Munitorum Armored Containers

I know that I should be painting my other models, but there’s something compelling about terrain to me.  Maybe it’s because it’s clean and simple and doesn’t require the same level of detail as the models in my armies?  Or maybe it’s because I can use these models in every game, regardless of what force I field?

Whatever the case, the lure of terrain was too strong.  When GW released the new Munitorum Armored Containers, I snap-purchased two boxes of them from the War Store.  It was an easy decision for me because I have basically all of the other terrain kits for 40k, so why not buy these too?  Really the only thing I had any thought to give on it was whether I should buy two or three sets (because, let’s face it, having a single set doesn’t make for a really cool looking shipping yard).

As you can see, I settled on two set (six total containers) because it doesn’t make sense for me to break the bank on a game I play so rarely.

At $50 ($40 after discount), these are really not such a bad deal.  GW has been increasing their prices over time so that a single character clam shell is going to run you $30 by themselves, so getting all of this plastic for $40-50 seems like a screaming deal.  Personally, I justified them by comparing them to a drop pod.  I figured each container would be about the same size as a pod, and a single pod costs $37.50, so these are a good by, right?

In retrospect, a drop pod is a bit bigger than each container, but I think the comparison still holds up.

The plastic on these seems more bendable than other kits I’ve used.  I’m not sure if they used a different plastic on them, or if they’re thinner, or what.  Once assembled, it didn’t seem to make much difference, but they were noticeably wobblier than their predecessors.

Some of the sprues seemed poorly designed.  In particular, the pieces that connect the floors/roofs to the rest of the sprue were wonky.  They weren’t the same sort of connection that you’d normally see, and they were oddly spaced on the model, so cutting them out was a little tedious.  However, once they were sufficiently cleaned, the models all fit together easily and stood upright when gluing them without aid.

The kit also came with a bunch of ammo crates (they’re hollow with no bottoms) and a bunch of barrels (which came in two parts and had to be glued together–presumably to save money on plastic.  I would’ve liked to have seen the barrels come as a solid piece (I think they used to come that way, no?), but I can understand why they made that decision.

The only other issue I had when I was assembling them was that I managed to somehow loose one of the little eagle heads on the top of the containers.  I’m not exactly sure how or where it happened, but several fruitless searches came up empty, so I was forced to cast a replacement out of green stuff.  Luckily, I had purchased some of those reusable plastic molds earlier this year, so this gave me a good opportunity to try them out.  The end result is a reasonable approximation (though it came out a little too thick).  Without knowing it, you’d be hard pressed to spot it though.

I’m quite pleased with the look of the models.  I wound up sinking magnets into the top so that I can remove the storm bolters as needed.  I originally contemplated putting magnets on the bottom to help them stack, but with the way they’re designed, they sit nicely on top of each other without need for magnets.

Now, do I go ahead and paint them up (neglecting my armies) or should I get back on track for the upcoming Apoc game?

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