Updated Mark III + Potential Deredeo

[lansalt]

That's a result of the limitions of plastic injection, that little cable out of nowhere in the knee marks the vertical mould line. The back plates aren't straight bacause they can0t have embossed side detail IIRC. That's why the old kit used overlapping plates, I think

[Xenith]

However splitting legs and casting them sideways etc got around things like that, no? GW's largely managed to get rid of ankle and knee kibble on marines these days. I guess the primaris roundel on the ankle is a part of that to remove the overhang. 

[Orion]

7 minutes ago, lansalt said:

That's a result of the limitions of plastic injection, that little cable out of nowhere in the knee marks the vertical mould line. The back plates aren't straight bacause they can0t have embossed side detail IIRC. That's why the old kit used overlapping plates, I think

I mean, we have had lots of models with layered leg plates in plastic.
MKIII, Cataphractii, Blightlords, Death Shrould, Plague marines.
Not to mention I still don't see how plastic's lack of undercuts means they can't sculpt a line around a cylinder.

 

I feel like I'm going crazy looking at this.

[Dark Legionnare]

4 hours ago, lansalt said:

Has this image already been posted? It shows how GW already had upscaled and upgraded normal Mk3 with the DA Interemptors. They just needed to make a generic version of them in plastic:

 

Man. You found it. I couldn't put my finger on why they just felt so "off."

 

This reminder of what well/true-to-original upscaled mk3 without change of overall design is like (instead of cosplay of mk3 over mk6 feeling like someone else said) finally nailed it for me.

 

Thanks man.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Dark Legionnare

[WrathOfTheLion]

34 minutes ago, Xenith said:

However splitting legs and casting them sideways etc got around things like that, no? GW's largely managed to get rid of ankle and knee kibble on marines these days. I guess the primaris roundel on the ankle is a part of that to remove the overhang. 

I think that gets around it when you have that kind of detail on one side. The previous MK III kit only has it on the back side, same with Plague Marines, or Cataphractii, etc.

 

The issue is it going around the whole leg, like with MK II. So I think they redesigned MK II with that being the problem to address, which then affected the design of MK III to keep its design as plates added onto MK II Crusade armor.

[apologist]

This new version looks pretty cool to me. Proportions aside, I do like the FW version, but I reckon the previewed plastics look closer to the spirit of the originals, pickelhaube hat and all.

 

    

Left to right: original; new plastics; FW remake.

 

 

As miniatures in an of themselves, I think they're nice. My guess is that these are models that look much better in hand than in previews. They look like they'll paint up nicely – those big clean plates at the front will (touch wood) contrast nicely with a little more detail at the back – and on that note, it's a missed opportunity to show the back of at least one figure; I think seeing more detail there – like hoops of armour and cabling – would go a long way to making these more arresting and improving the initial reaction.

 

The design's not faultless. The fact they've clearly been made on the same electronic 'dollies' as the Mark VI marines is jarring. It means the so-so posing of the Corvus suits is present here – and worse, duplicated across, which I think will start to look odd – particularly if future marks follow suit. 

 

A few loose thoughts:

• Personally, I would have liked to have seen some more prominent rivets, and the rebreather hoses running over the shoulder (shown in the leftmost image above), as those are elements of the original that I think help to convey the archaic look, but it's a good overall redesign.
• Assuming they're sized to match the Mark VI, I'm interested to see whether the duplicate posing means they're easily kitbashable together. That'd be a positive, though the not-quite-old-school-not-quite-modern size they decided upon has largely killed any personal interest in the kits outside of conversion fodder.
• I'm interested to see, as Fraters above have also alluded to, whether this presages further Marks of armour in the future. Notably these don't look like they're being sold as 'Veterans' or 'Breachers' or anything; just an alternative sculpt. I hope that decision doesn't make future marks less likely as the space gets more crowded. 
• Seems like the design of the helmet – a reversion towards the original rather than the FW one – is the cause of a lot of the dislike. Strikes me as nigh-certain that we'll get Legion-specific conversion parts for the helms and shoulders, as per the Mk VI.
• Slightly disappointed to see that the upgrade sprue (with vexilla, vox-caster, bare heads etc.) looks to be the same as for the MArk VI

 

 

A faithful update, in my opinion.

 

 

Overall, a thumbs-up from me. Won't be rushing out to buy them, but glad they exist. While all Legions used all marks of armour, I think some looks are definitely iconic for certain Legions, and Armorum Ferrum is a welcome addition to the range.

Edited August 31, 2023 by apologist

[quasistellar]

I like them for what they are:  a redesign to look more like the old school art along with a re-proportion.

 

While I personally prefer aspects of the (now) older FW and plastic kits--namely the helmets--I'll be picking these up.  I could never get behind the squatty marines.  I bought a kit of the older plastic MK3 and ended up only using them for conversion bits on my plague marines.

 

Hopefully we get some cool Iron Hands heads for these that look like the MK3 resin Iron Hands tactical squad bits.  Another kit that I desparately wanted to love, but the proportions just killed for me.

Edited August 31, 2023 by quasistellar

[Armillion]

The new Mk3 looks good, but won't mix well visually alongside my existing masses of "Old-style" Mk3. I'll probably 3d print new old Mk3 pieces once I deplete the last 12 or so remaining Mk3 bodies I have left on sprues if I need to fill out a unit.

 

New Mk3 will be strictly for the next project, once I deplete my backlog...

[Orion]

42 minutes ago, apologist said:

Seems like the design of the helmet – a reversion towards the original rather than the FW one – is the cause of a lot of the dislike.

I mean I didn't really like the original transition to plastic on that either.
Has the same googly eye sculpting that the Krieg KT has (in comparison to resin).
 

Overall it's still neat, and does have nice callbacks. Just as always some weird decisions.

I'm still happy with my weird mish mash MKIII and they're also far from perfect, haha




 

[Cryptix]

Speaking of, I wonder how big they'll be compared to plague marines, seems like they'd be about the same size/maybe a little smaller?

[Urauloth]

As minis, I like these guys just fine.
As the new standard of what Mk III power armour looks like, though... I miss the huge collar, and I wish this kit had at least a few of the old helmet designs, because they're some of my favourites GW/FW have made over the years.

My main problem is that if I want to make Heresy-era Death Guard, there are going to be discrepancies between them and their post-Heresy counterparts, since the Plaguemarine kit is quite faithful to the old FW Mk III armour.

 

I do want to see how it mixes with other kits, though. It looks like it would make a nice Iron Warriors kill team with some CSM legionary parts added. FW DA heads would probably look great on this bulked out armour too, and I did want to make some Fallen...

[No Foes Remain]

Going to have to throw my vote with those who say this is a downgrade, I really wanted to like them as Mk3 is my favourite mark but they are just worse. The arms aren't proportional to the rest of the body and the helmet seems too small as well. I get they wanted something easier to make but they did just fine with the old Mk3 so what was stopping them this time?

I also dislike that they've used the same 5 poses they did with the Mk6 which just looks off in the big clunky armour that Mk3 is meant to be.

 

Regarding the 'battle group', would it have killed them to throw a HQ in there even if it was just a basic monopose centurion in Mk3? 

 

 

The one thing I like is the Deredeo however it's a shame it doesn't have all the weapons in the box, I do like the extra trim they've given it to keep it on par with the Contemptor and Leviathan,

[Spagunk]

I will say that I don't entirely agree with y'all's critiques. To me and in my opinion they represent a style of mk3 that might have been common closer to Terra or perhaps even a "mars" pattern. Without actual hard fluff on it, who is to say which mk3 was from what forgeworld. They're 100% an homage to rogue trader versions which is not a bad thing in my eyes.

It does bother me that the arms/posing is a copy of the mk6 box. They really only needed the arms to be compatible with plastic and should have been free to do whatever with the bodies. Not even sure why they went this route but I am happy we are getting more kits. Can't wait for assault marines or any potential mk5 goodies to come.

Everything in this box is a need for me at this point. I have one original Resin Doredeo but a second one would complete the talon. I was meaning to get the plasma Doradeo anyway so it's a win-win.

Happy times for me, at least.

[Legionary Pallas]

I like the helmets as a fun retro throwback, but the legs kind of kill it for me personally. Glad to see the Deredeo in plastic though, the long gun barrels in resin are somewhat infamous, and I'm glad they didn't just skip over what's arguably the least popular dread pattern.

[Naryn]

I wish they hadn't added that second hole to the bolters. If it wasn't for that, and if they had a little stock, they would be a perfect modern update of the retro 90s bolters. As it is, I quite like the new helmets--but I never really fell in love with the old ones. I think if the arms weren't so skinny, and the bolters had that extra hole filled in, they would be my ideal reimagining of Mk III. Here's hoping Mk II follows suit, although my love for that armor mark might make a redesign as hard to swallow as the Mk III seems to be.

[Doghouse]

My personal take on these is that the whole aesthetic of the 30k range is a much more technologically advanced look based on the original designs representing the Imperium at it's peak. I think it is why the praetors and characters have much more embellished armours, the additions feel more extravagant and almost indulgent. Unlike the current Mk III armours these MK III feel a more modern and makes the older versions actually feel a bit more 40k to me and maybe how they might look long after the Heresy as suits are patched together or the exact methods of construction are lost over time. It would make sense to me for the post Heresy surviving pieces to be much cruder reproductions. using less mass produced production methods.  

[Terminatorinhell]

Damn I'm gonna need to get this box. I love mkIII

[Interrogator Stobz]

Weirdly, logic in this universe does work backwards like that.

 

I mean Mk10 etc, is HH era tech 

[ChargingSoll]

Gonna need to see how the old legion helmet upgrades suit em.

[Astartes Consul]

9 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Yeah I don't know about these  

 

Am I glad we are getting more? Yes 

 

Do I care about the repeat poses with MKVI, eh. Not really but it would've been nice to not have the exact same 

 

Do I care about the spikes? I don't like them so I'll just cut them off, easy enough  

 

My problem is with backwards compatibility in a sense. MKVI looked very similar for my eyes with the previous version, so even though there was a height difference they still worked. The MK3 are a very different aesthetic than the old ones, I'd get them for my Iron Warriors but now they're taller, and don't look like the others to boot. Idk, I guess they could be artificer armor or something but it leaves me torn

 

 

The 2/3 completed MKIII squad sat on my shelf agree about backwards compatibility. 

 

[ManFromAnotherPlace]

I think the new mk3 look like ass, another lazy showing from the designers at forge world. Where are the studs for one? 

 

Dark Angels interemptors did the upscale much better. 

 

These look like some mongrel mix of 40K death guard,  mk6, and a dash of old mk3 (but more in the mutated husk of something beautiful way)

 

Also irritating they made the pointy helms universal whereas previously they were distinct to Death Guard. Equally as annoying to me as them giving mk6 to everyone which took away from unique modelling opportunities for Alpha Legion and Raven Guard. 

 

Clearly forge world are being run into the ground by a parade of low skill incompetents. 

 

At least Fulgrim is better than the utter trash heap most of the other demon primarchs. But why are they spending resources on unnecessary characters when the base range needed to play the game is not yet available? 

[jaxom]

9 hours ago, The Spitehorde said:

 

That is all they needed to do. They didn't need to mess with the basic design elements. 

They upscaled the new loyalist terminators but kept them stylistically the same. They should have done the same with Mk III. 

 

Ironically, they're closer to the original concept art and what we were shown in Visions of Heresy.

[Joe]

This design doesn't invalidate the old one; particularly given the way they explained away discrepancies in power armour design back in White Dwarf 469.

 

Basically, pre-Heresy, STCs functioned like a github; every forge world that was part of the network received a copy of an STC, then they either produced it as is or iterated on it. Gives you an explanation for different designs (i.e. Graia-pattern Mark IV, Mars-pattern Mark III, Ryza-pattern Mark VI) and the different types (Type D Mark VI, which is the current iteration). And that's before you even get into the various sub-patterns.

[ManFromAnotherPlace]

1 hour ago, Joe said:

This design doesn't invalidate the old one; particularly given the way they explained away discrepancies in power armour design back in White Dwarf 469.

 

Basically, pre-Heresy, STCs functioned like a github; every forge world that was part of the network received a copy of an STC, then they either produced it as is or iterated on it. Gives you an explanation for different designs (i.e. Graia-pattern Mark IV, Mars-pattern Mark III, Ryza-pattern Mark VI) and the different types (Type D Mark VI, which is the current iteration). And that's before you even get into the various sub-patterns.

 

 

Oh great - now I'll have a lore accurate reason for why my mk3 look like

Edited August 31, 2023 by Jolemai

[Marshal Rohr]

I’ve got a lot of resin Mark 3 helmets and arms for breachers so I think these will give my dudes some nice variety when mixed with old and new plastics.