Grinds My Gears! Top 5 GW Miniatures Building Pet Peeves
Come on GW! It grinds my gears when I have to deal with these issues while I’m building Warhammer 40K minis!
Goatboy here, and lately, I have been building a lot of the preview models for the BoLS team. This means getting ahold of new stuff and designs that come down the pipeline from good ole GW. This also means I get to see a lot of things that have me – somewhat aggravated when trying to get these plastic little sculpts built. Little things that just – grind my gears a bit as try to not get super glue on my fingers or pray the plastic glue holds well enough.
So, with that, let’s go into my top five with example kits that just made me want to pull out my exceedingly gray hair. Kids will do that to you, as will managing teams of people. But this isn’t a soapbox for why I don’t get to play games as much—it’s me complaining about models!
5. Separate Feet Pieces
Sample Kit: Astra Militarum – Attilan Rough Riders
Did you know the rider’s feet are separate from the legs themselves? Do you know it is a weird little hollowed-out groove they can fit in, so if you don’t sync it up right, they can slide down? Did you know that you can barely see the feet themselves? Why didn’t they just mold it into the legs themselves or even onto the sides of the horse’s body? What is the desired point of having separated feet that you are not going to swap out, change, or update?
4. Kits With Parts for Each Mini Spread Over Multiple Sprues
Sample Kit: Killteam Ork Kommandos
Look, this is an awesome kit, but I don’t need to search through three sprues to find a neckpiece for a dang model! I want cool-looking models, not pain-in-the-butt kits to build and figure out. Why can’t all the relevant parts of an individual mini be near each other so you can build faster, instead of pouring over the instruction manual and trying to find where each little tiny plastic pouch/scope/neck piece is? I always thought it was to curtail bitz cutters, but now people just 3d print something they want. So what’s the point of making a “where’s Waldo” style sprue that has you hunting all around?
3. Two-handed Weapons Without Grooves on the Shoulders/Hands
Sample Kit: Grey Knight Purifiers
Why can’t they just have grooves set up to help lock in these two-handed kits? How many models do you see with a slightly bent halberd/spear bullet gun thingy? All that stressed plastic when they could just build simple little grooves into the sides or at least on the hands to let you “guide” these models to victory and solid construction.
2. Kits with Front and Back Plates Attached to Different Legs
Sample Kit: Plague Marines
The biggest issue with these types of kits is they make all your models look the same. I loved how the new World Eater Berzerkers had some of this but with flat arms on the sides so you can “repose” them. Also, all the legs running makes sense for an aggressive and violent army.
Plague Marines don’t need to be shown running or strutting around as they are slow little dudes carrying around the sniffles. I just always find this type of part layout a real pain in the ass to convert/swap/exchange things with other armies. It leaves a lot to be desired for those hobbyists who love to kit bash and shift things around.
1. Multiple Part Heads
Sample Kits: Gorechosen of Dromm
If I thought the 2 part heads would give me more options, I would be excited, but all of them are basically either a funky add-on for the hair or just another way to slap on a different boring face. It isn’t set up to give you more options, so why isn’t it just one solid piece? I would love more solid pieced heads on some of these cooler kits, as it would be neat to “kitbash” things. Also, there is nothing worse in the world than clipping off some kind of half-faced nonsense and watching it shoot off your table, fly into the nether, and disappear on the floor of infinite sadness.
Honorable Mention! – Parts That Fit Into Muscle Grooves
Sample Kits: New Kroot
Why are their weapons for their backs set up to somehow slide into the little muscle folds? Why isn’t there like some kind of peg or spike thing that lets you rest it on and lets you set up so plastic glue can hold it well? Why do all the pouches fit weird too? Why can’t you just give me pegs! Please!
What grinds your gears when building minis these days?
