Bitz Store? Prefer not Ebay

[Jakai_Musashi]

So I'm in need of a selection of specific bitz and thus far Btown (and other sites) is ultimately failing to get me the bitz I need (Not Btown's fault of course). I've scoured Ebay, and a few Bitz stores, and either the bitz are not in stock and haven't been for months, or they're WAY too overpriced with no option of bulk pricing.

Does anyone know of a good bitz store for Warhammer 40k, decently priced (not $3 a @#$@%ing head), and perhaps even the option of a lower price if you buy higher numbers?

The specific bitz I'm chasing are from Black Templars, but because I need such a small selection then the BT Upgrade kit isn't worth it (3 torsos, 2-4 heads at best...) to purchase to get these bitz.

Suggestions? I've hit The Warstore, Bitzbarn, Bitzbox, and a few of the Ebay stores to name a few.

[jturner]

what bitz? or post a link to your posts. I have some black templar bits, but mostly shoulderpads and vehicle bits.

[Jakai_Musashi]

Well my most recent posts do not mention the Black Templar bitz I need, and as this isn't the forum to negotiate trades, PM sent however I suspect you may not have the bitz I need either lol

Spending most of the day on google and ebay looking for reasonably priced bitz, but most importantly bitz in stock... still no luck.

[MagickalMemories]

It sounds like the problem is that you are looking for less common bits.
More than likely, you're going to have to fork over the $$ for the sprue or for the bits.

Think about the amount of time you've spent looking for them already. Multiply that by your hourly wage. Add to that the price you'd like to pay for everything shipped.
If that comes up to more than what you can buy the bits for on sprue or at the exaggerated prices, you're going about it the wrong way.


Eric

[Jakai_Musashi]

Unfortunately I think the problem is I'm trying to buy the most commonly sought after bitz... but I just can't seem to find a store that has them in stock, excluding thewarstore which has them bundled with the bitz I don't want, or ridiculously overpriced per bit. Comparatively though, I'm finding it a hard time getting Mk6 Space Marine legs, which most people don't want, but any site that have them in stock have them priced (well) above the Mk7/8 legs.

I don't disagree with your remark on pricing MM, the prices that I'm finding at this point has already had me scratch my head wondering if I'm better off spending the $36 per box for 6 torsos and 4 heads... I'd have made a post in the 40k section looking for these bitz yesterday but I'm still on cooldown trying to sell/trade some other stuff which isn't moving and doesn't seem to have much interest on it sadly

[jturner]

H: large SM force, Tau, WFB chaos LE W: $ Priced to move!

I think this guy has some of the stuff you are looking for

[wookieegunner]

The Bitz stores I use most frequently that aren't on eBay are Apocabitznow.com and BitsandKits.co.uk . That being said, remember these guys price on rarity and how often people want them, so Mark 6 legs which a lot of people want but come in a small selection will be priced significantly higher than the Mk7/8 legs which not many people specifically look for and you get significantly more per box for example.

If you are needing a lot of these bits, one thing I've seen people do is put a countdown in their sigs like this:

Need this torso (link to pic): 0/100
Need this head (link to pic): 10/100
If you have them please PM me.

[Jakai_Musashi]

Thanks for the suggestion on my signature, perhaps I'll try that out. As for the 2 stores, even on the 'popular' bitz on my wants list (such as the 'Knight' helmets from the BT Upgrade sprue) even these are either very overpriced, or not in stock, the latter being the case most often.

[wookieegunner]

That's because the Knight style helmets are very popular and hard to find (the BT have a few as you mentioned as well as the champion so you are going to have to expect to pay a premium. Depending on the look you are going for, have you looked at the Khorne Berserker helmets? If you just want a knightly look there are a few of those that look good once you remove the bunny ears.

[TheRhino]

You are indeed running into the "demand outweighs supply" pricing structure. The Templar sprue is a prime example of such a conundrum. That frame is littered with tons of decorative pieces, as well as lots of "multiples" like the shoulder pads. You can pick up those plastic Terminator shoulderpads for a song, because Templars are a rarer army, and no one runs enough Terminators to use up all of the provided pads.
The Mk4 head and torso sell for redonkulous prices because they are the cleanest examples of that armor in plastic, and are extermely popular with Heresy-era army builders and such.
The Dark Angels Ravenwing sprue suffers from the same problem. All those decorative gubbins can't be given away, much less sold. The robed heads, techmarine head, and other unique bitz sell for the sum total of the whole sprue. Anything someone sells from the remainder is pure profit.

[Jakai_Musashi]

Wookie, honestly I had considered the 'Zerker heads you speak of... I used them without the 'ears' on a number of models in the past, but sadly they wouldn't quite work with the Crusader feel I'm currently using on my current army. I should still have 1 or 2 floating around, maybe I'll eyeball it again... if nothing else, it may work for a stand-in head for now until I get the heads I want.

I've even considered the possibility of greenstuff molding the heads as a 2-part mold, which ultimately may turn out to be my only resort. It's not that I'm opposed to buying the bitz, but I can't justify spending $3 a head + $2 per half-torso + upwards of $3 for legs as my basic 'Trooper', not including weaponry of course. I had found 1 bitz store that had respectable pricing and most items in stock, but sadly they don't ship outside the continental US which neuters me again *headdesk*

At the moment I've broken down and I'm most likely going to pick up the BT Upgrade kit, found an awesome deal online for that from a place I was planning on placing an order for my Codecies anyway... That's 4 heads and (mostly) 6 torsos for me to play with while I figure out what else I'm going to do.

[wookieegunner]

BTW, have you seen this tutorial?

http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/inde ... rticle=229

[MagickalMemories]

I remember seeing a tutorial like that years ago. Someone used standard Terminator heads to make "knight" looking heads akin to the metal GK termies.

Eric

[TheRhino]

I remember seeing a tutorial like that years ago. Someone used standard Terminator heads to make "knight" looking heads akin to the metal GK termies.

Eric

That tutorial is also archived over at B&C, somewhere.
My only gripe with the linked tutorial is that it uses a Beakie head, which are just as in-demand and expensive as Maximus helmets. great if you're converting stock you already have, though I'd consider attempting to trade your Beakies for Mk4s instead /

[Jakai_Musashi]

Wookie, I have seen that tut, I haven't tried it but the last few days I have considered it... I think I have a spare beakie floating around in my bitz box (I rarely used them!)

MM, I think I've seen that one as well, but those termi heads are also front-only as that was around the time the heads went into a peg-hole in the body rather than sitting in a socket, either way I have no termi heads to play with LOL

Rhino, I can't say for sure I've seen your tut however. I'd gladly take a look at your tutorial if you have a link handy.

Has anyone had any luck with molding heads with greenstuff? I've been considering resin, but the only resin available locally seems to be mix-by-weight which frustrates me... and honestly I'd rather avoid resin casting on heads.