Kickstarter: Eisenkern Stormtroopers

Well look what came in the mail the other day…
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I took part in Dreamforge‘s second Kickstarter for their Leviathans.. well it was for their Leviathans, but I think the Eisenkern models got more of the attention. And no, I didn’t just get these, in fact I consolidated a number of sprues into these two boxes so that I bring them around and do the photoshoot when it’s convenient for me. I got two more support weapons set plus Wave III coming.

At any rate, this is a box opening review, I hadn’t the opportunity to put any Eisenkern together yet so I can only make limited comments on the assembly aspect. But off the cuff, it’s quite an impressive set. I’ll also be very honest here. I got these to use as renegade Imperial Guard in 40k. So, I’m not as yet interested in the game system that is to come out, but I can always make some provisions for them. Still, the main focus is to organize the miniatures according to GW ruleset.

Moving on…

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Mechwarrior Online Patch on 19 Feb 2013

Good ole Trenchbucket.

Well just a heads up, I’m playing MW:Online. have been pairing up with some friends. Not say we are the most successful bunch of oddballs but we are having fun… 🙂

Anyway, patch notes for 19 Feb 2013 are here. Some thoughts, note that I didn’t have time to get in game yet today. Addition of the Trebuchet and Alpine maps are the big items.

Le Trench Bucket

Trebuchet, I took a look over.. if it wasn’t for the dedicated Missile slots, it could look like a Hunchback clone. Only, it has the potential to go faster (and carry less stuff), and some has Jump Jets, which Hunchies don’t get at all.

With most of the weapons in the arms, it’ll likely suffer from the Centurion disease — de-arming. Centurion’s model makes it easier to de-arm the mech, so it remains to be seen how easy it is to de-arm the Trebuchet. Overall, I’m not overly impressed with the Trebuchet, but having a dedicated missile platform is opening up avenues.

Alpine

Alpine, OTOH, remains to be seen. An overhead is here. I don’t quite like the way the Eastern base is in such defensive positions, but the scale of the map is not shown. By repute, it’s large, so it might not be such a problem. Hopefully it’s a big map so that the current meta of brawler mechs can be more balanced… I personally is more a ranged fighter. Meaning, 500+ meter is where I prefer to be, either Gauss/ ER PPC sniping or LRM dumping.

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Bit of a Rant

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A bit of a different post today. And long, you have been warned.

The intricacies of making a futuristic weapon look workable has always intrigued me. The thinking behind the form and function of successful military hardware is usually very sharp and to the point; if it didn’t have a purpose, a design point would quickly become redundant and likely disappear in the next iteration. Good military hardware must function, must function well in difficult environments (including stupid users), and must be built cheaply in both initial cost and ongoing maintenance cost.
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Reengineering a Nephilim

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One of the things I definitely did not like about the Nephilim is the way the front cockpit portion connects to the rear fuselage. The connecting points was basically three thin plastic parts out of box, plus a hood over the clear acrylic canopy. It’s just a stupid way to glue a heavy tail to a small head. This is quite unlike the normal Talon kit, which has long wraparound parts that glues well.

So.. I reengineered the connecting part. Took a lot of swearing before I worked out a good scheme that both allows me to take the fuselage apart to continue work on the flying stand connector, etc. and good contact for gluing shut later. Took enough time, the blasted thing…

Mix Bag of Talon, Tank and Death From Above

Well odd bag today…

First, I had been working on my Dark Angels army. Was hoping to ambush my LGS owner with these previously, but the pace had slowed.. So might as well put this up.
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Two drop pods, and no, I have no intentions to do the interiors.. Prefer them this way. Fairly quick job but I’m having wear problems and their size means it’s a bit boring to do them. I’ve not done much mods on these, just magnetized the gun and replaced the fans with more proper thrusters:
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Kotobukiya thrusters. Took a while to find the right thrusters as there isn’t much clearance to fit big thrusters.

Still need to work on another 4 of these (!). I’m not exactly looking forward to this…

Moving on… Work on the Talon progressed. Both hurricane bolters are up but not fully assembled:
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Hmm. Looks a bit over the top. Still, side view:
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Still need to add the stasis cannon and bomb.. Detailing, structure mounts.. Hmm tight package.

Finally, a recent addition to my Dust stuff:
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I quite like the look and feel of this; might pick up another. Working out an army that utilizes this, hopefully can see it in action!

Giving the Talon teeth

Not that much work on the Talon today, as I put together something else. But, at least gave the Talon some teeth.
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Plarod, platube and some Kotobukiya parts for the Gatling. Intended to be two tribarrel guns, linked together, for one Hurricane bolter, so that’s just half the armament. Total 6 barrels per weapon, so the count is correct.. Will still need to scratch built another pair.

Why not just six barrels in one? Because that looks too much like an assault cannon and the weapon description did say twin-linked….

Oh and in case you are wondering, the stand the Talon is on:
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Yes, it’s a big stand! It’s a Bandai Gundam stand. I just put it together and got the Nephilim to balance on top. Need to work a ball joint in there somehow… Then I’m good for dogfights!

Angels… Nah, more of Talons now.

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Well the Nephilim is mostly done now. Sorted the lascannons and the wee little pilot in his wee little cockpit.

Also, superglued the wing weapons pod into place rather than liquid cement. This is in case I need to do servicing on the wing spars and/ or magnets. The wings hold up well under full weight, which is nice.

Then we have the Dark Talon. Well, still a Talon… Somewhat.

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Well.. So what did I do?

  • Separated engine pod linkage.
  • Magnetized engine pods.
  • Added vent-like plate to replace antenna.
  • Replace tail with Nephilim tail and scratch built connecting parts.

Hmm still a small list. Still to come, weapons. Question really is does this guppy need a horizontal stabilizer?

And… Finally, when you really, REALLY have a need for speed…

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Angel, Rising

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Took leave these two days to do spring cleaning, so had pockets of time to sort out the Nephilim — the Dark Talon needing more time to resolve.

So what did I do with this Nephilim? Front to back:

  • Extended nose for cosmetic looks.
  • Raises forward cowl to accommodate extended nose which requires more clearance for chin weapons.
  • Magnetized chin weapons.
  • Structural buildup of wing spars to accommodate magnetized wings (for storage).
  • Magnetized wings.
  • Replaced antennas with thrusters. (Previously mentioned.)
  • Covered open port with vent-like detailing. (Previously mentioned.)

Side view:
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Angel and Talon

Just a quick update on the Nephilim and the Dark Talon:
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As you can see, I’ve replace the “whiskers” on both the Talon and the Nephilim. Didn’t like them. On the Talon, I’ve replaced it with a vent-like plate; on the Nephilim, I’ve used thrusters instead. Why thrusters on a “jetfighter”? ‘Cos I have plans…. xD

Also glued the lascannons together except for the tip — want to paint the inside of the barrel first — and glued the heavy bolters to the top hull. Turns out to be a tricky fit. Fitted the hood, deciding against making the canopy hinged; I’d have to detail the underside of the canopy which is tricky. In addition…

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The Nephilim has a pair of vents on the fuselage that is actually opened to the interior. I didn’t like that so I sealed it off with more of the vent-like plates. You can just about see it in the above pic, plus a better look at the thruster.