Thoughts on... The Fallout Wasteland Warefare T-45 Powered Armour kit

 

A few weeks ago, I picked up the plastic T-45 Powered Armour kit from Modiphius as I had spotted that they were running a painting competition using the kit. I'd been contemplating grabbing the box for a while anyway as despite my very limited knowledge of Fallout, the models looked pretty cool so this served as some extra impetus for picking them up. 

The kit is incredibly impressive, especially as it's Modiphius' first hard kit for the Fallout Wasteland Warfare range (all the miniatures to date have been cast in either resin or soft plastic) and it's clear that a lot of thought has gone into what's included in the kit and how it's laid out on the sprue.

The three miniatures in the box can be armed with a variety of weapons from 10mm pistols and assault rifles, to more exotic Fallout stalwarts such as an AEP7 laser pistol, Ripper melee weapon, M42 'Fat Man' mini-nuke launcher and a UB-FRIED 3000 gatling laser. In addition to three helmeted heads allowing you to build Brotherhood of Steel Knights or Paladins, there are also male and female bare heads which gives you the option to build one or more of the miniatures as the Lone Wanderer instead, depending on your preference.

The miniatures are 32mm scale and are very finely detailed which is credit not just to the sculptor(s) but also to mould makers who have done a tremendous job of cutting everything up to make sure that all of the details translate from the masters to the final minis. One of my favourite examples of this is the way that the reinforcing ribs in the elbow joints of all of the arms are clearly holding the material in tension - a weird thing to be impressed with I know, but it shows the attention to detail that's been paid in making this kit. 

It's worth mentioning though that all of this fine detail may mean that some may find assembling some parts of the kit a bit fiddly, especially the arms which are almost all cast in two parts and you'll want to be conservative in your application of glue to the parts so that you don't flood anything. You'll also need to be very careful not to snap any of the weapons - while building the M42 I managed to snap one of the support rails for the launch channel by applying a little to much pressure when holding the two halves together. It's nothing that couldn't be remedied with some ultra-thin plastic glue, but something to watch out for nonetheless. 

Two of the minis from the box. The one on the left carries an M42 'Fat Man' mini-nuke launcher while the one on the right is armed with an AEP7 Laser Pistol and Ripper

Speaking of assembly though, the initial steps for building any of the variations in the box are quite quick and easy as you just need to put the body and legs together (of which there are three distinct poses) after which you can add the arms/weapons and heads. The instructions are pretty comprehensive in terms of which arm components go together to give you particular loadouts and the way everything goes together cleverly hides the joins between pieces which is a really nice touch. The shoulder joints all have locator lugs to help you position the arms, but you could easily trim these off if you want a bit more choice in the matter.

This does bring me to one wee thing which would have been nice is a bit more cross compatibility between some of the arms, but careful use of a sharp scalpel will enable you to swap some of the hands so you can vary things up if you're building more than one box of the minis. Admittedly, I don't know a lot about how the Wasteland Warfare game works, so you may not need more than one box so this might be a moot point!

A top view of the M42 launcher showing the 'Fat Man' mini nuke and propellant charge

Overall though, I'm very impressed by this kit and I think the thought that's gone into it from Modiphius bodes very well for future hard plastic releases from them and whether you're looking to bring powered armour to the wasteland or just some interesting minis to build and paint, you'll get some good mileage out of this box.

The Modiphius T-45 Painting Competition

Because I'm the kind of nerd that I am, once I'd chosen which mini I was going to work on for the competition, I spent some time doing research into T-45 armour, how it fits into the Fallout universe and the kinds of colour schemes that might be seen on it. After going back and forth a bit on a couple of ideas, I began to find that I was most particularly taken by the origins of the armour and the possibilities that it offered for painting.

Developed in 2065 by West Tek, T-45 powered armour was pressed into service during the Sino-American War in an effort to counter the 2067 Chinese offensive on the Alaskan Front. While the armour offered increased protection to the wearer, this came at the expense of mobility. However, since it was possible to create suits using existing technology and manufacturing techniques, what started as a stop-gap solution would eventually become the mainstay of American powered armour, especially as subsequent refinements and upgrades were able to reduce the restrictions to mobility that plagued the earlier production runs. 

Armed with the above background, and a screenshot of the 'military' skin of the T-45 armour from Fallout 4, I started to mentally map out how I'd paint the model starting with a simple olive drab scheme with white identification markings. To add some visual interest, I would paint the joints as though they were vulcanised rubber, the insulated coatings of the power trunking in red and to finish up, throw in a little copper for some of the 'worky bits' of the fusion core on the back. 

With the basics now nailed down, I could begin thinking a bit more about where to take things. Between the level of detail on the miniature and the established background and aesthetics of the Fallout universe, I wanted to err on the side of 'realism', or to be more accurate, a given degree of realism that would suit the scale I was working at. So, once I had the olive drab worked up to where I was happy with it, I went in with a fine detail brush and some Rhinox Hide and started to add chips and scuffs to the paint along the edges of the armour panels, trying to focus on areas more susceptible to wear and tear, the idea being to suggest that the suit has seen some action but is in relatively good condition and repair. Along a similar line, I added some corrosion to the copper 'worky bits' using Nihilakh Oxide, but kept it light because a heavier accumulation of verdigris would be suggestive of a lack of maintenance on the suit.

When it came to painting the assault rifle, which a quick online image search suggested is probably a Heckler and Koch G3, I continued to lean towards 'realism', opting to go with wooden (or possibly Bakelite) furniture and matt black painted steel to suggest it's an earlier issue weapon. In a similar fashion to the armour plates, I when adding scuffs and scratches, I focused them on the areas of the rifle that are likely to incur the most wear and tear as a result of being handled and fired. 

I kept the identification stripes quite simple as I imagined they might have been applied by the wearer of the armour in the field to try and avoid friendly fire incidents, but equally they might have been in place at the time the armour was finished in the factory. Either way, I wanted to include something that was in keeping with the wider scheme while also helping to create some narrative to the figure. 

The eye lenses, flashlight and magnification/light amplification lenses on the helmet were all painted as though they were glass, but were dulled down a little along with the rest of the armour using some Vallejo European Earth wash. To help tie everything together, I applied a layer of the wash to the whole miniature before going back and adding more to some selected areas to help suggest that dirt and grime has begun to accumulate on the suit in the same way that it would on an armoured vehicle. 

When it came to the base, I used tufts from the Gamers Grass 'Dry Steppe' set to try to create the impression that the warrior is fighting in the Alaskan tundra during the summer, further tying it into the narrative I wanted to establish for it. I also took the opportunity that this mini offered to try a different variation to my usual 'grey rocks' on the base by having a go at something more like sandstone or shale, which was quite a nice change.

Parting Thoughts

The painting competition closed on the 1st of January, so I don't know how well the mini has done yet - though I'll add a wee update if it places - but I really enjoyed using it as an opportunity to paint something a bit different to my usual fayre and to pick up what is an absolutely fantastic first hard plastic kit from Modiphius. 

Although I haven't painted them up yet, the other two models from the kit are stashed away in my 'pile of opportunity' and I might have a go at doing them in one of the many other colour schemes that T-45 armour has appeared in in the Fallout games, though there's a possibility I might paint them up to match this one too!

So, would I recommend the T-45 Powered Armour kit to painters and modellers? Absolutely. They're quick and easy to build, with selecting how to arm them taking far longer than actually assembling the models. They're detailed enough as to be rewarding to take your time in painting but they could equally be ready for the tabletop after a quick drybrush and some shading, which can be a difficult compromise for miniatures to achieve. The kit costs £32 if you purchase directly from Modiphius and you'll have plenty of bits left over for your bits box or loadout options to magnetise if that's your jam, so on that basis, I think they're priced pretty fairly as well.

Until next time, thanks for reading and happy hobbying.