Assembling Cataphractii Terminators

Man, I'm having a hard time finding time to assemble all the guys from this box.  So many bits to clean up so it takes for ever.  I guess that's a blessing and a curse with not having single pose models.  Lots of options, but takes way longer.

Hersey Marines

I've started assembling the first squad of marines from the Betrayal at Calth box.  So far its your typical marine assembly.  I was getting flash backs to my early years with the original plastic marines when assembling the rocket launcher.  Its interesting how they have tried to match the look based on a design that's what, 25 years old?

A few observations:
-Adding the hands to the weapons will make for better assembly, but makes painting a bit more difficult (can't leave the weapons off).
-I don't like the pose that I ended up with for the sergent with lightening claw.  Might have to repose it.

Contemptor Re-pose

At the suggestion of MiniWarBlog in my comments I reposed the contemptor's torso and assault cannon.  To get a minimal cut I used a sharp exacto knife rather than the razor saw.  The saw would have cut out about 1mm out, and I didn't want to build a spacer.  So I rotated the torso slightly and did the same with the weapon arm to give a slightly more dynamic pose.

Here's a look at the top half of the torso after cutting:

Age of Sigmar Assembly

Here's a few more pictures of Lord-Celestantas assembled.   I'm slowly working my way through assembling the guys and trying to make sure I get all of the mold lines and fit things nicely.  

These guys are impressive, and I can't wait to start painting them.  I'm holding off until I have have them all assembled though since I want to lay down the base colours with my airbrush, so I hope to do that all at once.  

Bloodstoker and Khorgorath Assembly and size comparison

Here's a video showing the Khorgorath and Bloodstoker assembly.  They are pretty straightforward, and have minimal cleanup needed to make them work.  The Khorgorath has a couple joints that should be filled before painting, but otherwise its easy to assemble.  I've been really impressed with the Chaos models in this set... they are a step ahead for sure, and quite impessive.  I'm not as much of a fan of the forces of Sigmar, but they are ok too.

I've added some side by side shots with my Helbrute below since there has been some talk that they are very similar.  That's sort of true, but they are very different models.  I don't really see any commonality other then general size and a similar pose.

Assassins pictures

I'm working on painting the Vindicare assassin, and he's coming along quite well.  No pics to share of the progress yet, but I've got the base coats and shades all done.

Here are some pictures of the assembled models before base coating them.  I included the Chaos lord since that model is new to me.  There's also a couple animated gif's that google auto-awesomed for me.  Pretty impressive and should paint up relatively quickly since the paint scheme is fairly simple.

Assassins Assembly video

Here's a video showing how these guys assemble.  The detail on the mini's is amazing, but that's to be expected these days.  The mold lines are very minimal, so just a little scraping is necessary.  I can't wait to get started on painting these guys.

For some reason my pictures of the finished models didn't upload automatically, so I'll add another post tomorrow with those.

Harlequin Unboxing and Assembly

I caved and picked up a troupe box yesterday... I had wanted to wait until the full release came out before picking anything up, but these things are trickling out so slowly that I pulled the trigger.  I'd like to put together a small band to complement my Dark Eldar, so I'll probably pick up a transport and character to go with these guys.  I'm also considering the idea of converting wyches into Harlequins... might be a decent conversion project.  The basic idea would be to put masks on heads and use Harlequin arms.

Also, a size comparison below the video...

Smaug assembly video

Here's a video showing some of the steps and tips for assembling the Smaug model.  Its basically a large forgeworld dragon with all the problems associated with that.  The fit is generally good, but because I need to leave the wings off for painting I needed to spend some extra time on him.

This guy is huge... he doesn't fit on any of my shelves properly, so either the base is going to stick out, or I'm going to have to find somewhere else for him.  Looking forward to painting him, but am not sure how much time I'll have over the holidays (I'm also working on finishing my basement).

Let me know if you have any questions...

Smaug Assembly WIP 2

Here's some more pictures of Smaug showing his size... this model is huge.  I'm still working on getting the wings to fit on perfectly and add magnets so I can paint it easily.  Once I'm done them then I can add the last spikes and start painting.

In other news, I ordered a set of Badger Minitaire Paints and they arrived today.  I hope to get them out shortly and do a review of them as I'm painting Smaug.

Smaug assembly WIP

Here's some pictures of Smaug as I assemble him.  Overall its a fairly straightforward assembly... probably a standard forgeworld type model with some fitting and trimming necessary.  The mold lines are mostly good, with just a few areas that need touching up.  The scale is starting to get impressive... as I get closer to finishing it's going to get huge.

I'm also pretty sure that I'll need to magnetize the wings... I don't think I'd be able to paint the model with them attached, so that'll take a bit of extra work.

I've also noticed some evidence of 3d printing.  There are some areas (where the wings attach) that you can see some small ridges that are left over from printing.  You can see them in the third last pic below.

Dark Eldar Archon unboxing and assembly

Here's a quick look at the new Plastic Archon model that came out with the Dark Eldar release... I've wanted to open him up and assemble earlier, but haven't had the time.

I'm not a huge fan of this model due to the statuesque pose, but the detail is pretty cool.  I left his head and trophy rack off for painting, but assembled everything else.  I suppose you could make a case for leaving off his cape, but I didn't want to deal with any gaps on his shoulders.

I'm not sure when this guy will get painted up, but here's a look at him compared to the finecast crap version I painted a little while back.  Unboxing and assembly video after the break.

Forecast calls for Smaug

So, I took a gample and put in an order for Smaug.  Its crazy expensive, but hopefully I can recoup some of that through the blog and my youtube channel.  When I saw that it was limited to 200 (for now) I decided to go ahead... unfortunately that was at full Canadian retail... ouch.

Expect me to milk this one... unboxing, assembly, and step by step painting... even though you wont be able to buy one for yourself (unless you got one of the other 199 of them).  I'm thinking that magnetizing the wings will make sense to help avoid it breaking.

Meganobz Assembly Video

Here's the full assembly video for the Meganobz.  I wasn't sure if I was going to magnetize things when I started out, but by the end I basically magnetized every option.  All of the hand weapons can be exchanged without magnets, but things like the Kombi options and Mek gear needed magnets.  I'll post some more detailed pics of magnet placement shortly.

More pics and video after the break.

Ork Mek Unboxing, Assembly and Magnetization

Here's the new plastic Ork Mek boy, and I magnetized his one arm so that I could swap the kill saw and wrench depending on my list.  Its pretty simple to do, just a 1/8" magnet in the body and a 1/16" magnet in each arm.  I show how to set them in the video, nothing magic there.

Anyway, a cool model, and will be helpful to have to give a little variety besides the Mek in the lootas box.

Ork Mek Gun Assembly video

Here's a video showing how the new Mek Gun assembles up.  I have plans to kitbash the left over bits and a trukk to make some more guns for a whole battery.  More pics after the break.

I was surprised how big this thing is... much larger than my old 2nd edition tracktor kannon and pulsa rokkit.  Also, I'm a bit disappointed at the lack of magnetization options.  I'm a bit disappointed by the guards on it too... the lack of options means if you have 5 of these side by side they are going to look pretty similar, which isn't what you're looking for with Orks.

It also isn't really compatible with the Kannon, zapp gun or lobba from the battle wagon kit.  We'll have to see how my kit bash looks next to this.

Shokk Attack Gun Assembly Video

Here's the assembly video of the new Shokk Attack Gun.  I'm in the process of painting it up now, so that should be posted before the next round of releases come out this weekend.  Man, its gone from famine to feast with Ork releases... 

Gorkanaut Assembly video

Ok, got this posted as soon as I could and have already started painting this guy.  With the flash gitz coming out on Saturday I've got to get this done.  You can follow the video below to help with the assembly instructions.

Anyway, a decent kit but not a lot of options to customize it.  Maybe forgeworld will make some conversion kits for it or something.

Imperial Knight Assembly Video

Wow... that took much longer than I expected.  I embarked on an assembly and magnetization tutorial, and ended up with a video almost an hour long.  It turns out there isn't much magnetization needed on this.  There are some shared parts for the gun, and you can do a sort of hybrid version that lets you swap out the main bits.  I had intended to make a short and concise video showing how to swap them out, but in the end I'll have to do a blog post with some screen shots.

Anyway, this is an impressive kit when assembled.  Its 6" tall, and as you can see below, not as tall as a stompa, but still quite large.  I've also compared it to a land raider and mega-dread below.

The assembly video goes through the whole process, start to finish, showing which parts I left off for better access during painting. There are some tips along the way, so if this is the sort of thing that interests you, you can watch it while you assemble yours (pausing between steps to catch up).

I hope to have it painted soon, but this thing is large, so I'm not sure how long that will take...

Dwarf Dragon Slayer Unboxing and Assembly

Here's the new Dragon Slayer plastic character.  These single pose plastic characters are stunning, and the dynamic pose on this guy really takes the cake.  I'll be painting him up as soon as I get a chance and posting a video, but that may take a week or so.