Maxmini Iron Jump Pack

Background

For my growing 30k Alpha Legion army list, I am pursuing two simultaneous goals of:

(a) not leaving any model unconverted if at all possible

(b) having them wield alien, xenos, or retro-fitted weaponry.

For (a), I'm going to make an exception for obvious character models in my list such as Armillus Dynat. But for the rest of the models, I'm going to try to stick to these goals. 

Assault Marines

I wanted to construct a unit of assault marines for my 30k army list. These guys are going to be a ten man strong unit, with a mixture of weapons (probably a thunder hammer and artificer armour on the squad leader, and maybe some plasma pistols to give them a bit of extra high strength hitting). The good part of the assault squads are that they are scoring units that are troops in 30k (rather than Fast Attack selections like they are in 40k). Most of the other aspects remain the same such as having a basic load-out of bolt pistols, chain swords and grenades. 

I feel one of the more obvious things about assault marines that makes them stand out on the table top are their jump packs. They are highly synonymous with the assault marine visual impact. 

Forge World makes a series of jump packs - some for Mark IV that look a little odd (a single thruster with a couple of stabilisers) and others for earlier marks that looks a bit more traditional (a pair of thrusters). Although I actually don't mind either, I thought it might be entertaining to track down some alternatives. 

Maxmini Bits

In tracking down the alternatives, I came across a recommendation to try out some Maxmini bits. There are several on offer, ranging from the regular looking "jump pack", through to bronze wing ones that seem like a mixture of the old chaos raptor and 30k, through to silver wing ones which seem good for Blood Angels or Dark Angels armies. The ones that I ended up ordering were the Iron Pattern Jump Packs. 

I selected these ones as they are the ones that most obviously scream "heresy" to my mind. The rounded bolts that surround one side of the model speak of the Mark V armour very clearly, whilst the patch on the other side of them suggests something of a battle field bodge up, or a retro fitting theme that I'm looking for. 

The picture shows what five of the Iron Pattern Jump Packs look like straight out of the plastic bag. 

Evaluation

The bits are not the cleanest casting I've ever seen to be honest, but I do like the overall look and style of them. There were a number of cleaning up things to do - getting rid of some flashes and the like, but nothing too severe. But one negative for me was the apparent age of the casting. Some of the details on the reverse of the bits were not as crisp as the other bits. The fins that attach to the bottom of the vents were also not flush in a couple of instances and will require some very minor amount of green stuff to make them look good. 

Beyond that, I'm really pleased and thrilled with these parts. They will certainly make the miniatures pop on the table top and give them that 30k feeling without investing in the forge world models.