Today we will be reviewing the Micro Art Studio's Outpost Processing Plant and Vents which are part of their unique Hard Foam Terrain range. Read on and discover this cool industrial science fiction wargame scenery.
Micro Art Studio is a wargame miniature and scenery company based in Poland, originally founded as a miniature and model hobby collective. Through the years they have grown exponentially currently employing 16 talented hobbyists, sculptors and designers.
They offer an extensive range of resin, hard foam and high density fiberboard scenery sets but also movement trays, miniature bases, markers, tokens, templates, Wolsung, fantasy, science fiction miniatures and other. Micro Art Studio is also an official partner for Corvus Belli's hugely popular Infinity science fiction miniature skirmish game for which they supply high quality terrain and accessories. Another important moment in company's history was when in 2008 Micro Art Studio signed a contract with Colin Smythe Ltd - agent of Sir Terry Pratchett; from that moment company started production of 30mm miniatures of Discworld characters and busts.
Micro Art Studio's Hard Foam Material
Most people will know Micro Art Studio's miniature range from their slick futuristic Corvus Belli wargame scenery line in which they produce terrain for the unique Infinity science fiction universe. They however also make an extensive range of scenery products which aren't bound to an unique setting, making them quite generic and useful for numerous popular science fiction roleplaying and wargaming settings. These scenery sets are produced in several materials ranging from resin and high density fiberboard to their inventive light weight yet durable hard foam material!
As you may have noticed we will taking a closer look at this hard foam material as both the Outpost Processing Plant and Vents are made out of Micro Art Studio's resin foam. Cool but what are the advantages of this unique material for you?
First of all these scenery pieces are very affordable compared to similarly sized resin scenery pieces. If we take the reviewed pieces to illustrate this we see that both the impressive Outpost Processing Plant and Outpost Processing Vents retail for €24.60. If you have ever bought similarly sized resin wargame scenery you will know that these are a bargain!
Next to this these pieces are also very lightweight allowing easy storage and transportation to your favorite gaming venue. Although these scenery pieces are lightweight they are certainly not flimsy as they are more durable than resin scenery. This hard foam scenery doesn't break when it falls, it simply absorbs the impact and you can only witness some minor damage to the surface.
Another advantage is that these scenery pieces are mostly one-piece kits allowing you to take them out of the packaging, clean and paint them straight away! No need to assemble or wash this terrain in warm soapy water, assemble the multiple parts, straighten bend resin parts as you would need to do with most resin terrain kits.
Outpost Processing Plant and Vents
So after checking all the advantages of hard foam terrain, we will now take a closer look at the actual scenery pieces. The impressive Outpost Processing Plant features two large generic silos which can easily be used to represent nuclear missile silos, food and fuel storage facilities, command station or even some kind of power station. The only limitation is your own imagination so you can easily fit these in your science fiction tabletop miniature games. As mentionned this particular set comes in two pieces which are identically except that one of the pieces has a large added structure with entrance gate with tubes and barrels. These modular pieces can be used to recreate one large structure of can be used as two individual pieces on the tabletop.
The Outpost Processing Plant Vents are supplied in pairs and are really massive. These pieces can be combined with the above mentionned Outpost Processing Plant to recreate a large industrial complex which would make a great industrial battlefield or objective in larger wargames.
The overall quality and detail of these scenery pieces is good as you can see in the pictures but as reflected in the very affordable price, some details may be missing due to airbubbles and some of the pieces are slightly dented. The above mentionned issues are however very minor and don't distract from the overall look of the painted structures on the tabletop. Also when the pieces arrived, they were covered in dust from the production process so I would recommend cleaning these with a large brush before starting to paint them. Some of the pieces may also need some cleaning as some production process pieces of flash may still be present but as these pieces are made of easily carvable hard foam you can do this quickly with a sharp hobby knife.
Micro Art Studio Painting Tips - As these pieces are made of hard foam, you can experience possible difficulties with using spray cans in the worst case these can melt the foam. To avoid damage to the detail and surface you can better check if your paint is compatible with the foam by spraying a small part of the bottom side and check the result. Micro Art Studio also heartily recommend that this kind of hard foam scenery absolutely needs a good basecoat.
The conclusion
If you're looking for affordable, durable and lightweight scenery for your science fiction wargames, search no further as Micro Art Studio's hard foam scenery range has everything you need as it features all sorts of cool and unique pieces. These pieces have a good overall quality with nice details and features. Note that some of these details can however be missing due to airbubbles and the unique production process but are in fact negligible on the tabletop. I would heartily recommend you to buy these scenery pieces if you're looking to expand your science fiction scenery collection. Check the Micro Art Studio webstore here and start expanding your scenery collection.
Disclaimer - We received this scenery for free from Micro Art Studio for reviewing purposes. Please note that this doesn't influence our review as we always strive to supply you with our own independent and honest opinion about the wargame products reviewed.
So after checking all the advantages of hard foam terrain, we will now take a closer look at the actual scenery pieces. The impressive Outpost Processing Plant features two large generic silos which can easily be used to represent nuclear missile silos, food and fuel storage facilities, command station or even some kind of power station. The only limitation is your own imagination so you can easily fit these in your science fiction tabletop miniature games. As mentionned this particular set comes in two pieces which are identically except that one of the pieces has a large added structure with entrance gate with tubes and barrels. These modular pieces can be used to recreate one large structure of can be used as two individual pieces on the tabletop.
The Outpost Processing Plant Vents are supplied in pairs and are really massive. These pieces can be combined with the above mentionned Outpost Processing Plant to recreate a large industrial complex which would make a great industrial battlefield or objective in larger wargames.
The overall quality and detail of these scenery pieces is good as you can see in the pictures but as reflected in the very affordable price, some details may be missing due to airbubbles and some of the pieces are slightly dented. The above mentionned issues are however very minor and don't distract from the overall look of the painted structures on the tabletop. Also when the pieces arrived, they were covered in dust from the production process so I would recommend cleaning these with a large brush before starting to paint them. Some of the pieces may also need some cleaning as some production process pieces of flash may still be present but as these pieces are made of easily carvable hard foam you can do this quickly with a sharp hobby knife.
Micro Art Studio Painting Tips - As these pieces are made of hard foam, you can experience possible difficulties with using spray cans in the worst case these can melt the foam. To avoid damage to the detail and surface you can better check if your paint is compatible with the foam by spraying a small part of the bottom side and check the result. Micro Art Studio also heartily recommend that this kind of hard foam scenery absolutely needs a good basecoat.
The conclusion
If you're looking for affordable, durable and lightweight scenery for your science fiction wargames, search no further as Micro Art Studio's hard foam scenery range has everything you need as it features all sorts of cool and unique pieces. These pieces have a good overall quality with nice details and features. Note that some of these details can however be missing due to airbubbles and the unique production process but are in fact negligible on the tabletop. I would heartily recommend you to buy these scenery pieces if you're looking to expand your science fiction scenery collection. Check the Micro Art Studio webstore here and start expanding your scenery collection.
Disclaimer - We received this scenery for free from Micro Art Studio for reviewing purposes. Please note that this doesn't influence our review as we always strive to supply you with our own independent and honest opinion about the wargame products reviewed.
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