The Stormwall Gathers

So recently I have been working on a very special project...... I broke down and purchased a Stormwall.  For those of you who may not be in the know Stormwall is the most expensive model both point wise and money wise in the Cygnar Faction.  This model is also HUGE it is about 6 inches tall. These monstrous machines are classified as a Colossal and they are that; expensive tough killing machines that raise the game to a whole new level.  Why did I break down buy such a beast? There are a few reasons,  1.  I really wanted one. 2. Clint started the trend by purchasing one of the two mercenary faction colossals the Earth Breaker (this thing is a monster flat out).  3.  It is one of the best units for Cygnar in the game. 4. I have been playing around with the idea of getting into competitive warmahordes and this is the last piece I needed to really be able to do that. And 5.  This thing is awesome, it was a blast putting it together and painting it.        

The box that the Stormwall comes in

So I started off the way I always do by rinsing off my pieces in water.  Years of painting GW minis has taught me that pieces especially ones made out of metal come with a residue on them (Flash) this makes priming difficult and causes uneven coverage.  Luckily, a quick bath removes this manufacturing debris.

The contents of said box after being washed

Next comes priming I use spray primer mad by army painter the Dork Tower variety (though some reason problems I've been having with the product may mean after this can I try something else) I use black primer as it will define those deep spots that brushes and paint may not get to as well as hide mistakes you make along the way.  Since my Cygnar color scheme is pretty close to the studio colors I decided to follow that same logic with my Stormwall ( the only difference between my color scheme and the studios is I use tin bitz and gold instead of bronze and gold and I use hawk turquoise in addition to blue).

The contents after priming and some base coating 

Due to the size of this model I did apply more coats to the blue and white panels then i regularly do.  I am a speed painter as other team members will tell you.  Do you remember that show Heroes? I am like the Prophetic painter guy minus the power of prophecy.   I'll sit down and look up two or five hours later and bang I have pretty well painted miniature sitting in front of me.  Sometimes I will go on a spree and do this for a week or two.  I've done 18-20 models in four days before.  So I broke from my usual style to put in some extra effort on this one (it still only took me 3 days to complete).

The Torso, Arms, Fists, Legs and Cannons a little further along in the process

The legs fully assembled and the torso almost finished

Another progress shot

The assembly of this guy was pretty intuitive.  The colossals and i would suspect gargatuans come with instructions though I barely glanced at mine.  An interesting aspect that I wasn't expecting was the torso is one solid softball sized piece.  The legs are comprised of feet, hips, and a foot shield. The arms are similarly 2 pieces for the actual arms, 2 wrist guard pieces and a fist piece. There are a few accent pieces a cygnus shield for each arm and 4 struts for the waist/hip piece.  The head is a single piece, there are 6 coils, 2 chainguns, and 2 cannons.  The kit also includes 3 lightning pods, that are composed of 3 pieces themselves.

The backside of the torso with the arms attached

The front of the top half

By midway through day 2 I had the legs mocked up and the top of half of the model finished.

About 50% complete

The backside at 50%

The front at 100% model completion

By the end of day 2 this was the result.

The Backside at 100% model completion

All painted and based

After some basing and fine tuning a few details here and there I was finished with the Stormwall and the Lightning pods.  The fine tuning consisted of the touching up places here and there, as well as a few washes and dry brushing on the coils to make them look electric and glowy.

Look Privateer Press sent me a carrying case..... Okay so i cut a slot for Stormwall's base and 3 smaller holes for the Lightning Pod and put them in the box that Stormwall came in, hey it works!

Gratuitous Gallery Shot!

All in all the process was a blast.  Will I be doing this again?  Not anytime soon.  While these things are FA 2 this took a large chunk out of my bank account also I have my eyes on a few other items that I want before hand like a Storm Strider, a few more hunters, a full unit of storm lances, and Laddermore, also there are a few other mercs  I have my eyes on as well.
This makes the second colossal in the group,  I can see Valus picking up Prime Axium in the not too distant future (That is another colossal that is a monster) and Sir Dragon has hinted that he is interested in the Skorne's gargantuan on a few occasions.  The disappointing thing about Colossal/Gargantuan units is they are not made equal.  I am by no means suggesting that these should be cookie cutter units,  what I am saying is that the few "biggies" I've mentioned so far are the ones that are universally good (the Earthbreaker and the Galleon are included in this list).  The others are situational at best and terrible at worst (I am looking at you Mountain King).  All in all this isn't a game breaking thing.  That is the beauty of the system  I may have half my points tied up in a really good model but, one model can only do so much and the opponent without a colossal/gargantuan can have more units  and  that balances things out.  However, it would be cool to see a table of multiple "Biggies" form the different factions but the rules and stats just don't allow for this kind of engagement because the point investment and payoff are drastically unbalanced in many cases.      

I have another project that is nearing completion as well as a few games coming up so I should have some more content in the coming weeks.

That is all that I've dug up for now
Popculture Archaeologist