Review: Killa kans!

So this is my first post on ‘ERE WE GO and while my time is largely occupied with work at graduate school, I hope to continue posting on and off. Currently much of my free time has been spent assembling a unit of killa kans from the new multi-part plastic boxed set. What better a time to write a review of the kit? I will apologize now that my digital camera is out of commission, so there will be no pictures.

First and foremost, these little guys are much easier to work with than Brian Nelson’s aged metal versions. This primarily stems from the fact that the pieces are cast in such a fashion that they actually fit together; and while I love Nelson’s version, the two halves of the hull simply do not fit together without a great deal of filing and cursing. On top of the labors required to piece the metal ones together, somewhere along the way GW, in their infinite wisdom, decided that of the three variants designed only one was needed and limited their production to that variant. This made conversion work essential, which did not bode very well with their resilient white metal frame. The plastic kit resolves these issues nicely, providing you with three different bodies whose parts can be interchanged amongst one another. Additionally, there are three different engine blocks that add even more variety to the models. I also feel I should mention the casting on the kit is wonderful; the details are crisp and well defined and the sprues are designed to minimize mold lines (truly something to smile about).

While I am very pleased with the kit in general, there are a few things that could have been a little better. My primary concern is the lack of arms, this includes both the guns and those for close combat. Sadly they only give you one of each gun, so if you were fancying a unit kitted out with rocket launchers you will have some converting work ahead of you. Also, while I am happy they included the grotzooka, they decided against including a kustom mega-blasta. On a positive note, the deff dread gun arms can easily be modified and used on the killa kans (the deff dread comes with two of each weapon, including the kustom mega-blasta). While not really a problem with the killa kans, some of the close combat weapons for the killa kans are reused on the deff dread. Aside from the lack of guns, there is also a surprising lack of extra pieces to customize your walkers. Once you assemble the base models, you will find that you used nearly all of the pieces in the kit, leaving very little to come back to for future conversions.

In terms of aesthetics, I think Dale Stringer has done a pretty good job at merging the shifting persona of the orks from the various editions. The new models exude that kind of quirky 2nd edition vibe while still retaining much of simplicity and brutality pioneered by Brian Nelson in the 3rd edition. And while I welcome some of the comical nature coming back, I only welcome it in moderation. Some of the pieces in the kit are a little too over the top for my taste. This is particularly true with some of the exhaust pipes for the engines. It is almost like each one is competing with the next to be as big and unwieldy as possible. Thankfully the worst of the offenders are separate pieces that must be glued on. With a little greenstuff work the exhaust pipes can be refashioned to a more reasonable size and complexity. Along these same lines, some of the close combat claws/buzz saws are a little busy and flashy (much of the worst of it can be removed with a little trimming). Each of the walkers also has two peg holes on their front hull to glue on three different decorations coming in the form of various jaws and tusks. I found the jaws made the overall model look a little cluttered and opted to convert tusks for all three of the models (tusks taken from a variety of black orc and orc models). Still, the overall look of the models is very pleasing and I could not help but smile as I began gluing the walkers together.

If you were ever considering a unit of killa kans, never has there been a better time to do so, as you get three in a single box. Priced at $45 you cannot go wrong considering a few weeks ago you had to buy the metal ones separately for around $25. My dreams of a legion of death walkers are now more possible than ever and I am nothing but pleased.