Thursday, November 19, 2015

Deredeo Dreadnought: Assembled

Dreadnoughts keep getting bigger and bigger!

Forge World has a particular talent for making impressive robots, from the cyclopean Warlord titan all the way down to the more humble dreadnought.  In recent years, Forge World have done a lot with their Contemptor dreadnought, making countless variations and legion specific versions. Just when I thought they had reached a natural end, they released an even bulkier variation of the Contemptor theme, the Deredeo pattern dreadnought.  In the excitement that accompanies any FW release, we promptly purchased one. Despite our excitement, and getting an incredibly well cast version of the dreadnought, other projects pulled us away from the new dreadnought, and it did not get built.  In the last few weeks, however, something pulled me back to the armored giant, and I was able to clean and assemble the model rather quickly (and just in time for FW to release another new dreadnought, the Leviathan Dreadnought?!).  Although it was a fairly straightforward build, I thought that I would give you some of my thoughts about it, along with some pictures!



While normally such gigantic weapons would bother me, I think it works in the Deredeo's case because it is a dedicated heavy weapons platform.

















The prevalent moldshifts and bubbles inherent with resin models were largely absent on my cast of the dreadnought, so the cleanup process was incredibly quick, only requiring the use green stuff in a few places to touch things up.  The Deredeo’s legs are much bulkier and  stocker than those seen on the Contemptors, making them more suitable for locking into a solid firing position. This made it much easier to pose it in a sensible fashion than the Contemptor (the thickness of the legs restrict the possibilities more).  The only other major element that had to fixed were the long autocannon barrels which were warped slightly during the casting process.  Normally, when I find a piece of resin that is bent, just running it under hot water is enough to soften it enough to bend it back into shape.  These autocannon barrels, however, were too thick and would simply shift back out of shape after using hot water to fix them.  To solve this issue, I went to a local hardware store and purchased a inexpensive heatgun.  After only about 5 seconds of exposure to the heat gun, I was easily able to bend the barrels into position.  I then dipped the pieces in cold water,  setting them in position instantly.  The whole process was so painless that I now firmly believe a heatgun is an essential tool if you work with large resin kits (particularly Forge World tanks).


Amazingly, the ammunition belts for the dreadnought's autocannons fit without the need of any bending!

One aspect of the model that did not sit well with me were the ridiculously sized barrels for the chest-mounted heavy bolters.  They look as though they are from an Earthshaker cannon.  To Forge World’s credit, the shells in the ammunition hoppers were sized appropriately.  I decided to replace the barrels, and found something suitable on the Kataphron Destroyers.  Each has a secondary phosphor blaster attached to a bionic arm.  Even these “small” sidearms were quite large, but ended up working quite well for a dreadnought-mounted heavy bolter.  I used greenstuff to fill in the ammunition hoppers that were displaying the overly large bolter shells.  Overall, I think that the modification makes them look more reserved and match closer to the look of the standard space marine heavy bolters seen on infantry models.

I replaced the barrels of the heavy bolter with something smaller and more reasonable looking. The stock version is pictured in the red-lined inset, for comparison.

And that is about the extent of the Deredeo assembly. It was fairly straightforward due to the excellent cast and the small number of individual parts.  The only slight oversight that I can see on Forge World’s part with the kit, is that they do not provide something to cover the hole at the top of the dreadnought where the missile launcher can be placed.  It would not be as much of an issue if the missile launcher was a piece of wargear that it always carried, but it is an optional upgrade.  I suppose the next time I order something from Forge World I will have to get the missile launcher too.  Having finished the Deredeo, I have another Contemptor kicking around here to be assembled, and Forge World’s new Leviathan dreadnought looks quite tempting…

- Adam Wier

16 comments:

  1. I'm surprised they didn't include a cover hatch for when the missile pod isn't in use. Would the cover hatch from a rhino kit cupola fit?

    It wouldn't be a build from you guys without some 'minor' GS work.

    It certainly looks an interesting figure compared to other parts of the Marine range. The extended ovoid bulb on the chassis is a stronger departure from the traditional angular Marine armour look than the Contemptor was. It'll be interesting to see how much further they shift aesthetics on the Leviathan and rumoured Cortus.

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    1. Thanks for the comment!

      I have done a fair amount of work looking for a piece that could serve as a cover for that hole on the Deredeo, but have not found anything too suitable. The cover hatch from the rhino cupola is too large in size to work easily. I might be able to trim one down though.

      I am really excited about the new Leviathan dreadnought being released by FW. It is visually much more akin to the standard 40k space marine dreadnoughts. I think it is going to be really popular with people wanting to make 'true-scale' space marine dreadnoughts (replacing the popular Dreadknight).

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  2. It seems like everyone needs to put effort in the Forgeworld kits, between bent pieces and air bubbles. It is pretty disappointing considering the high cost of the models.

    Yours is starting to come together nicely though.

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    1. Yeah, the amount of effort needed for any Forge World kit is always sizable even for the ones well cast. I can't remember how many times I have received a Forge World model in the mail, only to have my excitement dashed upon seeing the cast of the model (and then just putting the model in storage to deal with later). Fortunately, Forge World is very good about sending replacement parts for pieces poorly cast. While not really fixing the issue, it does help a little and shows that they care about their customers.

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  3. That hole in the top is just an embarrassing design flaw. I suppose they originally were going to make the launcher non-optional, but still, they should have supplied a small hatch or something.

    Nice work replacing the heavy bolter barrels. It always annoys when different versions of what are supposedly the same weapon are wildly different in size. The assault cannon, Marine/Guard versions of weapons being examples.

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    1. Yeah, I don't see how they made the model without a cover for that hole. Interestingly in the instructions for the model it showed you got two sets of feet, one set that had the side toes extended and another in which they were elevated (to represent walking and planted poses). The actual model only came with one set of feet and after calling Forge World they told me that the other set of feet were initially planned but got scraped during production of the model. So they may have done something similar with that hatch...

      It is pretty interesting how much some of the standard weapons vary in size in the game. I guess you could argue that they represent different makes from other Forge Worlds.... (even though that was not the intent,,,)

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  4. Nice job on the heavy bolter, couldn't agree with you more there.
    You definitely need to cover the hole at the top IMO though.

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    1. I am glad you like the modified heavy bolters! I will make sure to cover that hole with something. Maybe I will even try and convert my own missile launcher for the walker....

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  5. Hi,

    May I know the source of the female pilot mini next to the Deredeo?

    Thanks!

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    1. The pilot model is from Studio McVey. SMM35- Jetgirl. http://studiomcvey.highwire.com/product/smm35-jetgirl

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  6. The missile pod isn't meant to be optional, except for to replace it with another support system. The model doesn't work visually without something there and there is a very obvious motor system at the back to rotate it that doesn't make sense without it. The problem is in the unit entry being incorrect.

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    1. Yeah, it is very clear from a model perspective that something was designed to go there. It would have been great if it came with some form of basic scanning array or something to go there if you are not using a more substantial weapons system. Ultimately I suspect there was just a miscommunication between the sculptors and the rules department. Were you involved in sculpting it perhaps? Your screen-name/google+ account suggest you might.

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  7. Maybe... ;-)

    It's largely there to differentiate from the Contemptor, the idea being it's a support Dread so it has a primary weapon and a secondary system that can support troops independantly. It would be good to have more options but without them it might as well just be a Mortis.

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    1. That is a good point; without it, it is not particularity different from a Mortis or some of the other patterns. Hopefully some additional options will be released at some point. As a whole, I have been pretty impressed with FW's ability to create dreadnought patterns that actually feel like they belong in the Space Marine range (rather than simply a cash grab). I feel the contrast between FW and GW in this regard is most noticeable with Space Marine fliers, with all the GW kits looking truncated an awkward. Regardless, keep up the stellar work! ;D

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  8. Thanks! So far all the dreads have been mine, with the work of people more talented with putty to make them Legion or Chapter specific.

    I found your site by accident searching for some reference pictures, it's full of interesting stuff! Keep up the stellar work yourself!

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    1. Thanks for spending the time to look at some of our stuff! I feel your work and our own has a connection in that it has a strong focus on realism and believably. It is evident that you put a lot of effort into making your creations to look functional while maintaining the previously defined ascetics. It is something I really value, and try to push with the conversions on this site (particularly in terms of weapon design).

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