Well we’re back with another TGN Review. Yes, it’s been a while, but trust me, I’ve been busy (like everything with the awesome time everyone had at the CoolMiniOrNot Expo, but that’s beside the point).
Today we’re going to be taking a look at the Cyborg line of terrain from LaserCutCard. I’ve had some of these sets for a while and have been meaning to do this review for quite some time. After the high marks the Site Office got, will the Cyborg line keep the trend going? Only by continuing to read will you find out.
One of LaserCutCard’s first themes was a sort of Cyborg-inspired set that would go well in any sort of sci-fi-theme setting, though particularly well with Necrons. They have sort of a futuristic-Egyptian feel with the Obelisks and Monoliths. They pieces match rather well with one-another and can create a whole table worth of terrain with ease.
There aren’t a lot of assembly photos for the kits, since the company’s website has pages for each kit’s assembly, giving you instructions on how to put the parts together. I always found the instructions easy to follow and the accompanying photos were always helpful.
I’ll still talk about each piece individually, though.
I’ll start off with the Cyborg Obelisk set. The pack comes in a set of two, which is rather nice. Having just one on the table might not give enough of an impact, but two can give you a nice entry-way or accents to another structure or some other sort of effect. The assembly was easy up until one section… those little circles on the large flats. The way the pieces are put together, the facade wall has those sections cut out of them. You glue a backing piece over the hole that is now created. From there, you cut out the little holes from the larger piece that had been removed and glue those back into place on the backing sheet. This… was hard to do. The smaller dots aren’t much bigger than a pen point and trying to get them out and trying to get them back into place straight and centered was a bit much. On the second obelisk I put together, I didn’t put nearly as many of those small pips back into place. But you know what? I don’t think it looses much detail without them there. The sections they go into are rather small, so not having an even smaller little round of cardboard in there doesn’t really take away from the aesthetic.
Edit to add: Neal has updated the Obelisk set from the original I reviewed above. Now, those little circle bits remain attached when you remove the “negative” slots around them, so they’re much easier to assemble and those “fiddly bits” are much cleaner. This just goes to show that LCC listens to customer feedback, always a good quality for any company.
Next comes the Monolith, which is the box-like structure with the crystal on top. Like before, the glyphs were made by gluing a back-plate to the facing piece and then the little rounds were punched out and glued into place. The circles, however, were much larger this time around and much easier to place. So this piece wasn’t quite as hard to put together. The crystal on top, though, was a bit of a challenge. I used superglue on the Monolith and the Cyborg Obelisks (as recommended by the website) and while putting together the crystal, I must’ve glued myself to it about a dozen times. In the end, however, I think it was worth it. I do plan on painting it at some point, but I didn’t want to delay this article longer while I searched for time to paint. This piece, along with the small Obelisks, were coated in one layer of Army Painter spray black and then one layer of Army Painter spray chainmail. I plan on doing the little glyphs more in purple, as it’s nice and different from the neon green one usually sees in such pieces. The paint took very well to the pieces and like the Shipping Container from before, actually strengthened the pieces. There was no sign of wilting or warping from the application of the paint. The tops of the obelisks are also rather pointy. They hurt if you hit them. Be warned.
The next kit I put together was the Grand Obelisk. This thing… is a monster. As you can see, the Grand Obelisk is exceedingly tall. The base is about the size of a CD (120mm). The construction was basically the same as the Cyborg Obelisks with a few differences. First, the top pyramid was a separate piece. They also had cards if you wanted to put a gem on top (like on the Monolith), but I opted for the pyramid. Actually, it’s quite possible to make it so you could switch the two out if you wanted. If I’d not glued the pyramid in place and had instead used sticky-tac or some other sort of “temporary adhesive” method, it would be possible to change between the two. For the Grand Obelisk, I deviated from the recommended super glue and instead uses regular white glue (Elmer’s Glue-All, to be exact). The instructions warned about warping and the longer drying time, but I didn’t find that to really be a problem. The Grand Obelisk went together very quickly and easily. It would make a great focal point for any table.
The final pieces are from the Cyborg Barricades pack. The regular pack comes with enough pieces to create four 3-wide walls and four individual walls. The Barricades pack is definitely the most-advanced pack from the kits I’ve put together from LaserCutCard. They require more cutting and folding than any of the other sets I’ve done from them. It was a little more work, but overall, still not very taxing. Like the Grand Obelisk, I used Elmer’s Glue-All for the assembly. I did run into a small problem when folding the barricades into their U shape, so for that portion, I did bolster the connections with a little superglue. That held the pieces in place very well. Seeing as this assembly consisted of a lot of smaller pieces, it took me longer to assemble all of them. With their more complicated nature, the first couple were rather slow-going. But after I got the first 3-wide set done, I felt confident enough to assembly-line process everything, which sped up construction considerably. The walls are incredibly sturdy, most of the time being 3 layers of card thick. There’s even detail on the wall interior that you can paint up.
Overall, I think the Cyborg kits are a great addition to any terrain collection. They create a rather cohesive table look, but still offer variety in construction and design to add some variety to the table. The bases that the Obelisks and the Monolith are on allow for options for flocking or sand to help match either your table or your minis. The card has a little “give” to it, so it can stand up to some rough handling easily. So short of someone intentionally crushing them, they’ll hold up very well over the course of time, especially if painted to help “seal” the card from moisture. I painted the smaller Obelisks and the Monolith about a month ago and it’s been rather rainy at times and I’ve never seen a problem with the pieces warping or getting soggy. I also suggest the Elmer’s Glue-All as opposed to the super glue. The Elmer’s still holds great and dries relatively quick (I did get the quick-drying kind) and gives you some more “oops” time if you don’t get two pieces lined up exactly the first time. The Superglue, if you put two pieces together, you’d better be sure that’s where you want them. With the Elmer’s, you have a few seconds to get it to fit.
And there we have it. Go check out LaserCutCard and all the terrain options they’ve got.