+ How to build the Warden Titan +
+ Kit review and build notes +
+ The Warden is a new Titan class, produced by the good folk at Battle Bling. Mine arrived safely by coffinship through the post last week, so I wasted no time in getting it built. This cycle's inload combines a set of building instructions with a review. +
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+ What's in the box? +
Designed by the talented dannyvandijk, the Warden is Battle Bling's second standalone Titan release; the first being the mighty and colossal Warbreaker. This one's a more modestly-sized Titan, sitting somewhere between a Warhound and a Reaver. There are some scale shots of the finished model later on.
The kit comes with the following parts, packed nice and securely in bubblewrap envelopes within a sturdy cardboard box. You also get a business card and flyer for both Battle Bling themselves and BattleBuilder (see note below), so you can add a nameplate later, should you so wish.
There are a few options for the kit: the Aevum variant, which I opted for, has a plain carapace and a more traditional armoured head design with a circular grille; while the Fidelis variant has a more mechanical-looking exposed head and a carapace decorated with an eagle design. Both have different weapon options – I went for the autocannon and missiles option.
The superstructure and primary weapons.
Armour panels: shown top left is the chest armour, which goes on the torso below the head. Top right is the upper carapace.
Middle row from left to right: groin plate; rear plate; two shoulder pauldrons and two thigh plates. These are all interchangeable; there's no difference between shoulders and shins; and while the groin and rear plate differ in front detail, they both fit into the sockets on the front and back of the pelvis piece, so you can choose which is which.
Bottom row left is the feet armour – being so small I suggest you keep them in the little baggie they came with; and bottom right are the shin armour plates. Again, these fit both sides.
... and a closer look at the primary weapons, plus the three carapace options – a couple of little shield generators and a little defensive turret of some sort.
All of these pieces are shown straight out of the box, without any cleaning or work done. Battle Bling's stuff is 3D printed, and you'll see a few small support struts still in place. These can be removed easily, as described below.
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+ Building the Warden Titan +
The kit is designed to slot together neatly and intuitively, so will be straightforward enough for anyone who has built a Titan kit, or has some experience with model kits.
The notes below are primarily my advice for order of build – and a few heads-ups to help you avoid 'uh-oh' moments.
+ You will need+
- Sharp knife
- Superglue
- Optional – 4mm and 5mm magnets
- Optional – Blu-tak or similar adhesive putty
- Optional – Greenstuff or similar modelling putty
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+ Planning, prep and cleaning +
As the pieces are 3D-printed rather than mould-cast, there's no need to wash them, though running them under cold water will remove any dust or debris. Make sure they're dry before moving on.
The kit being 3D-printed resin means that you'll need to use superglue or similar to glue things together, as polystyrene cement won't work. If you're only familiar with plastic Titan kits, this does take a bit of a change in mindset, as you won't have as much time to work out posing on the fly. I habitually use thin superglue, but for this build I recommend a gel superglue, which will give you a little more leeway.
Don't worry overly. Generally it won't be a problem, but it's good to go into the build with a solid idea of how you want your finished model to look. If it's helpful, I wrote this article on posing Reaver Titans for the Maximal Fire noospheric node [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], and much of the advice there remains useful for posing the Warden, too.
Before you begin assembly, take some time to trim away any remaining support struts. These are small and generally in unobtrusive areas. Support struts are best removed with a sharp knife, or smoothed down with a file/sandpaper – though do take precautions if you go for the file/sanding option, as breathing in resin dust is pretty horrid for you.
You can trim and clean the supports as you go (which is what I did), but I found I missed quite a few, so think it's best to do a proper job all in one fell swoop before you begin.
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+ Torso +
The main body comes in two parts, which have pegs/sockets in a triangle shape so it's easy to get the alignment right. You'll end up with a noticeable seam between the parts – but happily the designer has cleverly set things up so that the seam is largely hidden by the armour plates of the carapace and chest. You can fill this if you wish using greenstuff or similar, but I left it untreated as the area is almost completely hidden in the finished model.
The carapace in place – I recommend you don't glue this on just yet. Leaving it off will make things easier for getting to the nooks and crannies later, and makes magnetising easier.
You'll spot a few 3D-print lines on the base of the carapace. These seem to be an inevitable part of 3D printing. The kit looks to have been set up to minimise these unwanted print artefacts, and kept them to fairly unobtrusive areas.
If they bother you, or you want to do a particularly thorough job, take some time to sand them down gently if you wish (again, wear breathing protection) or use a levelling material like watered-down Milliput/liquid greenstuff. The other option, of course, is just to live with them.
+ Legs and feet +
The most difficult part of most Titan builds, the Warden's legs are no exception to the rule. Each leg comes in three parts, and while similar-looking, the upper legs are mirrored, and lower legs have a front and a back. Here's how you tell you're using the right parts and orientating them correctly:
Pictured above you can see the back of the armour plates (left), the front of the leg (middle), and the back of the leg (right).
The armour plates for the thigh and shin are design to plug into the front of the legs, and you'll spot a wide socket for the two vertical plugs on the thigh armour, just below the knee. The shin armour has a horizontal socket that plugs into the front of the shin. The shin also has a curved part in front of the knee that prevents the knee being posed beyond vertical (a very sensible design choice!), and the rear has some detailing across the area just below the knee, which both looks nice and functions to prevent the armour plate from being fitted there smoothly.
Don't glue the legs just yet – but do dry fit them to make sure that all the parts go together cleanly.
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+ A note on posing +
I recommend you build the first leg from the bottom up – i.e. starting from the foot. If you're posing your Warden in motion, I suggest starting with the foot nearest the centre of gravity – i.e. the one with most foot in contact with the ground. If you're going for a more static pose with both feet firmly down, this doesn't matter.
Why does this matter for a sense of motion? If you start with the foot nearest the centre of gravity, you know that you have a firm foundation for the model, and it has support on the base. You can then build up to the pelvis, get everything secure, then build the other leg down from the pelvis so you can adjust the pose relative to the base.
If the second foot is left in mid-air, that's then not a problem – the pose will work because the first leg looks sturdy, so it 'reads right', and the pelvis remains at the level you want so you don't end up with a drunk-looking pose. The toes can be angled to below the level of the centre of the foot, to look more convincing.
If the second foot instead does contact the ground as you build down, you've still got flexibility in the hip and knee to make sure that the pelvis remains stable. That's what happened with mine owing to a bit of poor planning with the base, and you'll see later on how I adjusted things to ensure a good result.
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Enough theoreticals! Back to the build:
Each foot comes with four support struts (top), four toes (bottom), a central foot and two additional armour plates – so don't panic that you're missing a couple of toes. The additional armour plates fit on the joints without sockets, but for the moment pop them to one side.
Take your time deciding on the pose you want for the foot, and dry fit it all together – Blu-tak or similar is very useful.
If you go for a more stoic or static pose, this stage is easier. I've gone for a fairly dynamic pose to show you what's possible while not causing any problems later on.
When you're happy with the foot, dry fit the leg and pelvis as shown. It's important that the sockets on the foot align with the vertical striped areas on the shin – this is where the support struts will attach, and if it's twisted too far, the shin armour won't fit later.
At this point, glue the foot and leg together, but leave the pelvis unglued. Put it to one side.
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Glue the front three support struts in place one at a time, starting with the central one (it's easier to get to the others than slot the middle one in later).
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| + Front view + |
This picture shows a detail of the foot with the support struts in place – you can see that there's quite a bit of play and poseability in the toes and feet, which is great.
It's important at this point to dry fit the shin armour, ideally before the glue dries on the support struts. It should drop down from above and the plug at the back connect neatly into the slot on the front of the shin.
If the armour doesn't fit at this point, you'll need to break off the struts and/or toes and rethink your pose – and while the 3D print resin is fairly strong, it's also brittle and prone to breaking if forced.
Dry fit everything, get your plan in place, and execute things as quickly and smoothly as you can.
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| + Rear view + |
Glue the back support strut in place, then glue the two additional armour plates on as shown on the left. I've left the one on the right off so you can see the clever moulding on the back – this gives flexibility with the pose.
As for the front, dry fit the shin armour while you finalise the armour plates' position to avoid later problems.
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+ Body and head +
Good news – with the first leg done, the rest of the build is all downhill.
Dry fit and assemble the other leg as described above. The Warden's hips connect via balljoints, but these aren't as prominent as on the GW Titans. As a result, there's not so much play in posing, so be careful. Make sure the pelvis is able to attach with space on your base for both legs, and isn't canted too far. If it's tipping backwards, it'll look odd, so aim for a level top to the pelvis, or a slight forward angle.
Once you're happy with the pose, glue the first leg to the pelvis, then build down from the hip. As explained above, this will ensure that you've got a safe pose, and you can adjust the hips and pelvis to make sure things look convincing, as shown in this finished pict-capture:
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While building, note that the pelvis has a nominal front and back, and while I couldn't see any external difference, if you glue it the wrong way the upper torso won't fit, as the peg and socket – shown below – won't align.
If you do get this wrong, don't worry. It can be easily remedied by trimming the peg flush on the upper torso. I imagine the intention is to stop there being too much play in the posing, but it's good to be aware of things as you work.
The groin and rear armour plates fit both the front and the back of the pelvis, so you can choose which you want to have front and back. I opted for the additional banding detail on the front, which I think is the intended way round, but the plainer version would be good for freehand, should you so wish.
The thigh and chest armour are just slotted in, so they can be removed for priming and painting, hence why the armour on the thigh is at a funny angle.
The head is a ball and socket joint, but like the hips, there's not much play, and so not a great detal of freedom in posing. When gluing the head, I recommend you do it with the armour plates in place, to avoid any unfortunate clashes.
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+ Arms, weapons and magnets +
The arms (which you can see in place in the picture with the armour plates) are small pieces, similar to the Warhound arms. One end of each is a ball to fit into the shoulder socket, while the other is flat to attach to the weapons.
While you can glue everything securely, the arms (and the body) are designed with recesses for magnets. I recommend you inload this Maximal Fire article for general advice on magnetising your Titans: [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+], and will keep the following bits to the Warden specifically.
Pictured here are a couple of additional parts I ordered – a 'Malus' warden head, which I preferred for the Knight/Cylon look, and a Beam Rifle weapon, which looked appropriately sci-fi and awesome. More importantly for this look at the kit, it's identical to the Warhound weapon fittings – and Battle Bling have designed the Warden to be cross-compatible with your existing Titans.
The primary weapons cleverly have recesses for both 4mm and 5mm magnets. I think the intention is to use 4mm magnets, and for the arm to then fit into the 5mm slot. However, if you've only got 5mm magnets, or want to attach them to other Titans (i.e. Reaver, Warbringer Nemesis) these will fit into the upper part of the recess and remain flush.
The carapace secondary weapons/systems have only a 5mm recess, as does the top of the body. This makes the Warden compatible with Reaver carapace weapons, and the Warden's carapace armour plate has been thoughtfully designed to fit the larger Reaver weapon mounts comfortably.
The result is that the Warden is fully compatible with your existing weapons for both Warhounds and Reavers, which I think will go a long way to integrate the Titan into the broader game.
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Because the arms are slightly angled (like the GW Reaver's arms) , I suggest that you magnetise the weapons and arms before gluing the arms. This will allow you to dry fit and try out some poses before making a final decision, and you can use the weapon itself as a tool to help fit the arm into the socket and hold it in the right place as the glue dries.
Once that's done, your Warden is all assembled and ready for priming.
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+ Priming and final assembly +
It probably does without saying, but the 3D resin prints take paint just like resin or plastic, and so you can prime them just like plastic models.
Leaving the armour plates unsecured earlier will allow you to prime different parts in different colours – as shown below. This Warden is destined for my Iron Skulls (Legio Metalica) Maniple, so I've used Colour Forge paints, Hyrax Brown and Sanguine Red, which I thoroughly recommend. [+noosphericexloadlink embedded+]. (If you'd like to see the finished Maniple, by the way, check 'em out here [+noosphericinloadlink embedded+])
Once dry, you can either glue the armour plates in place and secure your Warden to the base, or leave them in parts for ease of painting.
... And that, Princeps and Moderati, is that. Your Warden is built and battle-ready to join your Legio and wage war on behalf of – or upon – the forces of the Emperor.
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+ Conclusion and notes +
Thoughtfully designed and nicely produced, it fits in very nicely alongside other Adeptus Titanicus models. It's a reasonable price (£38 at time of exloading), and the model is quick to go together – helped along by some very slick design decisions. Once finished, it's sturdy and fits right into the setting, and I confess to marching it around making little 'stomp stomp stomp' noises, which I regard as an excellent sign for a fun, characterful model.
The kit is not flawless. You'll notice a small misprint on the left-hand shin armour, and there was also a minor misprint on one of the feet. This isn't representative of Battle Bling's usual quality – I've been ordering from them for years and these are the first two pieces that have had any meaningful misprints. I mention this here for thoroughness, because this is a review – but in any case, I felt these errors were both minor and in places where they would be hidden by other parts of the model. As a result, I haven't asked for a replacement; but their customer service is very good, so if something similar happens in your kit, I'm sure they'd be happy to replace bits if you're unhappy.
There are a couple of things to look out for when building and working with 3D-printed resin, principally the brittleness of the material. If you want to convert or alter things, it's going to be tougher to do so than a plastic kit. However, forewarned is forearmed, and I hope that the advice in this inload helps you avoid or minimise any problems you might have with this.
Having said all that, it's worth making clear that the material it's made of is a high-quality printing resin, so the finished kit is surprisingly tough and sturdy, and takes both glue and paint well.
A set of instructions would be handy – though hopefully this article sorts this out for you! The kit does not come with a base, either, so you'll need to supply one of those yourself. (Battle Bling recommend an 80mm round base.)
I really like that it's been designed to be cross-compatible with both the Warhound and Reaver weapons so you've got flexibility. If you don't fancy using Battle Bling's own suggested rules (available via their newsletter), then it could also be used as a Dire Wolf or Warhound stand-in just by swapping out some weapons, or perhaps simply as an objective – finding the plans and prototypes for a recently-recovered Titan STC would be a great hook for a campaign.
Overall, I think the Warden is great, and thoroughly recommend you pick one up. It's a fun afternoon's work to add a new dimension to your gaming, and stands up as a display model, too.
I really hope that this spurs on third parties like Battle Bling, and GW itself, to produce more Titans – if they're even half as good as the Warden kit, they'll be splendid.
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Below are some comparison shots so you can see how it looks alongside other Titanicus kits:
For clarity, I've no affiliation with Battle Bling themselves – but they are lovely people, and I've no hesitation in recommending their stuff. Likewise Colour Forge are just a great brand that I want to shout about.
The BattleBuilder link, however, is a referral link that gives me some pennies if you place an order for their nameplates (you can see some examples above), so I want to flag that for transparency. I do genuinely think they're great nameplates, so recommend them warmly. If you do choose to buy some through the link, do make use of the MournStarfall discount code so you get 10% off, too.
If you'd like to read more about the Warden, and froth about Adeptus Titanicus and Legions Imperialis with like-minded hobbyists, do check out Maximal Fire's Discord.
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