If you notice this notice...

 

You may remember the WizKids Bounty Board I was less than impressed with - well, I figured it would be easy enough to paint up so it hit the paint table - I'm pretty happy with the result:

I wanted this to be as versatile piece - so I kept the smaller posters/notices as 'writing', but the large central one needed a bit more... I went with a generic 'WANTED' and some offer of cash - be it dollars, gold crowns or pennies!  I added a couple of tufts (Serious Play) that I used across my 15mm Dragon Rampant collection - I figured these would add a little bit of interest and texture to the bases without tying the piece too strongly into one setting or another.

Overall I'm pleased with the painted piece - and the sculpt was better quality than the fountain (mould lines aside) - but I don't think I'm likely to purchase a WizKids piece again... but never say never I suppose!

Poseidon, Neptune, or bloke with a bent trident?

 

I figured the WizKids Fountain would be quite quick to paint up so it jumped up the painting queue a little!

I hit it with a Citadel Nuln Oil wash with a drop of Vallejo Thinner Medium - this seemed to work pretty well and I'm happy enough with the outcome (given the impossible-to-fix trident and the weird squashed bits of the sculpt).

I still can't recommend this range - but at least I've got a usable scenery piece for a variety of games.

WizKids Deep Cuts - Fountain

 

So, as you may have seen, I picked up a second WizKids Deep Cuts piece - this time it was the Fountain:

As standard with this range it is allegedly primed and 'paint ready out of the box'... Well, again let's have a little look:

Well that trident is rather wonky and needs a hot water bend to look at least less bad (don't think it'll ever be quite right).  The rims of the water bowls (there's probably a technical name!) also have a squashed bit you can make out - it's not the worst but it definitely isn't round.  Finally, the pedestal that has been attached to the base isn't straight (not that evident in this picture but it was noticeable as I handled the piece).  But then, as it turns out it hadn't been assembled properly anyway and the pedestal wasn't glued to the base:

(and you can see how the trident is extra wonky from this angle too).  Well, it turns out this wasn't properly attached because some extra plastic was left in the hole in the water effect - I managed to clip it out and have reglued this together which has helped.

I like the design and think it'll be useful for all sorts of games  - Carnevale, Gangs of Rome, Broken Legions and Mortal Gods come to mind in particular. But, and it's a big but, for a product that is sold as ready to go out of the packet this certainly doesn't hit that mark.  I am very unlikely to buy any other WizKids products in the future (never say never though eh?) and based on my experiences I cannot recommend them to other wargamers. Caveat Emptor!

WizKids Deep Cuts - Bounty Board

I spotted the WizKids Deep Cuts range and whilst the miniatures don't really have anything that's my style, they also do some scenic/terrain pieces.  I took the plunge and ordered a couple from sellers on eBay - the first has arrived!

It's the Bounty Board:

As you can see - it's allegedly primed and 'paint ready' out of the box... so let's get it out of that box (well, blister pack but whatever WizKids):

On first impressions, I'm pretty happy with it - it's going to be useful for all sorts of games I think - Mordheim, Dracula's America, Frostgrave, Burrows & Badgers and more spring to mind straight away. So let's check that 'paint ready' status shall we... OK, it's assembled, seems primed in some light grey paint (not my first choice cause let's be honest - black is my go to - but it'll do)... wait, what's that I spy?

Rather nasty mouldlines down the two posts... now, the product is very fairly priced, it's a nice design, it has clearly been assembled and primed in the factory which is an obvious time-saver.  But can anyone tell me what is the point in it even being primed if I'm going to have to scrape down these mouldlines?!

Not very impressed at this point... I have another item from the range on its way to me so will see if it's a recurring issue or not.  Based on this, I cannot recommend this range - but watch this space to see if the range can be redeemed (if it can, I'll update this post in the interests of fairness!).