According to the Battletech Technical Readout 3050 edition, the 100-ton Dire Wolf is something that you don’t want to run up against on a battlefield. This ‘Mech has the speed and protection of an Atlas, but it far outclasses the Inner Sphere ‘Mech in firepower. With 50.5 tons of modular pod space available, the ‘Mech is mission-specific in its weapons loadouts, carrying everything up to and including LRM 10s, Gauss rifles, ER PPCs, and the LB 10-X autocannon.


The Streak SRM 6 mounted on the left shoulder only augments the other weapons. This assault-class monster also packs an LBX-10 (autocannon) in the right arm, along with a Medium Pulse Laser. The left arm has a combination one-two punch with two ER Large Lasers and two Medium Pulse Lasers. For a final bit of firepower, the center torso has two Small Pulse Lasers mounted below the cockpit.

The design originated with Clan Wolf, but Clan Smoke Jaguar has been the only group to field the Dire Wolf so far. The plans were won in a trial that may or may not have been entirely honorable. Somehow (and nobody is saying exactly how) it is rumored that the Draconis Combine managed to capture a Dire Wolf intact. They are the ones who named it Daishi (Great Death).

The kit by The Battlemech Club is a beauty in light gray resin. The torso is hollow rotocast and has beautiful detailing. There is some flash, so cleanup will be necessary on the parts, but it’s not a huge amount. It’s actually less than I’ve come to expect for resin kits. There are some pour stubs present on the parts, and they will be easy to remove.

The kit has a total of 11 parts: rotocast torso, waist, upper right leg, upper left leg, lower right leg, lower left leg, right foot, left foot, right arm, left arm and the Stream SRM-6 unit for the left shoulder. Below is a photo of the kit parts.



The only point of concern I can see at this point involves construction of the legs. To avoid any issues with shearing (breaking at weak join areas), I’m probably going to end up using brass pins to attach the lower legs to the upper legs, and the feet to the lower legs. The design uses a “chicken leg” setup, with the upper legs canted backward to the knee, then the lower legs coming forward to the join with the foot, which then goes straight down. I’m thinking that one small pin in each location will stabilize the parts and keep them from coming apart on the shelf (or during handling). The other joints (torso to waist, upper legs to waist, and arms to torso) all use post-and-hole attachment points.

No decals were included with the kit, but stencils and other markings can probably be scavenged from other kits, either 1:48 or 1:72, depending on what the builder wants for their particular model.

The completed model stands 9.5 inches tall and will look great standing next to my Armorcast Atlas (once I get around to building it).

Review by: Rich “Lonewolf” Dula

Entry created: June 8, 2013