Vintage Rhino MkI

We've all done it before, sitting at home, minding your own business, and before you know it, you've impulse bought something from E-bay.  It happens to the best of us.  Honest.

This time, Sero found himself the proud owner of a vintage Rhino, still on sprue.  So, following on from his last review of the classic Termie, it seems sensible to give his new purchase the Friendly Fire 'Pimp my 40K Ride' treatment.

So, here's the bad boy, in all its sprue-y glory, ready to be passed to the Mechanicus drones for construction.

the original complete Rhino Kit

What do we know about this vehicle kit....

• It was GW's first plastic vehicle kit, sale price of £5 each or 3 for £10 (damn you inflation busting price rises!)
• Release date sometime around 1989.
• First produced in the original bone white plastic, though this kit is a slightly later version in the pale grey instead.
• It was the core vehicle kit for Space Marines (huh!), Chaos Space Marines and 2nd edition Sisters of Battle, Imperial Guard and Squats.  Thus proving the usefulness of 'Standard Template Constructs' to both the Imperium of Man and a much younger Games Workshop company.  It was built into a number of variants using metal add-on bits until 2005(ish).  The previous Immolator was the last vehicle to use the chassis.

So, it is clearly a pretty iconic piece of kit.

In his article about the Termie, Sero asked; 'is it still cool?' and 'is it still usable today?'

Is it still usable today?

There is no way on The Emperor's Scorched Brown Earth that 10 Space Marines will ever fit in this vehicle, however that is still the case in the newer one (unless you turn the Marine's into mush and pour them in through the top hatch).  So, no real change there.

At a first glance, the vintage Rhino looks teeny-tiny compared to its newer, bigger cousin.  Comparing the two side-by-side, we can see that the width of the vehicle is less than a centimetre narrower than the newer version, so not as small there then.  It is a little vertically challenged though - just like the Termie.  It would definitely stand out if it parked up in the wrong Rhino park.

A side by side comparison of the old and new Rhino Sprues

Also, we must remember that the current production version of the Rhino is not a replacement for the older kit as it is actually a different mark of the vehicle.  The current kit the Mark III Rhino whereas the older, out of production kit is the Mark I.  Given the way the Administratum works, it could be possible that some backwater or less well supplied world could still be using the Mark I design.

Considering that there is a trend for gaming in the 30K era, the Rogue Trader/early edition revivals and gamers using early marks of armour, it would almost make sense to use the older version of the Rhino too.


Is it still cool?

Watching the boys go all gooey over this aged kit, this vehicle clearly evokes all kinds of nostalgia amongst those who remember it first time round.

It is obviously a more basic kit than the modern version and it has fewer twiddly details, but asking if the vehicle is cool is a bit like asking if a '68 Mustang is still cool.  Of course it is! No doubt about it.  The vintage rhino's legacy alone in terms of the classic imagery and place in the hearts of any gamer over 14 should guarantee its 'coolness' for many years to come.

It actually has an option not available on the current kit, with two different options for the front hatches. Thus allowing a level of customisability that the new kit doesn't have.  Serial non-conformists like me have to consider this to be pretty cool.  Sadly, it didn't come with an accessories sprue that the later kit has, though it does have the standard stuff like smoke launcher and twin-linked bolters (storm bolter nowadays).


So, although on a modern gaming table, this kit has clearly 'had its day' and would look a out of place side by side with the newer models, unless it is part of an army purposely using older designs and kits, this is still a cool vehicle and it's legacy will live on in the memory of long time 40K players.  If used for its original purpose in an appropriately themed army, it will add a level of depth and authenticity that the later version of the kit would not have.  In short, this kit is still cool and, in the right circumstances, it is definitely still usable today.

The next question is.... will Sero keep it in the box or will he build and paint it??


SabbatWolf