As some of you might know, I am currently working on a table for INFINTY ( you can see the ongoing process HERE ), but instead of showing the steamy jungles of Paradiso or a mysteriosly calm neighbourhood in District 5, I want to create a complete indoor table.
To me, INFINITY is not only about running "around" buildings and terrain pieces, but also moving "through" them. And I know that I am not alone. When you look around the forums, you will find tons and tons of crazy and awesome people doing the most extraordinary work when it comes to design the inside of buildings. Some people go as far as curtains or sinks or even toiletpaper-holder.
Well, we all might agree, that a whole table full of such details would look fantastic, but also would take years to build. Luckily I am not planning on doing a 48"x48" washroom, but a scientific laboratory with all kinds of wierd tanks and machines and stuff.
Luckily our friends over at Laughing Jack have just released a couple of interiorsets.
Which I have lying here for a decent review.
So, let's start:
1. Service
As mentionedin the other review, the guys 'n gals there are fun. But fun can stop when it comes down to buisness. But not with this company. The communication is seamless (thanks to FB), I instantly got noticed of my delivery status and when some troubles with the logistic company (I am looking at you, DHL!) came up, someone at LL took care of it immediately. 2 Days later I got the parcel. This is almost as walking into a store and buying there... |
| Look at all the goodness! |
Conclusion
It is still a bit confusing that the website (http://laughingjack.de/) doesn't link to the webstore (https://laughingjack.inventorum.com/), so you best bet is to visit their FB-Page. But their dedication makes up for the lack of a decent programmer, for example you will find a translation from german to english for the order process on their FB-Page etc.For so much efford:
2. Assembly
This has been a big thing in the previous review. This time I had no assembly aid (but that was due to my pre-release ordering... or I would have had to wait for my order to be send). And you know what? I didn't need any!Since all these pieces have quite a logic order of how they go together, all you need is a little experience in building models and there you go.
A few remarks I have to make nontheless.
The coloured acrylic parts are a ture eyecatcher with these kits. But when you assemble them, make sure you remove the foil of their back!
When you assemble the consoles and screens, keep in mind not to glue everything...
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| I am talking about the very left and the very right. |
It is a bit trickery with these guys...
Conclusion
What can I say. Again, no sanding, a little preassure and all goes out the frame quite easily. A few drops of wood glue is all you need.3. Design
This is really a tough one. First of all, let's have a look at the three different sets:1. The Interior Storage
Contains: 9x shelves | 2x shelves small | 2x date-terminal (a) | 2x data-terminal (b) | 1x logistic-manager-table | 2x armchairs | 2x planetary-logistic-screens | 18x small crates/boxes
And here are my pictures to give you an idea of size and measures:
Interiorset Sickbay
Contains: 2x sickbay-beds | 2x sickbay-scanner-beds | 2x big scanner-screens | 2x dataterminals | 1x doctors-table | 5x armchairs | 1x side table | 3x shelves | Scale: 28-30mm | Kit comes unassembled and unpainted!
And my shots:
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| The medical screen is the right one... |
And finally the
Interiorset Living
Contains: 3x alcove-beds 4x armchairs 2x sofas 3x shelves 2x data-terminas 1x shower
Now you have seen what I will be talking about, let's jump in.
First of, what I already liked and now really love are the computer terminals. The acrylic screens might be colorwise not everybodys cup of tea, but they add a colorfull, yet not outstanding eyecatcher. If you want to get enough of them to fill a table at other companies you would pretty soon be pretty poor. Here the combination of engraved keyboards plus the acryl-screens are the perfect near-future techno mix that makes both a beliveable option: a haptic and a pseudo-haptic interface.
The other designs (racks, beds, boxes) are simple and not over crowded with details. But this is for two reasons a good point. Firstly, as I learned, is Laser-time pure money. So, the more details have to be lasered, the more the price rises (but I will discuss pricing later). The second thing is, that it leaves enough room for your own designs.
Let's take the chair as an example. Straight from the box, a lick of white paint and you have a seat that would find in the waiting room at a doctors office. Give it a pink or red color and it could be a plastic chair in a retro-bar. Or you could go as far as making cushions for it with a little tissue-paper or Grennstuff and you have a comfy chair for a living room.
The sickbay set is something special on its own. Firstly, the scanner-beds are an awesome use of the material. The circles look pretty fragile, but they are not :D While stuff like the racks might be rather easy to reproduce with a pieces of wood or plastic, these scanner-beds would be a real pain to make from other materials on your own. This way, you get a quick assembled awesome looking, really cineastic terrain piece (I always see Ripley lying there, seen the queen in her chest. Or think about Prometheus...).
Another piece like that is the shower.
As simple as the design is, it is so story telling and awakes so many associations.. think of all the horror movies that have a shower in them.
And let's be honest, who hasn't wished for a long time to see his favourite Infinity character in the shower?
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| Hey you! Get out! You're clean enough! It is my turn already! |
The sizes!
As you can see on the pictures, I have put all the interior into MAS buildings. I did that, because I just have MAS-Buildings, so this counts only for them, since I don't have the measurements on the other buildings.
As you can see, the racks and the Shower are about 3-4mm to high for the roof/lid to close properly. I guess it would be rather easy to change that in the production process, but if you have to shorten everything by hand... puh...
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| Sadly the lid on MAS buildings fits right in the little slot left of the shelve. |
The size thing comes into matter on the large Terminal as well. My Wildcats felt set back to their childhood, when they couldn't reach for the candy on the table, when I set them right next to that terminal.
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| eh... eh... maybe if I jump? |
Conclusion
Design wise, all of the pieces are wonderful. I count me big fan. They are generic enough in their design to fit in a aleph-hightech city tower or a ariadna barrack in the deepest jungle. Yet they are distinctive enough to fit perfectly into any scifi setting you can imagine. As said in the previous review, the "leftovers" you have after the assembly are prefect to be filled in the shelves, so you don't have to worry about that as well.
If it wasn't for the heights of the shelves, the shower and larger terminal, this would be a A+, this way it is "only"
4. Prices
Well, this the section that normally is the hardest. We all can probably agree on the fact, that Tabletop is not the most expensive, yet not the cheapest hobby you can have. And price discussions have the power to tear down whole communities.But in this chase it is pretty simple. There is nothing to argue about the prices.
They are, please excuse me, FUCKING AWESOME!
For the price of a single miniature you can turn a generic building into a real habitation block, a doctors office or a storage building (in all its possibilities, be it weapon shop or air-car supplies) and you don't pack everything into one building, you can even fill more. I have 5 sets by now and I feel like I could equip whole cities with interior and that for the price of a TAG.
General Conclusion
As you might have expected by now, I am a big fan of these interior sets. Of cause, they were released in the right situation for me. But I always have felt, that my buildings were quite empty and felt "dead" as if no one would actually live there. I have been tempted by recent kickstarter-actions of several companies, but the pricing had always been a big thing that has kept me from committing money to a thing that gives me the product in half a year. Therefore this a fantastic, cheap and good looking alternative and it gets the house full. But it still leaves the room to make terrain that can actually be played in.Therefore I say, applause, Laughing Jack, this is something to be proud of. And everybody else, GO THROW YOUR MONEY AT THEM! (so they can keep up making to awesome stuff).
Two things, that could be better: 1. Online presence (I know, you are working hard on that!) 2. Sizes ;) (I know, it is said to be not everything...)
therefore, well deserved:
Second Thoughts
Well... it has been quite busy, so here a belated up date.
First off, if they didn't have 10Ts in customer service, they would now. The day after I posted this review, I was contacted by the friendly Gentlemen from LL. The told me, my criticism was not just taken into consideration, but the product was changed that very minute. This is, what I love so much about this small community around Infinity: Fast, uncomplicated and personal interaction between customer and producer. What do you want more?
The second thing, my major criticism, the size of various things, are changed, as LL has already stated on their official page. That means, that not just the shelves have been shortened by 3mm, no, it also means, that the acrylic parts for the large Screens had to be downsized, something a bit more complicated.
The speed in which this all happend still astonishes me and brings me to a new verdict.
Laughing Jacks Interiorsets get a straight
Guys, I hope you know that you have set really high standards for you to up hold :P
Love it. Was just saying the other day 'why aren't there more companies that offer decent sets of interior decoration to flesh out buildings with' and now here's a great option.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review and pics! Looking forward to seeing some pics of them painted and in use during games. ;)