While we’ve already discussed one Space Marine Captain with a Jump Pack in the not-entirely-too-distant-past, a new varietal has deep struck onto our hobby stations, this time with new options and new details. We’ve unleashed some of our finest ham-handed hobbyists on this model, so let’s see what they came up with.
We’d like to thank Games Workshop for providing us with preview copies of these models for review purposes.
Construction
SRM:Â I found building this guy to be simple, more or less the standard in construction for a Space Marine character model. His hero rock is nice and sturdy, with his foot moulded onto it and a wide connection point onto the extra basing details. If you wanted to cut him off that rock for whatever reason though, it wouldn’t be a challenge. His body is a little finnicky as you’re kind of building its hollow shell, so a little dry fitting to make sure everything fits snugly is my recommendation. His arms have subtle guide posts to get them in place, but if you wanted to swap arms or repose them, it wouldn’t be much work to shave them down. Said arms are my chief complaint with the model though – while they’re posed well, the shoulders have these wide pegs that fit into similarly sized sockets on the included pauldrons, meaning your standard Marine pauldrons won’t fit without some converting or gap filling. You also have to stick that tilting plate on, as that area is very clearly meant to be covered up. I don’t mind that as it’s a great place to stick some heraldry, but I understand folks might like options.
SRM: Speaking of, the only options here are a choice of Thunder Hammer or Chainsword, and a choice of bare or helmeted heads. Said Chainsword is basically Titus’ from Space Marine which is neat, but I would have liked to have another tilting plate or some other detail to make this model your own. I gave him a Templar helmet and stuck a Templar doodad on his hip, left the jump pack off for subassembly purposes, and was off to painting.
Jack: He was remarkably straightforward to build, but I’d have liked to not have the foot attached to the hero rock. While it’s not too hard to remove, I think I can do a better job painting the base and mini when they’re separate and I’m not trying to drybrush adjacent to a surface I don’t want to get paint on. I don’t love the mandatory tilting shield and ropes across the chest, as those are details I like on some chapters but not others, but it’s not too overdone. The backpack does have a bit of a tendency to leave a gap when you’re fitting it together, and may warrant a little bit of green stuff or filler.
I painted in more subassemblies than SRM, keeping the tilting plate, relic shield, right shoulder pad (purely to paint it a different color, not for access), head, and jump pack separate. You don’t need to do that many, but I find it easier, especially for things that are going to be different colors.
keewa: Live thoughts while I’m putting this guy together: “Ah come on, what the? How the hell does this go together? What? Oh come on, that’s ridiculous. Are you serious? Ok well I’m definitely going to have to sculpt some fur with greenstuff to cover that up, jeez.”
There’s something perverse about the way these things go together sometimes, trying to hold three bits in place while the plastic glue dries so they don’t come apart and then make a mess (failed, mess made) is frustrating as someone with very big hands. I’m sure my lithe and lissome colleagues will say, “oh ho ho ho, it was super easy for me,” but this is the kind of model building I really don’t like, guy balancing on a piece of rock all skew-whiff, I’m not sure what was gained by having to glue the legs together, as I said before, it’s really awkward for me to finagle them into place, especially when they don’t give that kind of “locking” sensation where you can feel they’re in the correct spot, these things were slipping around like a pair of greased-up eels. Honestly, it feels like some of these newer kits are jigsaw puzzles for people who don’t like landscape photos or kittens.
Apart from these general skill-issue disgruntlements the model is fine, I wish he had a Power Fist, because every Space Marine Captain should have a massive power fist. The storm shield is nice, I like the kite-shield sort of shape more than the squared cross ones too, and I am really glad he doesn’t have a cape, thank goodness for that.
Painting
SRM:Â Leaving off his jump pack made for a pretty simple subassembly process, and his shield is fortunately open enough that you don’t need to work hard to get behind it. It’s also a bit smaller than I’m used to Storm Shields being compared to something like Bladeguard Veterans. More importantly, the silly little doodlebopper wings on the feet of the previous Jump Pack Captain are no longer present, so you’ve got fewer extraneous details to worry about. His pose is wide open, and without a cape or anything else to obscure detail, it’s easy to work a brush around and get into all the nooks and crannies of this model, which is also appreciated. There’s plenty of sculpted details on this model that do somewhat limit potential for transfers, freehand, and so on, but I was still able to find a few spots to put my Cool Space Soldier Stickers and make him feel like my own.
Jack: No cape made him very easy to paint. I had some minor frustration starting off as I intended to paint him as a death company captain before discovering that a death company jump captain can’t take the Thunder Hammer/Relic Shield loadout, but that wasn’t the end of the world. Everything else was wide open and easy to paint.
Final Thoughts, Parting Shots, and What Have You
SRM:Â Much in the way most meetings could simply be emails, I believe this model could have been an upgrade sprue. He’s not appreciably different from the previous Jump Pack Captain model, even if he is a good looking miniature. All of three different hands and a bare head with a bussin’ haircut don’t exactly a necessary miniature make, but if you prefer the look and equipment of this guy to the other Jump Pack Captain, it’s a perfectly good alternative.
Jack: I don’t think I can sum this up better than SRM. It’s another Space Marine Captain. He’s a little different than the other jump pack captain, but not a lot, and I wish they were both in one box.
Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.
