We have just received some new pieces of scenery from S&S Models, and it is with great pleasure that we have prepared and painted them up to give you a full review.

The 2 pieces arrived on our doorstep are in resin and extend the offer of 20mm WW2 and modern models available from S&S.

First of all, allow me to deviate on some ramblings about resin, feel free to skip this next paragraph as it might be boring for some….

This is a fantastic material as it allows the sculptor to sculpt in 1:1 (one to one = same size as it will be when reproduced in quantity), and the turnaround time to get the casting back only involves a simple 2 stage process of encasing the original in a plastic container and filling this container with (usually) a silicon based compound. Then, when the silicon is dry, it is easy to cut out the original and fill the newly made mould with resin. Once this is done, a vacuum chamber is needed to remove any air bubbles that have formed inside the mould as when the resin is poured in, there is no place for the air to escape. However no matter how powerful the vacuum chamber is, there are always some air bubbles that stay trapped in the mould. This results in a model not forming completely well.

I am giving you this information to contextualize the first impression of the 2 newly arrived pieces.

As you can see from the photos, the initial look of the models sees them having several air bubbles and some resin residue. This as I mentioned above is inevitable, and as a comparison I do not think that these models are worst than many other resin pieces, but I must also say that I have seen better.

All of this, however is absolutely NOT a problem, even for a less experienced modeler, as the residue is easily taken off with a knife and the air bubbles are filled in with milliput, greenstuff or any other similar putty. As the air bubbles on the pieces are very small, no sculpting skill is really needed.

There is also a slightly beveled edge on the bottom of the pieces. You do not really need to do anything about this, but I like to sand it gently down, by using a sheet of sand paper and a drop of water and gently sanding the piece with a circular motion. This makes the contact point on the table top flusher.

2^nd (and last) rambling, this time on scenery in general: scenery is great, and it can really help you to immerse yourself in the worlds you are recreating in miniature. There is nothing more spectacular than a beautiful, big, well modeled and well painted gaming table. However, in my opinion, scenery is something for your beloved soldiers to hide behind, move on top or around and will never have the same emotional attachment that the soldiers have. After all, when wargames are played, it is the models that bring life and character to the game by performing heroic actions, or dying stupidly from an unlucky single random hit, or holding on against overwhelming odds, not the (beautifully modeled and painted) hut they hide behind. So, even if I do think that scenery IS essential and that it adds enormously to the wargaming experience, I do not really mind if the odd air bubble stays or if the piece has a slight mismould in the odd place. Therefore, if I was preparing them only for my table, I would have only performed some simple cleaning on the pieces as they were to my qualitative satisfaction for a terrain piece as they were. But to give a proper review I have decided to give them the full treatment.

After the initial clean, and greestuff bubble filling, I have sprayed the pieces black.

Painting them was enjoyable and did not take a lot of time at all. For the reasons stated above I tend not to dedicate too much time on terrain, so washes and drybrush achieved the right look for me.

Whilst painting the piece with only crates, I was thinking of its great versatility: It would not look out of place in a great array of setting, from fantasy to Napoleonic, from medieval to any of the world wars and from modern to futuristic. This is one piece, that if painted with generic colours, could be used again and again with most collections.

On the other hand the tires on the second piece add a lot of character, and it can still be used in any setting from WWI onwards. Because of this I have decided to give the crates a more militaristic feel by painting a couple in military green. And I have painted the tires to look old and rusty, but they would look also very good as shiny and new.

The verdict: I like these pieces a lot, they convey the right feel and look and are extremely versatile. I cannot give them top marks as they did have several (even if quite small) air bubbles, but at the price they are probably going to be of £5 or less (each), I absolutely recommend them. Even more so if they are going to come in a pack of 6 together with oil drums and more tires for a multibuy price.

To find out more or to buy them, go directly to the S&S Models website: http://www.sandsmodels.com/