Monday, August 20, 2018

Warhound Scout Titan - part one - building and basing

So, almost two years ago I received a Warhound Scout Titan as a gift from my partner. I do have experience with Forge World miniatures, but like most people, this was the biggest kit I have ever had.


Now, this post is a bit like going back into the past, as clearly I've had it for some time. I made sure to check all the parts as soon as I got it, in case I needed to contact FW so they could square away any issues - it turned out that I was missing one of the toes - a replacement was promptly sent to me. I was eager to build it ASAP, so that I could actually use it in a game. I washed and scrubbed everything twice, then cleaned up all the parts, and washed and scrubbed them again before moving onto assembly, which was a very messy process. I made a mistake in building it, which resulted in botched attempts at trying to fix it, and eventually had to cut off one of the hip ball joints, and cast another from the other leg. The cast wasn't perfect, but was good enough. All I can say is, if you're building one, is make sure that the pistons have enough room to be fitted, as I certainly didn't.

The entire miniature is heavily pinned with 2mm brass rod - a Dremel rotary tool was essential for the amount of drilling that was required. I decided to not magnetise the weapons, so there is actually only four magnets fitted, meaning that the torso and legs can be separated for transport. I also made it so that the cockpit armour can be removed to show the internals - I decided not to bother with leaving access to the rest of the internals. I generally don't bother with painting the internals of miniatures, as I can't really see myself staying up at night peering into them.

The first game I played with it (it got blown up, of course!) proved that it was a bit unsteady, meaning that it had to be propped up under the chin to remain standing, meaning that I would need to base it, and sort out some of the weight distribution. I ordered some of the large round bases that GW make, and filled the bottom of them with car body filler and 1p coins. The bases also had some large fishing weights built into them - it was essential that the legs of the Titan were heavier than the torso, otherwise physics would win every time, and the Titan would forever be faceplanting the battlespace.


With all that done, I was content that the Titan was built (I have yet to fit the cables/hoses that connect between the weapons and torso), and I could leave it in storage for a time when I felt better able to commence painting, which will be covered in later posts.