Kitbash: Ork Boy Upgrades and Such & Such

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Kinda. OK, funny story. I kinda wanted to talk about the Armageddon Boyz first. Those are the new hotness, or at least the lukewarm hotness. A marked-down sausage roll, if you will? However, I kinda wanted my existing Boyz modernised too, which would be a faster way of getting a rules legal force. So I did them first. But, due to unfortunate circumstances my regular opponent had to cancel, and I had real life issues too. So I didn't get to play or indeed finish them during my week off. But I didn't want to fall behind on the blog,  this has gone from a tangent to it's own article. Lucky you, dear reader.

 

As it stands, I'd imagine a lot of people with pre-existing Ork armies are currently doing busywork to make their Boyz match the new datasheet. For me, this means adding a burna, big shoota, and ammo runt to each mob, while also putting the nob on a bigger base. You may also need to give the Nob a kombi-weapon of some kind, as these now replace the sluggas they used to carry. As I tended to give my nobs big choppas, this is less of an issue for me, but I'm still gonna have one guy as a "counts as". However, with Burnaboyz now gone, and the Nob unit being totally redesigned, I had a few existing burnas and runts ready to go.

The new boyz with big shootas are mainly salvaged from an abandoned killteam project, one based around dakka. They feature four varieties of big gun, one kitbashed, and one metal piece. Meanwhile, the new Ammo Runts were older grot plastics bodged together with assorted stowage. You don't really need much more than a gretchin, a big sack, a some bullets to make an ammo runt. These were then painted in my usual manner, although I did try to mix up the colour choices.  The nobs were carefully re-based by trimming the lip from their 32mm base, placing them atop a 40mm, and filling the gap. This proved be an imprecise method, one with the first base fighting back, and one nob just coming off. It worked alright I suppose, although this did highlight the difference in proportions between old and new style Orks.  It will do.

Up next: batch painting?

Plamo: The Big Mek Dakkarig (Armageddon Release)

 

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Today, we focus on the only actually new thing in the Armageddon box: the Big Mek Dakkarig.

 

Ordinarily, I'd like to place a model such as this in its proper, or proppa, context, but the Dakka Rig is so new as to almost lack one. It's simply, and obviously, a gatling gun on legs. It's all about the Dakka, it's in the name. Perhaps it will gain said context with the 11th edition codex. I don’t know, I didn’t get the book until this model was done, and its only had rules in general for a matter of mere weeks. It seems to be positioned as a de-facto HQ choice for Dreadbash and Mek-centric armies, as it's the personal conveyance of a Mekboy. Other than putting a lot of bullets into something, it also carries rokkits, but unlike ever other Ork walker, it's mêlée functions are kinda minor. More importantly though, this is very much within my hyper-fixations, which is why I put off doing it until now.

As a build, this is very much in the same fixed pose style as everything else in the Armageddon box, if maybe less irritating due to the larger size. This still is a case where you're gonna need sub assemblies, some gap-filling as it turned out late in the process, most notably with the Mek whom needed painting separately. In three different parts because he's grabbing the controls with both hands. In all fairness though, that's as annoying as any of it got, because a rusty scrap robot is so massively within my comfort zone that it's like a soft cushion. I added a few extra panels, greeblies, and roughed it up, before doing all the major colours in a lazy afternoon.  I find that doing metals is so much more immediately gratifying than infantry, and this project was a gentle confirmation of that. Then came the Mek, and assorted details, before washing and basing. I had wanted to use to a transfer on the banner, but realised too late that I didn’t have a suitable one. So I freehanded a rather-bad “Kan” gylph. That’s the symbol for ork walkers that sometimes looks like a robot doing the robot. It looks more like a cheeky gremlin thing, but its fine.  A bit of whimsy. I also tried using old, dried-out mud paint to make new mud paint, which produced some nice textures. The whole thing came out quite well. And eventually, I got the codex.

As I now have the codex, and it has been collectively discussed to death, how do I feel about it? Well, I'm not fond of how this codex and indeed 11th in general have been communicated. Those data cards I got in the Armageddon box? Aged like milk. The Ork codex looked, if anything, over-tuned, but then news broke of Marines experiencing an even more extreme rebuild, loosing a bunch of units into the bargain. It follows that every faction will receive a similar revamp, but as this is being done via a codex cycle, not the index method, it's gonna take a while. As a result, game balance will be unstable for a long time, not least because marines are half the game. Furthermore, there is a trend for the initial codexs of an edition to be cautious and maybe a little awkward as the designers feel things out. So however impressive Orks look now, it may well be a different story next year. I acknowledge that there is a strong "First World Problems" feel to the above comments, but this is still a very rough transition from 10th, as it's not a clean break. More like unpicking stitches from a wound. It makes me disinclined to any deep analysis until things settle. And they took a bunch of units away too, and faffed with the Battlewagon again. That said, let's talk some positives. I do like the modularity of the detachment system. I mostly play at 1k, so having the vast majority be 1DP is good for me. I like how the designers seem to have gone out of their way to make most weapon options valid, a topic I've had a lot to say about in the past. I don't think they got it 100% right, but it's a lot harder to dislike big shootas now. The presentation is pretty solid, as is the rules language. So, generally a good first impression.

Up next: Probably some Boyz.

Plamo: Primaris Intercessors (the Armageddon ones)

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Here, I’m trying some beakies.

It is a self-evident truth that everyone involved in 40k, will have, at some point, painted a space marine. It's just a thing that happens, like playing Ryu in the latest Street Fighter game or buying white sliced bread. I'm not gonna say I have hard numbers, but when half the game, a majority of starter sets, and the entire Horus Heresy setting prominently feature marines, it's a thing that happens. Invariably, these form the basis of somebody's first army, and/or sold on to bulk out someone-else's force, and/or sold on to start the cycle anew. And just as invariably, those marines are the basic troops choice of the time, in this case, Intercessors. AKA the unpopular and "boring ones". Marine players always seem to have a bit of resentment towards their rank and file. I suspect part of it is, is that basic marines aren't great at killing other marines, which is most of the game. Although that may be changing soon. Or everyone just runs to the cool stuff that kills other stuff best. Good thing these are a modeling project first.

As I said way back when I started Project Legs11, I was concerned about pacing and burn out. At time of writing I had been working on the Armageddon box for about a month, and had done some of the more interesting Ork stuff, but the impending Ork releases gave me pause. I had time off for TFN, so marines instead. And just the Intercessors so I get a handle on the Crimson Fists colour scheme. I had some problems though with assembly. One leg somehow vanished, another had a breakage, so I opted for a squad of five rather than ten. Lest I loose my temper and undermine any therapeutic value in this. This largely proved to be a good call, at least until I managed to glue one to the table. And then the “big real life issue” hit and my  motivation basically evaporated, my progress becoming slow and irregular. So, as a mental health maintenance exercise, this was something of a washout. I'm not a fan of how these went together, and I'm not really looking forward to the Boyz.

 

Anyway, I eventually got over that. I'd done some research, and Crimson Fists looked to be a fairly no-fuss colour scheme, that might work with my preferred trench brown undercoat. I opted to overbrush Kantor Blue on the model, it's like dry brushing but less selective, before going in to pick out specifics like the undersuit and gun. The backpacks were kept separate until after the overbrush to simplify matters. Once the big colours were done, and some the fiddly bits, a Nuln Oil wash was applied, followed by a light drybrush of Macragge Blue, and basing. This worked well enough, I suppose. As a colour scheme test. In so far as getting a table-ready standard. When marines consist mainly as one block colour, as they do here, the main difficulties become getting that colour right, and the fiddly bits. I’m not totally happy with the blue, but its fine as first attempt. But the fiddly bits were just kind of annoying. That’s why I skipped transfers and squad markings at this stage, as in addition to the transfers being a limited resource, I didn’t want the hassle. My style is, perhaps, a bit sloppy for marines. That said, if I wanted hassle-free models in one block colour, I’d have probably chosen something from the Silver Drybrush Brigade. The point was to mix things up, after all, I can get better. I’ll hopefully come back to these at some point.

I wrapped this in mid-August, shortly after my decision to pause the blog. In between that and publication, the hype cycle for the new Ork Codex finally began, long after that leak. And then much of it leaked before the preorder. By the time this goes up, the codex will have been out for 24 hours, I got mine at closing time last night, and we’ll all have a solid idea of what’s happened, but its clear the Orks have been reworked from top to bottom. As have the marines. The implications of all this will be massive. I'll decline to comment more deeply than that just now, as I'm not able to match the news cycle, and I don't want to just parrot the opinions of other people. And I got sick of rewriting this bit. Commentary will follow once I've actually read it, but I do like what they've done with the Kans...

 

 

That said, about the modelling side. The Boyz unit got a lot more complicated, but thanks to that earlier leak I'd got a lot of the necessary gubbins together to update existing units, and expand the newer Armageddon Boyz. There is a grand kitbash tradition to draw on here. Big Shootas are pretty easy to do; if you don't have a whole Ork with one lying around, you just put a barrel extension on a regular Shoota. Rokkits are doable if you have a tube and/or suitable bead for the warhead. Think bazooka or panzer faust. For the Ammo Runts you need a grot and a sack or box of some kind. Burnas are a touch trickier, but if you have a humie flamer, some wire and an oilcan you are probably OK. Or you can just use Burnaboyz now they’ve been sadly removed. I will. What ultimately defied my bitzbox, and possibly everyone, was the Boss Nob. And indeed the dedicated Nob unit. Through a deeply curious oversight and/or suspicious marketing choice, these don't carry sluggas anymore. Only the assorted kombi-weapons and kustom shootas which had been unpopular in 10th ed because they blocked out all of the melee options. In terms of boss nobs, this would be an easy errata, or a modest inconvenience for what I already field. I tend to use boss nobs with two-handed big choppas, and that’s still a legal option. But Nobz Mobz got a complete rewrite, and so a complete rebuild there is obviously needed. I’ll do the boyz first.

 

 

Up next: The Dakka Rig, the codex, and probably some boyz.

Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Tecprot 01

I will admit to having a bit of a streak of disappointing/troubled mecha projects of late. Nothing terrible, but little that provided a sense of achievement or therapeutic relaxation. So I thought, fuck it, back within my comfort zone for a pallet cleanser. Just before I moved on to other things.

 

The Tecprot 01 is yet another 30MM mecha, so you probably should know what to expect by now. Especially as it features the first generation joint sprue and a very Alto look to it. It's a touch less technically impressive than the Iglight, but it's notably bulkier without noteworthy loss in articulation. The vibe is muscular rather than just big, an important distinction as this 01 variant is very cop coded. It's a two-tone blue riot cop, with a transparent riot shield, and some plugin armour bits. The proportions suggest all-round fitness rather being top-heavy or security guard fat. It's not dissimilar to the Alto, and not as heavy as a Rabiot, think a slightly rounded middle ground between those two. It also features grenade launcher, hinting at tear gas, and an additional visor which folds down, but no Roy Roy sadly. A truncheon would have helped with the vibe TBH. It's 02 variant by the way is in military green with a sniper scope, and trust me I could talk for days about the politics of that comparison, but let's stay on topic. I really like how the shield is executed, it's easier to pose than the Levinix shield as it has a handle, although the weight of the shield proved troublesome during photography. Maybe thicken that handle and wrist joint? The translucent aspects in general work nicely, although I'm less fond of the grenade launcher being cast in blue. All in all? A pretty good, no fuss robot kit.

I did my usual weathering job here, using a selection of metallic paints. I picked out the grenade launcher, assorted vents, and thrusters, before applying an ink wash. I avoided the translucent segments where possible, people would be more inclined to clean those. Turned out pretty good. With a rather noticeable backside.

I will admit to moving that later on...

My Time at TFNation July 2026

 

OK, maybe this is gonna be a bit different. At time of writing, its Monday, not long back from Birmingham, and I’m thinking how I should write up this convention. I've been back and forth; I actually rewrote this at one point. Normally I do a paragraph summary or similar, mentioning what I did each day, and how my travel was. Maybe I would make references to (attempted) socialising. And maybe I talk about how it was on the Toy-Fu table. And all those can be easily touched on, and fit previous patterns. But mainly what happened was that I was both very-very preoccupied, and very-very busy. There’s an ongoing real life thing that I can’t really go into just now, a family matter. This was playing on my mind for most of the Saturday, despite my best efforts to not to let it spoil the event, and pull my weight. What also happened on the Saturday was that Toy-Fu had the best day ever, at the busiest TFN ever. So, very busy, stressed, and distracted, all while trying to do a good job. What helped with all that was friendship. Thank heavens for my friends, especially those that I shared the matter with, and the generally good vibes of the TFN crowd. Ultimately though, my convention experience largely was the stall experience. Not the first time that happened, now that I think of it, but between the demand, we were a person short, and my own feelings, I was more aware of it happening. So, I’m not going to go into the convention experience here, as most of it for me was either trapped-in-my-own-head or doing my bit for charity. If you took at look at the Unicron Trilogy or Beast Wars sections, the odds are I served/loomed-over you. Or tried to sell you that Beast Machines Cheetor. A net positive on the weekend though, and we did some good on the Toy-Fu stall/aisle/annex/Solemnace Galleries. And people were generous too, with their donations.

As is traditional though, I got stuff, and I will now give a few comments on my haul. Definitely more cars and actual Transformers than I was expecting...

Upper/center: Transformers Energon Landmine. Yes, Transformers Energon now counts as retro. Why this guy? Well, A) he turns into a combat engineer vehicle, and B) look at him. 

Center-left: Transformers/HotWheels GT-Scorcher. Probably the best of the 2nd wave of these collaborations, although I’m not sure if he’s Bone Shaker good. 

Center-right: Transformers/HotWheels El Segundo Coupe. Not bad at all, but undermined by some Q.C issues. Named for a city in California, apparently.

Center: Transformers Age of the Primes Sureshot & Spoilsport: I’m not gonna say the set is that bad, but its not selling really the deluxe pricepoint. I got them cheap though.

8 O'clock: A decoy Galvatron gifted by a generous and talented person whom does not use social media.

7 O'clock: A Skywarp badge gifted by the generous and talented @jakelab.bsky.social.

6 O'clock: An adorable sticker by the talented @claudovel.bsky.social, themed around chili sauce and Ratchet.

5 O'clock: An extremely adorable Grimlock key-chain, also by the talented Claude.
 

Some of these may end up as blog articles, I’ll see how I go. I am running a bit behind. On that subject: HOUSEKEEPING.

Due to the aforementioned prolonged real life matters, I will shortly will be pausing blog updates. An article will go live on Sunday the 16th as usual, after-which updates will halt, and regular service will resume on September the 6th. Hopefully things will have stabilised by then. I need to take some pressure off from somewhere.

Cheers for now. 

Transformers: Energon Tow-Line is Something That Exists

 Hey, its TFNation weekend! Here's a Transformer.

 

While I will no-doubt be buying more this weekend, I've been considering a clear out of my Transformers collection. A modest downsize. I’m trying to be more financially responsible, and my interest is on a bit of an ebb. That said, such an exercise is always good for reminding you what you actually value in your collecting. These days I find it's not so much the characters, as the toys themselves and a sense of novelty. You have to have a very good writer and a very fresh take for me to latch onto a specific iteration of a Transformer, and that hasn't really happened since Siege started. That's probably indictment of the state of transformers media, but truthfully, some of the toys I've enjoyed the most spring from lines with terrible media. Or toys that frankly have no media presence to really speak of. Like Tow-Line. Tow-Line is a weirdo.
 

 

Tow-Line, he of the inconvenient hyphen, hails from Transformers: Energon, the 20th anniversary series. He didn't appear in the famously awful cartoon, the comic was canceled, and had only a token Japanese release, so he's largely a blank slate. Tow-Line is a homage to some 80's concepts, but like a lot of his line, it's not a direct interpretation. There was always some remixing going on, as opposed to today, where apparently everything must be screen accurate at all costs. Here we have the play pattern of the Diaclone vans that became Ironhide and Ratchet, while also taking visual elements from Skids, a less well known minvan dude. But it also has the visual stylings and line wide gimmicks of the time. Preempting the Missing Link releases by two decades, Tow-Line separates from a TV van into a robot and a battle platform, a feature so rare as to be basically unique. And obviously it led to a couple of G1-inspired Botcon releases. But he can also do the Energon Star thing, Mini-Cons and binary combination common to Autobots of his time. Including, with himself, becoming some kind of a robotic centaur. Like I said, Tow-Line is a weirdo. But this is something so often absent from more modern toys, not merely replicating, but adding.

Does this make Tow-Line a great toy, or failing that, a good one? Well, I would point to some weaknesses in the execution that suggest this may have benefited from a second pass or a larger price point. The accessory isn't great, it's a translucent block that when unfolded looks more like a metal detector than an actual weapon. It got posable sensor dishes, although the translucent material is a worry there, and this dates from a time when missile launchers were standard issue, so it's not great. Its also worth saying that you only get the one accessory, meaning one half of this affair can go looking a little plain. Granted, this is from a toyline that's big on interactivity between releases, but it would have helped if there was was two, more conventional, guns instead. The robot mode isn't bad, but has odd proportions, and omits the waist joint for combination purposes. It is otherwise a pretty decent deluxe equivalent with a lot of character, functional articulation, and memorable play features, like combining with himself. It doesn't quite match your typical Siege style deluxe when it comes to posing, but it is not as limited as some of it's kin, and has nothing to apologise for when it comes to visuals and paint.  My example is play worn, dusty, and is starting to demonstrate the downsides of translucent plastic, but has a presence. Because he’s a weirdo.

All in all, Tow-Line is an interesting deluxe, made charming in spite, and because of, it's flaws. There's clearly something in there for the Geewunners, but it's not chasing Sunbow. There's new ideas. Are all of these ideas flawlessly executed? No, but nothing that counts as a net negative. He's good on his own terms, and he gets better if you've got other Energon toys. He's a weirdo, but he's my weirdo, and you don't get many weirdos these days. I mean, the Thirteen Primes tried, but they didn't pull it off. So I'm probably not parting with this one.

 

Plamo: The Armageddon Kommand Krew (kinda)

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. After a vehicle, now for some HQ type guys.

OK, an explanation. This isn't the Kommand Krew just yet. But it will be. These models will be released separately from the Armageddon box, under that name. Which is great if you missed out, and it's a convenient way to get some character models. On the other hand, it does mean you're  locked into three specific models, with no equipment options, and you may not want all of them. Personally, these three were something I wanted, but there's one you'd obviously want over the others, the Painboy. If you're running a lot of Boyz, you probably will be wanting several of these to gain the desirable Feel No Pain rule. The other two are maybe more niche. Returning from Legends with a new name, the Bannernob seems to be competing with the Painboy for a support slot. He likewise significantly buffs the durability of the unit he joins, just differently, and has a lot of OC. The Bigboss meanwhile is something that's been missing for maybe 8 whole editions, possibly longer than many players have been alive, a lesser Warboss comparable to a Primaris Lieutenant. There used to be grades of Warboss, and this provides an inexpensive alternative.

Now, as models these are a mixed bag, if pretty. The fundamental downsides of fixed pose GW infantry are very much on show here. Admittedly nice to look at, the sculpts seem hostile to customisation, while  being so individual that fielding multiples would look odd. The Painboy was particularly irritating here, with that outlandish overarm pose, that delicate cable, and I managed to break the Grot Orderly. These all peg into the bases, and the force required caused me to snap his foot off at the ankle. I fixed this, and added a shoulder pad to the Painboy. He's kinda scrawny otherwise, with a peg leg and an ill-defined power klaw equivalent. He's the problem child of the set. The Bigboss was a touch more conventional, accepting a headswap and a new bosspole with minimal difficulty. The new head is off an old metal nob, and doesn't perfectly match the proportions or pose, but works well enough. He doesn't look flashy, and I i wonder if he's due more weapon options later, but he does look like a Warboss in waiting. Maybe he's born with it, maybe it's the tactical rock. The Bannernob almost got a headswap too, but the bandoleer complicated matters. I actually ended up removing details here instead, taking off the topknot and tassels for a simpler look. Sometimes less is more. He also has an even bigger tactical rock than the Bigboss, which would be problematic to replace as his toecaps are cast in the same piece. Also, due to a typo, my Bannernob is now called BannerBOB.

 

Painting was interrupted by real life issues and the resulting exhaustion, and was done in the same style as the rest of this project. I don't want to get into the specifics, but I've been very distracted. The main issue here was the banner, which would require either transfers or some serious free handing. There's a few glyphs sculpted in, but otherwise it's clan agnostic. That's good, otherwise I would probably discarded it, but it was a challenge requiring further research. I eventually settled for a white fabric for the purposes of contrast, where I lucked out with a pre-existing paint on the first try. It's a dirty off-white, not a good bright white, but works well enough for my style. I tend attempted a freehand logo, and some transfers, to mixed success on both. That said, all of these are fine as gaming pieces, really coming good towards the wash stage.

  

In other news, further details about the new Boyz kit came to light while I was working on these, prompting a rewrite of this paragraph. Things seem to have gone a bit kill team, with a lot more unit options, and special rules. In addition to the shoota thing, a Boyz mob will now routinely feature an ammo runt, and multiple ranged weapon upgrades, without sacrificing their choppas. This obviously makes the Armageddon Boyz less desirable, and notably increases the modernization work required for my existing units. As my bitzbox is huge, and my boneyard significant, so I'm pretty sure I've got this covered. But my concerns about dull, busy work have been more than justified. Gonna need to pace myself, especially with the real life situation being uncertain just now.

Up next: Maybe Intercessors as a change of pace? 

Transformers: Collaborative Gigawatt is Something That Exists

Hmm, a thought occurs. Do young people actually care about the Back to the Future films? How much actually needs to be said here? I mean, it was basically everywhere in the 80's, and the VHS boom, but nobody seems to have tried to reboot it yet, or add another cinematic sequel. Thank god. I think the last time it was relevant though when reality caught up to the space year 2015, which had been the future seen in the second film. So, let's keep to the big picture stuff. The Back to the Future trilogy was an extremely popular movie series, that did much to popularise time travel as a narrative device. If you're doing baby's first time travel episode, you're probably touching the same points BTTF did. Or just doing a Terminator pastiche. It's also one of those stories that seems deeply nostalgic for America of the 1950's as opposed to the more interesting decades on either side of that, and is also very-very 80's. Probably more 80's than Transformers is as a brand. A collaboration in the form of this toy perhaps isn't a shock, then. But I do wonder what the licensing deal was like...

Righty, Gigawatt is the second of the modern run of transformers crossovers, parent, or at least an uncle, to those rather pleasing Hot Wheels releases. This example I have here is from the later re-release for the 40th anniversary, and possibly the less desirable one. The originals had a supposedly limited run of 1985, heh, and there’s some packaging differences I can't be arsed to get into. It's a nice retro styled box BTW, just wanted to say that somewhere. Said box also presents the toy in vehicle mode, which is quite obviously where most of the effort went. It's an almost perfect representation of the DMC DeLorean time machine as it is seen in the first and second films, depending on where you put the accessories and what you do with the wheels. There is a noticeable absence of the DeLorean logo, maybe a shame there, but more pressing is the case of visible head syndrome. Otherwise it's pretty much perfect, and I don't feel like putting the films on to double check. It's got the numberplate and everything, with lots of paint. Rather than simply a replica however, there's play features beyond rolling wheels, folding wheels in fact, for the future tech flight mode. The wheels like to pop off a lot, but there's a useful port for a figure stand there.There's also a plugin "Mr Fusion", and a bumpercar type pole for recreating the climax of the first film. The gull wing doors are present too. Meanwhile, the gun for the robot mode unobtrusively plugs in behind the front lights. So, in so far as deluxe sized cars circa 2020 go, this is rather nice, although we shouldn't forget the crossover premium at play here, and so this cost rather more than a deluxe.

 

With the transformation we discover the meaningful weaknesses of the toy though. Gigawatt is a retool of the aggressively overused Siege Sideswipe mould, and if you didn't know that going in, the transformation would probably give it away. There are new steps added to the process, involving the front wheels and chest plate, but these seem to have added problems. As mentioned, those wheels like to pop off a lot, and the chest was so stiff at first I thought I was doing something wrong. Paint chipping and wear is reportedly an issue for that area too. Otherwise the retooling isn't actually bad, and mould degradation isn't a factor, but it has implications for the robot mode. 

Said robot mode has both character and the fundamentals, in a black and gray colour scheme. It's got a very wide chest, with a flux capacitor front and center, providing much visual interest. The head sculpt seems to be wearing Doc Brown's goggles, but the face isn’t him. If anything, it's like a deeply forgettable comics character called Wrung. It is here where the Sideswipe comparisons become unavoidable, as an awful lot is used unchanged, and often cast in a different plastic from the newer vehicle bits. A vast majority of the arms, the upper legs, pelvis and the slots for Sideswipe's shoulder launcher are all here and immediately recognisable. I would dearly love to know the practicalities of all this. Is it the case that they just reused a CAD file? Or does the Sideswipe mould have a distinct runner/sprue for the robot bits? And/or was there a lot of Sideswipe going into landfill? I wanna know the numbers!

The net effect of all this is that Gigawatt looks very generic and low key in robot mode. Yes, there's the chest plate, which makes him super-wide, but ignore that and you've got a gray and black robot who could be absolutely anyone. The black eats what detail there is, and there's a set of unpainted flux capacitors on the knees. Maybe we could have had some blue in here? Marty McFly liked his denim. On the plus side, there's a very solid set of play features, with a lot of 5mm ports and blast effect compatibility. He's got a pretty good gun, which you can plug the Mr Fusion bit into in two places. You can also use that as a "watch" in an undocumented feature. The door wings also have 5mm ports, and are a good place to stow that pole. Articulation is decent, if loosing a bit in the knees. Generally a good robot mode.

 

Gigawatt is a pleasing prop replica crafted atop a good deluxe. A deluxe that has been used far too often, yes. A deluxe that hasn’t changed that much in robot mode, yes. But it was a fundamentally good deluxe, that has new accessories, and has been made quite pretty. The value proposition is where it runs in to problems. These are generally quite expensive, and as there’s been 16 (and counting) uses of this mould, alternatives are plentiful. I however got this for £15 new, and was quite happy with it :)

Plamo: Ork Wartrakk (the Armageddon one)

And now for another installment of Project Legs11. Having done some grots as a warm-up, I moved on to the Kult of Speed.

Possibly the most nostalgic thing in the very nostalgic Armageddon box, the Wartrakk goes right back to 1st edition,  the original being cast in lead. It's one of those units that existed, at least partially, due to technical limitations of the time. Plastic moulding wasn't quite there yet, and a two seater half-track was about as big a vehicle they could cast in metal. Eventually, they got done in plastic for Gorkamorka, although these aged like milk, and we were stuck with them for donkey's years. The Ork fondness for kitbashing was largely mandatory. These were retired in favour for the Orktober buggies, so it's a surprise to see the unit back. Ruleswise it's surprisingly simple too, much more minimalist than say a Megatrakk Scrapjet. Where it is like an Orktober buggy though is it's crew. Said crew don't have any alternative heads or such, so doing three of this would get boring real quick.

As a model it's a fairly basic thing, a single runner segmented into three, and its the simplest of the vehicles in the Armageddon box set.  This obviously means it goes together quickly, but probably you're best off painting it in segments before final assembly. The driver is very much an integral part of affairs, although the gunner/rokkits may be left unglued for ease of transport, but I would decide against that later on. The complication here is that the orks simply have a lot of detail that just has to be done prior to final assembly, otherwise you can’t get a brush in there. The modularity and pushfit nature of the kit bodes well for future conversions though; if you can replace the gunner you're golden. He’s built like a nob BTW, maybe that’s a nod to the original version? I opted to head-swap the driver, and trimmed some extraneous bits off the gunner, and gave him a jerry can, to personalise this a touch. I will admit that some of these charges will driven by glue mishaps or gaps beings revealed at spraypaint stage. I'm still getting used to the pushfit style and I dislike the absence of simple, standardised connections. Your mileage may vary on that one though. I'd also make the observation that the Wartrakk has a notably hollow chassis, and seems to rely on it's connections to it's base for structural purposes. Just maybe file those pegs a bit? As getting this onto the base was a bit of a struggle.

I then undercoated and painted the kit in four segments. Thinking about it, this sort of thing would have annoyed me so much more in the past. So either I am doing better, or this is just less annoying than the Kustom Boosta-blasta or the (current/old?) warbikes. That’s not to say it wasn’t without its challenges,  and I ended up gluing the gunner into place. Despite my best efforts, painting had shifted a few tolerances, but nothing insurmountable. A good little kit, mind you. I’m happy with how it all turned out.

Up next: some character guys, but maybe something else first...

Plamo: Ork Gretchin (the Armageddon ones)

And now for an installment of Project Legs Eleven. As I work my way through the Armageddon box, I start with the smallest models to ease into things.

Worked into the Boyz sprue around the edges, these feature 5 main bodies, and 6 head/weapon pieces to personalise them. Each body can take two different combinations, which as far as pushfit monopose models go is quite acceptable. One segment even features what looks likes the star of the Grot Rebellion, which pleased me immensely. I did however lightly kitbash them anyway for the sake if variety and pride. Assembly was largely stress free, although you do have to be mindful of tiny gaps occurring between pieces, which caught me in a few places. Trim the pegs, and use the special plastic glue to melt things together. Comparisons to the Gretchin kit I've written about previously are kinda of a wash. There's an obvious technological improvement, but we're comparing pushfit to a "proper" release so it adds up to a sidegrade. Painting was largely an exercise remembering how to do this, trying not to melt in the June Heatwave, and not feeling happy with them until the inkwash stage. The details can be a bit fine as well as being small, and my old eyes had to squint. I also tried out some, heh, Armageddon dust, for the bases, as I'd picked it in a painting set and wanted to give it a go. Things are rough around the edges, but as a warm up this was quite useful. I did manage to do the eyes on most of them. I wonder what's going on with the runtherd there though…

As these are fairly simple models that were done as a shakedown, to find out if any paints had ran out, I don't have much more to say. So I'm gonna pivot to talk about the Summer Preview that happened as I was working on them.  It seems the Codex might be sooner than I expected, and we're seeing something of a paradigm shift with how units are equipped. Boyz have received a glow up on in pretty much all fronts; better stats, more weapon choices, with instances of (limited) Lethal Hits and Cleave being plentiful. This makes them a lot more offensive, and makes me wonder about their eventual unit costs. That said, giving the Shoota family of guns Lethal Hits against squishy targets was probably the minimum to make them functional. Orks will consistently find their opponents in cover and thus hit on a 6, and the probabilities just get depressing from there; upwards of 1/36 odds to wound a beakie and you'd need to do it twice. Lethal Hits would at least mean it feels like you are doing something each time, skipping a dice roll. Rokkits meanwhile have been totally reworked, and kombi-weapons have distinct stats again. I will be very interested to know how all this is priced and what you can actually have in each mob.

In related news, despite my earlier statement that I likely wouldn't need to make any more Trukks, GW has remade the trukk too. It's got more guns and more melee stuff, looking more like a mini-battlewagon. I don't thing I urgently need to replace my existing trukks, the size is about the same and I can just say it's a "counts as". But if I did? Oh. Woe is me. I'll have to scratchbuild a bunch of Ork vehicles. I am forced to do one of my absolute favourite things. How sad.

 

Up next: summat bigger.

Gunpla: The RMS-106 Hi-Zack in Master Grade

 

It's been 6ish years since I started modelling and writing about Gunpla on a frequent basis on this blog. It's never been a regular thing, but it always was a thing, especially if we count the 30 Minutes Missions stuff. And as with Transformers of late, I find myself a little bored. So, I thought, fuck it, try a cheap Master Grade as a change of pace. Inflation has meant that the value proposition has actually started to change in relation to the newest High Grades, and hopefully the larger scale makes for a different build experience. Was it? And was it any good? Ummmm.... Well, let me waffle about the design a bit before talking about the actual model.

I gave a reasonable summary of the Hi-Zack way back when I talked about the HG, and my opinion hasn't changed much in the time since. There's no compelling in universe reason why the Federation and especially the Titans, should be using this machine, and doubly so in these colours. I do like the Hi-Zack though, and for much the same reasons as I like the GM III. It looks like an aggressively overbuilt bombtruck of a thing, a design upgraded and upgunned beyond it's original specifications. I find it's flaws interesting, and it's daft place in the canon to be compelling. It's space fascism repackaged and upgraded for a new generation to fight. Possibly the most self-reverential choice a sequel could make at the time, in what would become typical for the franchise. Every Gundam series gets it's Zaku clone in it's starter kit, it's scènes à faire. And those that don't have actual Zakus instead. The Hi-Zack is the first from that template. It's just that it's got a lot of the same components. It's machine gun is literally the same as the old one, maybe not the best choice TBH, but it's been modernised with a new sensor. The heat hawk returns, but bigger, and the leg missile pods have been upgraded and moved to a waist mount. More Freddie design elements have came in via a beam rifle, beam saber, chest vents, and a forearm shield with storage for energy packs. This also leads to the most baffling thing about the Hi-Zack, it's inability to wield two beam weapons at once. That really should not have been a problem, and there's been various attempts to smooth that one out over the years, with a lot more GMs and such carrying machine guns, a better pre-production version, etc. But you have options there. There are circumstances where you don't want beam weapons, a big axe has the advantage of being a big axe, and so on.

Now, I built this kit over several weeks. Its big, fancy, and probably not worth rushing. I'd build a limb or two over a week, as while not necessarily intricate, it was time-consuming. If only due to it's bulk. As such, I've been rather back & forth and up & down with this kit, as I encountered the bits that have aged poorly. And made some dumbass mistakes. This has a 2004 copyright and feels like a big polycap High Grade, with some very HG flaws. I did not expect stickers to colour correct the toes, the right plastic colour for it is right there. Nor a waterslide decal for the monoeye. I was not pleased to see the axe was moulded in one colour only, but at least its an ignorable grey. The plastic in general is prone to cut marks, being suspiciously similar to older HGs, and I had trouble with basically everywhere. Maybe I should swallow my pride and try sanding sticks?  Moving onto the more luxurious elements worthy of the title Mastergrade: the distinctive yellow cabling. These are made with rubbery bits, with individual plastic rings, and are generally a ball ache. I lost two rings because I am a muppet, but even if there were spares, these are inherently a nuisance to prepare. Meanwhile, the articulated fingers are nice, but have the inevitable issue with actually holding things. On the positive side, I did like how the legs go together, and the accessory count, even with that there's some awkwardness with the implementation. If you want to stow the axe for example, you have to use the missile pods, while the machine gun lacks a spare drum, but the beam rifle has three energy packs. It's not bad. And it's entirely possible for a kit to be rough around the edges and still be fun, especially if it's got a lotta guns. See the Zaku I. But this honestly this was more tiresome than therapeutic a lot of the time. The kit, much like the Hi-Zack itself, is simply outdated.

Having completed the kit, and still not having found the missing rings, I opted for a weathering job to downplay my mistakes, like an actual glue mishap on the left hand. I also painted the monoeye, which moves incidentally.  Normally this is the point where I start to feel better about a troubled project, but then realised another component had gone astray, and I wasn't having a great day in the first place. Its was a bit of cabling for the upper thigh, and not immediately obvious, but another annoyance atop of a series of annoyances. Soooo, I don't think I'm a fan of Mastergrades, at least of this vintage. Not for relaxation or therapeutic purposes.

That's a downer.

Warhammer 40K: Introducing Project Legs Eleven

So here's the thing, despite some reservations, I ordered one of those 11^th edition Armageddon boxes. I hope to have it today. I could easily blame the FOMO, (new previews and rules every day!) but truthfully I needed something to do. You might also argue that a loss leader starter box that will probably take me months to finish probably isn't a bad deal. There's a lot of new Orks in it, and I'm not opposed to having a paper rulebook either. That just leaves the marines, and I had considered just flogging these on eBay, I think I'll paint some of them too. As Crimson Fists.

You may not have heard of the Crimson Fists, because they are basically the snobbish hipster's beakie chapter. Turning up occasionally to please those in the know, they were on the cover of the very first WH40k rulebook, and featured in the very first scenarios, against Orks. It went badly for them, because they accidentally blew up their own fortress monastery with an air defense missile, trying to fend off an Orkish invasion. That was a tragic accident, apparently, and I will now allow the reader to take a leisurely 5 minutes to laugh about that one. 

We good? OK, let's continue.

As a result, the Crimson Fists are mainly known for being very few in number, and having an intense hatred of Orks. Oh, and having red hands. As an Ork player, such folks amuse me as foes. And they present a potentially interesting change of pace as a modeling project. I'll see how a few feel to paint, and if I don't vibe with it I'll move the rest on. The Ork angle meanwhile is more straightforward. Their presence in the starter box bodes well for rules support, although my existing army is quite complete. Unless the codex does something notably unexpected, the new stuff here is pretty much all I want. What I expect any new Ork codex to do is give me a lot of busy work as the Boyz, Grots, and Nobz kits get refreshed, likely reflecting the example set by this launch box. It has been stated that Rokkit Launchas etc for basic Boyz aren't going anywhere, but at time of writing, I strongly suspect that I'm gonna need to rebase a few things and such. This will be dull, so having marines as a palette cleanser won't hurt.

So, I'm gonna take my time here, and be a bit more relaxed about this as a project. I'm not forcing myself to do weekly updates, but it will likely be that if things go well. I’ve still got a  modest buffer of articles, so there’s no real reason to hurry. But I am planning on the following rough steps.

Stage 1: Gretchin and New Box Smell 
It's been a hot minute since I actually painted Orks, so a gentle warm-up won't hurt. If only to discover which paints need replacing. I'll probably dry-fit a few models too, as I'll probably want to play the game soonish. Does anyone know what's happening with runtherds BTW?

Stage 2: Shinys and Maintenance - Early July
Here I pick either one of the Ork vehicles, or one or two of the characters to work on. If anything is broken, I'll fix it then, as well as modernise my army lists etc.

Stage 3: Ongoing Alternations - July/August
Having got back into the groove, I putting the more basic marines into rotation, aiming for one unit at a time. I want to avoid burnout and take my time. I will most likely batchpaint the Boyz, but that's potentially a slog that my brain would rebel against, so I gotta pace myself. If something performs well on the table though, it's probably jumping the queue.

Stage 4: Blingy Beakies and the Book - September
Assuming things like the Intercessors went OK, I now move onto the more elaborate marines. These get quite fancy, and fancy it's not something I normally do, so I want to work up to that. Otherwise, if I didn't like the beakies? The Landspeeder might get looted, and the remaining bits go on sale. By this point the ork codex will likely be imminent and any rebasing or retooling etc that needs doing can be done at this stage.

Wish me luck.