(Rumor has it, it's an attempt to make me put away my Circle of Orboros Army for a bit so someone else can play it a bit!)
Now those of you looking for an incredibly detailed paint job and step-by-step contruction article - it ain't happening! I tend to paint for the 4' rule: If it looks good from the other side of the table (4' away), it's a good paint job!
So, let's start with the unboxing:
Oooooooo - lotsa parts! But what impressed me immediately? They included a Wreck Marker! Hopefully I won't need it too often. The parts were well packed, and there was an "exploded view" diagram of the Stormwall to help with assembly, and everything appeared to be in the box. So, good marks there!
However, some of the Resin parts had quite a bit of flash on them. (For Non-Modelers: Flash is the "extra" model compound that flows around the edges of where the parts of the mold join together - usually it's fairly thin.) While I expected some flash, I actually had a quite a bit more than I expected. Worse, some of the arm components appeared as though the parts had shifted as the components were poured. It wasn't just flash, but a joint shift that made the surface two levels. This required using a combination of Razor Knife and various files to clean up the parts so they appeared to be 1 piece again!
The most annoying mold problem was on the back of one of the resin leg components - an alignment hole for the Pewter Ankle piece was completely filled in! At first, I didn't realize it was missing (just my luck, I picked up the defective leg 1st!). I couldn't get the parts to fit properly, it "looked wrong". I couldn't figure out why until I tried to put the other leg together. Then I could see why the first leg "looked wrong"! Using an razor knife, a small drill-bit and pin vice, I had to clear out enough material to get the two pieces to join properly.
The cleanup of the Resin Parts took quite a while (probably 2-3 evenings - 2-3 hours each), as did some of the Pewter parts (another 1-2 hours). Not the best quality control I've seen from Privateer Press.
I started to do some gluing and trial fittings. Most of the parts went together easily once I had finished cleaning up the parts. I glued the Voltaric Stacks and some of the other bits together to prime the major assemblies. (Afterwards, realized I should have kept the stacks off and glue them on AFTER I finished fine detailing them. Oh well...) The Stormwall also came with 3 Lightning Probes that went together with minor cleanup. So I was ready to prime the Main Chassis as 1 piece, the Leg/Waist Assemblies as 1 piece, the two gun barrels as separate pieces (at first I thought they were smoke stacks! My Bad!!!), the two arms and the two hands as separate assemblies.
I did have two pieces I didn't know what to do with. They looked like they should be some sort of shoulder guard, but were too small. Nothing like them appeared on the exploded parts diagram. I was baffled. A day or two later I was discussing the various trials and tribulations of assembling the Stormwall with someone else who had assembled one.
"And how about those pieces for the feet?" says he.
"???????"
"You know, those two pieces that just sit on top of the feet? Some sort of foot shield."
Sure enough, he showed me the two mystery pieces on the box that they had in the store! Mystery Solved!
So, at this point, I've got my main pieces primered. Now the painting begins...
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