Review: Secret Weapon Miniatures Tech Obelisk

Here is our first Ads for Charity Product Review. Secret Weapon Miniatures have always been a great supporter of our charity projects. Last summer they donated hundreds and hundreds of dollars worth of bases to the Heroes of Armageddon Project. Heart is in the right place, I should say. So we want to kick of this program with a review of a fairly new product in the SW line: the Necron Tech Obelisk. Justin from Secret Weapon sent us TWO, one is reviewed below, one will be GIVEN AWAY to one of you. I asked Michael to review this new model.
And remember: support those companies who are willing to support our communities!


Mike

As part of Santa Cruz Warhammer's Ads for Charity project I was asked by Mike to paint and review Secret Weapon Miniatures new Tech Obelisk.




This is a really interesting resin piece. It is hollow but still a solid cast. I have spent some time trying to guess how they managed to cast it like that. This is a really ingenious solution to use less resin and thus keep the cost down. That is necessary because this is a fairly large piece. Although it is hollow it is still very durable. The bottom is about 60mm square and the obelisk stands about 5.25 inches tall (or about 4.5 times taller than a standard marine). In the photo below I have included a Necron Warrior and Destroyer for size comparison.



A nice feature is that each side of the Obelisk has a different design. That is a nice touch that adds interest to the model. The surface of the model is not smooth as I would have guessed, but rather slightly porous. The cast I received was also of very high quality. There was one mold line and a few tiny air bubbles but nothing that was not easily cleaned up with a file and some liquid green stuff. To be honest the air bubbles were so small that I would not have bothered filling them before liquid green stuff was released, but since it was as easy as drawing a paint brush across the bubbles, I did.

For my paint scheme I went with a classic Necron look. This is because I am currently updating my old Necron army for the new codex, and they are on my mind. Although this model was clearly designed with Necrons in mind it does not have to be used this way. It could easily be painted like stone and used in an Egyptian setting, painted to be marble and used as a memorial obelisk, or whatever your imagination might create.


The design on this side is different from the the photo above


As I mentioned above the model has a slightly porous surface, so it takes paint very well. I primed this one one white and built up the green using Goblin Green to Scorpion Green to Scorpion Green/Skull White mix highlighting towards the top of the model and towards the intersection of lines. Then I painted the panels Chaos Black and finally added an edge highlight of Goblin Green to the black areas. I wanted the obelisk to have a polished and shiny look so I finished it with gloss varnish.

I am quite happy with this model, and it is easy to make it look good on the table top. The obelisk can work well either as terrain or an objective marker. The Tech Obelisk retails for $15 and can be ordered directly from Secret Weapon Miniatures. Santa Cruz Warhammer is always trying to find innovative ways for hobbyists to support great charities, so be sure to check out all of our Ads for Charity sponsors so we can keep sending support to charities that need it.

Michael


PS: if you live in the Bay Area, you can meet Mr. Justin from Secret Weapon in San Jose on Saturday. He will be giving a workshop at GameKastle. Come check him out!