Thunderhawk: Scratch or Spend?

[captain sox]

Hello all!

 

I've been debating this is my mind for the last few days whether I should build a Thunderhawk from scratch, or fork over the money for a Forge World (or Forgeworld) kit... I think the Rhino Transporter is an AMAZING looking model.

 

There are pros and cons to both:

 

Scratchbuild:

 

Pros: Cheaper, lighter model (for transporting), ultimate challenge.

 

Cons: Detail would be tricky, time consuming, could be sloppy looking (how do you build engines and transporter bays?), ultimate challenge.

 

Forge World:

 

Pros: Full detail, all you need in one box, very challenging.

 

Cons: Expensive, resin can be unforgiving, very heavy model, very challenging to build...

 

The Thunderhawk to me (and I'm sure all of us) is the ultimate prize for our collection. That being said, is it more worthwhile to take the financial hit and buy the kit, or take the time to build one from the ground up...

 

What would you do / have you done?

[Massawyrm]

If you can afford it, buy it. As you said, the Thunderhawk is the ultimate prize for our collections. Only the most ingenious and exact conversions impress - while a well painted FW model always impresses.

[NExOBLIVISCARIS]

If i had the money i'd just buy the forgeworld kit because it is a good model and i have heard plenty of people have a titan but never realy hear people having thunderhawks.

[Grey Mage]

Buyer beware- everything I hear says the mold has worn down, alot, and that warpage is rampant in the TH kit.

 

Of course, anyone whos ordered one recently should very much believed before me.

[captain sox]

Buyer beware- everything I hear says the mold has worn down, alot, and that warpage is rampant in the TH kit.

 

Of course, anyone whos ordered one recently should very much believed before me.

 

THis is one of my biggest concerns. I've oredered a few things from FW and found warping to be a (minor) problem. The trouble is, if I'm spending 600 bucks, I want to be sure I'm getting a quality product.

 

has anyone out there recently purchased a Thunderhawk from FW

[Hellios]

depends how good at scratch building you are... if you have never done it before do some smaller things first... storm raven or caedus (or whatever the new FW one is)... I've seen some scratch thunder hawks that were built in scale to rhinos so a bit bigger than the fw ones and also designed to act as army carry cases :P and they looked way better than the fw ones... Not to mentioned the 1st one cost the guy somewhere between 1/3-1/4 of the cost of a fw thunder hawk (so it still wasn't cheap) and took a lot of time but he made templates as he went along and when he made his next two they both cost less and both took less than a month :)

[old git]

Wait for the plastic kit.

[shan vener]

Wait for the plastic kit.

 

1 year from now: wait for the kit

2 years from now: wait for the kit

5 years from now: wait for the kit

 

how long have we been waiting for that kit???

 

and the rumors that were circulating 5+ years ago, you know the ones like apocalypse, trygon in games, plastic TH. which one hasn't come true yet :P

 

i think you should save up to buy it, i'm going for a chaplain dread from them anyway.

[captain sox]

Wait for the plastic kit.

 

1 year from now: wait for the kit

2 years from now: wait for the kit

5 years from now: wait for the kit

 

how long have we been waiting for that kit???

 

 

+1

 

I don't think that kit will ever be made. There's a benefit to keep something like that exclusive... limited if you will.

 

I remember reading 3 years ago that the plastic TH was CONFIRMED.... lol.

 

There's no reason for GW to make it in plastic.

 

If I'm wrong, then we all win!

[Grey Mage]

depends how good at scratch building you are... if you have never done it before do some smaller things first... storm raven or caedus (or whatever the new FW one is)... I've seen some scratch thunder hawks that were built in scale to rhinos so a bit bigger than the fw ones and also designed to act as army carry cases :rolleyes: and they looked way better than the fw ones... Not to mentioned the 1st one cost the guy somewhere between 1/3-1/4 of the cost of a fw thunder hawk (so it still wasn't cheap) and took a lot of time but he made templates as he went along and when he made his next two they both cost less and both took less than a month :pinch:

*blinks* By the gods, tell me theres instructions on how to do this!

[Paulochromis]

google is your friend:

starting point

[Tomevans]

The Thunderhawk models really do look magnificent, but I would consider carefully before buying them. For its huge price tag you can get ALOT of FW goodness, especially with all the wonderful stuff they are releasing for the Space Marines recently. I love the old armour types they are bringing out, except the Corvus armour, as you can make that from the current plastic squad set so I don't know why you would splash out £20 for 5 models, but the Mk II Crusade and Mk III Iron armour are pant wettingly pretty and are brilliant for first or second founding chapters.

 

You could also bring in a few Mk II Land Raider's and more Chapter specific details/ Dreadnoughts than you could ever want with that sort of cash. Even a Warhound Titan could be brought in and you would still have cash left over for some extra bits and pieces you fancy. So while the TH is a brilliant model, the huge number of other models you could get for that price, as well as the worries about building the monster and the quality of an old(ish) resin cast may persuade you to go another route. Whatever choice you make would make your army something special anyway, so you can't really go wrong. Just go with what your heart tells you to go with. Hope that was helpful.

[Korraz]

I do not own a TH myself, but I know two guys that do (one guy has one, and one three)

The first one was in...miserable state. "For that buck I could have hired a Scratchbuilder to build TWO, and it would have been faster!" He was, however, able to bend the stuff back into the right shape and it looks cool.

The other three however..."GODFRIGGINGDAMMITWHATTHEHELL"

In short: They look plain horrible, like bad scratchbuilds, warped in the sun (given, with a bunch of Resin Parts slapped on for Details)

Quote from a resident Redshirt, that is a good friend of Mr. 3-Thawks: "After seeing that, I think I will never every buy one of those things and will stop anybody from doing so."

 

And before you ask: The 3 horrible Hawks were ordered with gaps of 2 and 3 years.

[fredox]

Tempted by one myself but if what you guys are saying is true a titan might be the better option. I wonder what they'd say if you phoned and asked them directly.

[CarbonCopy]

Casting resin in flat, consistent molds is a sonofab*tch. Working with parts consistently warped, like what has been mentioned of said T-hawk parts, is just as painful -- but SHOULD be expected. That said, I'd still give money to forge world for a Thunderhawk.

 

But then again, I would just as likely scratch build a Thunderhawk. Both are just as much as a challenge for different reasons. There are many sets of plans available all over the 'net.