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Well, I eagerly awaited the arrival of this model. Earlier today, I checked my mail to find the ticket letting me know that my product had arrived. Scrapped for time, I rushed down to the mail office, picked up my little black box, and carried around with me from 3:30 until 10PM when my classes finally ended.
At face value, this boy does not dissapoint. The pieces are exquisitely detailed, with little to know mold lines or flash. I cannot stress how beautiful this thing looks. The wings are freaking huge, and the manticore itself is sizable to boot. Every little bit shows great care and detail.
Additionally, the resin takes great to glue. Expect pieces to stick together effortlessly, whatever resin they've been using, it works great.
However, there are a few things that really hurt the model. Namely, it seems like the guys doing the design of the model itself didn't really put much thought into the assembly. This thing is an absolute nightmare to put together. Expect to spend several hours with a pot of boiling water to reshape the parts so that they have even a remote chance of fitting together. Even after that, it's as if the entire ankle joint for the forelegs doesn't even exist. This wouldn't be a problem if the feet weren't attached to the base, but since they are, expect to spend a considerable amount of time essentially building the ankles from scratch. it doesn't help that the rest of the model will require a lot of gap filling. And it's not like the good people at Raging heroes lack the foresight to do the job right--the right wing clips in perfectly. It wreaks of a lazy job, and feels like the parts aren't even from the same kit. The biggest cause of this major issue is that the tree trunk that the rear legs are perched upon simply won't line up with the positioning of the forelegs on the base.
It's a shame that such a beautiful model is weighed down by such horrible assembly issues. It'd easily be a 9 or a perfect 10 if that weren't the case, but it's really dragged down by some really poor design choices. When it's done, expect it to look amazing, but expect to put in a lot more work than you should to get it there.
6/10
Conclusion:
Nice face, shame about the legs.
I'll post some pics when I finish assembling mine. I figure I'll try to avoid fitting the trunk on the base altogether and try to model a cosmetic workaround. The integrated base just ruins the rest of the model. I know it allows for an amazing and dramatic pose, but the way it's implemented just doesn't work.
I'd recommend this model to people who like beautiful models, and wouldn't mind dealing with a lot of frustration and effort to get them that way. It's in no way an impossible model, but a lot of work is needed to make it servicable.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/03/30 10:32:35
Kendoka's pictures show exactly where the model fails to alighn itself with its integrated base. If you look closely at the trunk where the rear legs perch on, it misses the attaching point on the base by a lot. I managed to get mine a fair bit closer by putting the model in some boiling water for a bit and reshaping it, but it's still a ways off.
Pros:
+ Really nice model.
+ Perfect cast and fit (my Manti had some minor "assembly issues" - but will pin together just fine with minimum work and a tiny bit of green stuff).
+ Dramatic pose.
+ Looking really badass.
Cons:
- A bit too small, the wings are OK but the body and especially the Manti head could have been bigger.
- My Lammasu/Lamassu head was slightly miscast (almost all skulls are paper thin, filled with air and collapses on touch).
- The stinger had no tip (slightly miscast).
- The claws could have been longer/sharper.
- The pose is so special it will be hard to field two Mantis in an army.
= HIGHLY recommended!
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2011/03/30 21:59:58
I actually think they sized it really well. I had originally thought when I looked at the design " That thing will never stand up right without tippign over, and it is goign to be too big. "
As for ill fittign joint. Unfortunately this is a problem with almost ANY model that has a part that joins in two places. Every mould shifts no matter what the maker does. Even if it is just a very very slight shift, the two joins will nto line up perfectly NO MATTER what. I foudn this out when I produce the Conradt model. The axe on that thign DOES NOT join properly.
Fortunately in my case it is an easy fix by clipping the axe handle where it joins to the left hand, afixing the left hand to the left arm, then drilling out a hole in the left hand for the extra length of axe shaft to fit into and the fitting the right hand with the axe into place. VOILA!!
In this case there is probably an equally simple solution, btu findign ti may be a trick..... Hmmm....
You could TRY cutting the foot off of the trunk, afixing the leg to the body, sand down the cut on the trunk, drill a pinnign hole in the foot and a slot in the trunk. Fix the trunk to the main base and then putty aroudn the new foot placement to hide the fix.
Yep, that woudl work. Just be VERY careful cuttign that foot clear of the base.
I'm also quite happy with the size. To me, a Manticore is not meant to be the size of a dragon or a giant, but it is considerably larger/thicker than other basic mounts.
The rider's fine. Some of the parts on him are very small (mainly the right hand), but I'm certain that was done to allow you to easily give it the weapon of your choice.
As for the size, I'm content with it. It's not so big that it will be too intimidating to actually finish, but big enough to still have an intimidating presence.
Perhaps it arrived sooner in Canada, I bet it's about to come in the states.
I would hold off on dinging it until a few more people post up reviews. The pictures make the model look fantastic, imho, and while I'm sure there are alignment issues, that's a pretty common thing in third party models, and something I would've thought someone as skilled as Fafnir could compensate for.
Not trying to bristle back, either, as I appreciate your posting concerns, but the pics that kendoka posted make me think the model still looks incredible, not the other way around.
Oh, I'm not disagreeing that the model is incredible. It's absolutely beautiful and the detail is approaching insane. However, the actual engineering of the model leaves a lot to be desired. I'm still very excited about the model (although because it did come so late, it'll have to wait until after I finish overhauling my old Grey Knight army), but I am still critical of the state of the model's engineering.
As I said in the initial post, it's still an excellent kit, but it will definetly require a lot of work (at least, based on the fitting of my copy) to actually finish. It's definetly a recommendable piece, but I'm voicing my concerns because the buyers should definetly be informed of the difficulty of the piece.
Perhaps rating it based on appearance separately from the way it fits together could help make that more obvious... personally, even if a model fits together terribly, if it is the most stunning model on the table, it's not going to get a 6/10 from me!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/04/01 14:22:00
Glad to hear they are moving up the quality ladder. If they get the fit and miscast issues down they will definitely be a good source of attractive models.
I'm looking at the pics and can't see where the thing is failing to line up; I'm guessing it will become much more clear when I have them in-hand!
I'm about to wrestle through assembling a few of privateer press's giant metal dire troll models... I find all of these kinds of large models to be difficult, especially with gaps, and am not presently really skilled enough to fill them. So, lots and lots of glue later, mine will be together... but I will likely need to go back later and fill gaps.
All this to say, the most important thing to me is a beautiful model, there are certainly lots of large kits out there with gaps and alignment problems.
Not to put down the need for this information, as it's very helpful, just trying to express a bit more clearly where I'm coming from on it.
Looks like Raging Heroes has addressed this issue (as much as they can) with an email. It also confirms Fafnir's statement that where the model is split is probably not as elegant as the model itself, as it was not where they originally intended to do so.
It is nice that they have responded and tried to guide people through what sounds like a rather challenging assembly process...
So the Manticore is here at last. We are really happy with the quality of the cast. However, as we told you in the last blog post, there have been some last-minute technical difficulties that had a big impact on the whole production process. Basically, the foundry created some great moulds that made perfect casts, but after 20 runs, the moulds suddenly refused to behave in any consistent fashion. The foundry ended up throwing many many casts to the refuse bin and it became clear that we had to take some emergency decision and completely had to create new moulds with a different approach.
This forced us to resplit the master in a different fashion. In just two days, the foundry got back on its feet and delivered some great casts but in the end, as a result of this new splitting, the assembly of the piece is not as simple and straightforward as we had originally planned.
So here are a few tips to assemble the Manticore:
1. You should start by gluing the Manticore's left front leg in place.
2. Then, you'll have to glue the hind legs in place. The tricky part here is to glue the hind legs while, at the same time, testing the correct position of the branch to the base so that the branch and the left front leg correctly fit on the base.
3. However, do NOT glue the miniature to the base just yet. You just want to make sure that the positioning of these parts is correct.
4. Once the three legs are glued, you now have a solid start to build on. Glue the Manticore's right front leg in place while still testing its position with the base.
5. Once all the legs are glued to the body, you can now glue the Manticore to the base, and add the head and wings, which will fit easily. In the end, a little bit of putty will help to create perfect joints between the legs and the other parts.
Once again, thank you for your patience and your confidence.
Don't hesitate to keep us posted with your suggestions for Manticore-sized kits, and also, do send us pics of your painted Manticore / Lamassus.
Best regards,
Raging Heroes Team
This message was edited 4 times. Last update was at 2011/04/05 03:32:49
Well, after a really long, bad day, I came home to this:
And it's no longer such a bad day
The Lamassu head especially looks fantastic. I'm particularly stoked that when I ordered this, I intended to use it for my WoC... and while I still may be able to do so, I will more than likely use it as the start of my chaos dwarfs instead. What a great idea by Grimstonefire for them to add the Lamassu head!
Will post more pics when I have it assembled . I'm definitely going to follow the above instructions! And hopefully that will make it a bit easier.
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2011/04/05 03:44:23
I wouldn't worry... I was expecting mine would come as one of the first in the states since I pre-ordered it like as soon as the option became available . It looked like they sent a lot of them out within a few days, though, so I'd expect it maybe later this week.
I also ordered a Khan Urkahn and received it as well.
I started to build the model, which I must say is the best Manticore model I have seen.
I do have a few observations.
The Manticore seems to be close to a true 28mm size. This is a little smaller than the photos on there website lead you to believe. (There are a few "First Cast" photos with a person holding it)
The rider is small making it difficult to use the parts for other than a Dark Elf. I purchased the Manticore for my Warriors of Chaos Lord. (Probably gonna catch alot of cannon balls)
I already had to seal a large air pocket in the front of the model with Magic Sculpt. (Higher grade green stuff)
The Khan Urkhan (Heroic version) I purchased is a larger scale than the Manticore rider. This figure is really a nice set as you can build him to be a Dark Elf, Chaos Warrior or Vampire.
All said I really like the model even if I did pay $62.00 for it and have to repair it right away.
They are making the lammasu head again, so I ordered one with the manticore set and received them yesterday.
The manticore's front limbs are now moulded to the main body.
Assembly was EXTREMELY difficult. I had to cut out the knee joint of one of the rear legs and then reconstruct one from scratch with milliput. Then I had to cut through the tree and add about another centimetre to the trunk so that the other rear leg would come anywhere near its socket. This all could be avoidable if the paws weren't moulded to the tree.
It is a great-looking model though. The lammasu head is massive - MUCH better than the teeny manticore head that comes with the original set.
My other gripe is that the website suggested that you could use it without a rider, but it has a very obvious moulded saddle so now I've had to scour ebay for an old Chaos Dwarf rider.
The manufacturer of the product emailed me because he wanted to post in this thread to address the issues, but it had already been locked. I have re-opened so he can respond if he'd like, but apparently he mainly wanted to get across that they have actually recently retooled their Manticore to address some of the assembly issues, and have posted a video showing how to assemble it:
I didn't even get mine yet! 
. I'm definitely going to follow the above instructions! And hopefully that will make it a bit easier.
. It looked like they sent a lot of them out within a few days, though, so I'd expect it maybe later this week.
