I am getting some help from blogger and commission painter Granesh over at Smells Like Wargaming as he reviews some wonderful promotional models from Puppetswars. The Terminator alternative model: Rippers. I want to mention Rippers make great alternative Mega Nobz for crafty gits or any 40mm based model out there; but if you know of others hit me on BoK’s Facebook page.

Well let me get out-of-the-way and let Granesh take it from here…

Howdy folks!

So, I was recently approached by TastyTaste over at Blood of Kittens about a little 40k proposition he was throwing together to combine 3rd Party suppliers and commission artists. Personally, I love the idea, and not long after, I was paired with Puppet’s War, a bits supplier based out of Poland. I dove right into the box of goodies, and the first project that caught my eye was the Mankind Rippers Unit. Lets jump right in, shall we?

Disclaimer: Although I received these models through a promotional offer to promote both myself and Puppet’s War, I have no obligation to give a biased or favorable view because of the circumstances. If I don’t like a kit or piece, you better believe I’ll speak my mind about it! Same goes if I love it! Now, without further adieu…

Puppets War’s Mankind Rippers Unit Review
Cost: $40 (approx USD)
Contains: 5 Complete models minus bases

 

The kit consists of 5 bodies (torso and legs are a single piece), 5 heads, and 5 sets of arms. Personally, I would have liked to receive some bases for these bad boys, but I had a set of 40mm round bases lying around, so it wasn’t a big deal for me, but just keep that in mind when ordering.
As you can see, I received a 6th set of arms; I can’t imagine it was intentional, just a packer’s mistake, but I’m not complaining! I gave the models a good bath to release any release agent, though the models seemed to be fairly devoid of it, thankfully.

 

The biggest question I’m sure you all have is, “How is the casting quality?”. Impeccable, my dear sirs and madams! There are virtually no airbubbles on the models, as well as flashing. The only places I found them were on the tips of the fingers and the bottom of the feet, which is no problem whatsoever.
As you can see, the pieces scale very well to Warhammer 40k bits and pieces. While I opted to go with minimal additions, you could very easily throw Space Marine or Imperial Guard heads on them, or cover the shoulders with a Terminator Shoulderpad. The standard Marine ones are too small. You can also see the detail on these pieces; CAD design and casting has come a long way!
One of the biggest selling points of the kit is the holes for magnetizing the arms. This makes these badboys very versatile, as you can use the arms supplied with the kit, or opt for Terminator arms. I only magnetized the sergeant, as I’m still playing around with army choices for the unit, but in reality, you can easily magnetize all five models.
The arms take standard 1mm rare earth magnets; be sure you mark one side with a sharpie to keep your polarities straight!
My magnets stick out just a touch; I prefer the extra girth they add to the shoulders, but you can easily drill the sockets a touch deeper if you so chose. Ahh, the beauty of resin!

 

My first Ripper WIP; I’ve opted for a more neutral style to allow me to play with the 40k allies chart. I’ve been playing around with doing a small Adeptus Mechanicus force as Necrons, but with the armaments included with the Rippers, they’ll work just fine as Mega-Armored Nobz, Shooty Terminators, Necrons, or even Tyranid Warriors (Instinctive Behavior represents their control over the skitarii).
And, an overall assessment of the product as a whole:
Quality: 5/5; 
Clean casts and well designed models ensure you’ll be able to paint every detail without problem!
 
Price: 4/5;
Cheaper than a box of Space Marine Terminators, but with less pieces and weapons. At $8/model though, you can’t go wrong!
 
Value: 4/5;
The casts are clean, and the detail is there, but some extra weapons and bases would have been a nice inclusion. Hell, I’d pay another $10 to get some extra arms and even a plain black base! 
 
Overall: 4.5/5
Puppets War has done an excellent job on these models; they’re very striking on the tabletop, and with the sharp edges and little details, lend themselves very well to both beginner and advanced painters. As I said, some extra weapons would be nice, but you can pick those up on their website, as well as sculpted resin bases. 

 

Expect more reviews in the coming month or so as I slowly work my way through the box of goodies I was sent. Thanks to the guys at Puppets War, as well as TastyTaste over at Blood of Kittens, for giving me this opportunity. I’ve got a couple of tutorials coming as well from the group of models I received, so stay tuned for some strange, fun projects coming your way!

 

I was working on that first WIP guy during the Broncos/Titans game this weekend, so I was almost too tense to finish him up! I should have more pictures of these badboys painted up towards the end of the week, so stay tuned! Should, as well, have another blogpost up tomorrow showing you all what I’ve been working on this week. Realizing its only been a week, the amount of stuff I’ve painted is kinda scary, even to myself. Anyways, stay tuned!

 

Granesh

 

Smells Like Wargaming

 

The link for these models is here at…

http://puppetswar.eu/product.php?id_product=266

and please visit Smells Like Wargaming for more great paint jobs and articles!

http://www.smellslikewargaming.blogspot.com/