Micro Art Studio: Hard Foam Outpost Warehouse and Resin Outpost Ruins Reviewed!

Today we will be reviewing the Micro Art Studio's impressing Hard Foam Outpost Warehouse and Resin Outpost Ruins! 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 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.

The Outpost Warehouse

Unlike most other hard foam scenery pieces sold by Micro Art Studio, the massive Outpost Warehouse comes in three large hard foam pieces and lasercut wooden connecting parts. The sample that I received was already constructed but if you would buy this model it would be supplied as a kit. The hard foam material from which this impressing piece is made is certainly worth explaining.

The massive Outpost Warehouse is made out of this Micro Art Studio's polyurethane foam. The first big advantage is the possibility to produce large structures such as the Outpost Warehouse at very affordable prices, similar structures in resin would be very expensive as you can probably guess if you ever bought large resin scenery pieces before. 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! In my opinion this material only offers advantages.

As mentionned before my kit was supplied assembled and on opening the box I was very impressed by the sheer size of the structure. This building is just massive, almost filling a table on its own as a cool objective or to simple enhance the look of your science fiction battlefield. During the Kickstarter and retail sales of this building, it will be sold as a kit in three hard foam pieces and several lasercut wooden connection clamps which must be glued between the three hard foam parts. Although I haven't assembled the piece myself, I think I must be quite straight-forward. In the picture below you can see the three hard foam pieces.

The overall quality and detail of this piece 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/ warping and some of the details are slightly dented or damaged. The above mentionned issues are however minor and don't distract from the overall look of the painted structures on the tabletop. Also when the piece arrived, it was covered in dust from the production process so I would recommend cleaning these with a large brush before starting to paint them. In the pictures below, you can see the details of the Outpost Warehouse as it was supplied. As mentionned above some airbubbles and minor damage is present on the structure but when seen from a more acceptable distance and painted it will certainly look more splendid than in close detail and unpainted state.

Micro Art Studio Painting Tips - As this building is 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 Outpost Ruins

The Outpost Ruins are made from high-quality durable resin and are supplied as a kit with a wooden base. For this review I have received the most important part of the kits being the highly-detailled resin science fiction ruins of several destroyed Outpost Barracks without the base plates. The intact Outpost Barracks will also be available although in their light-weight hard foam material. The quality of the casting is very good and I noticed only one airbubble on all of the supplied pieces. As you can see in the following pictures, these pieces are very detailled and also usable as loose scatter terrain.

The ruins are quite generic and consist out of a concrete shell with metal supports, heavily battered by explosive and gunfire. The interior of the ruined barracks have some nice pipe and rubble features. I can easily see these pieces being used in science fiction games such as Warhammer 40K, Infinity and other popular wargames as they don't feature recognisable icons and signs binding them to one setting. These pieces are scaled for heroic sized miniatures but can also be used for smaller miniatures see the 28mm regular sized miniature in the pictures below.

The Conclusion

The Micro Art Studio scenery pieces as shown above are currently being funded through Kickstarter as part of their succesful Tabletop Battlefields Mk.II campaign. Note that the pieces available through Kickstarter are supplied unassembled and in a different set composition although the quality of the pieces will be on par with the onese reviewed if not even better when the production is fully functional. The reviewed Outpost Warehouse is the largest wargame scenery piece I have personally encountered in my years of wargaming and I was pleasantly surprised by the quality and design of this impressive structure. The massive Outpost Warehouse will be sold as a kit and is currently sold for €45 through Kickstarter, the future retail price will be €60. The reviewed Outpost Ruins are probably the more useful pieces for every wargamer who plays science fiction wargames and can also be used on smaller wargame battlefields as either ruined buildings or loose scatter terrain. The set of three Outpost Ruins is available through Kickstarter although the retail price is still being worked upon.

Although I have received these pieces as review samples, I can say that the quality and certainly the bulk of the massive Outpost Warehouse is certainly worth the asking price through Kickstarter. Not sure if I would pay the full retail price but luckily you have the Kickstarter allowing you to grab one cheaper! Both of the pieces that I have received are suitable for numerous settings and are both of excellent quality so should you consider buying some science fiction terrain for your table or your club. I would certainly consider checking out the current Micro Art Studio Kickstarter here and grab some of these new pieces at a very good discount. Thanks for checking out Wargame News and Terrain, the daily wargame news blog.

Micro Art Studio - Tabletop Battlefields Mk.II Kickstarter - Wondering what this campaign is about? It's about Micro Art Studio's great Tabletop Battlefields! Some players lack time to create a nice-looking gaming board. Unfortunately sometimes it ends up with playing on random, clumsy terrain - this is where we step in to change it! We created unique sets by mixing a bit of our current products with some new, superb releases! We give you battlefields of the highest quality, where you will fight the most epic battles! Game-ready tabletop board scenery sets are a totally new idea - containing thematical terrain and a playmat available at a decent price! The scenery is made of special polyurethane foam which is well known for its durability. It is easy to glue with cyanoacrylate adhesive and can be primed & painted with almost any coating. Products we create are up to date with current rules of different wargames, therefore playing on them feels natural and easy-going. We are wargamers ourselves, so don't hesitate and put your trust in us! Check the full Kickstarter here

Disclaimer - We received these pieces 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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