40k Flashback – 3rd Edition Space Wolves Long Fangs Unboxed
Come see our latest blast from the past when we unbox the old 3rd Edition Long Fangs box set, and reveal some BITS treasure from back in the day!
Back before the current Devastator kit (both versions) came out in plastic, Games Workshop used a meta and plastic system that was a tad temperamental when it came to assembly.
While the kit was great and for awhile you could even buy blister packs of heavy weapon marines, there was a bit of a learning curve to getting the heavy weapon, backpack and support arms all to line up.
The key I found to making it work was to make sure you had the correct support arm with matching backpack, and allow the glue to dry naturally while you could make quick adjustments to the positioning. Even then there was no guarantee of success, but sometimes back then it was fun just fighting the good fight to try to make it work!
The real gem in this box for me was the first plastic special weapon sprue (circa 1999) for the new “heroic” plastic 28mm Space Marine sculpts. While there wasn’t a plastic plasma gun until nearly six years later in 2005 (new 4th ed Tactical Squad box), I was okay with it because plasma didn’t really seem to be a thing until then. Back in those days, assault seemed to be king of the grim dark.
That sprue was a converter’s dream for making the dopest looking plastic marines during that time, and I’ll NEVER forget secretly wishing that they made all plastic parts in the future. Twelve years later in 2011 when Finecast came in like a wrecking ball, I started to wish they didn’t get rid of metals after all, but now looking back I don’t think there has been a finer time for (Games) Workshop’s miniatures.
-What do you remember of the early years of 3rd Edition?
