Reaver Titan No.2661 - Ultimi Judicii, Legio Victorum

Certificate Number: 2661
Titan Name: Ultimi judicii- (The Last Judgement)
Primary Armament: Titan Power Claw, Battle Titan Melta Cannon, carapace Apocalypse Missile Launcher, optional Battle Titan Laser Blaster and Carapace Turbo Laser Destructor.
Princeps: #CLASSIFIED#

Titan Legio: Legio Victorum
Battle Maniple Composition: Warlord Titan (869); Warbringer Nemesis (252); Reaver (2442); Reaver (2661); Warhound (3063-1); Warhound (4045).

At the end of 2020 I wanted to add my third Titan of the year, and potentially last Titan to my maniple. It would round off a crazy year with the pandemic but a great year for Legio Victorum!!

I'm not going to dwell on it here, but its part of its past so can't be ignored. My initial cast of 2661 was very bad quality, missing, broken parts and the resin I did have was of very poor quality with so much mold release agent on it that multiple washing did nothing to get it off, and it took 3 days of washing my hands in degreaser to get it off my skin after touching it, its like the release agent had got into the resin as it cured and it was sweating it out. The Reaver was a none starter, it had too much that just couldn't be fixed. I wasn't getting anywhere with customer service at GW so as soon as lockdown had ended I returned the faulty Reaver to Forge World and swapped it for a beautiful clean cast. I must stress at this point that the staff in the actual Forge World store was all amazing, didn't argue that it was a terrible cast and was the polar opposite of what I was receiving from GWs poor quality Customer Service team. I don't want negatives on my blog, I don't want to bash the hobby or GW I've been involved in the hobby since I was 11 years old, and the Knights and Titans have got me through a few really dark tough few years. Games Workshop really let me down here, it took 3 months to sort out this issue (along with another kit that was missing parts and the replacement parts that came wasn't even the ones I'd ordered) I want them to do better and go back to being the company I once knew. I'm sure they also want the same, and I'm pretty sure they won't be happy with themselves sending out an inferior product at a premium price. I don't want to dwell on it here any further. I'm not here to bash them, I'm here to celebrate the birth of what became a very important Titan!!

Now finally having a replacement Titan i could build, and FW letting me keep the 2661 certificate, (I liked the number, and thought it worked with my existing Reaver 2442) a new Phoenix would rise from the ashes of the old wreckage! Along those lines I was thinking about a name for this engines 'second coming' a Google search along those lines brought up many bible references and one was The Last Judgement, now that sounds like a Reaver not to be messed with and Ultimi Judicii was reborn in flames!

While I was involved in an epic saga of sorting out the faulty engine I was working on a carapace Laser conversion. FW only offer the Apocalypse Launcher as the only carapace weapon option, despite the lore saying they can take any Warhound weapon as an option. (Until 9th edition came out) I didn't want to use the Warhound one itself though as I think they can look a little small on a Reaver so used the battle titan one and cut a barrel off!

My original version of a Carapace laser - Turned up side down, with a barrel cut off and the armour applied, i was in two minds about it. The armour looked a bit too far forwards down the barrel. I opted to chop more of the old laser housing away and move it further back. Now if I'm honest looking back at these pics I'm still not sure which version I prefer!!!!

Another chunk of resin cut out!! No going back now!

My buddy always on hand, suggested to add some lenses for targeting sensors so I raided my old bits box to see what I could find. It did hide the blanking plate that I'd been cutting!!

placed a magnet in the bottom to use the Apocalypse Launcher mount so the two options could be easily swappable

it did look a lot beefier!

Thanks to 2442 for loaning me her carapace to get an idea of how it would look!

I'm no @Kiralred_30k when it comes to conversions but I was fairly happy that it matches the aesthetic and looks like it really belongs on a Titan to me, I did prefer the one on the FW tile but it was freshly discontinued before I had a chance to pick one up. It was always on my shopping list.

I was feeling happy with that! Does it look like a factory part to you? To me it kind of does!

I also bought a Chaos Reaver Power claw, heavily inspired by my buddy Lyden (@lp miniatures) who has an amazing Reaver with double claws!!! He had de-chaosed them and I wanted to do the same with mine. The claw would look great with my Warlord claw!!!

I shall cut that taint away!! Be gone Heretic!

a few hours later, chopping, cutting hacking and sanding, the Reaver claw saw the error of its ways and basked in the fresh light of the Imperium!

almost throwing the horns here, not by accident!! Once a metal head, always a metal head!

an Easter egg inside the fist is a destroyed Iron Warriors relic Contemptor Dreadnought (sorry Lyden!!!!) I was thinking which Legion would provide the best corrupted model to carry. Lore says probably Night Lords, half my Titan Legio sided with the Warmaster and fought alongside the Night Lords, the Imperium side of the Legio even after the Heresy still hunt down any corrupted God-engines that once called themselves Victorum II !

The long time Crimson Fists collector in me though showed support to our first founding Chapter the Imperial Fists and we used their Nemesis the Iron Warriors!! I liked the idea of this Titan using this dreadnought to punch you in the face with it!!!! A lucky charm and a warning to others!

Once primed you can't really tell where the taint was!!

The new cast was beautiful crisp, clean resin, this was before washing!!!!!

I didn't take many pics of this actual build, I wasn't in a very good place mentally when starting this, i had a lot going on with my private life at the time, my spine was causing me big problems and my mental health was the lowest it had been in a long time, add to that my divorce and a father with Covid on top (thankfully made a full recovery) it was a very tough time and I just needed to keep busy and have a much needed distraction. I needed to shut the world out and just build.

walking, stalking Reaver.

With the claw!!! I also wanted to see the other load out option with lasers!!

2661 walks!!!

Now prep for paint!

Its taken so many months of waiting and stress and drama that I'm just eager to finally start this thing!

now the claw is primed you can't see where the taint was!

It was at this point, my physical and mental health was terrible, i was having sucidal thoughts daily for weeks in one of the biggest dips I'd ever had, then my dad got Covid which we was dreading ever happening, we'd already lost one family member to it, and it was unthinkable that anything bad could happen again. (He got through okay!!!) and my Aunty had been given a pretty dire diagnosis of Cancer, we were back in lockdown and it felt like a prison cell, I couldn't do anything to help anyone and it felt like everything was falling apart with tragedy all around us. I had so much stress on that it felt like there was no way through it, just barely coping. I'd even managed to isolate myself totally from any friends I had so no one really knew how bad it had got behind closed doors. Depression is an isolating illness and it will trick you into thinking that no one cares, and it's when you're totally left alone that you're the most vulnerable.

I started to put paint on this thing at that point, just to trying to occupy my brain more than anything. It was in such a dark place that I couldn't be left thinking in silence all day because that would have dire consequences, i'd have driven myself crazy or hit the bottle, which was my other unhealthy coping mechanism at the time, so while I was painting, I was a little more mentally switched off. I don't want to over dramatise anything here but I genuinely know this Titan saved my life on more than one occasion. I'd set mini goals, hang in there at least until the Titan is done, that was mantra everyday.

Pose is good, still has great balance, it did make life more difficult with the toe pistons on the right leg!

interior engine details no one will see.

With the engines on you can't see much bit we know its all done right!

no more taint!

Reaver 2661 knee pad

Did my leg armour the same as my previous Reaver, id actually got the plates mixed up, its super easy to do, so in rectifying that mistake it changed the scheme of 2442, now they are different enough I could copy my original idea!! I don't want two Titans exactly the same!!

The Titan hanger is looking cool, its a proud moment for sure! Never thought I'd ever be lucky enough to own one Titan let alone two!

Fixed the toe pistons in the troublesome toe, really hard to get to, lots of swearing but glad its sorted, I knew they wasn't there and it was really bugging me!

I don't airbrush so getting a heat gradients with a traditional hairy stick was tough. I think it came out okay?

Wanted as many things to be different as possible about this Reaver compared to my other one, yet look like they belong together!

2661 and 2442 together for the first time!

2661 looking really mean!!! The Apocalypse Launcher was actually incomplete when it came, it didn't have enough Missiles but I'd really had enough of dealing with CS by now so modelled it like it had already fired a few!

Managed again to line up the chevrons but differently to my original Reaver.

So happy with the claw it does look terrifying.

Really happy with how they look together.

checking out the carapace turbo laser

I wanted the heat shield for the melta tto be really beaten up!! This Titan has seen action and weathered a storm to come out the other side in my mind!

heat shield on and laser in for the claw, giving me a shooty Reaver.

Reavers bodyguard for my Warlord!

Purity seals in the cabinet courtesy of Lee Goddenzilla at the Titan Owners Club. A blessing or two might keep the weapons hot and the reactors forever cool!!

2661 is nearly ready to WALK! First outing this weekend and The Last Judgement will be packing a new load out for the occasion. The data sheets are submitted and locked or id be tempted to make a revision to give her a bit more punch! I haven't played the AT rules before, I don't know whats good or bad, just rule of cool!!

Update, Ultimi judicii walked at Titan walk 2021 and the Warhammer Fest 2023 where it was part of the Titans on parade display. I couldn't think of a better engine of mine to display to be honest. Its an engine I'm grateful to own and very proud of!

Ultimi Judicii with sister engine, In Ignem Aeternum at Warhammer Fest. Since the first Titan Walk she's now loaded with twin meltas as a tribute to Lydens Antenor of Legio Fureans!

I also wanted to dedicate this engine in loving memory of my Aunty Jean, she was always very proud and very supportive of what I did, even if she didnt always understand it! Every birthday and Xmas she would pop some money in a card to go towards my hobby fund and every bit helped. This was the last engine she contributed to before her untimely passing.

I also wanted to turn any negatives into positives with this engine. It helped get me through the darkest of times I've ever had to endure.