Saturday 6 May 2017

Mars Pattern Warlord Titan (Body) Unboxing

TOC finally does an unboxing of Forge World largest and most expensive (to date) kit.  Today we unbox the Mars Pattern Warlord Titan body itself!



All Warlord Titans start the journey in two boxes, bedecked in iconograpy, logos, and the Collegia Titanica symbol.  Forge World has really stepped the game up in terms of presentation, something which will be seen further very shortly.  



Inside one of the boxes is the usual tan colored envelope that Titan owners are already familiar with that contains the Titan's certificate of authenticity and instruction guide.  However, the increased quality of Forge World's products really becomes evident in this kit.  Instead of sheets that show the parts and their relative positions, you are treated to a very sharp and professional looking construction booklet.


The booklet is in color and shows a proper step by step sequence to building your Warlord from the feet up.  This is a first from Forge World and mirrors the new approach taken by newer Games Workshop guides.


One box contains four different bags that cover the smaller bits and armor panels as well as the bulk of what is needed to build the legs.  The other box contains the bulk of what is needed to build the torso and shoulders.  Many of the parts were grouped by their respective types (pistons and small bits, toes and toe pistons, etc.)  Let's get into the meat of the parts.



On the Warlord the toes are one solid piece that will ultimately sit in the toe pad while the toe pistons are a one part assembly that also includes their armor.  The Warlord doesn't have the ball and socket joint of its design go into the hip, but rather the hip takes a flat area while the legs themselves go to the the ball and socket design.  The Warlord is also unique in that it features its own hip ring for the pistons to help ensure that the pistons will look right and not "kinked" within itself.

The Warlord also features a gyro for the legs, several types and sizes of pistons, specialized mounts for the smaller point defense weapons (which are able to freely turn if built correctly), eight void shield generator pieces, the point defense weapons, and armor panels between the Titans toes that clip into place.  Forge World spared no expense as the Titan's generator exhausts are highly detailed and railings are included for the rear deck of the torso.  In addition, the pins that connect the legs to the armor panels are separate bits to prevent them from breaking and allow for extra work to be done if necessary to create unique looks.


.

The armor panels are large on the Warlord and Forge World was able to cast all of them as a single piece.  These panels are simple enough to reheat that it will ensure a good fit with their designs, but no detail has been lost.  Some armor panels, namely the groin plate and thigh armor, are two "plates" but a single piece, ensuring that the look of the Titan will be correct and simplifying the work involved.  Even the backs of these armor plates have a high amount of detail.  In addition, the knees and lower legs of the Warlord are separate pieces, which will allow the creation of an additional pinning point for strength.


The Warlord features two panels for the elbow armor, two head protection carapace pieces, and chest armor. It also has individual mounts for the carapace weapons and the torso box is built through several panels, some of which are in multiple parts.


One of the defining features of the Warlord is the distinctive shoulder plates that adorn it.  These massive plates wrap around a central strut that creates the turtle shell design of the shoulder armor.  Once assembled these plates would be large enough to wrap around a human shoulder.  The details on the panels are large, significantly raised and sculpted, and detail is exquisite on the front and back.




All of the parts on the torso are highly detailed.  These large chunks of resin also showed very little, if not any, warping despite their size and weight making it easy for that to happen while the parts cooled.  Each piece of the torso will provide unique opportunities and it really brings the mechanical feel of the Titans to life.  The interlocking nature of the pieces that hold the armor to the torso is evident in the design and doesn't interfere with the details.



The upper carapace, shoulders, exhaust ridges, and foot pads are huge pieces of resin, crammed with detail, and are sound.  The carapace is reinforced on the bottom to help avoid warping of the massive piece of resin. 


The Warlord also bears a panel for the rear hatch that often becomes a focal point of the kit, which itself is richly detailed.  The thighs of the massive kit are full of nuances and include many of the pistons that in past kits would have had to been added on.  And finally the massive hips for the Warlord are a single piece.

The Mars Pattern Warlord Titan is a beast of a kit that has been lavishly presented by Forge World, but with good reason.  Crammed with details, the kit has been well thought out and designed in a way that gives the builder flexibility in pose, style, and build approach.  The color construction booklet, a first for Forge World, is quality and professional, and will easily make the build of this daunting project much easier.  This is a great kit from Forge World and its cost is well justified.

Do you have any questions regarding the Mars Pattern Walord body?  Or any comments? Please feel free to leave comments and questions below.


3 comments:

  1. Ah, I remember that.... must get on with mine!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Even though I agree with you on the thoughtfulness of the designers there are some parts that restricts your posing in an unnecessary way. Mostly the joining of the thigh armor to the knee piece makes the leg posing a bit awkward. Also the way the lower leg attaches to the thigh makes the posing ability of the kit somewhat restricted. I would also have wised for the designers to have anticipated the need for magnetization of other means of attaching/removing weapons from the kit. But all in all This is the master piece in you collection, and I am really impressed with all the people that have assembled and painted on of these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Magnets and forgeworld are starting to happen. The custodes dreads are designed for the swapping of the wrist weapons. Hopefully all new kits will follow this route.

      Delete