Caution When Assembling the GK Termies

As I mentioned before, I got to build the GK Terminator/Paladin set for my LGS.  I finished them up this afternoon and here are some warnings and notes on assembling them.

First off, the instructions are flat-out wrong on several cases.  The instructions tell you certain torsos go with certain legs but they're wrong.  The fiddly bits on the front of the torso such as purity seals, chains and bones get in the way on certain pairings.  Furthermore at least one of the arms doesn't fit properly on the body at all with the shoulder pad and Storm Bolter.  You should glue all the torsos together front to back, then test each one individually with the legs to see which go best together.

Also, be sure to dry fit!  It will help you make sure your arms are glued properly if you know which ones fit where and in which poses.  GW's figures are getting more and more complicated (which is good aesthetically) but it makes modeling a bit more difficult.  Always dry fit before gluing.

Also you're allowed to take two heavy weapons per 5 guys but the kit only has one heavy weapon arm (I'm pretty sure it didn't anyway, now that I returned the leftover sprues I realize I didn't really look through the extra arms, but I'm fairly confident that there's only one).  It would be very easy to convert a second out of a leftover Storm Bolter arm, but it's kind of annoying that you have to do so.

Now for the good.  There are a ton of options.  I believe that every single close combat option is on the sprues (yes, there are 5 pairs of Falchions).  There are also a ton of leftover bits.  If you're creative you could probably get another box of regular Terminators and convert them up into GKs (you'd be short shoulderpads but there's enough leftover heads, weapons and tilting shields to make up for it).

Also, these kits are packed with detail.  You will be very busy painting these guys.

Building the GK Paladin/Terminator Kit

So in addition to the Dreadknight, I get to build the GK Terminator/Paladins.  I'm going to be building them all differently for proper wound allocation shenanigans, but I just wanted to show you all how much stuff comes on the sprue.  These sprues are packed with bits, and every item is covered in detail.  Remember a while back when Space Hulk came out and we were all blown away with the level of detail and character on each Terminator?  It seems like the GK kits are the scions of that style.  I'm going to start building them tomorrow, here's what I'm thinking:

1 Apothecary
1 with Psycannon
1 with Incinerator
1 with Force Stave
1 with Banner

I really want to use the Falchions though, so if anyone can make a better suggestion for me on how to build them that would be appreciated.  This is mostly for display purposes so competitiveness isn't really the issue here.  Also if you have any questions about what's on the sprues let me know.

Oh, and for magnetizing purposes it should be pretty much like magnetizing your standard Terminator.

The Difficulty in Magnetizing a Dreadknight

I got to build the Dreadknight for my LGS.  While building it, I considered magnetizing the weapon options.  Since it's not mine I didn't do it, but if you want to do it for yourself there's a couple of major difficulties.  It's possible but very difficult.  Seems like a lot of GW kits these days are like that.

First off there's only two gun bodies with three options.  You have to magnetize all three barrels and ammo feeds which is a chore into itself.  Then you have to magnetize the gun body onto the arm which is complicated as illustrated above.  The servo arm locks into the gun, which in turn runs through the ammo feeds.  This is not a task for beginners.

Fortunately the hands are easier.  Make sure you set the magnet inside the arm before you glue it together.  It includes two right hands with three options.  It is possible to just magnetize the fingers on so you can use all three options.  I didn't glue it in because the hex arrangement fits pretty well without a magnet.

There's a piece that I can't identify.  I read through the instructions 3 times but I couldn't find where piece 75 (in the middle) goes.  It's not listed in the extras like the included purity seals and Terminator Honors. It looks important.  If anyone knows please let me know.

I would love to paint this thing up for the store but there's no way I could do it in a reasonable timeframe.  So tonight it leaves my hands but if you have any questions about the sprues themselves I'll be glad to answer them.  I might be able to get ahold of the GK squads, both the power armor and termies.

Old Stuff Day

Here's my links for Old Stuff Day:

Brother Claudio from Space Hulk.  One of the finest minis I've painted and without a single comment.

The correct plural of codex.  One of my most viewed pages yet so few people do it right.

My Barbed Hierodule.  My first appearance on the Tuesday Top 10.

Painting the Blastscape.  Quit whining how it's vacuum formed and paint it properly.

The Malanthrope.  One of my favorite FW models, and painted quite nicely I might add!  Excuse the bad photography, I've gotten better.

A humorous look at the comment section of a famous wargaming website.  Some of the jokes are a bit dated but it's entertaining nonetheless.  One guy thought the post was real and quoted my fake rumor without linking back to the source or even giving credit.  LOLs were had by all (except for him).

My first Fire Prism!  I've had that model for a long long long long time, back in 2nd edition and I finally painted it.  It was the first vehicle I painted in my 40k renaissance.  Now if I could just paint the rest of the stuff I bought back in 2nd...

Getting Two Models From One Kit

We all like to get the most model for our money.  A recent trend with GW kits is a multi-kit, a kit which can make several models.  Examples include the Fire Prism/Nightspinner, Screaming Bell/Plague Furnace, and more recently the Plagueclaw Catapult/Warp Lightning Cannon.

In some cases it's easy to magnetize the two kits like the Prism/Nightspinner, or difficult to magnetize in the case of the Bell/Furnace.  But in this case with the PCC/WLC I figured I could go beyond magnetizing it and actually split the kit into two models.  There are several pieces that the kit shares to make this difficult, but with some creativity it's easy to overcome.

As you can see, I removed the Warpstone counterweight.  This is the most obvious shared part of the kit, as well as the two metallic collars for the Warpstone.  I replaced it with the head of a standard from a Plague Monk kit, some jewelry chain and an old plastic gear I found laying around.  I wrapped the chain around a brass rod, stuck the gear on then fit it in between the struts.  I don't think it would actually function in real life, but that's the beauty of Skaven creations, the more slapadash they look the better they are.  If you're wondering how it fires, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself, "It's just a game, I should really just relax."

This has nothing to do with the conversion, but I head swapped two of the crew members with Plague Monk heads.  It's run by Plague Monks, they wouldn't wear gas masks.  They embrace the plague!  I had to shave the neck a bit to make it fit, and it's slightly larger than it should be but I don't care.  It's a walking rat-man, realism is kind of a moot point.  I left the armored crew member with a gas mask, I figured he's the Skryre representative who does all the complicated runnings of the machine.

Here's a close up of the gear/chain assembly.

Now I have left over the entire cannon assembly.  I'm technically missing the support bar which is the firing arm of the catapult, but I don't think the cannon needs it aesthetically.  I just have to mount the cannon on something, convert some crew and I'm set.  I'm considering mounting it on the back of a Rat Ogre, or building a frame out of sprues.  With Fantasy 'Ard Boyz coming up I may end up taking both models which means I'd better get to work on it.  Stay tuned!

Tyranid Harpy Conversion

After months of this thing sitting on my desk it's finally done.  The most difficult part of this conversion was trying to make matching left and right venom cannons.  I'm still not satisfied with them, maybe I should have mounted them on the wings.  Oh well.  I'm not going to do any more work on it though.

Literary Influences on Warhammer 40k

Here's a selection of books that have greatly influenced the Warhammer universe that we know and love.

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien:  This influence is more evident in the Fantasy universe, but 40k still has the archetypical Men, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs in space.

Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe:  This series of 4 books (and its coda, Urth of the New Sun) is set in the far future.  Technology is stagnated in this series and the world is dying.  The similarities seem superficial, but the terms Wolfe used were borrowed heavily by 40k.  Though none of the terms are coined words (Wolfe likes to use archaic terms for things), it's no coincidence that many of them appear in the 40k universe.  They include Carnifex, Lictor, Autarch, Zoanthrope and Terminus Est (the name of Typhus's flagship).  There's even mention of a weapon which suspiciously seems like a power weapon.

Dune by Frank Herbert:  Now we're getting into the heavy influence.  There's enough here for a whole post dedicated to this book alone.  To begin, there is a guild of Navigators who guide ships through interstellar flight.  The word lasgun comes from this book.  Later on there is a God-Emperor.  Thinking machines are prohibited.  At one point, technology and mankind become stagnated.  I haven't read this series in a while so I've probably missed many similarities, this is merely what I can remember.

Honorable mention goes to Starship Troopers.  I haven't read it but from what I hear it's got some similarities.

So what are some other books that have obviously influenced the game that I need to put on my reading list?


All images from Amazon.com