Quite some time ago I acquired the RSN Assault Helix for Planetfall, but with a busy summer it's had to wait until now for airing.
Opening the box we are greeted with the usual Spartan bubble bags, and there's not much space left inside!
Eager as ever to get our hands on the actual resin, the little bags don't resist for long...
We'll start with the smallest elements first, since they're single piece (though very well executed) - the light tanks. You get six of them in the set.
These are nice little models, and I love the way they are very similar in several aspects to the old Dindrenzi Daggers from Firestorm invasion.
So, these are nice models, but they're not why you've bought this set, am I right? Next is the Temple of Dramos.... (just placed together here...not glued!)
Now I'm in two minds about this model...I'm really not sure if I like it or not. It's very thematic, but it plays to one element of the RSN which has always been a fringe one, and it seems a bit too impractical in many ways for them - their ships in Firestorm are not fetishised in any way, yet here you have a combat model which has large sculpted angels on it....it's cool, but I'm just not sure how it sits with me...I'm firmly "on the fence"!
The model itself is made of several pieces
The base (here it's upside-down)
The legs/stands...four of them that fit onto the underside of the base element...
...like so
Which are here, and fit in place....
..like so
You then have the Dramos Angel statue piece, hcih sits between them....
...here it's just placed on top, it actually sits flush - but be careful that you mount it at the same time as the vertical sections, as the angles on the sides mean you can't put it in place if you glue the sides on first.
But you probably didn't buy this set for the temple either - even if you love it. What you probably bought the set for is...
The Avenging Robot! Yes, this Gundam-esque beast is the real reason you bought the RSN Assault Helix. It's a stylised human-robot with wings, missiles and a big sword. It's a combination of resin and metal, and it has a degree of being posable.
The chest section is slightly iron-man, with a central piece very mush like a power core and thick armour plates.
The head is white metal, and very stylised, which I like. The ball and socket jointing allows this to be put at almost any angle
The arms are both single piece, reducing the flexibility of poses somewhat but I think anything else would have made the model too fiddly. The Left arm comes with a cluster-rocket pack.
The right with the huge sword (which I think is a leviathan CQB weapon)
The legs are also one-piece, though these and the arms are all ball and socket jointed to the body, allowing a lot of variation in build. The legs contain rocket motors, and I like the feet that have flipped back into "flight mode"...it would be nice to see some variant arms and legs in future for variation too - a standing version would be cool.
Finally, the wings and flight stand insert are white metal pieces that both attach to the central body, and both have some variation - the flight peg holder is ball and socketed, so you can have your robot flying in different ways, and the wings and scored to allow them to be bent back slightly at an angle (be careful though a the last thing you want to do is snap them!).
I've already assembled mine and sprayed it gold - this is a statement by the RSN of man's supremacy, to hearten its allies to fight and to strike terror into the hearts of the alien scum that oppose it! I'm looking forward to finishing it....now tell me how many grown men are going to be doing the exact same thing, and then flying it around their games room making pew pew noises?!?
