Game Workshop’s potential inexplicable Rhino Failure?
In the lead up to Games Workshop’s incredible Horus Heresy release, I was excited to hear word of a new plastic Deimos Rhino amongst the release schedule.
The original Mk 1 "Rogue Trader" classic Rhino from the 1980s.
However, when the first pics emerged I found myself suspiciously noting that the model was almost identical to the Forgeworld MkIC Deimos. What is the MkIC Rhino? Well it’s literally the current “modern” (2002) plastic MkIIc Rhino with resin pieces bolted on to make it vaguely look like the original, famous Mk1 Rhino of Rogue Trader and early Warhammer 40,000 editions. The lore/fluff was retconned to accommodate the model thus the MkIC: the reality is, it was just a way to “cheaply” monetise the nostalgia of the classic Rhino (with the added bonus of the MkIC actually being a functional vehicle). And that was fair enough.
So what’s the issue? Well it looked EXACTLY the same as the Forgeworld incarnation; instead of an updated, improved Deimos that made the hodgepodge nature of the FW hybrid less obvious. Why hadn’t GW taken the opportunity to improve the vehicle? Well, the answer was obvious! It’s a plastic UPGRADE sprue much like the resin kit! Which is why it looks so close to the MkIIc 2002 kit - because it IS the same kit with new plastic bits thrown on. Much like its FW predecessor and the recent, new Sisters of Battle Rhino.
OK. Disappointing but makes sense. I say disappointing because the modern 2002 Rhino would barely fit 6 of the small, old metal Marines from the 1990s, let alone the intended 10 marines such a vehicle is supposed to carry. And it certainly is not going to transport the larger, plastic marine kits GW have produced since. And it gets worse: the new “beakie” plastics are far taller than the entire space marine range to date (Primaris marines excluded). So GW are releasing a Deimos Rhino that will probably at a stretch fit 6 of the Mk4 plastic marines (who are only slightly taller than old 90s metal marines); they certainly won’t be able to fit 10 Mk4 marines, and certainly not the larger Mk3 or Mk 6 beakie plastics.
A 1990s classic, metal Space Marine, would barely be able to disembark a 2002 Rhino
Even 1990s metal marines have issues with the "modern" Rhino
Well OK, but I guess it cuts costs and saves them building an entirely new plastic mould.
Oh boy was I wrong. The new Deimos Rhino is actually 100% new sprues. Great news surely ? This £28 kit is surely upscaled and larger than its predecessors, pairing nicely with the new plastic marines GW have released, all of which are realistically proportioned and much taller than their kin. Great! Rhinos that actually would fit 10 Space Marines in! Maybe I’ll replace my 2002 40K Rhinos with this new kit!
Or.. maybe not.
The jury is still out, and on GW website it’s … suggested… that the new Rhino is several cms taller and longer… or, they’re actually including the dozer blade and weapons in their calculation. I’ve heard some claim this new kit is exactly the same as the 2002 Rhino. If true, this means there’s zero chance it’s realistically fitting any of your new Mk6 marines, let alone any Space Marine made from 2013 onwards.
Is the new Rhino bigger? Or are they including the dozer blade and bolters in the height and length?
So is it true? Did GW really go through the effort of producing new, taller plastic Mk6 marines with realistic, human proportions only to release an accompanying brand new APC that would have trouble fitting 2 marines in let alone the 12 it’s now suppose to transport?
We’ll see I guess. #end
UPDATE (19th June 2022): sadly the Rhino is only slightly upscaled (around 1-2mm). A disappointment, an exact replica more or less. On the positive the crewmen are designed to NOT wear shoulder pads inside the Rhino, so it's more believable that they'd be able to move up and down the crew-hatch. They've actually sculpted the shoulders and suggest, in the instruction manual, that you might not want to put the shoulder pads on.
The current Rhino would, at best, carry 3 of the slightly taller Mk7 "Heroes" Space Marines, maybe 5 if they removed their backpacks and shoulder pads.