Total System Scenic
United Kingdom
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| Stated Scale: | Generic. |
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| Mixes best with: | Generic. |
| Long Review: | I have never been tempted by terrain tiles, being a dyed-in-the-wool believer in the old tie-dyed sheet over shapes to make hills and such, adding pieces of bandage for roads. However, that is slowly changing as the available items in this terrain niche are being filled by companies like TSS, who make affordable terrain that is also good-looking and durable. The items I picked up from TSS are a grass 2ft*2ft tile (I will be using this to photograph on in future), as well as a small pack of hills. On first inspection, the first thing that struck me is how light the items are- a real bonus, as too much weight will definitely be a problem when transporting the terrain about. Of course, considering that the tiles and hills are made of polystyrene (admittedly, "NATO standard" polystyrene is strong, but I had my doubt), this is to be expected. The bonus is that the hills and tiles match each other perfectly (well, hardly surprising, as they are made using the same materials), and the flocking that is used to cover them is also available seperately, so you can make custom-terrain to match the ones you already have. TSS is even willing to custom-make components! The underside of the tile shows the polystyrene, but a small strip around the side is green, like the underlying colour of the sides and top. The sides and top of the tile (and the hills) are finished in a hard-wearing green colour, finished off with a green static-grass-type flock. Simon mentioned that this was quite durable (apparently they had a little mishap, and couldn't remove the surface even after a couple of days' soaking and scrubbing). I'm not planning to try that, but I did attempt to rub off the surface on a corner on one of the sides- it refuses to budge. A bit of the flocking has come off, but not a great deal, so I'm willing to say that it should last quite a while. Of course, it shouldn't be a problem if it does come off, as the tiles are so cheap that they can be replaced at a reasonable cost. The hills come in varying sizes, but all have a sloped side and flat top. The finish is identical to that of the tiles. |
| Commentary: | Very neat, easy-to-use ready-made terrain tiles. A good price for a good product. |
| Historical Accuracy: |  Very Good. |
| Scale: |  |
| Sculpting: | Very Good. |
| Casting: | Very Good. |
| Sources: | Purchased at SELWG for this review. |
| Sculptors: | TSS. |
| Other reviews for this company: | See the reviews: |
Assorted additional images of the terrain
Shown is the tile with the hills placed on top. The metal ruler is a standard 30cm ruler.