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Ok so recently started a new necron army ( here if your interested http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/419940.page ) but I'm finding the newer models a real PITA to put together. Annihilation Barge getting the pilots to sit whilst affixing the two hull plates and the back shielding with it's 3 connectors a side have been frustrating; and painting seems to be the last thing on the designers mind. Triarch Praetorian (using them as conversions for crypteks) the arms holding the staffs, well I swore lots and ended up pinning them. Necron bodies in general have been pinned to keep posistion whilst glue dries.

So the question is are GW kits getting more complex and harder to put together? or as the title says am I just getting old and grouchy?

I think its the dual kit releases. The designers got to fit mulitple units in one box, perhaps to save money /be more efficient. But doing so and not bringing out a dedicated kit, has its shortcomings.

Soon, itll be like lego, with a million combinations, then like transformers

Well the sculpts are definetly getting more complex, so it would make sense for the assembly to get harder as well. Isn't there an instruction booklet that comes with the kit?

Annihilation Barge pilots were indeed a bit tricky. I actually had to cut the tracker ball arm at the elbow and adjust the position, otherwise the tracker ball wouldn't have attached to the console.

And don't get me started on the Ghost Ark...

I've found that over the years the kits have gotten much more complex/involved (stormraven, dreadknight, some of the newer necron kits) than the older ones (the falcon had about 15% of the pieces...). Probably also the reason they've started including detailed instructions.

On the other hand, I've also been finding that the newer ones FIT much nicer/more snugly with less need for gap filling/rubber banding/etc. than the old kits. Remember the old Leman russ (or was it the chimera?) where you had to cut off a piece to get it to fit right?

I put 4 Chimeras together recently, I found some bits a mite more annoying but having the tracks as about 6 pieces was amazing, shows how long it's been since I made an IG tank, I remember that awful full sized black sprue just for the tracks.

Most of my tanks don't have tracks on the underside because I got so frustrated.

Tzarkahn wrote:I put 4 Chimeras together recently, I found some bits a mite more annoying but having the tracks as about 6 pieces was amazing, shows how long it's been since I made an IG tank, I remember that awful full sized black sprue just for the tracks.

Most of my tanks don't have tracks on the underside because I got so frustrated.

And how you used to have to glue on a bajillion wheels for the chimera/russ hulls. I was very surprised when I bought the new chimera kit...

Yeah, the new Chimera and LR designs, especially the simplification of the tracks are a fine thing indeed.

They may be more complex, but at least they fit right together. I love the old rhinos, but they were a bit dodgy.

I would say they are getting easier.

The fit is generally good on the kits of the past three or four years, and some of them have part numbers on the assembly diagram (so I am told.)

Just a hint on those old tank treads. Start on the bottom with the big piece. It makes the entire assembly a breeze.

Go and put an Exorcist together then come back and tell me they kits are getting harder to put together

Isn't that the truth. Took a million pins and ton of greenstuff on 2 of my 3 Exorcists. Oddly enough the third one went together really well.

The new GKs are a real pain though. You dang near need 4 hands to get everything to line up correctly when assembling the arms and weapons.

Two words: Metal Talos.

Hardest thing I ever put together was the 2nd edition warwalkers all that weight held up by 2 thin legs what were they thinking!

Worst things for me: LRC old school sponsons with metal hurricane bolters...they had like quarter inch gaps where the ammo feeds should fit.

Second worst...the monolith. It looked so simple, but it took about 4-5 hands to get all of the sides right at the same time and hold the center column...

Rapid Cure spray is your friend.

It makes assembling anything a breeze.

I've heard a lot of people say that the necron barge things are an ass to put together.

I find that GWs kits does indeed get more and more complex...and I love it!

I also find that the Necron kits are.....taxing...to put together, but I also feel that that is the exception.

Other kits such as the Dark Eldar Razorwing Jetfighter are a real pleasure to put together.
Granted, that one is rather simple, but even kits such as the Land Speeder Storm and the Manticore kits are really easy to assemble.

I do agree with you though. The Necron kits are not easy.

They definitely have been getting somewhat more complex, and I'm glad for it, because I love the assembly stages.

The necron arks are just tedious. Other kits are becoming complex enough that the instructions recommend painting before putting certain sections together. Still, given how the newer models look when compared to the older ones, I'm all for progress.

Bloodletters... haha 8 pieces for a basic model, but they do look amazing.

Breotan wrote:The necron arks are just tedious. Other kits are becoming complex enough that the instructions recommend painting before putting certain sections together. Still, given how the newer models look when compared to the older ones, I'm all for progress.

I do this no matter how complex the model is. If an infantry model has its arms across its chest holding something, it gets painted without arms, arms done separately, and stuck together when finished.

But a good example of this is the new VC Coven Throne/Mortis Engine. In the hobby section of last months White Dwarf, they show how to build and paint it, and recommend the engine part is done separate from the spectral horde, and even certain parts of the engine itself painted separate from the main body.

Redaxe13 wrote:Bloodletters... haha 8 pieces for a basic model, but they do look amazing.

Hey, they're just following the fluff!

I'm with Breotan on this one. I'm loving the new kits. I magnetized up a Dreadknight recently for a commission, and loved how much detail and customization was possible within the kit. The new Fire Prism/Nightspinner kit is great as well...2 tanks in one!

The worst part of the ghost arks is you need to basically prime and paint before assembly, and after you get those thin lairs of paint on, the flayer arrays don't slide in as smoothly in between the ribs... i had to use pliers to force the flayers in.

Some of the newer models are a breeze compared tot he older versions.

The new killakanz/deffdredds are a breeze to put together, if a pain to paint

The only problem i had with the Razorwing was the jet intakes not lining up right. Other than that it was easy, especially compared to the older Falcon model i was putting together at the same time for my wife...

The Talos kit is more complex than the older metal one, but easier to actually glom together.

I've not put any of the new Necron things together, but getting a Lith to go together smoothly and without gaps was a PITA.

Erasoketa wrote:Two words: Metal Talos.

Burn in the eternal fires of the 8673th plane of perpetual hellfire for reminding me of such evil!

And it didn't even look that good when you finally managed to get the effing thing to stay stuck together..

I have mental and physical scars from those fugly things..

Metal herald of Khorne riding a Jugger. Damn thing has one contact point for the base. One!!!

I've yet to put together a Storm Raven, but all the more recent kits have been more complex, yet not more complicated. I put together 6 Valks in a single day, and while the instructions are a load of crap (isometric view with very little detail - thankfully that phase of bad instructions was finished by the time the new Demolisher and Hellhound came out), but everything went together perfectly.