Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Ok, so I've had a few boxes of IG sat on my shelf in the "get round to this" pile for quite a while now... (some years possibly?? ). A few weeks ago I got a really useful plastic multi compartment organiser box for free with some tools I bought for the workshop. Now, it's too small for all my Ork bits, but perfect to de-sprue a few guardsmen into... I prefer to work this way, buy kits, de-sprue into an organised bitsa box or boxes, and then build what I want and kitbash everything to death to get the required result. Anyway, I've just de-sprued the Cadian Command squad, Catachan command squad and Cadian infantry box.... the last guardsmen I did anything with was the old 20 man Catachan box set - when it was new, in about 1996 or so...

When the hell did Catachans get so small?? I liked the old Rambo ones, ok they were nearly bigger than an ork, which was a bit silly (although explained-ish with fluff about the high gravity deathworld home), but I'm 6'3" and I have farmer hands... these new guys are tiny teeny, I can see me needing to invest in a magnifier soon just so I can see what I've got, and tweezers to work with so I can get the gluey end of an arm far enough away from my thumb that I can glue it to a torso and not my own thumb and forefinger.

I'm not complaining as such, they are really pretty models and the plastic kit is great, so many options etc, but feth me, this is going to be fiddly!! Anyone else have issues with massive hands/tiny models and generally being a bit ham fisted?? Please say it's not just me!! Any tips out there from people who have got round working with tiny things one way or another??

(I've put this in here as it was more of a general comment/discussion than a "please help me with this painting/modelling problem" thread)

well there the same models as the 20pc set you had ,,the comand sqd is newer but scaled to fit with the old ones .
maybe your hands have continued to grow like old mens ears ?

Well sorry to break it to you like this but I think it's you!

The basic catachen and cadian sprues haven't altered since release. So they're still the same chunky buggers they've always been, less in a box but still the same.

The command frames are newer but I've never noticed a difference in size.

So in summary, like me, you're getting old and you may have put weight on in the hand department.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Ninja'd damnit!

Well, I had no probs with the current catachans.... but I still completely undertsand your problem! Have you ever tried puting realy small rivets on something? Even my tweezers are too big for some rivets, it drives me crazy!

He may have a small point. If you compare the original plastic squads to the Command and Heavy weapon squads, the new ones are a little smaller.

my old metal catachan do look just a tad bulkier that the plastic ones.... just a bit tho

I don't know what you people are on about. Build a regular catachan trooper, then build one out of the command box. The command trooper will be SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than the older regular catachan model. And if you really don't believe me, mix the heads around. You'll see what I mean.

At OP, there is a big size difference between the two kits, it's not just you.

Emperor damn it!! Way to break it to me guys, I've got fat hands now?? I thought it was just the middle bit of me that had got fat, I didn't realise it affected the extremities too!!

I'm now going to have nightmares about waking up with a massive hairy pair of old men's ears for hands, thanks!!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Hooray, saved by the ninja!! My hands are normal sized after all!!

 MrMoustaffa wrote:
I don't know what you people are on about. Build a regular catachan trooper, then build one out of the command box. The command trooper will be SIGNIFICANTLY smaller than the older regular catachan model. And if you really don't believe me, mix the heads around. You'll see what I mean.

At OP, there is a big size difference between the two kits, it's not just you.

Listen to this man, his post is correct. The newer Catachans found in the command squad and heavy weapons crew are scaled to fit with the Cadian plastics, and are therefore more in scale than the old Catachan plastics from the nineties.