good as well. Wargames Standard is more then good enough for any board I've seen by now and Dave's Collector's Standard is really worth it's name. But nevertheless everyone hast to decide by himself whether he wants to engage this service or wants to spend some ours with painting the things himself. Personally I'm double-minded whether I should'nt spent my time for painting miniatures and let Dave do the terrain paintjob next time...
Unfortunately the shipping flat charge is rather high. Nearly ₤ 30 to Germany is a lot and you even could buy another terrain piece for that. But during the last years the transport companies rose their charges, Dave's packages are bulky and he uses a lot of material to protect the goods. All in all I cannot judge the shipping cost unfair but in the future I'll try to catch Dave at shows to save it.

So I hope you enjoyed this review and got an idea what is behind Grand Manner. At least after my humble first experience. I know that there are other good manufacturers and I really don't want to paly them down. But Dave has the most extensive and best researched range I know and my experience with him was just top-notch.

If you want to see more of his work, then visit the Grand Manner website (here) or have a look at the following AARs on Monty's Caravan:
- 2nd Siege on Kolberg: Part 1 and Part 2

15 comments:

  1. Well, it's good to know they're good products. I might be tempted, when I'll go down the 28mm road

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    Replies
    1. Thanks.
      And very nice blog. Strange that I didn't recognize it earlier...

      Cheers
      Stefan

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  2. You're right this is some high quality stuff. And often it's worth the extra money because quality shows.

    Very sweet pictures of you and your daughter. She obviously loves her Daddy.

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    Replies
    1. And vis versa, Anne!

      But yesterday it was kind of professional synergy. Viktoria loves to unwrap things.
      :-)

      Cheers
      Stefan

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  3. Their stuff is just suppernb... So sorry I missed the discount in Feb.!

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  4. Beautiful buildings, I look forward to seeing how you paint them.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your confidance. Until now terrain painting wasn't my favourite part of wargaming...
      :-|

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  5. You pay for quality and these are Monty!

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  6. They are a quality product, I've got the Saxon fort, which ended up costing me over £300 and that was 10+ years ago. God knows how much it'd cost now. And an added bonus little Viktoria has got a new playbox!!!!

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  7. You are a very lucky man Stefan, they look like tremendous terrain pieces!

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  8. These are beautifully crafted building there

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  9. The grand manner stuff is indeed beautiful... but I always end up telling myself I could scratch build the same sort of thing far cheaper...

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    Replies
    1. My thoughts always end with:
      "Maybe I could scratchbuild that far cheaper... But I will never do it, I know!"
      :-)

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  10. Thanks mats!
    I'm glad that you share my conclusion about Grand Manner.

    Cheers
    Stefan

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  11. They are quality buildings and and I look forward to seeing them painted up.
    Cheers,
    Pat.

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