Caestus Air Ram and MKII Iron Armor from ForgeWorld

I was happy to come home on Friday and find my last Forgeworld order waiting on my steps. It was doubly a surprise because Forgeworld had said they were having mold issues with the Caestus Air Ram and it would be three to four weeks before it would be able to be shipped. But, happy day, their the order was waiting on my doorstep.



I picked up three items, the first was the Umbra pattern bolters. These, I have two thoughts for their use; one is to use them in a Marines Malevolent army, the other is to build an Ultramarines Pre-Heresy army. I have to say, being a huge Ultramarine fanboy, the Pre-Heresy army has a huge allure. The bolters themselves are quite nice, though the fact that there are ten of them, but you only get six of the chainblade bayonets is disappointing.



The second item was the MKII Iron Armor set. I've always liked the look of this armor, especially the torso plates, which have a very archaic look to them. The sculpts by Forgeworld are great, with enough flat surfaces to allow for freehand, brass etched or decals to personalize the kit.



The third item was the Caestus Air Ram. While this flyer is pretty much an ungainly void craft, I am an avid Space Marine collector. I think that, while the Caestus doesn't have a very sleek look, it does fill a hole in the Space Marine arsenal that in the past had to be filled by Imperial Navy aircraft.



The details of the model themselves are quite good, and follow the style elements of the Space Marine army. Unfortunately, like much of the detailing in other Forgeworld models, a lot of this will be lost when the model is completed due to lack of lighting in the booms that form the transport compartments.



I'm quite excited to get to work on these models, and while they take their bath to remove the resin release, I'm still debating the use of the MKII models. Hopefully in the coming weeks I'll have more to show.