Goatboy’s Model Review – Chapter House Tervigon Kit
I don’t know about you, but I found the lack of Tervigon kit when the Tyranids codex came out to be extremely frustrating. So when I got a chance to see the initial green of the Chapter House Studios last year at WarGames con I was pretty excited about it.
I know that green pictures can be hard to get a good idea on how a model works/looks so I just patiently waited to get my hands on a kit and try it out.
So lets get the review started like I do for any other kit. I base every review on Value, Look/Form, and Paintability. When I look at an army and model range I make sure to judge all the pieces available like this as a few crap models can really ruin your army build and design. So lets get started on this review.
Value
This kit requires a Carnifex as well as this kit to complete the model. The kit does come with a base that is flat and larger then the normal base that comes with the Carnifex. The kit replaces the top part of the Carnifex as well as the front plate and adds a new part for the bottom/birthing channels. The plastic/resin is pretty heavy and stiff. There is no brittle feel you might get from FW kits nor does it have the soft kind of feel that Privateer Press has at times. The kit is $22.50 so it does make your Tervigon start at 45.00 so I feel the total of the kit will most likely sit right around what the GW model would be if they came out with a Terivgon/Tyrannofex kit.
7 out of 10 – I wish they had a few more options or head options within the kit. If they did then this would knock it out of the park. As it I would still say that the ease of building and lack of real conversion work required makes it worthwhile when mixed with getting models at a discount for the GW side.
Look/Form
I think the kit looks pretty damned good. I know some of the pics don’t give it justice but I had a lot of local players check out the painted model to see it in real life. It is big, fat, and looks like something that could birth a ton of Tyranid gribblies. As I said before I wish we had some different heads or some kind of extra bits to put somewhere else. The crazy Genestealer heads they have on the site would be a great base to create a crazy, tentacled head for the Tervigon. Heck if they created a gun belly to exchange out to create a Tyrannofex they could have a really neat kit. The birthing tubes underneath as well as the stretched belly skin showing some monsters inside really set this kit apart and gives you a neat base to create and build your model. I only had to do small green stuff to fix any spaces that occurred. In fact it was about the same amount you would have to do on a GW metal model.
8 out of 10 – I think for a 3rd party kit this is pretty dead on as a Tervigon. The size is perfect and the belly design looks pretty cool and as “realistic” for a birthing monster.
Paintability
Have you painted Tyranids before? If so then this model is the same. There are not crazy bits hanging off to make it hard to get to different areas. Also the model has enough texture to let you have an easier time creating blends and finding the highlight lines on the model. It paints just like any other model and with it being plastic it stays together easier with a lack of needing to pin bits to ensure you don’t loose a metal arm, head, or whatever other nonsense you decide to add to the model.
7 out of 10 – It is a nice plastic model that is easy to get to all the bits and pieces.
