Spug Exosuit This section deals with the construction of the Exosuit from Spriggan Miniatures. You will need a pin vice (drill), needle file, a modelling knife, cutters and super glue. All of these items must be used with great care. Exosuit - Standard Configuration The Spug Exosuit is tremendous value for money for a large multi-part model supplied with extra weapon options and accessories. Consisting of 25 parts in total allow the modeller to create a number of variants and with a bit of luck, Spriggan will be producing an optional weapons pack to further expand the weapon combinations. Spug Exosuit components © Spriggan Miniatures The Power Claws are best suited to being positioned in the middle of the torso with the heavy weapons located on the upper most limbs. Exosuit weapon combinations Thus far, the following upper limb weapons combinations have been tried (shown in the image above): Shard Cannon with Missile Launcher (top left) Shard Cannon with Armour Plate (bottom left) Laser Cannon with Missile Launcher (top right) Laser Cannon with Fuel Pod and optional Armour Plate (bottom right) Construction Process It may seem a little daunting at first with so many components, but each limb can be constructed in isolation with the last task being to basically join the limbs to the torso! The ball and socket nature of all the major joins provide a huge number of pose options. These instructions follow a fairly standard pose although future Exosuits will try something more dynamic. The tabletop can be a violent place, models can topple over and bits can easily break off. With a bit of extra effort, the Exosuit can be constructed to withstands the trials of table top combat. so, all of the major joins were drilled and pinned. Paper clips being readily available and easy to work with were used as the pins for all the joins. The hip join must be drilled at an angle rather than straight down the length of the thigh. Care must be taken not to drill too far though the thigh ball join. Hips and thighs The forearms and power fists are somewhat easier to work with although getting the drill started on the forearm tube can be tricky. Drilling into the socket of the power fist and the torso is simply a matter of letting the drill bit find the center point. Forearm and power fist The Shard Cannons were selected for this build although the process of fitting the Laser Cannons would be pretty similar. As the upper arms supporting the cannons are to at an angle, the upper ball join must be drilled at an angle similar to the thigh/hip join. Once again, care should be taken when drilling so the drill does not go right through the weapon support ball. One of the support rods were drilled right through by mistake and a small filling job was required to remedy the error.        Shard Cannon with support rod Once all the components had been drilled, the model was laid out with all the correct lengths for each join. Each pin was around 3mm to 5mm depending on how much depth could be drilled without risking a hole going right through. Ready for glue! It would appear that the best place to start with the attaching of limbs is the legs. Once the legs are attached, the posture of the torso is determined and the weapons can be appropriately positioned. The two thighs are first attached and allowed to set. The lower legs were drilled for pins as the weight of the whole model would be on the kness and a secure join would be essential. Thigh join and knees Once the thighs are secure great care must be taken when attaching the lower legs to make sure that they are level and will sit on a base. Fitting the lower legs The weapons support rod is first fitted to the weapon so the angle of the join can be used to align the weapon when it comes to attaching it to the torso. When attaching the weapon system to the torso, the weapon should be as close to parallel with the torso as possible. Attaching the upper weapons One arm was built straight with the other being built with a bend at the elbow, this made it look more interesting rather than have both arms going straight out from the torso. Power fists and arms With all the arms attached, the construction phase was nearly complete. A hole had been drilled into the soles of both feet. These would take two pins to make sure the base would be well fitted. 40mm round base The head was not attached until after painting, the paint scheme may lead to different coloured Exosuit heads for different roles in the hive and this would be easier with a separate head.     Ready for undercoating As this was the first build of an Exo-Suit, the best lesson learnt was to beware of having the model "lean" to far backwards. Never have so many pins been used on a model of this size, but the finished result is well worth it. When it comes to being used in anger of the table top, it is hoped that none of the extremities will come adrift. Exosuit - Assault Configuration This is a seriously clos combat variation on the Exo-suit. Armed with four, thats right, FOUR power fists, this puppy is goinf to rend any opponent limb from limb! When designing the pose, I really wanted a dynamic action packed style. The legs were well spread and positioned so the model appears to be on tip toes. Paperclip pins are used to securely fix the model to the base. The arms and head were fixed so the model appears to concentrating on a target to the left. Four Power Claws!    Front Aspect      Rear Aspect Having seen the finished model, perhaps it should be called the Spider-Suit... I am very happy with the way this one turned out, the Exo really looks like it about to pounce on an opponent! Jump-Exosuit Configuration Okay, heres the deal, I have another idea..an Exo-suit with Jump Spug style wings. Now that would be cool...and deadly. I think this configuration would be armed with two power claws, a single Shard Cannon and a single Laser Cannon or Harpoon Cannon (this is a custom weapon from the No Limits Spug army list). Plans are afoot, watch this space... Coming soon, Jump-Exosuit conversion The Spugs have been created by Spriggan Miniatures. Spugs are copyright Spriggan Miniatures and are used with kind permission.