Wednesday 23 December 2015

Miniatures: Dropzone Commander - Scourge:Intruder Alpha

So as part of trying to clear some of my DZC backlog before Christmas I have also built the last item from my recent scourge reinforcement purchases. This is the Intruder Alpha, which is one of Hawk's older models (comparably) but as I've not personally reviewed it I thought I would do so.

The Packaging
As per previous posts these models come in a blister, which contains the models, firm foam and a card inlay

The model
Each Intruder consists of 6 parts: Main body, Transport cabin, Flight stand, Flight pole and Fight widget

They are a beautifully detailed model

Building the model

As you can see from the pictures in "The model" section these had some tags protruding from the back of the model, but as mentioned in previous posts these were easily removed thanks to the resin. There was then a little tidying elsewhere before they were ready to build.

Next was adding the transport cabin to the bottom of the body; although not difficult it was a little problematic, with the sides slipping during gluing, I thinking this is because the sides are flat and could do with some pegs and hold, but that's just my opinion. Then once glued they didn't look quite right with the bay door of each side the transport cabin not really lining up. I can live with it but it is a little disappointing, especially for a Hawk model.

Despite these very small - almost insignificant issues - these were built very quickly and are still lovely models.

These are now ready to rapidly deploy my Destroyers with a 30" full move/15" deployment move these are guaranteed to be in my opponents face/on an objective or focal point in no time...thank you very much :)

Due to the Christmas holiday this will be my last post of 2015!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Miniatures: Dropzone Commander - Scourge:Ravagers



So what with it being Christmas Eve who know what other goodies I will be receiving so I need to work on my backlog. As such here is my review of one of my recent purchases - the Ravagers.

The Packaging
As per previous posts these models come in a blister, which contains the models, firm foam and a card inlay

The Model

Each Ravager consists of 7 parts: 1 body, 2 guns and 4 legs

As with most Hawk models, this are extremely detailed, especially for their scale.

Building the model


The beauty of resin models is how easy the flash/excess comes off, this is particularly important s the legs were attached to a length of resin so need to be tidied/smoothed off to allow the ball joint to fit correctly.

Once all the flash and excess resin had been removed it was a simple case of gluing the legs into the relevant holes with a dab of superglue, making sure they were aligned so when they stood they weren't wonky. After-which I glued on the guns, which, thanks to the ball joint can face a multitude of ways, some of which are shown in the pictures above.

There we have it, 3 aircraft shooting, better armoured, big brother of the Prowler.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Thursday 17 December 2015

Miniatures: Dropzone Commander - Scourge:Oppressor

As you can't/shouldn't only build the new transport you specifically bought to transport your new commander unit, I built the oppressor shortly after the Harbinger.

The Packaging

So as mentioned in previous posts the model comes in a easy to open blister. Inside the blister you'll find the model, some firm foam and card inlay.


The model
Top
bottom
The model consists of 11 parts: Body, 6 legs, 2 plasma carbines (2 on right in picture) and 2 electroweb casters (attached to strip of resin)

Once again Hawk doesn't disappoint with this model, as it beautifully detailed. Both the top and the bottom are very detailed, bringing excitement at the painting potential.

 Building the model
Top down 

Underneath
At first glance I thought this model would be difficult to build what with all the parts however it was actually really easy.

Firstly I had to tidy it up and remove the flash. There wasn't too much, granted more than the Harbinger but as the excess is resin it cuts of easily and quickly.

I glued the legs on first using superglue, making sure that they aligned so when it's placed on the table it doesn't wobble, fall over or look stupid. After that I admittedly had to consult the internet to check where the plasma carbine and electroweb casters went. After a quick google image search I find the picture and applied the weapons correctly.

That was it! from blister opening to fully built in less than 10 minutes! 

Miniatures: Dropzone Commander - Scourge:Harbinger

As elaborately mentioned in my last post I have purchased some reinforcements for my Scourge in preparation for Invasion 2016.

Here is my personal review of the Harbinger

The Packaging

As with most Hawk products the model comes in a blister pack, which is easy to open by simply pressing on the front until the back opens. Inside the blister with the model is some firm foam and the card inlay.


The Model


As you can see from the pictures above the Harbinger only consists of 6 parts: Body, Tail, Arc caster, flight widget, flight peg, and flight stand.

The model is made of resin and is very detailed.

Building the model

The model was very easy to build with very little flash/excess resin. Once cleaned up it went together easily and quickly using superglue. That said I found that when I went add the tail I was either left with a gap in the join underneath or a miss-align of the "spine". As such I went for the gap so the model looked correct from when on the battlefield.

Within minutes my Harbinger was stuck together and ready to battle....which it was featured in only a few days later, where, unfortunately it was blasted out of the sky by rapiers; thankfully after it had deployed it's cargo!

Thursday 10 December 2015

++Reinforcements++

"Your reinforcements have been granted" came a voice over the radio. A voice within voice, and yet echoing the screams of a billion souls.

The sky was suddenly filled with a thousand small fireballs burning up in the atmosphere, as something much larger descended through it.

The craft landed on the edge of the city; it's bay doors opened releasing the requested reinforcements. Firstly the manta-ray like Harbinger drifted out, with three ravagers underneath connected by an electro-magnetic field. The Harbinger lowered itself further until the legs of the ravagers touched the ground, released them and floated up hovering in the sky. The ravagers faced the ground commander and then strode off into the city as if following some unmentioned command.

Next two intruder light dropships flew out of the bay doors and hovered in the sky. Before shooting off into the city at a blinding speed.

"Thank you, my lord..." came a voice from the ground commander, which was cut short as a huge hulking crab like beast crawled out of the landing craft, it scuttled up to the slayer tank the ground commander was in. It's optical sensors widened as it watched the ground commander.

Suddenly alarms started bleeping, and everyone's attention was drawn to the sky as two enemy interceptors started their approach at incredible speed, their weapons glowing ready to fire. Before they could get any shots off an arc of lightning ascended from the ground slicing them in half; their wreckage tumbled to the ground creating a small explosion followed by several fires.

The alarms were silenced and the ground commander turned to face the imposing crab-like machine in front of him.

"I am an oppressor" boomed a voice from within the crustacean as a razor sharp claw descended and pierced the crew compartment of the slayer in front of him, causing it to explode.

The Oppressor then turned towards the city and scuttled off.

As it turned and moved off, another craft began it's decent through the atmosphere, a craft unlike their own, a craft carrying something else....


So the story above provides a little flare to my recent purchases which include some reinforcements for my scourge and a new army - the Shaltari!

I bought these from a company I have just discovered called Asylum Wargaming (http://asylumwargaming.tictail.com/), and I cannot fault their service!

On Black Friday I ordered:
Oppressor
Intruder Alpha
Ravagers
Two Harbringers
Shaltari starter set
Shaltari command cards
Jaguar Warstrider
Coyote Warstrider
and a Ocelot Warstrider

As the order was over £80 I got free shipping, and because it was "black Friday" I got a further £10 off their already discounted products! Happy days!

None of the items were in stock when I ordered them in the evening of the 27/11 and yet they were delivered to me on 07/12! a brilliant turnaround in my opinion!

I cannot recommend these guys enough....now to get building my scourge reinforcements ready for Invasion 2016!