Today we’ll be having a look at the new unit in the Solar Auxilia Battle Group box set: The Aethon Heavy Sentinel. Thanks to Games Workshop for providing us with the Solar Auxilia Battle Group box for review.
The Model
This is a really detailed model for a walker, though not a simple build. You get fully articulated legs with things like adjustable pistons, allowing you a lot of freedom for posing your model. As with a lot of Games Workshop’s walker kits you have little tabs that let you fix the model in a suggested pose, but these can easily be removed if you want more freedom.
The kit almost feels too detailed, if anything. The hull is built by assembling a seemingly random collection of plates into a sort of ring, which is then sandwiched between two big side pieces. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this all fitted together perfectly, with no gaps. The biggest problem I had was dropping the piece that the top weapon attaches to, though I eventually found it after about 10 minutes, somehow behind a book shelf.
When building the legs you need to be seriously careful about checking that you have the correct pieces for each leg and that they’re the right way round. I found the layout of pieces on the sprue somewhat unhelpful here, as you can’t assume that parts that are next to each other on the sprue actually stick together. For example the bits I’ve circled in red are the left thigh and the blue ones are the right. I’d strongly recommend that you build one leg at a time and check the instructions carefully.
I decided to give my Aethon a walking pose so I arranged the legs a bit differently. I also cut off the toes of the raised foot and stuck them back on hanging down a bit, to make them look like they’re hanging slack.
If anything, this level of freedom is almost a bit wasted on the Aethon. It’s still just kind of a box on legs so there’s only so much you can do with it. It’s possibly more work than you’d want to spend on a model this size but overall I’m very happy with how mine looks.
After taking the above picture I realised there were a couple areas I needed to fill with green stuff. There are some joins that run along the middle of the banding and, while it wasn’t all that much, it was in a visible enough area to need filling. Several of the guns benefited from a fill where the two sides join as well.
You get a lot of weapon options with six different guns that go on the roof and the choice of an Aethon Missile Battery or four Hunter-killer Missiles on the sides of the hull. I managed to magnetise the guns on mine but it isn’t designed for that. I used 3x1mm round magnets all round. These fit quite nicely in the hole in the top weapon but you need to cut off the peg they’d normally fit on – or not bother because they actually fit reasonably tightly without a magnet. For the side weapons I had to put Green Stuff in the holes to secure the magnets in the right place, but that was easy enough to do.
It was a very simple paint job. Leadbelcher spray, Mechanicum standard grey, nuln oil and a bit of a highlight with lighter greys. I gave it a few red spot details and used some Vallejo metal air chrome (with a brush) on the pistons, which makes them stand out nicely. Lenses and the end of the volkite were picked out in brighter colours, which helps to break up the grey a bit.
I quite like the transfers it comes with as they manage to feel distinctive but still Imperial. The end result is good without requiring huge effort.
I enjoyed making the Aethon Heavy Sentinel and I think I’d recommend it as a kit. It’s kind of a charmingly awkward thing. It stands just a bit taller than a Contemptor. Here it is with some of my Raven Guard to give you a rough idea.
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