New Black Knight Clanbuster Variant Review | Battletech Clan Invasion

[@MSeanMcManus]

I love that this comes with options! I can't wait to get one.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Lots of spare bits to kitbash with too!

[@WhiskyJax]

These went fast. I only got mine because my wife volunteered to keep an eye out for them while I was working.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Good teamwork is crucial for success! Glad you got one, more on the way later this month.

[@Cessna152ful]

Do we have a date on retail release? Can’t wait to get one

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

No date. Although Creative Juggernaut mentioned that the Stormcrow production run was nearly complete so I'd hope to see these on the CGL store in the coming months.

[@Stormeris]

The green one looking where he's shooting looks a lot better pose-wise :D Super exciting stuff though. Any info on EU shipping?

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Whatever CGL has for EU shipping currently or plans to have in the future will be it.

[@davidbelsheim9232]

Great review. Aside from the Black Knight and Stormcrow, have there been any hints as to what other variants will be released? There are SO many to choose from... Personally I would love to see some Clan Weapon Omni-Pods that can be interchanged with multiple Clan mechs to make variants, but that's just me.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Thanks, and nothing yet from the C-J folks but I would bet that they're waiting to see how successful these two releases will be and go from there as far as what to release and how often.

[@johntaylor8095]

Thanks for the review, I'm looking forward to these for sure!

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

You bet!

[@ottawamonsterpocalypse7729]

There are not enough like buttons for this. I WANT this model so bad. I wish unassembled multi-part kits were the norm for releases.

[@WhiskyJax]

These went over very well. I gather we'll see a lot more of this sort of thing from Creative Juggernaut soon.

[@robmoore1248]

I am going to have get one or 12 of these!

[@andrewraichlin]

So I just learned that the assembly video is incorrect, if you look at the black knight that comes in the comstar lance pack and at the sketch render, the pelvic joint needs to have the split panel in the front. I found this out after comparing my Clan buster to the comstar lance pack black knight.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

The clan buster Black Knight as well as the Stormcrow Creative Juggernaut both differ slightly in minor details than the plastics from CGL and the artwork. In this case the hip section on the Black Knight has an armor panel on both front and rear of the pelvis over the vertical split. They may have changed this with the production Black knights as all of the ones currently shown on camospecs.com as well as the versions in the videos here are pre-production samples.

[@Mechanic618]

01:40 I don't think you're being very critical. In fact, quite the opposite. There appears to be a fair amount of corrective work needed on these still, which might not be a challenge for you but would be for a more novice painter. End result looks great. Hope ours can look that good.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Creative Juggernaut was aiming to have these come out as basically nothing worse than the new plastics or most metal casts from IWM with regard to cleanup and they've achieved that.

[@rmdcade1717]

As someone just barely beginning in wargame modeling, I agree that the corrective work might be challenging for someone of my level--then again, that's also true of basically all the older plastic/metal BT minis I've managed to source.

[@PlasticraicGaming]

Good to see they are snagging a ny QC problems before production. Looking forward to Getting my hands on one of these kits in the future. Do you know if there are any plans for a European distributor or will it only be sold through Catalyst's online store?

[@Specter-wt1wt]

interesting question that i am sure that many of us in europe would like to know, bought an order for 200$ from CGL recently and only the 20% discount made ir viable when a 70$ postage, so only paid 30$ for postage in effect sinc there is no local distrubitors. still my kickstarter is comin in less than 2 months hopefully.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

As far as I know it will only be CGL distribution so whatever they have for EU shipping which I'm assuming isn't great will be it for now. Hopefully that will not be the case for too long but I have no real info on that topic.

[@Specter-wt1wt]

@@CamoSpecsOnline since they dont ship to independent retailers it is very expensive to buy of them sadly (mostly it is the expensive postage and toll tarifs on anything not books (in norway)

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

@@Specter-wt1wt I understand the issue and associated costs. There's several small companies in the UK that I would love to order from but the cost to the states is often steeper than I can justify.

[@john88benson]

Thanks for the review, looks like a few things to nitpick about but that's about on par with a ForgeWorld kit. Out of curiosity did the material they use have heat and repose possibilities like a resin kit?

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Yes you can use hot water or heat to reshape the material if it's deformed or you wish to repose.

[@jhousdan]

Get ready, because they're probably gonna charge like forgeworld too

[@verysilentmouse]

I all got is shut up and take my money

[@steveguziec8050]

Awesome

[@paudeline]

Is this still available anywhere?

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Not that I’m aware of. CGL has made announcements when they released them before but there hasn’t been any recent news for a third run.

[@funghazi]

Are these cast in resin? Kind of afraid to get into resin stuff.

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

It's a type of cast plastic material. Creative Juggernaut won't tell me what it is exactly though.

[@zetatrain]

@@CamoSpecsOnline So regular plastic cement should work right?

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

@@zetatrain I would stick with super glue, I don't think plastic cement works at all on any of these.

[@wolfehoffmann2697]

@@zetatrain Keep in mind that plastic cement only works on the plastic it's formulated to work on. This is usually HIPS or ABS, the two kinds of hard plastic you see with models on sprues. It's a very safe, as in 95% safe, bet to make that if it's not a sprue, poly cement will not work on it. That last 5%? There's some poly cements formulated for PVC plastic, which generally does not come on a sprue. However, these are uncommon and usually garbage. You're better off using super glue on PVC models as well.

[@wolfehoffmann2697]

​@@CamoSpecsOnlineAfter watching the video, and listening to your description of the material, if it's not just polyurethane resin like every other high end casting operation is using now, I'll eat my fucking hat.

[@Holztransistor]

I only wish there was an Executioner (2019 resculpt) in 1/35 scale.

[@jhousdan]

What an incredibly random scale to ask for.

[@Holztransistor]

@@jhousdan Not really. It's the most common for military scale models. The ones from Tamiya, Meng Model, Dragon Models, Tiger Model, Amusing Hobby, Takom, Rye Field Model and so on. There are countless things that can be used for a diorama with that Executioner.

[@jhousdan]

@@Holztransistor the point being, I don't think any of the prior battletech short-run models have ever been offered in that scale... and even if they did, the price would be tragic

[@Holztransistor]

@@jhousdan All I need is a detailed 3d model that can be printed. There already are a number of Mechs available. Just no Executioner yet. I have 3 LCD printers. So I only need the model and maybe 1kg resin to make it.

[@jhousdan]

Really hoping they don't channel their inner games workshop and go $20+ for these... it would be damn near a 200% markup over what the CGL plastics cost per mech

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

While I understand the price concern, the production materials and volume don't lead me to think that they wouldn't cost about $20 per mini. Larger Metal sculpts run about that much from IWM, as well as many of the past convention exclusive IWM mechs were in the $20 per mini range.

[@jhousdan]

@@CamoSpecsOnline that is what logic tells me also... I was just concerned that they were looking at games workshop/forge world and some of the ridiculous prices they charge for their stuff and considered the same path.

[@wolfehoffmann2697]

@@jhousdan Try looking at the 50+ other companies that survive entirely on resin production for a better indication of what they would do for this. No one is as absurd as Games Workshop these days. I sell their products in my store and I still can't believe their price increases. (And I die a little inside every time I talk someone into buying an overpriced kit. But it pays the bills, and I can't rant about it anywhere but semi-anonymously online.) Land Raiders were $70 USD when my store opened. I remember IG command squads only being $25 not that long ago. And when they "localized" prices on Forgeworld.... good god, what a PR disaster that was, increasing most prices by between 70% and 100%. I was going to buy a Warhound Titan and several arms at the start of the following month before that happened. The store community actually helped fund it a fair bit too with a change jar on the counter. I was so excited and looking forward to having a legitimate one as a display and store event use piece, and then they more than doubled the price on it. And now today it's even more expensive by another nearly $100 increase two years later. They ripped that goal post right up and moved it a mile away just before we were going to score, and that was the first and only time I lost some of my composure in front of regulars and my staff with a solid 5 minute rant about how Forgeworld's pricing was already majorly disconnected from it's quality, manufacturing and other issues. We have one now, but it's a recast, and I'm not the least bit ashamed of that. I can only defend GW pricing structures so far before we get to that one hill that I am just not willing to die on.

[@christophermavromatis7724]

Nice review

[@CamoSpecsOnline]

Thanks!