An Overview Of Citadel’s Refreshed Tools
Review of Citadel Tools Refresh
I reflect as I sit here (with what the locals have come to refer to as a laser dot pointed at my forehead).
On the one hand, during the past five years, I have gained a following by being open and honest with my readers about the things I review.
Do I want to mention anything that Games Workshop could find incredibly disappointing given that this is our first review that they have officially supported?
I also wonder why they first consented to support us. Before I examine the new Citadel Tools, Cutters (mmmmm), Knife (hmmmm), Mouldline Remover (oooooh), and Drill (oh no! ).
Citadel Tools have been updated, summary
The update of Citadel’s Tool selection represents an overt cheapening of their Hobby Tool range with only a tiny enhancement to function—see, there is some improvement here.
This is similar to the new Painting handle.
Some,
The main issue is that, for a Premium Brand, not much of that is displayed here. except for the price.
But the majority of these modern gadgets are marginally more operationally efficient than their forerunners.
The rough mechanical appearance has been replaced with what appears to be generic tools that have been poorly moulded and have a shoddy logo stenciled on them.
Mentioning some of the noteworthy characteristics
- The Mouldline Remover is a tremendous improvement in performance.
- The Clippers are also a lot smoother and more manageable.
- A good, safe hobby knife, it has a decent heft for the palm and some finger grips.
- The Drill is undoubtedly someone’s joke. How does this thing even exist, really?
In the first place, this is not an NDA issue; rather, it is bad form for a writer to mention other companies in-directly in a sponsored review of a particular product.
But, I want to take a moment to remind you that we do have articles addressing the Best Clippers and the Best Hobby Drills (since this one is awful) (where these are ok, they are just expensive).
The hobby knife is at least respectable and prioritizes security. The Mouldline Remover is still the best product you can purchase, and it is even better than the last one.
While I do have positive things to say, I just want to thank GW for welcoming us on board. If I don’t point out the apparent problems and even the inconsistent packing and naming.
I’m going to appear foolish.
So let’s examine them one by one. I’ve saved my harshest criticism for last since I can only criticize the drill, and I’m hoping that by the time they get to it, they’ll stop reading.
Review of Citadel Tools’ Ultra Fine Detail Cutters
These extremely Citadel fine detail cutters.
On my daily drive with my friend, I used to work at the Vision Express headquarters in Nottingham, which is actually not far from Warhammer World.
We would make light of a nearby farmer who was offering for sale dry, hardwood logs. Look, I’ll be honest about this.
It’s not a particularly clever anecdote, but many of you can definitely identify with the nonsense you discuss on a regular 1-hour drive.
The farmer, you know, could only advertise the availability of his extra treestumps on a small square board.
That is why he only utilized 2 lines of huge text. DRY HARD appeared on line 1, and WOOD LOGS appeared on line 2.
I asked my acquaintance if he knew anyone looking for dry, hard wood logs the day I saw this. It elicited a good giggle and a 40-minute discussion about grammatical errors.
Even now, many years later, it frequently comes up between us anytime we encounter poor English. (Yes, I am aware that I am among the worst offenders.)
Nonetheless, I wanted you to be aware of that tale before I showed you the package containing these ultra-fine detail cutters.
Review of Citadel Tools’ Mouldline Remover
The Mouldline Remover is the flagship product in the Hobby Tools line.
There isn’t much I can say negatively about them because they are in every manner an improvement over the previous generation.
And because no other manufacturer currently produces one of any real merit.
This is now the greatest tool available for removing mold lines (trust me, I’ve tried a few, and they’re all junk). Despite how little it costs.
There has been a less expensive version of this for the past number of years.
If you subscribed to Warhammer Conquest Mortal Realms or Warhammer Imperium Partworks magazines, your first issue would include a tiny mould-line remover.
With the handle gone, this was essentially the previous Citadel mould line remover. Thank goodness garfy from Tale of Painters created an easy-to-print 3D render to reproduce the handle.
The new version is improved by its somewhat narrower snout; I always thought the old model to be heavy and impractical for finer details.
With the new tool, we can now access much finer details, which is a big blessing.
In the extremely unlikely event if there are some excess flashing along the edge, you can clear those off as well using the additional notch designed for base rims.
GW’s molding quality, however, has made this situation far less frequent. Congratulations to GW for creating this, but since you are already so accomplished, we scarcely need it.
Yet I think it’s better to have than to need and not have.
The handle is the biggest improvement, though. I’ll say it again: this looks cheap and generic and is a far cry from the premium that the GW brand is known for.
The handle of the new edition of this tool is considerably heavier than the plastic version.
The rubberized shell adds to the comfort. The body’s circular shape is cozy to hold for extended periods of time.
To fit comfortably between your fingers, it needs to (grow up) and less to a flat area at the tip. (Really, mature.)
Citadel Tools Review of a Knife
One of the hobbyist’s arsenal’s most adaptable tools. I use my hobby knife for so many things that I usually keep a stack of up to 100 extra blades on hand.
This is fantastic for shaving off any residual sprue gate after I cut models from the sprue.
Moreover, the bladed edge (or even the back edge if you want to keep them sharp longer). can be used to scrape down mold lines similarly to the mould line remover.
The blade makes it faster than a mould line remover, and the sharp tip allows it to fit into even the smallest crevices, which is where it excels.
This is a good job by Games Workshop; yada yada looks generic like the other tools. But this one is pretty clever in terms of functionality.
Like the others, it has a handle that is more ergonomic than the previous model. It has curves where they should be.
The location and method of holding the blade are my favorites.
The blade is secured in a metal collet that is tightened by a spinning chuck at the shaft’s tail end. It is cleverly positioned such that it is out of the way when holding the knife Smart.
This mechanism has a much stronger grip than my typical hobby knife, which is similar but the bit you twist is also the bit you grasp, frequently causing it to get loose.
And yes, I’ve accidentally gently stabbed myself a few times as a result of this.
The handle of the old knife had an angular form that contributed to slips and made it such that a minor twist could easily turn into a pivot at a 90-degree angle.
The new knife from Games Workshop is much safer in this sense.
A collar around the blade is another safety measure.
A thumb grip is located directly above the blade. I’m no longer pressing down directly on the blade itself; instead, I’m applying pressure on a sheath with ridges.
The blade handle then includes a concave curvature to support the proper positioning just where your index finger is in the middle of the cut. once more, much safer.
Review of Citadel Tools’ drill
I would want to be seated in the same space as the designer and the production approval signatory. If they used it, please let me know. Oh no, I’m not in the least bit lenient with this.
Let’s focus on the advantages.
This blends in with the other Citadel Tools when they are all arranged on the shelf.
I think that’s it.
This is made of firm plastic, not rubbery shroud, like the knife.
The plastic mechanism grumbles and feels like it might get caught in the middle of a turn.
Yet the positioning of the chuck is the main reason I find this absurd.
Now, this Citadel Tools: Drill has a useful addition. Unlike the earlier tool, which featured a collet with two sides. To wee-wee on that fire, just to be sure.
An old drill actually had a back opening where you could store an extra collet for drill bits of various sizes, but none were included. In any case, this is a more conventional drill chuck.
This is fantastic because changing out the numerous collets for different-sized drill bits is the most irritating aspect of pin vice drill collets.
This makes swapping and replacing easier and enables for any size drill bit.
That is fantastic! In these, we regularly have to switch out drill bits of various diameters.
The chuck knob, however, is located directly where your fingers need to be in order to turn the drill, thus this falls flat on its face.
Even worse, the sides that join the front housing and the rear housing protrude to strengthen the plastic.
Hence, you essentially grip only these components; if you grasp the knob, the drill will become less secure.
However in order to grab it again on the following rotation, you must fully rotate it.
Citadel Tools Refreshed: Final Thoughts
These tools seem to be designed for a very particular group of hobbyists.
The Dunce.
Our target audience, in particular, I hope would be knowledgeable about most of them and would notice many of the other possibilities before investing in these.
If you are even the slightest bit internet literate, you are probably a member of one of the numerous online social groups and know this already.
This is what you’ll be sold if you’re a young person entering a hobby shop and need some supplies to start using that box of Space Marines you just bought.
The clippers and mould line remover are necessary instruments. These are acceptable.
But, if you are of legal age, you will soon switch out your mouldline remover for a knife; if it’s the Citadel Knife, cool. That is not a poor decision.
Although none of these options are very bad, the clippers are unusually expensive.
Formerly, you could purchase better “fine electrical” clippers for less money than what GW charges, but the clippers from GW were decent for the cost and a decent beginner set.
But, you can now purchase significantly better hobby clippers designed for models for the same price.
Even a few cents less expensive.
The moldline remover is still the best in its class for the job it accomplishes, yet it is not the most expensive product ever.
In the hobby sector, the knife has some of the best safety measures available.
The drill worked. Just no.
I would think that GW is passing up this chance if I were them. They ought to pitch them as starting tools and try to lower the price to meet the current level of production quality.
Then they ought to create and make available a number of professional products that are meant to be the best in their respective fields.
They are a high-end business, therefore it makes sense that they would sell the greatest instruments available for hobbies.
Using this strategy, they can sell to customers twice: once when you’re new and again when you’re well-established.
Nonetheless, this is a mixed bag, leaving me with an overall blah feeling.
Nowadays, individuals hardly ever make a purchase without first reading three articles, viewing movies on YouTube, and checking out TikTok.
It’s not 1999 anymore. In general, Games Workshop has to do better in the tool market. Since they’ve done it so frequently previously, we know they are capable.
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