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Dioramas
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REVIEW
Bastion 35 Braced Bridge
bill_c
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Posted: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 11:08 AM UTC
Bill Cross reviews Bastion 35's Summertree Kneebrace Bridge.



Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
russamotto
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Posted: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 12:01 PM UTC
Very nice review. This is a nice set and looks like it could be used most anywhere. It even looks like it could fit the PTO if the "logs" were dressed up like palm tree trunks.
bill_c
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Posted: Wednesday, February 24, 2010 - 12:13 PM UTC
You should check with Bob Card about that, Russ, he seems to have the PTO pretty well-researched.
Biggles2
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Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010 - 05:41 PM UTC
Hmmm, with this amount of coverage in the review it makes it a cinch to scratch-build your own.
Plasticbattle
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Posted: Friday, February 26, 2010 - 11:17 PM UTC

Quoted Text

Hmmm, with this amount of coverage in the review it makes it a cinch to scratch-build your own.


Don´t know how much these balsa and base wood lengths cost in Canada, but when you buy the various profiles needed here, and cut them to desired lengths, the savings are not really huge.

With a little extra attention to the round logs .... roughen them up a bit and maybe add some paper-maché bark, they could look pretty realistic.
bill_c
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Posted: Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 07:25 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Hmmm, with this amount of coverage in the review it makes it a cinch to scratch-build your own.


I agree with Frank: you won't save much scratch-building your own, but be my guest.

Quoted Text

With a little extra attention to the round logs .... roughen them up a bit and maybe add some paper-maché bark, they could look pretty realistic.


That's a great suggestion, Frank. Thanks.
viper29_ca
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Posted: Saturday, February 27, 2010 - 08:52 AM UTC
Great review!!

I have actually been interested in bringing some of these in to try them in the shop from my Ukrainian supplier. Pictures on their website made them look good, but had never seen a review, or someone that had built one.

Now that I have seen this, I believe I am convinced to at least try them in the shop.

As far as pricing, this particular one would price out to about $24.00 (not bad IMO), and while you probably could buy the pieces you need at Micheals or some other place, I doubt you would get the balsa and dowels much cheaper, and then you still need to cut everything to fit (mind you this gives you the option of building it as big as you want), where as these items have all the parts cut to fit for you, just have to assemble and glue.

Bastion have quite a few interesting sets, there are even buildings and such:


Multispan beam bridge, L Class (for light loads)


Bridge constructed by German field engineers, H Class (for heavy loads)


Russian hut #2



Countryside Well


Countryside latrine


Countryside barn


Windmill #1



Just to name a few.

Thanks for the review, helped me make up my mind on these. Look for them at Elm City Hobbies in the future!
bill_c
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Posted: Sunday, February 28, 2010 - 07:29 AM UTC
You're welcome, Scott. The nice thing about the sets is you can modify them along the way, allowing for wartime damage or other effects. While it certainly isn't rocket science to build one of these, the question I always ask myself is: am I modeling AFVs or doing everything myself? I could make my own trees, but I find I'm more interested in using good ready-mades.

To each his own, though! Please give Oleg at Bastion my best, and let him know this review persuaded you to import these. It's always a crap shoot for niche manufacturers sending out review samples to us, not knowing if it will do any good.
pseudorealityx
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Posted: Sunday, February 28, 2010 - 08:04 AM UTC

Quoted Text

To each his own, though! Please give Oleg at Bastion my best, and let him know this review persuaded you to import these. It's always a crap shoot for niche manufacturers sending out review samples to us, not knowing if it will do any good.



The reviews, in my opinion, are great. In this instance, this is a company that I would never find in any local shop, and even would likely not have found just searching around the internet. With a review, not only do I see the product up close, and get an opinion of how it went together, I can then (and did) go back to the manufacturer's website to see the rest of their product lineup.

If all I could get was what was at my local shop, I'd have only Tamiya and Dragon kits, and only groundwork from the model railroad folks, which at least in my case, isn't too great looking.
bill_c
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Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 - 03:38 AM UTC
Thanks, Jesse. Some manufacturers remain skeptical about the power of the Internet. I should have Jim Starkweather, the boss, frame this email or send it to the companies who think print publications are the only things that matter.
jimbrae
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Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 - 04:06 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Some manufacturers remain skeptical about the power of the Internet. I should have Jim Starkweather , the boss, frame this email or send it to the companies who think print publications are the only things that matter.



Quite a few actually.
bill_c
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Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 - 04:19 AM UTC

Quoted Text

Quite a few actually.


That's hard to understand, given the explosion of Internet selling & marketing. I'm really shocked at the companies who still stick to print pubs as if they were gods. I'm in marketing, and the print brands (newspapers, magazines) have fallen on VERY hard times, while Internet selling and marketing is waaaay up.

Besides, the number of small manufacturers who've seen their review kits produce sales proves it work. When I reviewed the Wiener Modelbau Manufactur's SdAh.57 trailer, for example, the owner told me he got several orders right away.

To Jesse's point, there is sooooo much coming out right now, it would be impossible for a LHS to carry it all (I know, we can dream about a Home Depot or Lowe's for modeling). Even the large Internet retailers can't carry it all. The "News" section is a daily read for me, both here and on Aeroscale.
jimbrae
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Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 - 04:32 AM UTC

Quoted Text

That's hard to understand, given the explosion of Internet selling & marketing. I'm really shocked at the companies who still stick to print pubs as if they were gods. I'm in marketing, and the print brands (newspapers, magazines) have fallen on VERY hard times, while Internet selling and marketing is waaaay up.

Besides, the number of small manufacturers who've seen their review kits produce sales proves it work.



Perhaps it's a generational thing? Some of the manufacturers (two of the 'biggest' and longest established ones) make a token effort at being 'Net savvy (in reality it's minimal). they still spend a LOT of money advertising in the magazines.

Also, there are advertisers out there who use their budget unwisely by buying space on Sites which have little traffic.

There's also a mentality which goes for a 'National' rather than 'Global' marketplaces.
TacFireGuru
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Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 - 05:05 AM UTC
e-Business (EBUS) 101 guys....some get it, some don't. Those that do will have happy days.

I like Bastion's bridges; the look, pre-cuts, et al. Their "logs" will need the modeler to pull out the rough sand paper to make them not look like dowels, but we all "tweek" things, don't we?

Regarding the FIRST picture; Bill, what do the surface planks scale out to? Mark-1 (uncalibrated) eye-ball pegs them as rather "thick." Thoughts?

MIke
bill_c
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Posted: Monday, March 01, 2010 - 07:52 AM UTC

Quoted Text

What do the surface planks scale out to? Mark-1 (uncalibrated) eye-ball pegs them as rather "thick." Thoughts?


Mike, they're 5mm wide, so I'd guess 1-1.5mm thick. Given that armor is going to cross over them, they don't seem out-of-scale, though definitely for building a house.

The rough sandpaper sounds good.
bill_c
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Posted: Tuesday, March 02, 2010 - 04:31 AM UTC
I was watching a film on Tiger tanks last night on a DVD that showed footage of the invastion of the Soviet Union, and there was the Bastion 35 windmill in the distance!

Ibuild148
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Posted: Monday, August 30, 2010 - 03:09 PM UTC
Scott,

Can you tell me the dimensions and what assembly is required for the German field engineers, H Class Bridge?
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