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Paint Forge is a well established hobby-related company from Poland. In the market since 2018 they are best known for their self-adhesive tufts and flowers (see Review). My personal experience with their range goes farther back to a time before I was a full time miniatures painter and the company was more of a local ‘underground’ tuft supplier. More than a decade later I am still using Paint Forge accessories including a fine array of airbrush stencils. Imagine my shock when I was contacted by them with an offer to test some of their latest releases!
A large box of goodies came in a few days later. Although it contained a lot more than tufts, including Resin and Laser Cut Plants, the 2mm Tuft series is what I would like to take on first. That plus a bonus 6mm tufts in a variety of original colors.
Straight out of the box the 2mm Tufts look impressive. The packaging is bleak, but the blisters containing tufts are thick and packed. There’s a recognisable mostly repetitive pattern depending on the type of product. A wide variety of colours too, of which I chose a few to present in the Review. The adhesive is thick and soft resulting in a strong bond – these are not the types of tufts that will fall off in a month. More so, a few decade old tufts I have are still in place and doing fine – a testament to the adhesive force. But there’s more – the soft adhesive allows to tear the larger tufts into smaller pieces, then again it can result in the tiniest tufts getting squished with tweezers. Depending on the size, applying these tufts might require a bit more precision to avoid damaging them, but can result in more control of the final shape. Overall good first impressions.
Paint Forge 2mm Tufts sit at about 5,20€ per pack of anything between 60 (Wild), through 162 and up to ~700 (Micro-Tufts). Here’s the immediate competition:
Gamers Grass – 5,40€ / ~115pcs (2mm tufts, about 25% less total coverage when comparing sheets)
The Army Painter – 7,49€ / 77pcs (6mm tufts, about 25% less total coverage when comparing sheets)
Green Stuff World – 5,80€ 4,93€ / 125pcs (2mm tufts, about 50% less total coverage when comparing sheets)
162 pcs of well formed, round tufts with a thick layer of glue. They come in 12 color variants compatible throughout the entire 2mm range, and are easy to work with.
~700pcs micro-tufts of varying sizes available in 12 color variants. A bit difficult not to ‘squish’ when taking off of the sheet, but there’s a lot of these tiny buggers to compensate.
I’ve counted roughly 60+ pcs of varying sizes and shapes, also available in 12 different colors that are this line’s staple. A thick layer of glue is great as adhesive. Be warned – the longest pieces have a tendency to rollup when taken off of the sheet, thus requiring a bit more care to apply.
140pcs of medium size, available in a variety of uncommon color combinations. Very comfortable to work with, including taking off of the sheet and applying on the bases.
Paint Forge is a solid company with a reasonably priced and wide range of tufts. The expansion of 2mm tufts series is a great step and the products definitely passed the practical test. The type of adhesive might feel like a nuisance, but in the hands of focused hobbyists it can also be a great tool allowing one to ‘bend the tufts to their will’. Most importantly these tufts hold onto the base like none other!
Probably the best would be at the source: Paint Forge Page, or one of the stores that decided to carry this line of products, such as Vanaheim.pl where you can save an additional 3% with a code Scarhand3 at checkout.
I hope you find this review interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
K&K Hobby Accessories is a young, but fast growing company from Poland, that specializes in miniatures basing materials. Formed by flesh and bone miniatures hobbyists that decided to use their combined expertise to create a series of quality products for basing and beyond. As it happened I was given a few products in order to test. Here’s my thoughts…
Stairght out of a batt I was struck by how big the containers are. Sure there’s “300ml” information on the packaging, but online pictures left me under the impression that these are all half the actual size. In fact they’re huge and it definitely impacted how I feel about the product line. Other than that, the packaging is made of medium-hard plastic with a sticker on top of the lid. Looks nice IRL, not over the top but definitely proper for what the product is.
Inside there’s a nice variety of natural material, be it a mix of fine sand and gravel up to some hefty chunks, or a mix of flat basing rocks varying between 25mm and up to 120mm. Basically everything you need for your standard troops and impressive centerpieces alike.
Compared to immediate competition, with about 2,99€ per 100ml the K&K Hobby Accessories Simple Basing and Basing Rocks insert themselves at a low end of pricing spectrum, which is great!
K&K Hobby Accessories Simple Basing (Sand, Rocks etc.) – 8,99€ / 300ml (2,99€ / 100ml)
The Army Painter Battlefield Basing (Rocks / Sand etc.) – 5,99€ / 150ml (3,99€ / 100ml)
Green Stuff World Hobby Sand (thick, fine etc.) – 5,99€ / 200ml (2,99€ / 100ml)
Warlord Games Battlefield & Basing (rocky sand, etc.) – 6€ / 180ml (3,33€ / 100ml)
A mix of fine hobby sand with small-to-medium sized gravel and a few heftier gravel chunks. I use a similar mix to add extra detail to commissioned 40k and Trench Crusade basing. I got two in order to compare quality control and I do like the balance of particular ingredients and how consistent it is.
This one I was very curious about. I’m used to spending hours, ravaging through home&decor or building material stores, searching for a proper set of ‘hobby’ stones for my basing. I do appreciate a set of hand picked flat stones in a variety of sizes, that I am not forced to waste my time looking for. Again I got two sets and the consistency between them is solid.
Here’s where real magic happens – a mix of fine sand, gravel and… 30 pieces of 3d printed detail that can be used to create an awesome diorama, a scenic base, or a set of fine looking bases for a miniature army. As someone who 3D prints as well I have nothing bad to say about the print quality – the detail is crisp and well cleaned/cured.
Obviously a review is nothing without some proper testing, to which I jumped right into. A standard procedure of creating two bases, similar to what you can see in all my Basing Tutorials.
I am very happy with how K&K Hobby Accessories behaved, especially the fine sand that filled all the gaps and built sufficient volume. I will definitely come back to you with painted examples and probably a full tutorial, to better present the end result, but for now and with my experience, I am satisfied with how it all worked out.
K&K Hobby Accessories are a breath of fresh air and a nostalgic step back to how proper hobby materials used to look like and behave back in the days. Before the time of big companies that dominated the market and started shedding off weight and quality from their products we all used to buy large packs of specially selected sand and gravel. Somehow the K&K Hobby managed to deliver and to keep the pricing on par with the lowest amongst the immediate competitors at the same time. Compared to colored cork and shaving, the K&K Hobby Accessories are all natural, which comes with a variety of features such as weight, detail and textures. I like how it feels, I like to work with such materials. It’s been years since I purchased a basing sand or gravel from a hobby-oriented company. I plan to change that and get me some more of that K&K goodness. How about you? Is this the kind of basing material you’d be interested in?
Probably the best would be at the source: K&K Hobby Accessories Page, or one of the stores that decided to carry this line of products, that can be found at the “where to find us” tab there.
I hope you find this review interesting. Be sure to let me know your thoughts in the comments below, or at Facebook or Instagram. I would also appreciate it if you considered sharing this content with your friends, who might find it useful. Finally if you are looking for a professional miniatures painting service, be sure to contact me with this contact form. I always reply within 24 hours, after which please check out your spam folder.
