My advance ordered Demolisher kit turned up two days after it went on sale in the shops.
The first suprise was that there were only two sprues in the box. That does not seem generous for a £30 kit.
The tank was very easy to make. The new tracks are so much better than the old kit. This brings me to a point. There are not many bits to put together. The hatches, for example, are inscribed into the hull. This brings me to a second point. The plastic is thinner so the depth of 'cutting' into the plastic is shallow. The springs are reduced to a mere shadow of their former selves.
The kit does not come with the Leman Russ accesory sprue. So you do not, for example, get a 'dozer blade or pintle mounted weapon. You could order the accessory sprue from GW's website but that would raise the price of the kit to almost £40.
The lascannon is very weedy and you have to drill out the barrel.
You do get three different types of main turret weapon and three varieties of sponson weapons so that is a big plus.
The price point and marketing of this product seems very strange. Experienced modellors are not going to like the lack of flexibility and poor definition. Kids will find it much easier to make but I am not certain how their parents will feel about the price. It looks very expensive against other kit manufacturers. Given that the plastic sprue manufacture is the cheapest part of the whole kit (compared to the mould manunufacture and marketing), and that they already have an accessory sprue mould in the warehouse, I wonder why on Earth they did not just throw the third sprue in to raise the perceived value at minimal cost.
The pics show a kit completed as an Executioner plasma tank (except for the muzzle brake!).
John
Well I think the fact that the sponsons, hull weapons, and turret weapons are all modular justifies the price tag. I agree that it should come with the accessory sprue, though. Odd that they didn't throw it in!
ReplyDeleteAm I the only one that hates the Executioner cannon in this kit? I think it's awful. Mine will be sporting the FW version for sure.
ReplyDeleteI think the loss of the accessory spure is unacceptable for the price point on this kit. Also, just because a vehicle comes with "extra bits" or "extra options" doesn't diminish the fact that it's still just one tank in the box.
ReplyDeleteThey should have used the old russ hull and sprues and added in a spure with the new turrets and sponsons. The fact that I want all the tanks in my IG to have dozer blades for fluff reasons really shouldn't make me spend a 3rd of what I spent on the tanks for the blades.
ReplyDeleteFor me GW gets away with no accessory spure in the Hellhound box as it's an incredible improvment and an awesome model.
GW's new pricing policy is extremely brave, when viewed against the economic background.
ReplyDeleteThe RPI has dropped 1.7% compared to last year in the UK and the equivalent figure is even higher.
It will be challenging to convince purchasers to keep buying a purely entertainment product whose price is significantly rising in these circumstances.
John
Anthony -
ReplyDeleteI totally agree. New Executioner turret looks like a damn vacuum cleaner. I have 3 executioners from Forgeworld, 1 Ryza and 2 the older pattern. They look MUCH better.
At a price of 40 GBP it's probably CHEAPER to just order the Forgeworld versions.
Hi John
ReplyDeleteOn the value for money front Ive just bought the new Space Wolves pack theoretically to build 10 Space Wolves and its obviously intended to be an upgrade pack to make all types of wolf packs (the instruction leaflet tells you so as well), but wait for it, I counted 56 heads 28 pairs of arms plus sundry decorative bits wolfs tails, back pack standards (bit low, bit wierd, but space wolfy)plus body parts for ten figures as well as 20 odd shoulder pads so for £20 I think thats OK
I know You've got to buy extra packs to get the full value but for upgrading old ones and for conversion nuts its a great packet I told you about that nearly company worth of marines I've got in stock, well....