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Monday 16 January 2012

Komodon miniature assembly and epoxy resin !

Forget super glue it's not strong enough to stick the Komodon Champion together.

Wavebreaker and Trident Guard pictures
I had a slightly frustrating but ultimately satisfying time at the weekend assembling some Komodons (that I'll be using as Trident Guard and Wavebreakers).

Dimensions and Basics
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Komodons are 28mm scale miniatures that fit on 25 mm bases.
They come in 2 blister packs:-

1) Five models in the "troopers" rank and file pack and
2) Four models in the command group miniatures pack*

* the command group includes a Champion, Standard Bearer, Musician and Shaman. The command group miniatures can also be purchased separately as individual minis.
  • Height 4cm (including GW 25mm base - up to top of head) - the same height as Swordmasters but a lot stockier to look at (similar to Lizardmen)
  • Width and Length - (variable) the Champion, which is slightly wider and longer than the other minis is about 4.3cm wide and 4.5cm long (due to the trident and shield)
  • Base Size 25mm x 25mm
You can buy Komodons from various places (including eBay), I can recommend Armorcast.com.



Assembly
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Overall: these are not the easiest models to assemble. Most of the Trooper miniatures and the standard bearer are ok but the Champion was a nightmare and the musician and shaman look like they might be a bit tricky (although I haven't tried them yet).

The Champion (which is the most impressive of all the Komodon models and one of my all time favourite miniatures) is very difficult to assemble (although I confess I'm not very good with adhesives). I found the foot didn't quite touch the base properly (although you can vary the angle up/down which might have made a difference) so I had to add a strip of plastic (which will be painted as a plank of drift wood) beneath it. Also the Trident bearing arm did not seem to fit snugly into the shoulder socket although it might have been my fault as I had to re-position after I had applied epoxy resin and it had begun to dry. I have more champion models to assemble so, if I find the next one is easier to assemble, I'll return here and amend this post.

All of the models come in multiple parts. The standard bearer and some of the troopers are the simplest because only the weapon bearing arm has to be a joined to the body. Superglue was not sufficient to stick the metal (because the joints aren't very flush). I had to use epoxy resin and I had to stick together one piece at a time and wait for it to set; which is a pain for the Champion because he has a separate foot, shield bearing arm, weapon bearing arm and shield.

Most of the models have been designed so that you can position the weapon arm at different angles and so change the unit to make it look like it's either in combat or marching which is handy.

The miniature detail is excellent (from small fins on forearms, to daggers, trinkets on the body and legs, armbands and rope on the trident shaft while the tridents themselves look superb and the metal tipped ones are held in place by a crab shell and pincers).

Most of the miniature poses look good and the spiny dorsal fins really set these apart from Lizardmen which is nice because I was worried that they would end up looking too similar. The tail fins are perfect !

Summary
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These models are of an excellent quality in both molding and design (better than many GW minis) and they have a really good weighty and solid feel to them. Some of them can be frustrating to assemble but I think it will be worth it in the end. They look like great painting projects.

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