Get your brushes and clippers, and welcome to the Space Dinosaur Hobby Table, where I cover what I finished painting or building recently for Age of Sigmar, as well as my thoughts on the sculpts, how easy they are to paint, and any tips or tricks I can pass on to make your life easier. Today's post will cover the first rendition of the Helblaster Volley Gun and its associated crew.
Rounding out the last of the Cities of Sigmar units for now, I've completed the old metal Helblaster Volley Gun that came out who knows when, sometime early in Warhammer Fantasy Battles's lifetime. This is not the multi-build plastic option now available that can also build the Helstorm Rocket Battery, which came out I think in 8th Edition WHFB. The crew are likewise cast in metal, lending the whole kit a lot of weight.
If you own both the metal and plastic versions, the first thing you'll notice is how much beefier the metal model is. It definitely makes the model more imposing, although the detail is less fine. For a war machine it's not a big deal, and the mechanical simplicity helps to ground it in reality more. That does make the painting easier at least, so trade-offs.
The crew on the other hand are, not my...favorite. As was the style of the days of yore, the proportions are strange. The hands are nearly the same size as the heads, and the details are lacking. Again, it makes them easy to paint, but I'd prefer a little more on the crew. The crew member above at least has some character to it with the lean in his stance and the way he holds his tools.
The "lead" member, not that that exists in game but I feel that he is due to his fancy feather, is not any better. His pose is boring but gets the job done. The last crew member is the worst in my opinion, with his giant watermelon hands the size of his entire head. The newer crew members are a definite improvement.
As is now the Hobby Table tradition, I will judge the model based on two categories. Firstly, the sculpt itself will be scored on a scale of 0 to 10, with 5 being average, 0 horrendous, and 10 a marvel. For a reference point, I consider the Stormcast Liberator to be a 5, neither great nor bad. Just a passable, average model. Then I will score on Ease of Painting, between 1 and 5, 1 being a slog to paint and 5 being a breeze.
I am also splitting this model between the gun and the crew, as I think there's a large enough discrepancy:
Helblaster Volley Gun
Sculpt: 5/10
Ease of Painting: 5/5
Gun Crew
Sculpts: 2/10
Ease of Painting: 5/5
Final tips: The gun is fine, get the newer crew.
-The Space Dinosaur
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