Maverike's Review: Centurions Box set

[maverike_prime]

So, with the Marine Codex firmly in release and the new kits on the shelves, I think it's time that I review one of the new kits. Which one am I going to do? The Centurions! You can check out my previous reviews on the Forge/Mauler fiend, Storm Talon, and Storm Raven respectively.

 

So let's kick it off!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/centurian_boxcopy_zpsedd4c558.png

Initial thoughts of the kit

As I picked up the box I can tell you that it feels a lot heavier than what I really expected. The picture on the front of the box is actually really well done shows the models often a lot of good detail. When I opened the box I was actually surprised by the sheer number of parts that are on these sprues. Just from the 1st glance I can see two melta guns, twp lascannons, 2 heavy bolters, the Grav Cannons, and 2 flammers, not to mention the entire rest of the kit itself. The density is damn near 100%, with the sprues just jam packed. There is virtually no wasted space. there are some areas where they could’ve just added extra grubins and purity seals, but there would have been no discernible advantage to the model kits themselves.

 

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/SAM_0425_zps9c952f10.jpg

 

One of the really big surprises are that the kit is actually plastic. I know I know the website has said that it is a classic yet ever since it went live but just the model images themselves never struck me as being what you would get out of a plastic kits. The images on the sight just really seemed to look more like something we’d get out of a fine cast kit rather than a plastic one.

 

The other really big surprise is the instruction manual. It's thick! The book, and yes I said book, is a good 30 pages. And based on the part density that may be a good thing. That many parts can lead to some problems if you just assume the buyer of the kit can figure out how to put it together.

 

So that about wraps it up for me today. Next time: Assembling the first of the Centurions and thoughts on the construction process.

[Dosjetka]

I'll be watching this with interest.

[Wraith776]

As will I.

[MordentHex]

I wonder if they could be converted into early mark1 or 2 Dreadnoughts. hmmmm.  Mine are on the way. A heads up would be nice though if the conversion is possible.

[maverike_prime]

Construction

The first headache I had was finding that the sprues are actually different kits. I will give Games Workshop credit, they actually numbered all of their pieces in the kit this time, which is making this somewhat easier. Though it is still a challenge due to the part density. I’ll explain a bit. I decided to follow the instructions largely as they are given, only making allowances for painting. So told to get leg set number 23 I began searching. It took me a few minutes to find it. Now I’m going to leave the leg armor off for the moment so that it’ll be easier to paint the servo armatures and internal parts.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/Warhammer/SAM_0429_zps008cf288.jpg

The more that I look at the power armor legs in the kit the more I am really liking the idea of using those as the legs of a Techmarine. It’s long been one of my big complaints, with the Techmarine models, that they get all this huge extra equipment on the top and then they just walk around on normal legs. If you look at professional body builders and weight lifters, particularly ones who specialize in squat thrusts, you see that they have massive legs. Want to know why? Because the human back muscles aren’t strong enough to bear the load of squat thrusts. The best they can do is keep the back, shoulders, and hips aligned so the majority of the body bears the weight, rather than the back itself. The back can be very ridged, but it’s particularly strong. Remember in gym class when your Gym teacher told you “Don’t lift with your back.” And that’s why the Techmarine models bother me so much. They have thicker armor on the legs, but nothing to really make you think that using those massive claws on their shoulders would allow them to do much more then break their own backs by trying to lift the side of a tank.

The legs on the Centurion power armor had servos and reinforcements on the so that would help explain how a Techmarine could walk around and use all that heavy gear. The mounting studs for the feet are well designed, with locking studs on them, so there’s really no question whether or not you’re putting on the right side.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/Warhammer/SAM_0433_zps3d60dbb2.jpg
One thing I do have to say annoys me a bit is the torso construction it’s literally just two halves that you slap together. Unlike the halves construction they used for say the Mauler fiend, which had irregular pattern to its split, and thus you couldn’t have it slip, slide or become misaligned with out effort. The Centurion torso is literally just split in two segments with a straight line. The power plant backpack is a nice touch and I suspect that there will be many individuals who will attempt to convert a Centurion into a mark one dreadnought or similar, and the smaller powerplant backpack will certainly help with that endeavor.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/Warhammer/SAM_0434_zps44b71250.jpg
One thing I am not crazy about with this model is that its central body is very statically built, meaning there’s very little option for variations in pose or design without getting into rebuilding several large components such as the servo-armatures and legs themselves. For instance you can’t turn the upper torso 45° to have the legs going forward and the body turning toward the side without reconstructing the server armatures because the junction between the archer and the upper torso prevents it. One piece of advice that will give an constructing these things, is if you’re going to equip them with hurricane bolters and you like to drill out the barrels and side vents of the barrels of the bolters then drill out the side vents for you connect the pieces to the torso and once the glue has set drill out the barrel themselves. The barrels are extremely tiny pieces and it rather difficult to hold them and drill them if they’re not mounted on something else.

Now, anyone who has followed my Blood Ravens work log knows that I really enjoy the option of being able to swap out weapons for different situations, thus magnets have become basically standard issue in my builds and the centurions were going to be no different.

However the designers of the models got smart and where the heavy weapons connect to the arms is simply too narrow to get anything larger than a 2 mm magnet in and the 2 mm magnets aren’t strong enough to really hold the pieces in place . so what I have to do is I have to make the arms swappable. Now of course this approach means that I cannot make all the options available to the centurions available in one box set if someone finds a way to magnetize the weapons themselves without having to go to the arms I highly encourage them to post information so others may benefit from it.

One of the major fiddly parts with the kit are the cables that run from the back of fore-arm mounted weapons to the back of the torso. There’s very little about the part that tell you which side is supposed to go on the weapon and which end is to attach to the torso and the instructions aren’t that clear either. After nearly 20 minutes of trying to figure out how the cables are supposed to go on I just said screw it and moved on to the next section of the model figuring I will come back to them later.

One design aspect of the model that I find confusing and that is the hands. At first glance they just look like power fists but then you notice that the lower 3 fingers are completely encased as a single component of the armor leading to this weird kind of mitten hand look. I’m just really not certain what the designer was actually going forward this. If anyone has any insight into this question I do encourage them to post a response here in thread so we can all look at it.
 

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/maverike_prime/Warhammer/SAM_0438_zps035d766d.jpg

So there you have it. I’ve built… well built in sub-assemblies of one centurion with interchangeable arms. Even with the magnets in the arms I couldn’t figure out how to connect to the cables to the back of the torso and to the back of the weapons. Finally I just said screw it. If someone else finds the secret, please post the information here. I would greatly appreciate it.

Next up, painting it.

[Argun]

Seeing as I've gotten my hands on a pair of Centurion kits, mind if I add in my $0.02?

As far as the entire kit goes, one sprue makes one Centurion, and if you swap arms, then you also have to make sure you've got the weapons for that arm as well.

Personally, I don't entirely dig the look with the giant shoulder pads (I know, heresy for Marines without the giant shoulder pads!), so I left them off.

As for magnetizing weapons, I just did what I always do with big guns/terminators: I used 1/8"x1/16" magnets, you just have to make sure to line up the arms and weapons. As for the pipes going from the back to the arms, It is a little confusing at first, but again: they are matched to the arms/weapons on that exact sprue. For my magnetization of the (only) Centurion to utilize those, I just glued them to the back, and filed off the end of the gun/pipes so I can switch out the gun(s) and assault drills at will.

 

If wanted, I can take a pic or two of mine to give you a general idea of what I'm talking about. (Still trying to figure out a way to magnetize the little guns in the chest though!)

[maverike_prime]

Seeing as I've gotten my hands on a pair of Centurion kits, mind if I add in my $0.02?

As far as the entire kit goes, one sprue makes one Centurion, and if you swap arms, then you also have to make sure you've got the weapons for that arm as well.

Personally, I don't entirely dig the look with the giant shoulder pads (I know, heresy for Marines without the giant shoulder pads!), so I left them off.

As for magnetizing weapons, I just did what I always do with big guns/terminators: I used 1/8"x1/16" magnets, you just have to make sure to line up the arms and weapons. As for the pipes going from the back to the arms, It is a little confusing at first, but again: they are matched to the arms/weapons on that exact sprue. For my magnetization of the (only) Centurion to utilize those, I just glued them to the back, and filed off the end of the gun/pipes so I can switch out the gun(s) and assault drills at will.

 

If wanted, I can take a pic or two of mine to give you a general idea of what I'm talking about. (Still trying to figure out a way to magnetize the little guns in the chest though!)

 

please do so. I'm using 3mm magnets which are slightly less then 1/8" and I couldn't figure out a good spot to put the magnets for the edges to line up.

[Grotsmasha]

In regards to the pwer mittens, I got out a pencil, drew on some lines and then using my hobby saw scored in some lines to define the fingers.

 

Cheers,

Jono

[GhostMalone]

I wonder if they could be converted into early mark1 or 2 Dreadnoughts. hmmmm. Mine are on the way. A heads up would be nice though if the conversion is possible.

Maybe do it as a serum pattern TDA?

 

In regards to the pwer mittens, I got out a pencil, drew on some lines and then using my hobby saw scored in some lines to define the fingers.

 

Cheers,

Jono

Ha mittens!

[Brother Turok]

I left the mittens, as that is what they are supposed to be (they aren't power fists, nor are they unwieldly iirc). 

 

I ran into the same cable issue, so I glued the cables on (each with it's corresponding arm... remember that each weapon and cable are made for a certain arm - they are not interchangeable).  I then carefully drilled one 1/8" x 1/16" hole in the bottom of the fist and in the weapons themselves near the center of the rail (has to be exactly 1/2 on the rail of the fist and the rail of the gun to match). 

 

If you look on the outside of the weapon mount and the inside of the fist you will see "connecting brackets" (where the gun is asthetically attacked to the fist).  These "connecting brackets" have a center recess area in between the brackets.  The center recess is where you want to drill, but drill half on the rail and half on the gun/fist- should be dead center on the weapon itself if you are looking down the weapon's barrell). 

 

 

Without a weapon you can see an ugly magnet sticking a small amount out of the fist, but when attached they match perfectly.  Using magnets on the weapons solved all my problems, all my weapons match the power cables, etc.  I also drilled two small 1/16" holes with magnets in each of their chest pockets as well as in the weapons where they have the small pegs.  It definitely takes a lot of time to match and look good, several hours to be exact, but all my weapons are magnatized on all 6 of my centurions.  If I can get my camera working I'll take pics of how I magnatized my 3 carcharodon and 3 templar centurions. 

 

I hope this post was not too confusing...

[MithrilForge]

The other really big surprise is the instruction manual. It's thick! The book, and yes I said book, is a good 30 pages. And based on the part density that may be a good thing. That many parts can lead to some problems if you just assume the buyer of the kit can figure out how to put it together.

Damn that thick booklet,that may go partways to explain the steep cost of this kit

Mithril

[Dedlok]

As primarily a converter and kitbasher, I'll just say...

 

I'll just say...

 

I'll just drool.