Dream Forge Games Leviathan Crusader: Review and WIP
The Leviathan Crusader was an eagerly awaited kit for many of us in the Wargaming Community.
Dream Forge Games was one of the early start ups to challenge Games Workshop in the realm of Gothic themed Science Fiction. As I go through my build progression, I will give a review of how I felt about each stage and the quality of the model. Before, I get into that, I think a general overview is in order.
This is one of the best quality resin kits, I have worked with. There were no vents or fill tubes to be removed, the mold release washed off very easy, there were no miscasts or uneven/misaligned parts, and there was very little flash requiring removal. At first, I was somewhat intimidated by the sheer number of fiddly bits and custom cut pistons. Fortunately, Dream Forge provides excellent instructions of the website; for the Leviathan Mortis. I did not find any for the Crusader Variant. So, I had to wing it for portions of the build. According to the instructions, you start from the feet and work your way up.
As you can see in the above photos, the feet are assembled and I am starting on the piston work. I found a razorsaw to be the most useful tool in cutting the pistons to length.
Once the pistons were cut and the legs posed, I was able to get a feel for how the finished product was going to look. I was quite surprised by how well all the parts assembled and fit into place.
It's crucial to line up the legs. So that the you get the stance you want. I worked on the torso and legs for about an hour before I glued them in place.
Moving on to the arms. This is where assembly got tricky. The instructions, as I stated earlier, were for the Mortis Variant, which is equipped with a claw-hand-thingie and a Sickle. So, I had to do a lot of work to figure out the arms for the Crusader. Most of these parts were very similar looking, but fit together quite differently. In the following pictures, you can see the step-by-step.
I left the arms unglued, so that I could position them later.
Without a base, the model is somewhat unstable. So, I had to come up with a base in order to finish the kit. Rhino pictured for scale.
I used a CD for the base and molded air dry molding clay to get an earthy texture. Then added some random vehicle bits for flavor.
I still have some work to do on the base. Since this is a Space Wolf theme, the base will be snow covered. More photos to come shortly.
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