Chief Librarian Mephiston (Primaris) - Part I

Mephiston. Mark Gibbons pose. Pure awesome.

Finally some more work on the Primaris version of Chief Librarian Mephiston. I've been preparing the model for a little bit, figuring out the best approach for painting and assembly, and making sure the colour scheme used on the finecast model would still match (it will).

Painting wise there's not much to say. I've dry assembled the model for a photo, but glue will have to wait a little longer. A few parts require painting first, before the back cape can be attached.

Instead, this post is a complaint about the fit of all the components. More precisely, the lack of fit. The robes were ok, but I can't help but wonder if some of the joins could have been better hidden. On the model's right, I had to use multiple coats of liquid green stuff (only because it was on hand, the proper green stuff might have worked much better), careful filing, some emery paper, and a coat of varnish to get a smooth finish filling in the join. The varnish was to help smooth the finish a little, but also to prevent the green stuff from coming loose. This worked very well, and once painted cannot be seen at all.

Other components, however, are a little more tricky. There's an obvious gap on the right torso where the cape is supposed to join to the main model area. I wanted to paint the cloak and cape separate with the airbrush, so that gap will have to be filled in later and painted over. There will be a similar problem on the left glove.

Cabling on the left torso is also to be added later, and it doesn't quite line up properly with the skull icon where it's supposed to attach. I'm actually contemplating making a custom piece from green stuff, although I might try first to bend and force the plastic into the right location.

The right leg was also a pain to glue into the correct position. I painted it first, the glued the cloak around it, but the attachment points were not as apparent as they could have been.

It's these little details that add up to a feeling of missed quality on the model. Almost as if it was rushed a little bit, and Games Workshop felt these little nuisances wouldn't matter. While the design of the finished model is very impressive, and the detail of the plastic moulding process gives finecast a run for its money (and without the associated problems), I can't help but be a little disappointed with the assembly issues.
At least I'm proficient enough by now that I can fix everything. It's a little extra work, but the final model won't show these nuisances.

-- silly painter.