Mechanicum 殭屍!!!
This week From the Desk I have one of the brand new Castelax plastic kits from the new Mechanicum box set release for the Horus Heresy, kindly sent to me by Games Workshop. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally have these amazing sculpts done properly in a plastic kit, as I've avoided the resin kits for so many years. Yes, they do take longer to assemble, but when it comes to a crisp build, no mould slips through many symmetrical parts, and a LOT less pinning, I'll choose the plastic any day of the year! The only thing I do miss from the resin is cables since you can easily heat a resin cable, bend it to your desired shape and quickly cool it to take a new shape. I've opted to replace the plastic gun cable with a putty version rolled out from a cable roller mould from Green Stuff World so that I can reposition the Mult-Melta cannon on his shoulder to be a relaxed stand-by position.
This guy just has one more paint session to finish the skull details, some lenses, the base and a bit more weathering final touches and then he will be ready for the tabletop as well as his debut tutorial next week! Of course, you may be wondering what are the Chinese characters doing on his left shoulder pauldron and the 5th legion chorgoran script across the top? Well of course this is to represent a host of Mechanicum cohert that conducts seige operations alongside my Orud of Jaghatai! I would think the legion seeing undead animated brain bucket robots pitiful and even a source of bad luck. And to give clear warnings of who they are they are labelled 殭屍 - jiāngshī meaning Chinese Hopping Vampire. Ancient folk-lore deplicted as an undead animated corpse. I thought this bit of superstition and folk-lore fits really nicely within my views of the 5th legion and a way to show their separation from them. Superstitious as best, and only using them for specific rolls in an otherwise dishonourable conduct of the great crusade.