Ranking the “new” models

[Blindhamster]

Thought it would be a fun little experiment to see what my fellow frater think of all the “new” stuff. 
 

idea is, list the models in order of how much you like them, and give a brief reasoning.

 

for me:

 

1) mephiston - very faithful to the classic model and original concept art, has a huge amount of presence.

2) Dante - my joint favourite character alongside tycho, a really solid rendition, I like the everything about the model, the new pistol design is excellent, they didn’t go too crazy with it either though.

3) new captain - a really lovely kit, my only issue really is that he’s a little short, rules aren’t what I’d have liked, but model is excellent and a solid successor to Tycho.

4) sanguinor - I really like the model, especially now I’ve started painting it. I think the old wing design was a little better, but otherwise I really like his update. The face is interesting, I bought an alternative but am painting up both to make final decision.

5) sanguinary priest - I love it, the head options are characterful, he’s less ostentatious than the old one, but not in a bad way seeing as they don’t get slicer armour.

6) lemartes - I really like him, the pose is good because the aggression suits him, it’s a good update, I do think it’s interesting that of just about all characters, his redesigns have been vastly different every time.

7) astorath - I like him a lot, though I wanted a different pose. The wings are silly. How would he walk around anywhere.

8) sanguinary guard - I don’t think they’re awful, I actually like the new jump packs, but there’s lots of little issues, the lack of variety in details being the worst, I hate the tubes.

9) upgrade sprue - I still don’t think it’s terrible, it feels pretty in keeps my with the dark angel one to me, but actually the faces are much worse quality than I originally thought, I like the swords, terminator bits are handy. Had it been a case that we could take the stuff on it on any of our units, I’d think it was more useful.

 

[Karhedron]

I would swap the Sanguinary Priest and Sanguinor. Something about the Sanguinor's face just looks off to me, too chunky compared to the previous version.

 

Otherwise I think that you are pretty much spot-on.

[DemonGSides]

Astorath over Sanguinor, Lemartes just above SG and truly they're both tied for "Wow what have they done" and the upgrade sprue should really just become the pack-in for any DC boxes they want to try to sell in the future and they should give us a new one that doesn't lean so heavily towards DC and has actual things that you can use instead of things you HAVE to use.

 

My reasons are a lot meaner than what was written but otherwise the order is fair.

[Cleon]

So, I'm going to tier rank them rather than individually and I'm going to try and restrain my underlying negativity towards recent Blood Angels sculpts (we peaked at the Space Hulk Termies and Tactical/Terminator sets, then our aesthetic went a bit divergent from my tastes).

 

Top - 'Any complaints are just nitpicking, stunning models' tier

     Mephiston and Dante, for many of the reasons above - my nitpick is I'd like Dante to be a little less top heavy tactical rock pose, but the larger base mostly mitigates.

 

Second - 'You are skating by on the quality of what you are remaking, you didn't improve anything but the base material being plastic' tier

    Astorath, Sanguinor 

 

Third - 'Not my taste, but functional' tier

   Lemartes - I don't like the angry little Wolverine stance, it lacks the 'wow' of the previous

   Sanguinary Priest - He's a bit cluttered, don't like the hanging chalice

   Upgrade sprue - They've not chosen the iteration of the BA Logo I like the most and spent too much space on bare heads we are already well served for (especially if you have older BA kits.

 

Bottom - 'You missed the mark' tier

    Sanguinary Guard - All hail the gold plated Michelin men - They don't look as bad once the initial shock wore off, but I still don't like them

    Captain - The leg texturing is clunky compared to the way the texturing works for Dante & Sang guard, the pose looks clunky and off and I don't like the head.

[Blindhamster]

im honestly shocked on the captain front, but appreciate the response/thoughts!

 

 

[Mostwanted]

Here's my take;

1 - Mephiston. He's been out a while but I suppose it counts. I love how well it fits with the art. For me it's pretty perfect and I can't fault any aspect of it.

 

2 - Captain. For me, I feel this is pretty underrated. There are a load of great options in the kit. I feel the detail is really well done on every part of the model. I like that they have included two different righ and left arms, so you get some good spare parts. I love the helmets as well. If there were room on the sprue, I would have liked to have had a second belt design, but that's just being a bit greedy.

 

3- Dante. The only issue I have is the helmet. I just loved the original helmet a lot. I wish they had just re done that part the same as the original. Then for me that would be spot on.

 

4- Lemartes. This grew on me while painting it. It's got a nice level of detail without being over the top and I found it fun to paint. The previous version was such a great model so with this one looking so different left me a little disappointed to start with. But as I got used to it, I appreciated it for what it is. It's pretty different and a unique pose, but works for me. Not sure about the vox in the mouth of the helmet though.

 

5 - Astorath. I like it but it's lacking some details in the armour that the previous one had. I prefer the mask/face of the original and I find the pose is slightly better with the arms looking a little less awkward on the original. The new one has better proportions though.

 

6- Sanguinary Priest. It's ok. For me not a lot more not much less, it seems fairly average. I would have liked more detail on the chainsword. One of the bare heads is very good though.

 

7 - Sanguinor. This is where things start to quite disappointing for me. The rumours were that this was going to be a real centerpiece model for us. Done in a grand scale with multiple elements on the base. So to see this was quite underwhelming, which has probably affected my judgment of it. I really don't like the Death Mask. The original was so much better. The main body of the model is good. But I don't like the wings on this. I feel they should be depicted as more organic feathered wings, more like the original. The thing i dislike the most is the scroll work that holds the model up. It's too symmetrical and neat. It's also way to thick to give the proper impression of it being scroll work. For me that aspect of the model just doesn't work like it did on the original.

 

8- Sanguinary Guard. I don't like the lack of variety in the armour and I don't like the helmets. Why are they all the same? They could easily have done different chest and leg details. I didn't mind losing the wings as I didn't particularly like them on the original models. Some of the poses, if you have the weapons in the way they are shown are awkward. Having detailed sculpted bases meand having two kits of these makes them look even more too similar. They should have had two base details for each model to help them look more varied. The standard is so plain and boring it was frustrating going from the chapter banner to that. Another major bug bare is why is the inferno pistol not wrist mounted!

I like the sword design and the bare heads are brilliant. For such an elite and renound unit for us these are so disappointing.

 

I won't put the upgrade sprue in any particular ranking. I liked the pads we got that covered pretty much all units and liked that we got scripture on most of the Sergeant ones as I name all my Sergeants. Most of the trinkets are good. But some of the icons like the skull and bones cross look to chunky and lack much detail. When put on a vehicle I feel they look out of place as they just appear stuck on and don't blend in with the model because of how chunky they are. I really hope we get a dedicated Terminator upgrade sprue if we don't get a dedicated Blood Angel Terminator kit.

[ThaneOfTas]

Okay rather than just a straight ranking im going to break them down into categories and sofly rank them within those.

 

Good/Great as they are:

• Mephiston - Just an outstanding update of a classic
• Astorath - I love the character, I love the resin version and this is a great update of that i think. I don't feel any need to get the new verion any time soon, but only because I like the original so much
• Dante - First one that i've got any reservations about, as I am a well documented flap hater, however since Dantes model does not commit the ultimate sin of haveing the calf nozels, I can look past it. Theres something slightly off with the face, but less so than many others and with a good paint job it still comes out well.

Good/good enough if you put some work in:

• Lemartes - Possibly a controversial opinion, as I agree the model isnt a great interpretation of the character, or at least conveys a completely different vibe to the previous one, however I think that in a vacumm, it makes for a fantastic Death Company Jump Chaplain, and thats what I'm going to be doing with mine, He'll possibly be getting a Head Swap, and definitely a MkVII style Jump Pack, but the core of the model i think is great.
• Saguinary Priest - Glossing past the insanity of not having a JP option. I like this guy as a Sanguinary Novitiate, the term that was introduced in 8th to describe Standard Apothecaries that hadnt finished training in the more spiritual aspects of the Sanguinary Priesthood. Stick the chainsword from the BA captain kit on him and hes better than nothing. Not good enough for a true Pirest though, but I've Already got a good Primaris Priest by Kitbashing a spare Blade Guard Ancient.
• The Sanguinor - Did too good of a job recreating the original. The scrolls look way too rigid, the torso is too triangular and the wings look too artificial. nothing about the model makes me think that its an angelic warp entity, if anything it looks like a statue of the Sanguinor.
• Blood Angels Captain - Only Just in this category, mainly because he comes with a good number of options. Needs a Headswap at minimum and I'd have to hope that my paint job would minimise the weirdness with the shins. I also just dont love the breastplate on this guy, just feels too blocky and wide somehow.

You Couldn't pay me to own these:

• Sanguinary Guard - Other than the Scale, there is not a single redeeming feature of these models, If I were to try and fix them I'd have to start talking about the Ship of Theseus. The problems with these models have been litigated to death and I dont want to spoil my evening so I'll leave it there.

Bonus Category:

• Upgrade Sprue - resounding meh. Its fine, but its not good. I've got a budy who just got his 3d printer up and running, so i'll certainly never be buying one.
• Death Company - ERROR KIT NOT FOUND

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Love the generic captain, Dante is ok, mephiston is dope, lemartes is ok, sanguinor i am very disappointed by, and astorath I’ve never liked and still don’t.

SG are fine, lack of wings was disappointing, I’m ok with them not being hyper cluttered like the old ones were, but a fancier shoulder pad for each one would have been nice. Not really sure about the reason for the random belt pouches and what not, when most other marines don’t have them sculpted on the them.

Edited Friday at 09:15 PM by Inquisitor_Lensoven