Marauder Destroyer Info from Mithrax

Here are some info and pics from Dakka poster Mithrax!

I can't figure out how to get photos to download from Flickr (I've gotta be missing SOMETHING simple), so here's a link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66979547@N00/sets/72157600301082754/

Here are his comments:

(Post 1)

Marauder Destroyer.

I've built a lot of model airplanes over the years, and in looking at the pieces, I don't even need to look at the pictures to see where they go. Looks pretty standard.

Packaging.

Very well packaged. They grouped the parts by size so the smaller stuff was with the smaller stuff, etc. Very nice to see. The Large peices were seperate from each other.

Parts Inventory, Cleanup.

All parts were here (hey, you never know). To clean the parts I just soaked them in moderately warm water with a bit of dish soap, air dried overnight. Very impressed with how all the parts look, highly impressed with the detail of the human figures. Love the 40's-50's stylings of the uniforms. Will be a real real pleasure to paint.

Fitting, Cutting, Sanding.

Having had my lessons with resin from the FW Sisters Rhino doors a few years ago I am now taking my time with the cleanup and fitting.

Minor Issues:

1) Minimal flash for the most part except around the cockpit windows and gunners turrets.
2) Minimal mold lines for the most part, except some near the middle two halves near where the wings join.
3) Moderate mold lines around the wing ends where they abut against the fuselage.

Major issues:

1) Engines. The 4 engines come in 3 pieces each. In my test fittings I've found that there is a curve in the middle of each engine nacell which makes it wobbly against the wing. None of the engine pieces line up straight against each other, creating a curved engine look. The rear part of the engine, the exhaust ports, are ALL over the map. Some covered in mold lines all over, if you line them up with the engines they don't even line up properly....ugh. Greenstuff, a level and luck to get these looking alright.
2) The Engine compartment fusilage is about 1/8th to 2/5ths of an inch too long. Will just have to be very patient with the jeweler's saw.

(Post 2)

Now, from the last time I left you, I had started to put the body together. I needed to cut off about 2/5ths of an inch from the top front fusilage to eliminate any overhang in the front. Well I did that, straight lines...and then the damn turret wouldn't fit up top. *sigh* so I sanded down the inside of the turret ring, and cut 1/8th off the front. Seems to work ok, but needed some greenstuff.The wings went on...decently. They're not at a full 90 degrees because of the way the model was designed (about 94 degrees actually). BUT, the right wing was thicker than the left (wtf?). So there was a difference about 1/6th of an inch between the two wings. It was noticible enough so I am greenstuffing a slight slope down the front so it's not as noticible (can see it in one of the pics).

The engines went together better than I had anticipated. Mostly because I sanded down all the edges and cut off all the parts that were supposed to stick them together and glued them. Worked like a charm. You can see in the pics that they're surprisingly detailed and big.The nose and tail sections are actually smaller than the fusilage by about 1/6th to 2/5ths in width. Rather than play around I left it as is, and it keeps the Imperial boxy look without looking too bad. The tail sections need another soak and scrub, it's just not staying glued together. Minor issue imho.I will be painting the cockpit, figures, autocannons, top HB turret and rear autocannon turret seperately for detail's sake.

I've NO idea what colour scheme I'm going to paint it. I'm toying with the idea of using a wwII mosquito paint scheme to honour a mentor of mine who flew them in the war, but I'm not sure if I'm going to like it.

(Post 3)

Behold! From the depths of hell known as Work, sub-sector Life's a Bitch, I bring you updates!Well gang, I apologise for the delay, life came up and bit me hard in the groin, and wouldn';t let go for a while, but now that 4 weeks of holidays are here, and I finally got my airbrush (badger single action, with a compressor)

I'm getting down to the nitty gritty:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66979547@N00/

I'm using Tamiya paints, with their thinner at about a 2 parts paint, 1 part thinner ratio. After two coats, the dark grey is looking pretty spiffy. For the camo scheme I'm going with a WWII German nightfighter theme
(see link below for a minimal pic: http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/6/61/300px-ME-110G-2_at_RAF_Hendon.jpg

It shouldn't be too hard to do with the airbrush, and going slow and steady shouldn't have any probs. the figs are being worked on, but I'm not happy with their colours so they're going back into the workshop.

(Post 4)

The destroyer is 90% done.
Just need some touch ups, and will have pics as soon as flickr gets back to me about the stupid ass yahoo id that won't seem to work.

Answers to questions:

I sprayed using GW black, and really didn't have a problem with it. Especially if it's scrubbed...unlike the damn titan.....Used Tamiya paints in the airbrush and they worked like a charm.

Size:
The FW wingspan size is wrong in their pamphlets. The true wingspan is 15.5" (FW says 16", that's only if you bend the tape measure across the top), the length from asscannon to nose is between 16.5 and 17"

(Post 5)

It's done. Got some stuff sorted through irl and flickr got back to me! yay!

Placed second at my local Artificer Cup. Few more touch ups and it's all ready to go.

The weapon pylons are empty because I'm waiting for my rare earth magnets to get here so I can either kit it out with hellstrikes or bombs!

And yes, I did fly it around the room going "pew pew" a few times.

Small addition 2

Another ebay find, here is an unassembled pic of the Armageddon Pattern Enclosed Basilisk conversion kit. I have a little bit of experience with this kit. I bought it at Games Day Atlanta 2005. (not a fun day, I was sick as a dog... throwing up in the public restroom at a gamers convention is NOT something I'd reccommend) When I got home, I suffered instant 'buyers remorse' and promptly put it up on ebay. It's a pretty straightforward kit, the entire gun platform is replaced by resin parts. I couldn't understand the need for a new resin cannon barrel and supports though, it looked like the standard Basilisk gun would have worked just fine. The grating on the floor is metal. The canopy was warped, with the sides bowing inward, but nothing that hot water wouldn't fix. Does anyone else have any more info?

Small addition 1

Nothing big yet, I just wanted to toss up this pic I found on ebay of an unassembled Forge World Winged Hive Tyrant. If anyone has any experience with this model, please post a comment!

Forge World Elysian Drop Troops Command Squad by MOBILEHQ

For the first post, I found this excellent review of the Forge World Elysian Drop Troops Command Squad at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/ejmsmith99/photoreview.html.
The pics and review are from MobileHQ, a poster on Dakkadakka.com.


Official Forge World Page: http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_ELYSIAN_DROP_TROOPS.html

And so, without furthur ado, here is the article.


COMMAND SQUAD with Grav Chutes (£24)

Initial Impressions:
My order was despatched very quickly and I recieved it only two days after having ordered it. I was highly pleased with this and surprised by how light it was. The whole box probably weighed less than 500g (That's about 1lb for you Yanks I think). Opening the box did not take me very long at all :) inside were my miniatures (yay!) along with bases, instructions and forgeworld catalogue.

Contents:
The Command Squad consists of one of each of eight sprues (nine with the grav chutes) these are labelled A, D, E, F, G, H, T, U (and AA). I'll go through each of these with pics over the next few pages. It should be noted that there is very little flash at all on these (see small trails between torsos in picture below) and they are very easy to clean up with a few minor mold lines needing a modelling knife.
Sprue A:

From left to right, holds all five torsos for the squad (two of these are hunched forward - I'm guessing for running and carrying poses) and three are upright. There are only these two types of torso - there are no variations between them other than the hunching (I guess that's why they call it a "Uniform" though). Lastly, there is a Lasgun being held upright (i.e. no need for a supporting left arm - could be used to provide a pointing Lt. with a lasgun rather than the laspistol). My guess would be that this is the standard torso sprue for the Elysians and when you buy a full 10 man squad you get two of them. I would go on to speculate that for the 6 man squads a sixth torso is provided on one of the other sprues - but we'll find out in good time.

Sprue A reverse shot

Sprue D:

From Left to Right: Voxcaster head (with fragile arial), Voxcaster, Right arm throwing grenade, Left Pointy arm (again with the fragile...), Left Hand holding Demo Charge and two pairs of standing legs. A little more flash on this sprue than some of the others. No real problem though as it's not really connected to the models... I was happy to get the demo charge with this set as it was not mentioned on the website (must be another standard sprue - 1 new demo charge for my bitz box).

Sprue D reverse shot
Sprue E:

Standard leg sprue I'm guessing. From Left to right: kneeling while leaning back legs, running legs (will be a pain to stick to a base without pinning), braced standing legs and normal kneeling legs. I was a little disappointed to have two pairs of kneeling legs (I know, I know - people have been crying out for these) as I prefer to have the option of having squads all standing up and saving the kneelers for heavy weapons. Mind you, once I get some heavy weapons I'm sure I may have some standing legs spare...
Sprue E reverse shot

Sprue F:

Excluding the five water bottles, from Left to Right: Shouting head (I'll use for my Lt.) Grimacing head, Impassive Head, another Grimacing head (same as before as far as I can tell - hard lives these Elysians must lead) and a Sneering Head ('cos they're elite don't you know). I like the heads - they have obviously paid extra attention to these as a focal point for the model and despite the fact that the helmets are all the same ("Uniform" again, these guys don't mess about with chin straps undone like the Cadians - they've obviously seen Starship Troopers) the faces are different enough to ensure some variation.

Sprue G:

OK worst shot of the lot here. It's only the shoulderpads though so you aren't missing much. Lots of flash on this one but then they are tiny...

Sprue H:

Bit of a bad angle on this shot too. What you are seeing there are sheathed combat knives interspersed with grenades-and-ammo-packs (I think you are meant to snip the sprue between them before sticking them on ;-) )

Sprue T:
From Left to Right: Lasgun arm and corresponding supporting arm, second Lasgun arm and corresponding supporting arm, (gap - see below), Meltagun and two supporting arms (I'm not that fond of the way the right arm seems to cradle the handle rather than holding it - you'll see what I mean when you see the pics of my squad so far), Lt. shoulderpad - With Skull and Wings IG symbol (nice touch - teeny-tiny though). The gap is from where a lasgun arm (shown just below the sprue in the picture) has been removed. I think it came this way on purpose as the instructions have a big cross through the part (I guess it is for another set - nice of them to still chuck in in though).

Sprue T reverse shot - sorry for the blurry

Sprue U (above)
Left to Right: Right hand Laspistol arm, left hand with clenched fist, laspistol holster (empty - of course, he's holding the laspistol), monocular (telescope basically), two bipod legs for the melta (a touch flimsy - more that they are going to drop off than snap though), medpack with blanket, ammo pack, pouches.

And lastly Sprue AA (above)
Grav Chutes (if you buy 'em - saves you £4 if you don't) there were 6 of these but as per Sprue T I think they cut it off to show that you don't need it for the kit (does make me wonder why they didn't do that for the demo charge though... ). I like the grav chutes. Some people don't. I feel they add some balance to the model and that they fit the tech level quite well. They don't look too wimpy because they are not meant to be jump packs - just to slow a fall (that's my take on them anyway).

Conclusions:
Well, were they worth £24? I'd have to say yes - just about. The level of detail on them is amazing. No plastic Games Workshop model comes close in my opinion and probably none of the metal either. Of course, you save yourself 20% just by dropping the grav chutes so that is worth thinking about. Will I be buying more? definately. Can't decide between a squad or a sentinal. Probably should go with the squad if I want to get a viable force done any time soon but I really like the design of the sentinal... really. You're still reading? ...or did you just skip to the end? If you are, you might like to check out my progress with these guys here.

Welcome!

Hey folks, not much here yet, but I'm working on it... soon soon soon...