Space Marine Scouts = Fail

The past two days have seen me putting together the plastic space marine scout kits from Games Workshop. I have to say, I hate this goddamned kit.

One of the great things about the space marine tactical squad (and assault marine squad, for that matter) is that they're so poseable. You can assemble them in any pose you want -- action pose, defensive pose, running... You can combine kits to make something uniquely yours. You want a space marine sergeant with a pistol in both hands? You can do that.

No so much with the scouts. You simply must put them together in exactly, precisely the way Games Workshop wants, or they won't go together. I wanted to assemble scouts with sniper rifles without the cammo cloaks (because I didn't buy camo cloaks for my scouts); you can't do it. The non-cloak torsos don't fit on the legs that come with the scouts-with-sniper-rifle kits. You could assemble the non-cloak scouts normally, but then the arms for the snipers don't fit on the non-cloak torsos, either. I wanted to model the missile launcher scout on kneeling legs. You can't do that. I wanted my scouts to look like they were firing their weapons in an aggressive pose. Can't do that because then the torsos don't fit on the legs. And the kit comes with a chainsword for the sergeant, which is not even an option for the unit (which is odd).

You cannot combine kits in any way, either. No, you cannot model your scouts with grenades in their hands. No, you can't give them "running" legs. Conversion oppportunities are severely limited. There is a reason you see the same five poses for space marine scouts. That's how Games Workshop wants it.

I've already ruined two scout models; they are completely incapable of being assembled due to my attempts at modelling what I want for the squad. (Oh, and even though I was able to assemble the sergeant in the way I wanted -- bolt rifle in one hand, the other hand pointing -- the best I could get was a model that looks startled rather than looking commanding.) Really, in the end, GW should have just kept the models as metal.