This week, we’ve been treated by Games Workshop to a brand new Kharn The Betrayer model and I for one think it looks brilliant. Dynamic and full of character, the new sculpt captures the true madness of Angron’s equerry and his brutal, rampaging nature with violent bloodlust as well. Gorechild looks like a Primarch’s weapon now too. It’s a big win for me, and a lovely treat to the much beleaguered (though not for much longer if all the rumours are true) Chaos Space Marine players.
However, and I mean this in no way to be moan, there are still some characters kicking around the galaxy of the 41st Millennium that could definitely do with their own resculpts. One might even argue that they needed updating before Kharn had his turn. I for one always quite liked the old Kharn model (though the new one is a lot better of course).
The cocked head, the ‘come on, I dare you to come closer to me’ stance and the raised axe were all pretty cool. All of those features I just mentioned (and plenty of others) do look better on the new miniature, but I suppose what I’m saying is that Games Workshop have plenty of other fish to fry in this area. And to that end, I’ve picked out five miniatures that definitely need an update, and the faster, the better. In no particular order…
Mephiston
Now, in fairness, I could have picked half of the characters in the Blood Angel range at the moment to fit into this list, but rather than stick them all in here, I’m going to restrict myself to just Mephiston. I remember when the model was released in metal the first time round and I loved it back then, but now, one of the most legendary Sons of Sanguinius is looking somewhat static, and while many of the details make for a cool mini, imagine how much better they’d look with a modern sculpt? The cloak could be billowing out, the plasma pistol could be held more threateningly and that skull shoulder pad could really be brought up to a higher standard. What’s more, those two pointy bits on the sword could be streamlined as I’ve always wondered how they gave him any benefits at all as they would make a blade harder to cut with and stab with. His rules make him a boss, but the mini, while not quite sending me into a black rage, does make me thirsty for a redoing. Here’s hoping they can make him a little more dynamic and detailed soon.
Drazhar
I’m no great fan of the Dark Eldar as a rule – nothing against them but they’ve never really got my hobby juices flowing. One thing that they do have going for them is that they have a lot of very good looking characters and HQ choices, from Lelith to Urien, from the Succubus to the Haemonculus. And then there’s Drazhar, doing what I’d call a ‘prancing velociraptor’ impression. The enigmatic master of blades looks just a bit underwhelming when stacked up against other characters in the range. Add into this that he got a little bit of a nerf with the last codex (albeit with a points drop), you don’t see him much these days. Those demiklaives of his could be much better positioned, and in fact the model would look far better in a leaping pose. Throw in a few more details to that desperately dull armour, and he could be a real winner in terms of looks at least. A character with fluff as good as Drazhar’s shouldn’t have the worst sculpt in the Dark Eldar range.
Cypher
Ah, the bathrobe wearing wild west gunslinger. He’s been skulking in the shadows for so long now, and only part of that is due to his ancient sculpt. Arguably one of the most popular characters in the game if we’re going by lore alone, he is well overdue an update by now. I’d like to see him in a pose that lends itself to his shadowy background and not something that would better suit a Western B Movie extra whose about to be shot by the man in the white hat. The holsters for his pistols are about the same size as his upper legs and his face looks like something out of a bad horror movie (ok, so that’s not unique in the CSM line), so it really does need clearing up. Also, I’d like to see the armour being maybe MkII or MkIII – bring him in line with the fluff a little more. As it is, I don’t think I could stand the idea of painting this guy up now, which is a shame because he really is an incredibly cool character to have in the 41st Millennium.
Ragnar Blackmane
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Heresy & Heroes 
Couldnt agree more on mephiston, and dante especially dante hated his sculpt from the day it was released! Tycho and Corbulo could benefit as well, but the rest aint too bad.
Ever seen the masteroftheforge conversions? his site seems to be down but found some pics:
http://www.themightybrush.com/mephiston-lord-of-death/ <–his sculpt other guys painting
and this is his take on dante
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
Not sure what went wrong there, but these are the bench mark i would hold GW too for a new dante and mephy…
http://masteroftheforge.com/2015/06/17/commander-dante/
http://masteroftheforge.com/2015/06/15/the-lord-of-death-again/
Like the Blood Angels, most of the Dark Angels characters are getting a little old in the tooth, e.g. Azrael and Ezekiel. Asmodai has already been redone, but if you ask me, this is the first time he has been done properly. The first model better represented Sapphon. Now there is a character they should do a new model for, followed by a Codex entry 🙂
At least with Ragnar, Krom Dragongaze makes a really good base for an easy Conversion that looks vastly better, and is still instantly recognizable as Ragnar. The others, the options are rather more involved.
I like the new Kharn and Eldrad well enough but of all the old characters still kicking around those were easily some of the best looking and least in need of a revamp. Good calls on all the others on that list, although you missed the one I think tops them all – Abaddon himself.
You raise some good points! I especially agree on the Avatar, because he just seems puny next to some of the more ostentatious new plastic models, and not even the Forgeworld model is a particularly great solution, if you ask me. I also definitely see where you’re coming from regarding Mephiston.
Talking about Drazhar, while I agree that he no longer quite fits the rest of the DE catalogue, I’d like to argue in favour of his “prancing Velociraptor” pose which I always saw as a pretty cool praying mantis look, especially if you take his swords into account.
Cypher and Ragnar have definitely aged poorly, but both are perfect kitbashing projects in my opinion (Krom Dragongaze is just a head and weapon swap aways from making a fantastic Ragnar, for instance).
The interesting part will be to see whether they can really manage to create updated models that are as iconic as the originals. So far, at least in my opinion, Eldrad has been a pretty big failure and Kharn a modest success…