Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Review of Secret Weapon Miniatures 6x6 Rapid Assault Vehicle

+++ TO: All Citizens of Formosa
+++ FROM: Inquisitor Astoraga Cesped
es
+++ SUBJECT: Data entry for proxy Chimeras

My apologies for the long delay in posts, but life has once again seemed to have gotten in the way. But now, it's back to show and tell.

Over the holidays I was lucky enough to purchase two of MisterJustin's 6x6 Rapid Assault Vehicles from Secret Weapon Miniatures before they sold out.

These are two resin/metal kits that I got with the intention of proxying them for Inquisitorial Chimeras. I will tackle them point by point.

Point 1: Assembly
SUPER SIMPLE! A two part body, six wheels, and a turret. They needed very little cleanup apart from the fronts of the body where the flashing was the most prominent. You may be able to see it in the pics, but I can post more if someone wants to see more detail. I ended up pinning the wheels in case of any dropping, etc, but they snap fit near perfectly out of the box.

The metal turret bits and front weapon bits also pop in easily, though I only used the multi-laser turret option. The front mount weapon bolter/flamer just sits neatly in it's mount point and only falls out if you turn the model over and shake it. No magnets required to keep both options open on this fella.

Point 2: Extra Bits
You receive a ton of metal turret weapon options, though I just went with the laser option. They give you seven options in total for the turret.


Point 3: The Proxy
I will get some images side-by-side but they measure up with the GW chimera nicely. Even the regular infantry when lined with it do not feel off scale at all. They are also fairly sci-fi and less future Gothic, so as you can see I decorated them with bits from other vehicles, added smoke launchers and some Forgeworld brass etch. I also added the antennae with simple brass rod, as I always love that look. I feel those small changes really help them blend with the GW stuff on the tabletop.

Point 4: The Bad
The only bad point is that the metal turret weapon weighs a ton and the turret itself if fairly light weight. I will get some photos up of this soon, but I had to counter weight the turret at the back with some simple model weights under the backside of the turret. You may be able to spot this in the images below. Also, because I needed to add this weight I had to raise the turret up, which I did with some snippings of plasticard at the join between the turret and body. It was still nothing difficult to accomplish and the turret sits nicely now, rather than falling out on a fast rotation.

Point 5: The Result
Overall, these kits are awesome, and I intend on getting more of them. Kudos to MisterJustin and the Secret Weapon guys for knocking this one out of the park.



+++ END TRANSMISSION

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