"Fun" with Gargoyles

So I thought I would start on a metal model before tackling the Tyranid Battleforce. I found a very inexpensively priced Tyranid Gargoyle blister pack. As I was driving home, I was sort of dreading the prepwork required for a pewter model. There is a lot more filing, filling, and fiddly gluing (sorry, I couldn't think of a word that started with "f" that meant gluing). Little did I know what heartache this thing would cause.

First of all, upon opening the completely sealed, brand new blister, I find that 2 parts are simply missing: one set of arms holding a weapon, and one clear base. I would have returned it, but it's not worth the 10 bucks in gas each way to go back to that particular store, and frankly, it wasn't their fault. So I emailed Games Workshop US customer support. I will post the response.

As if this wasn't bad enough, it HARD AS HELL to assemble. The wings actually attach UNDER the belly, and the two halves form the mount for the base. This wouldn't be so bad, but the pieces don't join in any marginally satisfying way. I ended up resorting to Blue Stuff (like Green Stuff, but...well, you can guess).

It's filed and filled...onto paint!