DLD vs. GZG

Chen-Song asked about DLD figs. 

I'm the proud owner of 4 25mm Kamodos, 1 
HFS, 1 TOC, and 2 Civet grav tanks. These are 
equivalent in casting quality to the best 
armourcast has produced (IMO) and David 
even does some pre-clean up so I needed to 
do zip nada zilch when they arrived. There are, 
however, lots of bits. Lots and lots. These are 
actually resin MODEL-kits rather than just three 
or four bits to be glued together. I forget parts 
counts, but numbers like 60/80/100 might not 
be far off in some instances. Of course, as a 
result, the detail level is pretty amazing. 

OTOH, GZG vehicles (just bought a bunch more 
of these) tend to come in 2-8 bits, be easily 
assembled, and have a lower (but still decent in 
most cases) casting quality. 

I found the only GZG model I've ever had real 
casting issues with was the dropship (the big 
one just recently re-released). Lots of little 
protrusions to clean up and signs of air 
bubbling across a lot of the hull plating. And a 
lot of filing and pinning at the joints. Most 
others, the only thing I've needed to do is put a 
turret-rotator pin in. 

The only other resins I've bought that I had 
trouble with were from Eureka and these were 
the Cockroach tank and APC. The problem with 
these is that (in the case of the grav tank) it is 
an oval shape. With under-pour or over-pour 
on either mould half (it is bisected at the waist 
along a horizontal plane), the ovals don't match 
up right and you have a lot of puttying or filing 
to do. In the case of the APC, the sides slope, 
and with underpour or over-pour, the sloping 
part on the lower hull doesn't meet very well 
with the sloping part on the upper hull. They are 
very very cool looking kits, but take a fair bit of 
patience and work with putty, dremel, etc. to 
get together with the quality I demand. 

Now, cost-wise, DLD kits aren't cheap (neither 
are GZG, but I think David's are more expensive 
yet). But the Civet and the Kamodo are 
excellent kits (in both 15 and 25mm) and you 
get what you pay for. I wouldn't buy the little 
ARV because 1 rifleman could easily mission-kill 
the vehicle (unprotected crew), but the other 
products are realistic and very well designed. 

Tomb. 
---------------------------------------------
Thomas Barclay
Co-Creator of http://www.stargrunt.ca 
Stargrunt II and Dirtside II game site

Corruptisima republica plurimae leges. 
[The more corrupt a republic, the more laws.]
-- Tacitus