My orders from Sarissa Precision Ltd and TT Combat - a review

A few posts back I said I wanted to use MDF for my TNT board, so I ordered up a few things. Directly from Sarissa Precision Ltd, and the TT Combat stuff through my preferred Ebay.co.uk shop, the Trolltrader.

Both were ordered on the 17th of August, both sending a order confirmation by email. Trolltrader sent me a shipping confirmation the same day, Sarissa sent me one on the 23rd of August. The TT Combat order arrived on the 24th, the Sarissa one yesterday on the 30th. The TT Combat order was sent in one box, which arrived ship shape, the Sarissa one in 2 boxes, one of which arrived banged up on every corner.

I've seen this plenty of times in my previous job when items are packed with room left in the box, so it can bang around and either break free of the box or break itself. There was only some thin loose plastic put on top to fill it visually and that just won't cut it. So the box took the brunt of it. Oddly enough the contents of the smaller box had been taped to the bottom so they would not move around, so they know this can be a problem? There was nothing wrong with the contents though, everything nicely shrinkwrapped and no banged corners.

For this review I will start with the TT Combat stuff first.

I ordered the Bus Stop (5,95 Pounds), Construction Office (3,95 Pounds)  and Subway Entrance (4,95 Pounds). I paid 4,72 Pounds in shipping. Total order cost was 19,57 Pounds.

The Bus Stop

In the pack is a cover sheet with the code, name and finished product, a 2-sided instructions sheet, a thin piece of lasercut cardboard and a lasercut sheet of MDF with 2 acryllic inserts. Both cut sheets seemed to be well laid out, with no waste of space. The bench looks a bit flimsy being just a thin piece of cardboard but it is supported on both end and in the middle, and I like the fact it has been designed to stand up as is, without the need for a base, so it should blend in on your table with no problem at all. The acryllic inserts were a bit of a surprise as I had thought all the glass areas were open. This will make it easier to add posters or graffiti. There seems to be a lt of thought put in this, with a pole with a timetable to a map with the routes. Quite good I say!

The Subway Entrance

 In this pack is a cover sheet with the code, name and finished product, no instruction sheet and 1 medium and 1 small sheet of lasercut MDF. Again the sheet is pretty much full of parts. It looks simple enough to go together without any problems, and should look nice in any 1920's, Modern or Post Apoc table, as either a point of interest, a spawnpoint or a escape route. Happy with this one!

The Construction Office

In this pack is a coversheet with the code, name and finished product, no instruction sheet and 1 medium sized sheet of lasercut MDF. This is a really versatile building, with a door and window on one side, and 2 windows on the other. It is labelled as a Contruction Office, but with some signage on top it could be a check-in counter for my trailerpark, or a booth for some Carnival rides, a Border Guard checkpoint and give me some time and I'll make up some more uses for this. Will fit any Modern table really. The roof, if you don't glue it, should come off nicely so you can stuff inside as well, which is a nice option. The sheck itself is standing on 3 raised legs which might be an issue if you move it around a lot, but adding a form fitting base should negate that problem. Cheapest of the lot, and well worth picking up if you are making an order and have a few spare Pounds in the bank.

Next up, Sarissa Productions Ltd.

I ordered the Retro Americana Bundle #2 (67,50 Pounds for a pack of 6 trailers, this gives you a 7,50 Pounds saving to buying them seperate), the Children's Playground (7,50 Pounds) and the Park Bench Set (5 Pounds). Shipping is a fixed fee of 2,50 Pounds worldwide. The total cost for this order was 82,50 Pounds.

The Retro Americana Bundle #2 (which consists of 6x Residential Trailers)

In this pack is a coversheet that doubles as a instructions sheet printed on the back, 4 sheets of lasercut MDF, 1 sheet of cardboard (well, matboard) and 2 pcs of clear acrylic. The sheets are well layed out, though there are some empty spaces that could have been filled with something like lasercut pink flamingoes, the instructions easy enough and this is actually a pretty big piece of scenery. The trailer alone is 24x8 cm's.
What I don't like is the overly large base, as this kit does not need that (Caveat: I belong to the "School of minimal to no basing"), the trailer can stand on it's own, it just adds weight and will need to be flocked with sand or astroturf to blend in with the table. Sure, you don't pay much for shipping so the extra weight bit is a bit moot, but leave it out and save a bit on costs? The 2 top windws are a nice toutch, the matboard sunshades I have doubts if they will survive frequent handling. Filling in the openings with some left over bits of wood or cardboard will create variation if you build more then one (as in this case, 6). There is plenty of space inside for figures or scenery or objectives. You should have no problem lifting off the roof if you would like to do so.

The Children's Playground

In this pack we have one cover sheet, with the instructions printed on the back, 2 pieces of lasercut MDF and 1 small bit of matboard. As you can see, both MDF sheets have wasted space. Basing wise, I see some odd choices. The roundabout (please correct me if this is not the correct term) has a very large round base. I've never visited any playground which has such a large bit of concrete underneath. We just use astroturf or rubber tiles, so I will not be using that base and just glue it down to a washer that fits nicely underneath the roundabout. It is very well put together though, it looks like a real one (not that you can find these around here anymore, Health and Safety has them replaced with versions with bars all around the outside to prevent kids from being ejected at high speed. Lawsuits, funerals, etc). The See-Saw suffers from Basus Maximus too, again not needed, a small base should support it well enough. The Swing. The one thing that does need a base, lean on this a bit by accident and you'll break a leg easily. A misplaced elbow, dice at speed, plenty of rougness on the table that happens by accident and this just wont cut it. But it has no base.....:(  The tireswing is a nice toutch, but I'll cut the tires in half and glue them underneath either end of the See Saw to cushion the blow. Too many kids front teeth flying without them :). I think the wasted space on the sheet could have been easily filled with one or two Spring Riders (we call em Wip Kip) for a minor, if any, cost increase.

Park Bench Set

I'll be frank (as usual). I don't like it. A coversheet that doubles as instruction sheet, a piece of MDF and a piece of Matboard.. The base is matboard (which you have to blend in with your terrain unless you want to tell everyone it is based on a concrete plinth, or cut it down a lot), in which you insert the 2 nicely ornamental sides, and then you glue the seat and back to that. If you don't want to use the big base you will end up with something that has little lateral stability. As the MDF sheet has a lot of wasted space (again) it would have been nice to have 2 MDF beams added, one on the base, one underneath the seating, for more strength and easy blending with your table as it can be a stand alone piece then. I have no faith in the matboard adding strength as just picking it up made it bend quite a bit. I will be returning this one as I think (well, know) I can buy a better product elsewhere.

There you have it. I'm happy with most of it, some layouts I question and it's been ages since I last returned a product, but I'm really not happy with those Benches (I had hoped they would be able to stand withou the base but it does not seem so).

Leave a reply if you liked the review, or disagree, of generally feel like replying. Final note of the day, all of the items you see in this review have been paid for with my own money, no freebies were asked or given. 

Now to build, basecoat and paint the lot as fast as possible so to finish the TNT demo table.

2 Necromancers enter. Neither leaves....cause they are both dead!

Well, tonights Frostgrave game went pretty disastrous! Erik/Modhail decided to field his Necromancer vs my Necromancer on this table.

From here it just got bad. Really, really bad....

Ok, looks a bit shitty, but we discussed  how the blocks look and making bare plastered walls and blocks 3 inches high should make a pretty quick dungeon...at a later date. This gives plenty line of sight breakers though. Seeing as I have a shooting heavy warband and Erik a CC oriented one, this gave some concern on my part.

No monsters showed up today.....they were probably in the dark corners laughing themselves to death at our petty excuse for spellcasting. I managed to cast 5 spells, Erik 2 or 3. On the other hand my Captain managed to kill his Captain after I had softened him up with an arrow to the knee. At one point my wizard...standing on the ruined tower in plain view of everyone....dumbass....took a arrow to a more vital part of his anatomy and ended up with 1 life left. My apprentice then cast Leap on him and flung him through the blue portal (didn't do anything, was just there to look nice), saving him, only to have my wizard cast a spell in the next turn, failing, and killing himself in the process. <sigh> My Warhound did pretty well, tying up his Wizard in combat, and then managing to cast Bones of the Earth on his Wizard, literally pinning him in place.....only to see the same thing get cast on my Warhound by his Apprentice..... Ah, the smriking faces full of frustration.

It was nice to feel worry free for an evening.

We agreed that this really was our final test game and that the campaign should start in October. Just the 2 of us. First we will play the 3 mutual games to get some level ups, and after that there will be more games untill we tire of it? Or a wizard dies? Who knows.

My current band consists of 1 Wizard, 1 Apprentice, 1 Captain, 2 Archers, 3 Thieves and a Warhound. Sofar, only the Warhound is painted :D (well, I'm using the GW old plastic wolf for it). This gives me a month to paint the remaining members of the warband. Well, really just the Wizard, Captain and a Archer for the first mutual scenario, but better to paint the lot. Nothing that should worry me or cause me to hasten and stress out.

Also, my Sarissa stuff arrived today. I have some minor criticism about that, but more on that at a later date.

I'm flying high.....

Well, sort of.

I'm still waking up full of energy, go to my room, clean, sort and well....be busy. Just finished the gaming table, using that right now as a packing and sorting table for all my stuff that I'm selling right now.

Nothing to see here!

 Also on there are the 5 boxes. Don't have anywhere else to put them untill I sort the cabinets. C'est la vie!

I've been listing stuff like crazy to raise funds for MDF scenery for Necromunda from Wargames Tournaments 30% off sale which runs untill Wednesday. 82.50 euro in 2 days time. Then it hit me what a utter crap idea it is. Will I do anything with it in the next 6 months? Most likely not. So it is a bit pointless, innit? I mean, I still have a stack of Frostgrave stuff to paint and that is a game I'm actually playing! More money in the Paypal bank is never a problem though, so that is ok.

Nice to know my brain still works like it should, if with a bit of a delay. I'm still very nervous, skittish and I'm looking forward to calming down a bit.

Next up is the painting table.

Looks like a lot, but considering I managed to clean the PC table, the floor and the gaming table in under a week I'm confident to engage the enemy and defeat him in battle :). Just draw lines and nibble away at the mess, from right to left :)

I've been outside now a couple of times, once even with the girls and I'm handling it ok-ish. It's very busy in my head, but I'm standing up straight and I'm smiling all the time so that is good. My brain chemistry should normalise in a month or so....or so they say. I'm not looking forward to the downward move, which I know is going to come, but I'm confident that with a clean room and plenty of time at the gym it will be a lot easier to ride out. Sure, there is always the worry the UWV will give bad news, but even if they do, we'll find a way to deal with that.

While cleaning, I found a few sheets of laminated planets and asteroids I had done up a few months ago, and I cut them all out (without casualties!), put them in the BFG drawer and called it a day.

2D planets and asteroids

Right, off to watch Frostgrave Youtube video's :)

3mm ruins - now with block plates

Took a few minutes today to base up what I have already made, using the lasercut Blockbases.

It is nice to see Patrick lasering what I had in my head a few weeks ago. As soon as I feel safe with a blade again (next week? I hope?) I'll cut more buildings and glue them down.

Got an email from Dom at Dom's Decals that he is a bit behind, and my order should ship soon. I just picked some aircraft that I felt like I wanted to paint and went with that (P-47D's, I-16's, Hs-129's and Japanese floatplanes). Was worried not receiving anything almost 2 weeks after making my order, I found that to be unusual. I'm behind on painting airplanes anyway, but yes, life.

Slowly whittling away the stuff on my battletable, put up quite a bit for sale, the rest sorted in the correct boxes and a bit dropped in the bin.

Other then that enjoying my darkend room and trying not to annoy Kim too much. Did install new light fittings in her aquarium, so I did that much. Her fish are all wearing sunglasses now though......

New MDF pieces for TNT have arrived

I had a few distractions today. I woke up fully energized (have not felt that way in months) and after breakfast I just started clearing stuff in my room by myself. Lights low, shutters and door closed. My mother in law passed by to have a chat with Kim and wish me well, and was amazed at the progress I have made this week (and the enormous mountain of stuff on my gaming table). Sticking to the simple rules, drawing lines and finishing those parts, and not fretting when it is not working is making a big difference.....for now. I now have to teach myself to do this every day, and the closer I get to having a clean room, the easier it will be to stick to it. And if I do have an off day, so be it. There is always another, and doing a bit each day is much easier then doing 90 minutes of work in a day.

This must all sound like something completely logical to you, the reader, but to my brain, it is not. Ever since leaving my parents house at 17, I've never had a daily cleaning routine that I could stick to for more then a few days, before drifting back into chaos. I'm not saying it will be different now, or easier, but I'm trying my best. And Kim is backing me up 100%

Well, my morning ended with this:

No more junk under either desk, nor on any part of the floor for that matter. PC desk fully cleaned, the stack of books are books I'm selling off (if anyone wants a cookbook by various British chefs? Mostly Gordon Ramsay in this case). As you can see the painting desk still looks Hiroshima, used as a dumping ground.

Put up a temporary recycling centre for all the plastic, paper and other. Gotta do my part!

Meanwhile, I have 3 problem areas on the list to be cleared. My painting table, the small cabinet on my right with all of the new arrivals and other assorted crap, and the gaming table.

Yes, about that........gaming table :)  But the same principle, Draw a line. Sort, throw away, sell or keep. Clean. Next line.

So....after consulting with Delta Dog he asked me to clean the gaming table first, with the logic that I look at the painting table as the main prize. Fair enough.

I took the rest of the afternoon off as it is 32 degrees here and I'm happy here in my darkend, closed room. Kim left early for a barbie with her sister, one that I declined as I'm lacking people skills now even more then usual :)

But, with progress slow but steady, I was happily surprised to see a package for me on the doormat, with the first 3...well, 2 pieces for the This is not a Test table at Poldercon (the third being more city orientated). UK to me in 1 week, nice :)

The subway sentrance is for later, I'll only need one of the bus stops now but I'll build both at the same time, and the costruction office, which will be the check in booth. I already have some Fallout PC's, I just need to make/buy/beg/borrow a suitable table to go with it. But that can come after it is done and is not perse neccesary for the table either.

I'm not doing anything with these or my 3mm city right now though. I'm really nervous, and my eyes are all over the place (not literally) and it is extremely hard to focus my mind. Since I feel it is not safe for me to drive anywhere I'm just staying put.

Another early night for me. I might draw a line on the gaming table and sort it. Or I may not.

And then we try something new....Part II

Well, it have been some eventful days to say the least.

First up, the PC table is clean (all of it) the floor is clean (all of it) and I will be starting with the rest of the room this week. I've picked up a stack of waste wood from the DIY to build a stand for my monitor in which I can store stuff that belongs to the PC area. I just need to make a  design that works with what I have. So far so good.

Not so good was a angry call from the UWV (the non-government body that handles benefits for the sick) yesterday when I had just loaded the wood in the carrier bags of my bike. The man was upset that I had not called him between 9 and 9:30 as those are his open hours. (I called the day before and this day at 10, and no one at the departmeet bothered to pick up the phone and tell me this). I told him that the letter he sent me mentioned no such thing, only to call a 0900 number.

Anyway, how was my knee feeling? I'm more mobile now but it hurts a lot more cause the UWV doctor has forbidden me from taking painkillers. "So a large improvement then?" That is NOT what I said..... "Well, it sounds like a large improvement so I will note that down." (ehm...hello....wtf?). "Is there anything else we can help you with, a meeting or help trying to find a job?" Yes, there is. The UWV doctor has sent you papers for Werkmans, a group that helps autistic people with high IQ's find fitting jobs. "Well, I can't find those, but why would we help you with that? You are sick because of the accident, not because you are autistic."I'll ask my boss but I don't see why we would have to help with this" <floor falling underneath me> <speechless> "Do you have anything else to report?" Yes, my depression is pretty bad right now, I'm sleeping through most of my days and am only active in the evenings. I'm seeing a Psychiatrist this afternoon. "And how often will that be?" Once a month? "Ok, thank you, I will call again in 1-2 weeks, goodbye".

I'm standing there completely baffled with my phone in my hand for a minute or so. Then get on my bike, and my chain snaps. 27 degrees outside, 30 minute walk to my home with a bike loaded with wood and I have to catch a train to see the Psychiatrist in 60 minutes from now. Fuck :(

I'm not sure how I got home, I'm not even sure how I got to the trainstation, but by the time I got out of the train I was seething inside. Only to find a Fair going on there and the place was packed. And....I....can't....stand....crowds. Or heat. I just barged past everyone (aploagies who I bumped into) and went as fast as my knee would let me, to meet my appointment. Which was at 14:00. At 14:10 someone finally picked me up and I was limping badly all the way as I had really overstressed my knee.

Now in my head I had mixed up what a Psychiatrist does and what a Psychologist does. I've been dying for months to get things off my chest, to just let it go, and I thought it was this meeting. Turns out it was just about my medication.

8 Minutes later I'm out the door, my medication has been stopped effective immediately and come back again in 5 weeks time. If there is any kind of problem call the hospital. No one is available for over a month due to holiday.

I left the ACed building only to be slapped by the hot air and the realisation that this is it. I've been on these meds for over 6 years now, and this was the first time any doctor told me that Risperidon actually makes it easier to get into a depression. This is my third one in 5 years! I went back home, picked up the kids, made them pancakes and my wife took them to my parents for the rest of the week. I just took a sleeping pill and that was that.

It has now been 48hrs without medication. I've stuffed tissue paper in my ears to muffle the sounds, closed the blinds and locked myself into my hobby room to manage the input that is flooding me right now. I'm shaking like a leaf and typing is a bit hard but not impossible. It is something I need to get over I suppose.

I don't think I'll do any hobby stuff today...I'm dying to grab the box of 3mm buildings and build more but in my current state holding a sharp blade might not be the best idea!

Edit: Not too end to depressingly, here's what arrived today for my Frostgave table! That cheered me up! 15 euros plus shipping on Marktplaats. Looks as good as new (had one, got stolen off my table 20 years ago when I was out on my lunchbreak)

And then we try something new....

Recently, I've had some highs and lows. A lot of people have come into my life to help me out with stuff, and I've been doing a lot of talking. A bit of a emotional rollercoaster really. I've also sold a lot of stuff that just didn't do it for me anymore. Changes. Lot's of changes. (and if there is one thing people with Autism don't like it's changes....). Pretty scary for me.

But sometimes, change flows naturally without me kicking and screaming every inch of the way. Lastnight was one of those moments.

I was having a chat with fellow Aspie Delta Dog, about how we deal with basic day to day stuff, how the hobby fits in, etc, and at one moment he showed a pic of his desk. Look orderly enough, so I showed him a pic of mine.

Chaos in all its glory

Yeah.....a tad different, innit? A messy workplace is supposed to show that you are a intelligent person, but I feel I have been overdoing it a bit. Well, a lot really. Thing is, I really dislike clutter (bet that surprises you) and I want a clean, clear desk, with stuff I grab from the cabinet, work and paint it, and then put it back in the box at the end of the day, give the desk a sweep and feel good about it. My Aspie demands me almost to see things in Black and White. It is either perfect, or it is shit. It is either clean, or chaos and disorder (though to be frank, when I look at that desk I know all the projects on it, what state they are in and what plans I have for it. You just see a ton of junk).

A little bit of clutter I can handle, I do the same in the rest of the house all of the time, recycle stuff, wipe the table after dinner, go to the store everyday for groceries (and cause I need the excercise), and everything falls into my routine day to day pattern (another Aspie/Autism thing). My hobby, having no set goal most of the time, is a bit vague to say the least. I don't paint every day, I don't build every day, I have no set pattern and tend to do things/projects on the fly, which is great in a creative manner but hell on the wallet and planning. Keeping my focus on something for days, let alone weeks or months, takes a ton of effort, even if it is really interesting, and some items get put aside for weeks or months (or years) before I can get the interest back into my life.

Delta Dog then decided to tell me his rules, what works for him. It may or may not work for me too, but there is only one way to find out. So here goes (in my own words).

• A way for an Aspie to clean a messy desk/tabletop is to clear one section of it and see how it annoys you to have a clear, clean space in amongst the chaos. In ttheory, it will spread like an oil slick. Why? No clutter I love. A bit of clutter feels like something I can handle and a total mess freezes me up, but the line between little and total chaos is really, really thin. I only look at the bigger picture and what a monumental task it is to get everything cleared and cleaned (which I think normal people have issues with too :D ) cause I simply have no routine in doing it. (recently, Kim put me in charge for cleaning the kitchen and after some hick ups it has become routine and I no longer think about what I need to do, I just clear and wash the dishes, clean the stove and the rest of the kitchen and then I have free time for the rest of the evening, not before. The caveat is that if for some reason I don't go through that routine, the chain can be broken and I have to learn it again, Fortunately though much quicker then before, but still. Sad, but I can't do much about how my brain works.)

So, while chatting to Delta Dog, with a podcast in the background, I drew a imaginary line in between both tables, and drew another one alongside the compressor on the left desk. I cleared everything in that area in about 10 minutes, either by throwing it in the bin, putting it in the right boxes or on the sorting table behind me. Right, could this really be so easy? I drew another imaginary line on the right desk halfway between the edge and my keyboard. And repeated the same thing in another 10 minutes! Yup, it is behaving like an oil slick :)

Now, take a break, take it easy and don't spoil the moment. It is pretty easy for me to go in balls deep with everything I got, but that would be exactly what I should not do! (which I know all too well, when I was still single I had 6 months of clutter stacking up and then 1 or more weekends of frantik clearing, binning and cleaning to get everything perfect again. Well, my kind of perfection anyway.)

Less then half an hour in.

 Well, it was still early, only around 22:00 hours or so (for me that is early) so decided to draw another line right alongside my printer and take it slowly. There was no need to finish it tonight, I should be happy with reaching 2 goals in one night. So I binned more stuff, removed all of the paperwork and updated our mutual online calendar with all of the details from what I could get from the papers. So, time for lesson 2.

How I ended saturday night.

• Lesson 2 is in one way much simpler, but also much harder for me to stick to. You want projects to build and work on? You can have 5. No more. They have to fit inside a shoebox. If your project takes up more space you can put it in 2 boxes, but the grand total must be 5.

Ouch. Yes, I can get rid of projects I'm no longer interested in, but the goal here is to finish one project, empty the box, then put in a new project if you find one.  A project may expand or wane, but it has to fit in the box. Right, I can work with that. It is also based on my own honesty. I and only I can keep a check on things. Fair enough.

So, 5 projects ey? Well, number 1 is simple, the TNT project. But with the recently ordered MDF stuff it will be a 2 box project as I don't see how I can fit everything in that I want to do now. Box 2 will be the 3mm Stalingrad/Berlin project. Box 3 will fit a large collection of 15mm, 20mm and 28mm containers and finally, box 4 is reserved for the various 3mm aircraft that I'm working on or need to paint for me and Modhails bash-up.

1. TNT
2. 3mm Stalingrad
3. Containers
4. 3mm aircraft

I spent part of the Sunday thinking about what I did on Saturday, cleared the rest of the desk right up to the printer, grabbed and labelled the boxes (see above) for my current projects and when it came to the evening decided it was in my best interest to dust off my cleared desk, get some junk off the floor and recycle the waste bin. Not the job that I had in mind, but creating space is creating space :)

And thus my weekend ends, with a 90% clear and clean PC desk, a motivational meme and a solid plan for the rest of the week. I like where this is heading :)