Model companies can make some great models, and some real duds, and do so often on the same release day. Yesterday, I put together two Khador Warjacks from Privateer Press. One was easy, fun, and looks great. The other was a ridiculous monstrosity.
We'll start with the disaster. The Devastator (above) looks cool in the picture, or at least I think so. Unfortunately, he was designed to cause seizures of rage in those putting him together. Those big arms are attached to the body by tiny cylinders about half a centimeter long and about as thick as the head of a Bic pen. Or at least they are supposed to be. After an hour, I gave up and attached the arms directly. The weight of the arms is still so much that it took a ton of work to get them to stay on. We're on day two now, and everything seems to be holding together, but the arms have broken / fallen off three times so far. Wheee!
On the other hand, there's the Kodiak. See that pose above, where he's all "I'm a robot ninja wrestler"? He looks that awesome when you put him together. His arms are built so that, even though they're heavy, they can hold to the body with great support at the joints. All in all, I'm guessing he took five minutes to put together, and is an awesome product.
So please, anyone who makes models, take a note from the Kodiak and Devastator. Don't make models that can't support their own weight at the joints. Don't add extra pieces that I have to put together just to have extra pieces (a la the extra tiny arm struts). Give me a model like the Kodiak, in which dynamic beauty is combined with structural simplicity and ease of construction.
That's a bummer about the Dev. - he's such a great looking model and if I were to buy another Khador 'jack he's top on my list.
ReplyDeleteI do agree though, the Kodiak is a sweet model and went together no problem. I have two!