Upgrade Kits/ Options

[Rince]

Hey folks,

I’ve been out of 40k/30k since forever. Had my heyday during Rouge Trader/3rd edition. 
7th was the last I played. As I do not like the new 40k stuff, I thought 30k is a nice alternative to get back in the game(s). I had my eyes on pre-heresy world eaters for quite some time. 
 

I tried to get a list together with what I need, and learned that forgeworld is out of almost everything, and if I am correct, necessities like chainaxes are not included in the 30k plastic boxes. 
Am I missing something or is third party the way to go? 

[Cactus]

There are no chainaxes in the 30k plastic infantry kits, that is correct.

A lot of Forge World's Horus Heresy products are undergoing some repackaging and should return soon(TM). Personally I think their chainaxes are the best. It's been a long time since I chose mine but IIRC I thought Kromlech's were a bit too large for rank and file use and Anvil Industries were the best balance of style and cost.

[Arkhanist]

8 hours ago, Rince said:

I tried to get a list together with what I need, and learned that forgeworld is out of almost everything, and if I am correct, necessities like chainaxes are not included in the 30k plastic boxes. 
Am I missing something or is third party the way to go? 

They've just released heresy 2.0, so a lot of the forgeworld stuff is in high demand as people are getting into it fresh. Currently, the only infantry in plastic are tactical squads, which leaves melee focused chapters a bit stuck. The assumption is that there will be a jump pack equipped plastic assault squad, most likely in mark vi to fit with the new mark vi tac squad scale, though it's possible it could be mark v, but no idea on timescale, it's not been spotted at all. Mark III is ok scale wise to fit in also, but mark iv and a number of the older forgeworld units are a bit short in comparison.

So assuming you don't want to wait for forgeworld stock levels to recover etc...

I'm also doing WE, but fortunately I have a 3d printer for chainaxes etc. Red Warden does some very nice ones, and has these available on shapeways.

Conversion world also have some nice alternatives that work for WE, and they also sell suitable adjustable hands.

For arms, people are mostly scavenging from 40k assault squad\vanguard vets. For jump packs, especially for mark VI, it's easiest to just use the ones from the 40k assault squads too.

For alternative taller bodies to fit in better with the plastic mark VI, tortuga bay does a wide range.

e.g.

[Mandragola]

Armies that need non-standard gear, like World Eaters and Space Wolves, are way more expensive to build at the moment. It's possible (though not by any means certain) that they'll bring out some sort of upgrade kit to make assault marines and/or despoilers. Right now there isn't even a bolt pistol or chainsword for the Mk6 kit, let alone a pair of arms posed to hold them.

[Marshal Mittens]

CSM 40k chosen have 2 chain axes in the box. 

 

Red Warden Miniatures makes some good ones too.

 

My SoH have a mix of those two. 

 

Anyway, normal chain bayonets on tactical marines are still very good for World Eaters, and cheap as hell. All your boys don't need to have chain axes just because they have chain axes. Chain axes do look cool.

[Rince]

Thanks for the answers guys, I'll look through the bits shops. And of course there is need and "need" for chain axes ;) 

[MARK0SIAN]

Arkhanist Makes a good point about arms to consider. One of the biggest problems I've had converting things like despoiler and assault squads isn't really the lack of weapons, it's the lack of arms to hold them. It'll be the same with the FW chainaxes as they don't come with any arms.

The MKVI do fit pretty well with assault squad arms from the 40k kits but for any kind of quantity you might also consider these:

https://popgoesthemonkey.com/products/chaos-marine-adjustable-arms?_pos=1&_sid=8d2709701&_ss=r

You can choose to buy the arms but what's better is you can also just pay for the STL file too and print as many as you need providing you know someone with a 3D printer or use an online service. I purchased the STL for the MKIII arms and managed to get 20 pairs of arms printed for less than £15 and that included the cost of buying the STL.

[Noserenda]

+1 for 3d printing being pretty essential to upgrade the mk6 right now unless you have an extensive bits box! 

[Arkhanist]

2 hours ago, MARK0SIAN said:

Arkhanist Makes a good point about arms to consider. One of the biggest problems I've had converting things like despoiler and assault squads isn't really the lack of weapons, it's the lack of arms to hold them. It'll be the same with the FW chainaxes as they don't come with any arms.

The MKVI do fit pretty well with assault squad arms from the 40k kits but for any kind of quantity you might also consider these:

https://popgoesthemonkey.com/products/chaos-marine-adjustable-arms?_pos=1&_sid=8d2709701&_ss=r

You can choose to buy the arms but what's better is you can also just pay for the STL file too and print as many as you need providing you know someone with a 3D printer or use an online service. I purchased the STL for the MKIII arms and managed to get 20 pairs of arms printed for less than £15 and that included the cost of buying the STL.

Ooooh, I did not realise popgoesthemonkey also sold STLs. Handy! Good quality 3d printable melee arms for older marks are hard to find - they do exist, but most are for truescale projects, so the wrists and shoulders then don't fit well if you scale them down.

[MARK0SIAN]

20 minutes ago, Arkhanist said:

Ooooh, I did not realise popgoesthemonkey also sold STLs. Handy! Good quality 3d printable melee arms for older marks are hard to find - they do exist, but most are for truescale projects, so the wrists and shoulders then don't fit well if you scale them down.

Yeah I didn’t realise they did the stl files until I happened to click on one of the material options. The STL files aren’t available for everything they sell but little stuff like the arms it often is. 

As for scale, these were pretty good and they go together quite well. I don’t have any great pics of the arms close up but in this picture you can sort of see the scale matches up fine when holding the Templar brethren sword.