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The CSM Codex has a two-page spread on pages 88-89. The picture has 3 Heldrakes in it, and they all appear to be in the same pose.

Can someone who has a Heldrake comment on whether they are poseable (without extra chopping)?

Minimally. The wings are mounted on a ball joint, but the design restricts the actual range considerably. There's a very small effective range of motion.

I did not like the dipped wing pose so mine are even with each other, but that is about the extent of the wing posing without converting.

EDIT: I also magnetized it level to the flying base so it didn't lean, it just looked like it was about to crash with it's wing all dipped down like that.

I built my two and wasn't thinking, but I should have reversed the wings so it looked like he was gliding rather than diving.

Basically if you did that, simply reversed the wing part assembly instructions, you would have a hell drake with wings like and albatross. Something I should have done, and still might fix.

Thanks for the info.

Yeah, much choppy was needed for my heldrake. The three forward wings are ball jointed, but they are keyed as well, so in order for them to have any movement you will need to at the very least cut away the key and fill in the hole on the ball.

All three wings are attached to the arm. The arm also has a ball/socket joint but because of the upper/lower body there is very little movement available.

The head and neck are also ball jointed, but because of armor plating and dangling bits there actually isn;t much room for posing without shaving bits off to make more room. The hind legs can be posed as well, but since there isn't a whole lot too them in the first place, no matter what you do with them, they all more or less look the same.

It really is a very dissapointing model from a modelers perspective and IMO no where close to being equal to its price point. Especially considering what you get with some of the other flyer type models when it comes to customizability or size.

I wanted to like the model, but after seeing a few people with them,they look fairly disappointing. The tail and back legs are so short that it ends up looking like a winged turtle.

I do plan on getting one, but its going to require a lot of work.

I want to extend the tail, have the model angled up slightly with the wings stretched upwards and the tail hooked down. Trying to make it look like its swooping down to strike instead of a turtle gliding.

Wonder how long it takes for someone to chop off the wings and make it look like a helicopter.

Happens with every other flyer...

Yeah, but then it would look even more dumb then it does now.

There's not a whole lot you can do with them, you can angle the wings and claws a bit and that's about all.

This seems endemic to a lot of GW's newer, more impressive looking kits like the VC Mortis Engine, Forgefiend, etc. While they look very cool, they typically lack the posability and flexibility of older, less impressive looking kits and take a lot longer to paint.

It's a trade-off.

The pose on the Heldrake seem very static, same thing with the Maulerfiend/Forgefiend model, it's going to take some heavy customization to make it look different...

I like the "reversed wing" idea tho.

Anyway, if you have 2 in your army, except for the neck who can move a little, you will have pretty much the same pose if you're don't like customizing your models.

From what I've gathered, posability is doable with a minimum of conversion savvy, but it's not the greatest kit ever designed.

Of course, being I intend to get 2-3 Heldrakes, and combine them with the tentacles and various spare parts from the Forgefiend boxes... (primarily covering the anusjetexhaustpipe....).

I'm also waiting for someone to do a Plaguedrake with the dhiaretic jet exhaust like on the blight drone.

I plan on skipping the GW Heldrakes entirely. I'm going out to Toys R Us to find some giant flies or something and convert them. For the glory of the Father, and all that. Probably the most expensive thing will be GW's mandatory flyer bases.