Doghouse

One thing to consider is finding out when the Godwyn pattern bolter came into use. Chances are it could have come out when the mk 7 was introduced if you wanted to do really late heresy/early scouring. It's plausible both could of come into use outside of the siege because of the way mechanicus data sharing worked.

Wow wasn't expecting to hear that. As the first proper 40k novels I absolutely loved the Inquistor series and Space Marine and still read them from time to time. The epitomized the feel of Rogue Trader and 80's sci fi.

So as per usual long time no posting... I am still working on the Witch Hunters and have just got Inquisitor Karamazov in finecast but not had a lot of free time of late. I am currently working on this small detachment of Custodes using the new plastic kits combined with the older kits. Still extremely WIP and as you may be able to tell I am using the male kits, not because I have anything against female Custodes I just prefer the male toros. This limits me to three poses unfortunately and one of the three has the back of the foot cut off to fit the capes so I am currently resculpting this area. I have shaped the heel and made an indentation to start sculpting the ball on the ankle. It's going ok so far. I have used all old kit heads for these guys as I prefer them over the newer coneheads. The shield captain in the middle uses Warden kit arms which work well and has a sheathed paragon blade. As I want no cloaks you can see on some where I have trimmed the cloak off the shoulders. It's a really bizarre choice to detail the backs of the models then add a massive slab of plastic to block it all. These will be heresy second edition. As for my review of the kit, if you want mono-pose models with a few head swaps then they are fine. I personally don't think the kit is very good as you are limited to three male and three female models and can't change weapons between them. Male parts look oversized on female and female parts look comical on male because they are a lot smaller in areas like hands. Such a horrible kit to work with as a conversion fan. I do have buyers regret getting these to be honest but hoping they will make nice allies to some Solar Auxilia I have sat in a box.

Here you go mate, still very WIP as it's the first one and I need to clean up and properly define the ball on the ankle more. I've used some older kit parts and going no cloaks like I said before so on some you can see where I shaved the cloak off of the shoulders. Helmets fit with the tiniest of trimming and the Shield Captain I am making in the center has a sheathed Paragon blade from the plastic jet bike kit. Like I say, for the record I have nothing against female Custodes I just prefer the male bodies for the bulk.

Here's the first five. I'm using parts from the old and new kits, to be honest the new one sucks because it is such a pain in the backside to work with. I'm going old school no cloaks which means I have to shave off the cloak area on the shoulders. I'm going for a mix of the old bare heads, warden heads and Custodian heads which fit quite well with a tiny bit of trimming. I want them to look as individual as possible. The Shield Captain is center and has a sheathed paragon blade with two arms from the Warden kit. Still got a ton of work to do. The guy on the left is having the foot resculpted because it's cut off to fit the cloak. it's very rough at the moment, partially because I'm still playing around with it but mostly because I'm old and my eyesight is terrible! I've made an indentation for the little ball part on the ankle and will then clean it up and sculpt it properly. Not sure I will use a specific chamber for colours but will be using second edition rules.

I agree with the gist of that video saying inflation absolutely explains the jump from the old metal days, no argument there. The issue is what’s happened since plastic became the standard. Early plastic kits weren’t just a material shift, they were built around flexibility. You got multiple weapon options, spare heads, spare arms, and enough leftover parts to actually customise squads or even stretch a kit further than intended. There was real hobby value in the box. Modern kits are more detailed but they’re increasingly mono-pose, locked into specific loadouts unless you buy an additional upgrade sprue in some cases, and give you just enough to build what’s on the box and nothing else. You’re trading flexibility for presentation. So you’ve got a production method that’s become more efficient over time, but the customer is getting less freedom and fewer usable components per kit while paying more. That’s the part inflation doesn’t really explain. Prices going up makes sense. Value per kit going down at the same time is a separate issue. And if it was purely inflation and rising costs, you’d expect some consistency across ranges. Instead you get things like 5 Aspect Warriors costing the same as a 10-man squad. That starts to look less like cost and more like pricing based on what people will tolerate. That’s really the core of it for me personally speaking. It’s not just that prices have gone up, it’s that what you actually get for that price has shifted in a way that’s harder to justify for me to purchase them.

I would buy a ton of aspect warriors to flesh out the Guardian army I started but no way in the Eye of Terror am I paying those prices for 5. Given the complexity of most modern kits (which only ends up in you stroking the ego of the designers for being able to make what are effectively dynamic mono-pose kits you can only build one way...looking at you Custodes kit...) it's not even value for money from a modelling perspective. They're boring and bland and devoid of imagination. I'd like to think we are maxed out at pricing hikes but newer players are always coming along and will accept it as the norm because they have been told the hobby is expensive. It's really not their fault but GW will 100% take advantage of them.

I've decided to take a bash at an expeditionary fleet force. I'm starting small with thirteen Custodes to use as allies for the two Solar Auxilia Battle Group boxes I have sat collecting dust. I'm going with second edition and hopefully will get two transports for them. I quite like the idea of a small force of Custodes being sent off on a special mission.

I'm doing similar things with mine. I actually have come to despise the new kits but the saving grace is a lot of the older kits will work with a bit of elbow grease. Looks like they used the female arms and the shield captain head on that Warden conversion, I actually prefer the older heads on the newer bodies as they are more imposing and with a tiny bit of trimming fit the new male bodies fine. I personally really don't like the new heads as they are coneheads. Proportionally they are not really that different, slight increase in the midriff. The guys with their legs spread apart are almost identical in height before adding the torso, just maybe a slight adjustment to the tops of the thighs. The shins and feet are a lot bigger on the old ones though but it's hard to tell to be fair, I actually prefer a lot of the older models details to be honest. The old shoulder pads don't really work but by trimming the shoulder down on the older kit arms the new pads work really well. My Shield Captain/Tribune I am making is a mix of both Warden and the new kit.

I may have the UK prices for these from a mate of mine. Shield Captain - £27 Custodian Guard Solidality £44.50 Sentinel Guard Solidality - £44.50 Venetarii Solidality - £50 Custodian Dreadnought - £50 Coronus Grav Carrier - £80 Caladius Grav-Tank - £60 Caladius Annihilator Grav-tank - £60

Mixing up the amour a bit more like the recent Space Wolves would have helped I think. The only thing that says veteran to me is the helmet. I really don't like these perched on rocks models, it doesn't look like they are jumping. I'd rather see some braced as they land or on one foot as they take off, so much range for cool poses beyond one foot on a terrain piece that could drive home the sheer power of the jump pack. Such an unimaginative solution for not having flying stands. Other than that it's pretty much an assault marine, not really much to comment on.

Yeah I think male and female sprues kind of defeats the way they sell this stuff to be honest. You do get one mini sprue with two males on that could be easy to separate but the weapons are all mixed in on one so you are still going to have to cut those off into their correct pairings. So far I prefer the males bodies because they are more compatible with the older kits to a certain degree and the female heads look fine on them. Wonder if there is a resale market for female custodes? I do know at least one person on ebay was selling just the male custodians so the preference is clearly something that works both ways which is fine.

Forgot to ask, any news on prices?

I must admit I wasn't expecting that so soon. Venatari look to be two sprues of three then by the looks of it, I think I may just get some for bits. I really want to get the Grav-Carrier for sure.

Yeah this is spot on, they created it during the Skarath Crusade using lascannons from Long Fang units. The only real anomaly is the naming because it was discovered to be a part of the original STC design so the name Annihilator must have come once the Ad-Mech established it as a design as a throw back to the predators of the Great Crusade. So while this was created before the Heresy was really a strong setting it does nicely dove tail into the lore with the Space Wolves rediscovering it rather than inventing it themselves and as a testimony to the versatility of the STC templates. Other vehicles have actually been retconned such as the Sabre and the Vindicator from being created during the Heresy originally but now were used in the Great Crusade itself. The Mk VI being used as a main armour of the Heresy is a throw back to the original Epic Space Marine game set during the Scouring. At the time Mk VI was pretty much the only armour we had back in the days of Rogue Trader with the other marks coming later towards the very end of first edition so it's more of a nod to that era. It was during this time in the late eighties that the armour marks came into being for the first time and MK VI became a late Heresy entry. I don't have any insider information but my personal theory is that the other marks were supposed to be concepts for what would become Mk 7 in much the same way the first two terminator armours were released along with the Artificier variants that were also released. Famously the very first Primarch model, Leman Russ, also wore Mk VI. I think in the modern lore before Heresy 2.0 it was established that the Legions were testing the Mk VI before the Heresy actually happened, possibly decades before.