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I do really like it, but for me to be really convinced, I'd prefer if it was modular so that it could easily be swapped/upgraded with other turrets/guns to fill the role of other GW chimera platform vehicles, namely the arty variants. I'm not a particularly good modeller (or hobbyist in general, struggling with putting together my Tannenberg at the moment) so I do like that this tank has already done the rear turret conversion for me. There's an opportunity here to make a modular version to fill more than a strictly not-Chimera tank that I'd be willing to pay a premium for.

Oh, and I see that there is now a female cuirass torso, and also a male cuirass torso, but the male one has the massive eagle on it, while the female does not. Are there plans to make matching male/female cuirass torsos, or should I just accept a little variety?

Overall I like the design, much more pleasing than the regular Chimera. The only complaint I could muster is in the case of the lines of smaller rivets, they seem... excessive? I look at it and I just feel like every second rivet shouldn't be there like how the larger rivets are set up and spaced out from each other. In other cases like with the L shaped line of rivets towards the front of the tracks or double lines of rivets,they seem totally unnecessary and make the armor panels feel cluttered.

 Ketara wrote:
For that price point, I want an interesting, cool looking, well cast design that fits all the weapon/physical footprint requirements of a Chimera, but looks different to one.

For me, the fact that this is similar enough to a Chimera to pass for one rather than a completely different vehicle that would count as one, is exactly what makes it appealing, for the same reason that the Forgeworld pre-heresy rhino variant is appealing.

 insaniak wrote:

 Ketara wrote:
For that price point, I want an interesting, cool looking, well cast design that fits all the weapon/physical footprint requirements of a Chimera, but looks different to one.

For me, the fact that this is similar enough to a Chimera to pass for one rather than a completely different vehicle that would count as one, is exactly what makes it appealing, for the same reason that the Forgeworld pre-heresy rhino variant is appealing.

I'm not saying it isn't appealing. I've nothing against the design. I'm saying it isn't forty quid extra appealing.

Vic charges premium prices, but there's no point in paying those if the product is virtually indistinguishable from the regularly priced one. Anymore than you'd pay triple the price for your car because it had different hubcaps, some fluffy dice, and blue lights instead of yellow. You might be willing to pay a little extra for those features because you like them (as I would for the turret), but triple? Nah.

It's not 'virtually indistinguishable' though, unless you squint enough to not be able to see details, and ignore the turret placement.

It's the same basic silhouette as a Chimera, but there are more than enough detail differences for it to be a different variant of the vehicle, say from a specific Forge World.

 insaniak wrote:
It's not 'virtually indistinguishable' though, unless you squint enough to not be able to see details, and ignore the turret placement.

It's the same basic silhouette as a Chimera, but there are more than enough detail differences for it to be a different variant of the vehicle, say from a specific Forge World.

You are really ignoring this hard: the differences you are pointing out can already be bought for less. I literally have an almost clone of this half finished on my workbench that has zero Vic parts and cost me about $25usd from other mini vendors and chimera parts on ebay. if they want to move product, it would probably be better to offer the upper hull and turret rather than try to sell me something that I can buy as good or better from other vendors for a significant savings over what I can buy the whole unit from Vic for.

Vic has never been about offering a cheap alternative, so I'm a little puzzled as to why you would expect her to do so here.

If you can work with conversion kits and come up with something you think is identical to this, then do that. For those who just want to buy a single kit from a manufacturer with a good reputation for quality, there'll be this one.

Everyone wins.

 insaniak wrote:
It's not 'virtually indistinguishable' though, unless you squint enough to not be able to see details, and ignore the turret placement.

I literally mentioned the turret as the primary difference above. For me, that gets it an extra ten quid in value on the top. Maybe another five for the slightly adjusted top plate. For me, the difference just won't stack up to the hugely inflated price tag over a regular one. I'd pay thirty five tops, including shipping for the model shown, and I know Vic won't be charging that.

It's the same basic silhouette as a Chimera, but there are more than enough detail differences for it to be a different variant of the vehicle, say from a specific Forge World.

Same weird tube thing near the front left? Check. Metal circles riveted along the bottom? Check.Jutting out rectangular section on side? Check. Shape of track? Identical. Three smaller rectangles underneath the jutting out rectangle that go inwards? Check.

There are minor shifts in specific detail (the circular bits riveted on are moved to a slightly different place, etc), but the broad brush details are the same in terms of dimension and what makes up the side of the vehicle.

And for me? That doesn't warrant an extra forty quid. You're free to have a different opinion of course, these things are all subjective and what you do with your cash is your own affair; I'm just stating here that I simply have no interest in paying triple for the metaphorical hubcap change and fluffy dice. If enough other people feel like me and chip in, the product might change more in line with what we would buy (since it is still at the design stage). Or then again, maybe people don't/won't and the product will stay the same. My hobby budget will get spent either way; I'm just telling the company why this wouldn't get my cash personally.

 insaniak wrote:
Vic has never been about offering a cheap alternative, so I'm a little puzzled as to why you would expect her to do so here.

No, but I believe she is about making the biggest profit within reason. A whole tank tends to either have a higher price or a lower profit margin, due to the materials required. A hull kit and turret costs less, and ships cheaper, meaning, if it's good, more units moved, and higher profits.

And, bluntly, if you think her minis are expensive, you must not have bought a lot of IG recently.

It's funny how different brains work... You post that side comparison and point out all the similarities. For me, it just makes the differences even more apparent.

Yes, there are similar design cues. That's the whole point. But put them side by side and they're very clearly different vehicles.

I'm pretty sure it's (inspired by) a track tensioner seen on WWI British Tanks, both large (at a diagonal) and small (horizontal) eg

 BaronIveagh wrote:

 insaniak wrote:
Vic has never been about offering a cheap alternative, so I'm a little puzzled as to why you would expect her to do so here.

No, but I believe she is about making the biggest profit within reason. A whole tank tends to either have a higher price or a lower profit margin, due to the materials required. A hull kit and turret costs less, and ships cheaper, meaning, if it's good, more units moved, and higher profits.

And, bluntly, if you think her minis are expensive, you must not have bought a lot of IG recently.

I'd be more inclined to go for a track and turret conversion than a hull and turret. Those track sections look like a realistic improvement on the Chimera, with the extra ground clearance on the bottom.

When I think about it, making the tracks, hull and turret all individually compatible with a Chimera, yet able to work together as a complete vehicle, and then sell the components either separately or as a complete kit would be the best option in my opinion. However, I recognise this is the most difficult option, because it requires matching the hull and track fitting of the Chimera, which is somewhat complex (the turret attachment is easy).

I'm a firm believer that in order to make a customer happy with a new piece, it either must be something he's never seen before, or something he hasn't seen for a long time.

While this tank is well made and appealing in and of itself, it's a pass for me. I've purchased futuristic looking tanks, tanks that are "totally not a Leman Russ that looks like a Tiger", and KV-2 conversion kits. They all had something this doesn't.

That being said I do like other things from Victoria miniatures. This is basically the one miss.

Pretty thing from facebook



Victoria Miniatures
..
Greetings, Servitor Martin has sculpted a rather nice missile launcher. I just couldn't resist creating a Svargan team for it.
Cheers, V

Is this ML based on PIAT or Panzerfaust or RPG?

Missiles look a bit chunky, but very nice nonetheless.

 BrookM wrote:
Missiles look a bit chunky, but very nice nonetheless.

How else are you supposed to beat AV14?

 Lone Cat wrote:
Is this ML based on PIAT or Panzerfaust or RPG?

It looks to me to be mostly based on a panzerfaust 150 or 250 (the final models) with a bit of moderness thrown into the launcher. A panzerfaust 500 perhaps?

I would love a PIAT though- as far as I know, nobody makes a PIAT-style weapon for 28mm conversions. I'd probably field it as a meltagun for IG though, PIATs did not have a good range.

Far too chunky for my liking. Guard missile launchers already have a ridiculously sized munition, and this is even crazier.

Imagine the weight of that thing! Surprised that they can carry the 6/8 rockets needed to shot every turn during a whole game of 40k .

I'm digging that svergan head with the helmet and scarf

The helmeted head with the scarf? Like it.
The general pose of the missile launcher trooper? Dig it.
The pose and look on the face of the loader? Love it.

It's just that I concur about the size of the missiles themselves. They seem overly big to me, even for a not further specified grim dark future setting in which these models have a very nice place overall. I should know, I recently bought a small platoon's worth of Svargans in a nice mix between male and female squads.

It seems like everything in the Grim Dark is over sized. These missiles are a bit big I agree. However, it isn't without precedence.

https://goo.gl/images/JympMX

So got my 20 some odd Svergans built. Mainly using them for vets, officers, and special teams. As always Victoria's heads are gorgeous. I like the chainsword arm especially and the spare helmets are a nice touch.

One small complaint is some of the arms do not seem to like the bedrolls wrapped around the torsos if you're not careful. The main one is the set of arms that is fully relaxed at ease. If you don't pick the torso with the bedrolls going to the left instead of the right, they just will not go down all the way. It's not a big deal, just something to watch out for.

Some of you know I was using warlord Soviets to make Valhallans up till now, I included a pic of one next to a Vic model for comparison. Detail is obviously much lower, but I think they'll blend alright. They'll work well for my line infantry and conscripts but Victoria's stuff is way better for things like commanders, vets, special teams, etc. As far as scale the warlord guys look way shorter than they are, warlord has a lot of dynamic poses where they're crouched and hunched over, so they look smaller than they are. Vic's stand up straight which makes them look a head taller in some cases. Mixed in among a whole army I don't think it'd be super noticeable. One thing of note is the greatcoats the two ranges wear are slightly different as is the webbing. Ironically Warlord's Winter Germans seem like their coats matchup with Vic's more than the Soviets do thanks to the rows of buttons and webbing

Great models, will probably get another 20 or so to finish my Valhallans army

 Mr_Rose wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Missiles look a bit chunky, but very nice nonetheless.

How else are you supposed to beat AV14?

You mean T10 2+ save?

Looks a bit oversized but not that far from the real life Dragon missile.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 Mr_Rose wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Missiles look a bit chunky, but very nice nonetheless.

How else are you supposed to beat AV14?

You mean T10 2+ save?

Looks a bit oversized but not that far from the real life Dragon missile.

I should have said AV22

Also your image is a little bit broken?

Thanks for the feedback on the missile launcher, everyone. I did deliberately sculpt it more on the 'chunky' side, as I was trying for a more '2nd Ed / Red period' 40K look.

There may be more launchers to come, depending on demand, etc, etc; I think a more 'hi-tech' launcher would look good with the Arcadians, for example.

- Servitor Martin


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 MrMoustaffa wrote:


So got my 20 some odd Svergans built. Mainly using them for vets, officers, and special teams. As always Victoria's heads are gorgeous. I like the chainsword arm especially and the spare helmets are a nice touch.

One small complaint is some of the arms do not seem to like the bedrolls wrapped around the torsos if you're not careful. The main one is the set of arms that is fully relaxed at ease. If you don't pick the torso with the bedrolls going to the left instead of the right, they just will not go down all the way. It's not a big deal, just something to watch out for.

Some of you know I was using warlord Soviets to make Valhallans up till now, I included a pic of one next to a Vic model for comparison. Detail is obviously much lower, but I think they'll blend alright. They'll work well for my line infantry and conscripts but Victoria's stuff is way better for things like commanders, vets, special teams, etc. As far as scale the warlord guys look way shorter than they are, warlord has a lot of dynamic poses where they're crouched and hunched over, so they look smaller than they are. Vic's stand up straight which makes them look a head taller in some cases. Mixed in among a whole army I don't think it'd be super noticeable. One thing of note is the greatcoats the two ranges wear are slightly different as is the webbing. Ironically Warlord's Winter Germans seem like their coats matchup with Vic's more than the Soviets do thanks to the rows of buttons and webbing

Great models, will probably get another 20 or so to finish my Valhallans army

That's great feedback, MrMoustaffa, thank you! I'll make sure Victoria sees your observations about the arms, and other details.

Maybe you can answer a query a lot of people send our way: How compatible, would you say, are Victoria Miniatures heads with Bolt Action bodies? Too big / too small / look perfectly fine?

We sell a lot of heads in slouch hats to people with Australian / Chindit forces for Bolt Action, it seems.

- Servitor Martin

If Victoria is take suggestions from here... I was wondering a lot why there were no radio conversion bits! I'm quite new to the IG rules, just recently bought some squads from Victoria to go along with my Sisters of Battle, but I thought radio were something really useful for the guard and every squad needed one!
(Going to use proxy for this, like the trumpet, the drum player, etc, I think).

Yeah, radios would be a nice bit too add. Not nice for me, as I'd order them and that'd cost me money, but in a more holistic "the world would be a better place with them in it" kind of view.

I'll take a look, your guys weapons for the most part line up well, usually you just need to know if you need pistol grips or rifle grips on the weapon in question to match the historical weapons those troops carried. I find I often need to shave the stocks down a bit to make them fit some models but that's about it.

I'll check the heads and see, if I remember right they stick out a bit and look odd. Been a while since I tried it.

If I could make a suggestion, you had a series of pistol and sword arms way back when Vic started for officers and sargeants. I'd really like some of these for chainswords. As it sits, we only really have like one melee weapon arm dedicated to regiments that diverge from her original lineup like Svergans, arcadians, etc. Would just help for some variety when you have multiple squads.