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evening dakka,

bit of a random survey: what do you think is the worst (40k) army to clean, prep and assemble to the point where it's ready for painting? what makes it the worst?

Sisters of Battle. So. much. Metal.

 Goliath wrote:
Sisters of Battle. So. much. Metal.

This. Either them or Daemons, but with the the new kits released in the fall they've gotten easier.

Orks have decent potential for soul-crushing prep work. The omnipresent AoBR models, while they're a snap to assemble :rimshot:, have heinous mold shift across tight corners and complex curves. Getting them to actually look clean (as opposed to " it - good enough") is a nightmare. When compounded by how many you're likely to field, if you're buying the cheap, bulk deal...

Sigh.

Even with the cleaner casts (i.e. all of them, potentially barring early runs of Finecast), the sheer volume is daunting, for most armies. Not many people run points-heavy elite/vehicle armies, with orks - there's almost always a few mobs of boys and/or grots tagging along that need to be worked through.

Having to break out the steel wool and pin joints is extra work, yes, but I don't find metal models terribly daunting. I'd need a head count of Sisters vs. (horde) Orks for equivalent points before I picked which I'd rather have to prep.

Slaanesh Daemons.

So fiddly... The parts are tiny, as are the joins, and the legs are kept in pairs...

That might not seem like a problem, but they're oh so confusing...

any idea how dark eldar fairs? I haven't seen anything on sprue, but pointy bits always seem to attract mold lines...

personally, I've only got space marines and a wee bit of chaos to pick from, experience-wise, and power armor is power armor. I'm damn tired of cleaning ribbed hoses and plasma coils, but the armor itself isn't too horrible to sort out.

Does forgeworld count? Id vote for DKoK most of the arm joins require some sort of modelling, either with gs or getting stuck in with a blade.


Most of daemons I have are metal so they took sometime to clean up.


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 varl wrote:
any idea how dark eldar fairs? I haven't seen anything on sprue, but pointy bits always seem to attract mold lines...

personally, I've only got space marines and a wee bit of chaos to pick from, experience-wise, and power armor is power armor. I'm damn tired of cleaning ribbed hoses and plasma coils, but the armor itself isn't too horrible to sort out.

My experience with the new DE range is that they are pretty easy to clean up, alot of the mold lines are only barely visible.

I actually really hate Necrons, at least the Warriors, I haven't tried a lot of the others. They are too tightly packed on the sprue, so it's hard to get them out with my regular clippers without damaging anything, then the injection points are in some of the stupidest places. The heads are attached to the sprue by the cheeks... seriously, the cheeks. Some genius had the idea of attaching them on a concave surface on a tiny part that's difficult to hold but a focal point of the model, so if you slip you will most certainly notice it. They're in more parts than they need to be, increasing the time to assemble them, and several of the joins are small and annoying. The arms are a pain, if you glue them before painting they'll block the chest, if you glue them after painting you have to remove the paint as the attachment point is tiny and they'll break or sag.

Some of the easiest models to paint, but some of the most annoying to assemble.

Anything with failcast.

Try to prove me wrong :p.

I think its actually a cross between the old DH army list and the current space marine sets. I remember back when I first started an army with my brother the models and bits being better. Now, the mold lines just annoy the hell out of me. In terms for the GKs of the old DH. The minor details are a pain, and pinning gets kinda exhausting after a while. Also, your more or less boned in the terms of posing. (side note Id like to see plastic assassins.)

Necron warriors are a pain in the ass and finecast plague marines in numbers. No just anything finecast. I actually think plastic was better in every way, including detail level.

Eldar Guardians & necrons with their 2-part legs - a real pain in the butt.

AoBR Orks are a bitch to clean up, and the pre-2000s orks are also full of mold lines everywhere.

Forgeworld space marines, so much flash, the odd hole, but mostly its MOULD SLIP!

Guardsmen kits have awful mould lines, and the Mordian Iron Guard/Tallarn/Valhallan sets are ALL METAL, but probably SoB or Orks.

Any infantry-heavy army, really. I'd second Orks and IG. I find it very easy to fall into the "whatever, that'll do" trap only to pick up a miniature during a game months down the line and find a mould line so glaringly obvious I can't believe I missed it.

 Fezman wrote:
Any infantry-heavy army, really. I'd second Orks and IG. I find it very easy to fall into the "whatever, that'll do" trap only to pick up a miniature during a game months down the line and find a mould line so glaringly obvious I can't believe I missed it.

that's one of my biggest painting fears right there, which is why I spend so much time cleaning them up. it's soul crushing work, but nothing ruins a paint job for me faster than a mold line :(

I hate all models holding two handed weapons with separate arms... like lychguard with scythe. but thats nothing compared to infinity models.. especially aleph. whenever i have to assemble some of these little gorgeous models i have to use two component epoxy. very small joints, too small for pinning and too weak for superglue.

alex

sisters of battle all the way

 varl wrote:
what do you think is the worst (40k) army...

Don't even get me started on Infinity models. Fiddliest little ever created, but so worth it, in the end.

I am going to have to agree with the infinity. I just bought the senor massacre figure to paint for fun and it is insanely small with little joints... ugh. Such an awesome model and well worth the pain.

Actually the Daemonettes of Slaanesh are easily the worst as they are so small... for me they were not worth it.

I just started the hobby and chose Necrons.

My buddies are sitting around kitbashing their Speeesss Mareeens and here I am forever trying to fiddle with my Necron and their silly legs. Beyond that the poses for their guns are infuriating to get to stay.

Most sisters are actually quite simple to assemble. Mold lines are removed easily since the model is metal you can use a knife or that tool from games workshop with little fear of actually damaging the model. The sisters and seraphims themselves are only two parts model and will only require pinning if you are planning on being not so gentle with them.

The only two models that can be annoying to assemble are the Exorcist and the Penitent engine. In the case of the former, it's because the base of the organ rarely fits properly with the spot where it needs to be mounted and the engine speaks for itself... it's basically 12 parts if not more from a quick memory count.

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:
Slaanesh Daemons.

So fiddly... The parts are tiny, as are the joins, and the legs are kept in pairs...

That might not seem like a problem, but they're oh so confusing...

Tell me about it. The worst part with the legs is that they don't actually tell you they're paired, or mark them off in pairs. So you just sit there trying every possible combination until you find the best fit. I'm pretty sure I've got at least a couple of mixups in the box I've been working on, but too late now. And trying to get the limbs to stay put is punishing.

I'm a relatively new player and I chose Necrons as my first army. Oh boy, those arms. Those damn arms. When I started painting I decided not to glue the arms so I could paint all the details on the chest and weapon. Never did I expect how epic a task is to glue those arms.

Between one or two or three ruined paint jobs around the should area because of several attempts of gluing, I managed it. Then, with the Tesla immortals, same thing happened. Completely Ruined the paint on the side of one of them because of my attempts to glue the arm. Well, at least I managed to "hide it" under a greenish goo. Tyranid battle damage, that's my official story

In short: Never again am I painting necron troops with 2 handed weapons unless they are completely assembled.

P.S: I agree 100% with the Necron cheeks comment. That spot is RIDICULOUS.

Wow, I must be a modeling god because I have had no problems assembling any of my Necrons, arms included....one piece legs, 2 torso halves, two arms and a head make them some of the easiest models to put together IMO. I do assemble them completely before priming them and have no problem painting them completely. And the head attached to the sprue by their cheeks? Must be a new thing because every Necron sprue I've dealt with the heads were attached at one point, the chin, not the cheeks.


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 bubber wrote:
Eldar Guardians & necrons with their 2-part legs - a real pain in the butt.

Necrons don't have 2 part legs on any of their kits....all one part.