Space Marine

120mm Resin kit from Forgeworld

Painted in 2001

Or... How to paint a figure shaped car.

This was the first release from Forge World, when they were

embarking on their "let's make a ridiculously priced figure that the kids'll buy" regime.

Problem is, it's a damn good model, and set the benchmark for what was to follow.

The kit is about 120mm high, with a base that adds about another 20mm, which GeeDubya decide makes it a 143mm high model figure.

There's a logic in there, but it sort of confuses the issue.

The kit is moulded in both resin - for the bigger bits, and white metal for the thinner and more detailed bits.

This works well, but the sculptor has gone way over the top with parts. There's about forty all told, and although it makes for a very detailed kit, it does seem rather reminiscent of Dragon Models plastic efforts of "let's make fifteen components where only one would look just as good".

At a price of ninety five pounds ( Back in 2001 ), it's not going to have a horde of folk charging around to buy it, but you can see where the money has gone when you get the kit out and have a look at all the detail.

I certainly prefer this resin to the cold cast stuff that Forgeworld moved on to for later large scale kits, if only because it will take glue better ( or have I spoken too soon ? ).

Worthy of note is the use of two different textured resins, I take it that it's a coarser "filler" used on one, so that the figure is moulded in a very smooth resin, and the base and it's components are in a coarser, textured material.

Clean up is a surprise. The cold cast kits were virtually flash free, but this model, or at least the example I got, had several mould mismatches, which needed cleaning up. As the mismatches crossed panel detail on the armour, there was also some re-scribing to do.

It's not a mega amount of work, but with having had a hold of the newer offerings, and taking the price into consideration, I'd expect better quality from this manufacturer.

On saying that, I have heard that if you get parts that you're not happy with, they will replace them with no questions asked, and with the minimum of delay.

One thing that is evident is that there's lots of additional parts, most of them optional, and also a set of decals too.

The main addition being that of a spare head, one helmeted, the other one bare, and these can be left so that they can be swapped after the model is completed.

There's also the inclusion of two guns, one a standard bolter, the other a heavier version, one can be abandoned on the base, the other being used on the figure. It might be fun to see if the left hand could be converted so that he holds both guns for a real "overkill" effect.

The parts "work" too, in that the sizes of the components actually fit together, the magazines of shells fitting into the female socket on the bolter. The bayonet actually slides into the sheath.

Someone's thought a bit about this model and how it's constructed.

The split of parts is logical, and I didn't need any filler whatsoever on this model, except on the joint between the two bayonet sheath halves. Even the components for the base fitted seamlessly together.

As for the painting. Well the reference in the title says it all.

There's very little flesh to paint, none at all if you use the helmet instead of the bare head.

Basically, the painter can use the same methods as used on car kits to get a nice, clean looking, and most of all stupidly bright ( for a chap going into battle ) paint finish.

I was doing this for a commission, so I thought I'd stick to a recognised ( and stupidly bright ) Space Marine colour scheme.

That of the Blood angels in bright red and white seemed nice, having pots f red and white paint easily to hand, and in close proximity to my airbrush sort of clinched the deal.

I decided to keep all the components separate until the final stages, and began by mixing up some matt red and grass green Humbrol paint.

This made a sort of burgundy colour, and I used several thin coats of this, put through an airbrush, to give the model primer, undercoat and shadow layers all in one.

I then airbrushed pure red over the model to begin building up the highlights, and then allowed the parts to dry fully.

The red didn't show up too well on the darker background, so I airbrushed on highlight areas of white, covering these with a further coat of the red. This is an old trick to get lighter colours such as red or yellow to stand out, and not have them muddied by previous coats of paint.

I hand painted on the white areas, using several coats of Skull White (GW), and again allowed everything to dry fully.

The gold areas were done next, these being base coated in a mix of Humbrol Gold enamel and Burnt Umber oils, then highlights added from pure gold, and some touches of gold mixed with white oil paint to add final highlights.

To finish off the glossy bits, I airbrushed several thin coats of Humbrol Gloss varnish over all the components, allowing this three or four days to dry in the airing cupboard.

Next I added all the black details, particularly the flexible joints between the armour, and also adding thinned black acrylic to the panel lines. GW chaos black came in handy for this.

Then it was time for the glue. I pinned and glued each of the parts together, having thoughtfully drilled the holes for the pins before commencing painting. The engineering of these kits really shines here, as the parts do just clip together, the glue just a formality to hold the parts permanently.

Once the glue had dried, I added the decals, which were disappointing to say the least.

They seem to have had some of the white backing splattered on to the thin clear film surrounding each printed block, which because of the bright red paint, showed up like a sore thumb ( to me at least ).

Not being used to using decals, I thought that using Solvaset might improve matters, but it didn't, so I left them alone, hoping that they weren't as noticeable to everyone else, as they were to me.

Having said that, the decals were very thin, and don't show up like the ones I used to use when building the old Airfix kits many moons ago.

Now for the major problems.

Being a bit of an impatient soul, and also in the habit of building military kits, I always build up a figure in what seems to me to be a logical way - unless of course instructions are supplied to the contrary.

That logical way is basically the idea that I add the major parts of the body together, the legs to torso, arms to shoulders kinda thing.

Then move on to hands, heads and guns. You see the way I'm going ? You do it the same yourself I bet.

So it was a bit of a shock to find that all the lovely belt packs, bayonet scabbard and grenades won't slot into place once the massive shoulder pads are on.

It's perfectly logical really, looking at the constructed kit, that these bits will not go in place once the arms are on. But I didn't think.

So the bayonet went into the spares box, as too did all the grenades. I did manage to get the belt packs in place, but the other stuff was going to get nowhere near.

It's something to be wary of I suppose. Just 'cos you've assembled figures beyond count, well probably several hundred at least, doesn't mean to say that an odd one here and there isn't going to throw a spin now and then.

I guess I should have checked it out better.

All thing said though, it's a nice model, and the missing parts don't really stand out in their absence.

The bright colour isn't my cup of tea, I'd want more muted greens and browns, and matt ones at that, but I can see the attraction, and it does make a very "pretty" model.

The fit of parts is exemplary, although moulding was down in quality, plenty of extra parts too, if you can get 'em to fit on, and a spare head so you can alternate between a bare head or helmeted versions.

Back in 2001 this kit was £95, which in comparison to Historical pieces of the time, seemed vastly overpriced.

Granted when the box was opened up, there's a lot of parts in there, and you could perhaps begin to understand why it was so expensive.

But, whilst the potential buyers were vast, the ones with deep enough pockets at the time, were probably a lot fewer, so maybe these didn't sell that well.

I've not seen any at shows over the intervening years, so the possibility of picking one up second hand, now that they're long out of production, is very, very unlikely, and even then, would probably have a big price tag.

Overall, the kit is a good one, and I'm glad that I accepted a second kit in payment for painting this one for the guy that commissioned it.

I can't say that I like the face on the bare head, and although I did manage to get paint on the one I kept for me, the helmet head option was the one I stuck with.

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Space Marine120mm Resin kit from ForgeworldPainted in 2001

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Space Marine

120mm Resin kit from Forgeworld

Painted in 2001