Dream Forge Leviathan: Show and Tell Time

The kit itself takes some getting used, unless you have a background in building Gundam style models I guess.  It stands roughly 8.5 inches tall.  The plastic is equivalent to GW’s a nice stiff styrene that takes knife, file, and plastic glue well.  Superglue too, for you barbarians out there.  Just speculation on my part (not even an educated guess) but I think this guy and the Wyrd plastics might coming out of the same factory in China.  The plastic itself looks, feels and behaves identically and even more telling, the sprues are cut and mounted in similar fashion.

The kits goes together with a mix of plastic parts and metal screws.  The metal screws are used at the major joints in the elbows, knees and inside the upper torso piece.  The screws are then covered by plastic cap pieces.  Tension on the screws controls how tight the joints are.

Same leg illustrating the range of motion

Once the screws are on they are covered by caps.  Two things to note about the screws.  First the screwdriver that comes with the kits won’t cut it.  It is simply to small for the 10mm screws.  Second if I were assembling this kit again I wouldn’t cover the screws until I had the model in its final pose.  Then I would lock them down.

The hips and lower torso are on ball and socket joints and provide and very nice range of motion.  The shoulder joints, while not ball and socket are round discs that provide 360 degree rotation and the are constructed allow for vertical movement as well.

The arm weapon systems are detachable and Dream Forge carries several options including and scythe and some over sized power/lightning claw styles.  My only complaint with the sword arm is that I wish there were some rotational movement in the wrist.  It may be an assembly issue but this guy has zero rotation in the wrist which is a little frustrating.

If you are used to larger 40k kits you certainly have the skills to build this monstrosity.  Just make sure you take your time and follow the directions.  The directions themselves are adequate however make sure you have the updated ones available from Dream Forge’s site.  The instructions that ship are not complete.

Aesthetic 10/10 – This model just looks cool.

Kit Quality 7/10 – The screw driver it comes with is inadequate.  Must get correct instructions from web.  Sprues could be labeled better.  The models does have a tremendous range of motion offering great posing options.

Build Quality 7/10 – the sprue attaches to pieces in some weird places, and the sprues are really thick.  

Sharp knife and quality files are a must.  When cleaned and filed properly the kit goes together well.  Make sure you test fit the pieces before gluing.