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Blackadder's Scratchbuilt Thunderhawk


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Umpity Ump Cadians:

 

I've taken on the task to get all my ground troops up and operational meaning break them down hopefully at the glue seams (not always successfully I might add) scrap and clean off the glue seam residue and whatever paint can be removed I have come up with about fifty Space Marines and about eighty Cadians plus an untold number of Chaos Marines and assorted denizens. anyway the Marines are pretty much done and two days ago I started on the Cadians.

 

I practiced on some metal Cadians from the year one and needless to say the work was tedious but I managed to get them to come out halfway decent but I suck at picture taking so the images didn't come out too good; 

 


http://i.imgur.com/l9XRRKtl.jpg

 

this being the best of a bad lot:

 


http://i.imgur.com/9hS0wU1l.jpg

 

So graduating to the plastic Cadian assault squad I came across this interesting discovery......

 


http://i.imgur.com/712KZVvl.jpg

 

I'm always on the lookout for anything to break the tedium of repetition and this I think will come in handy; note the brush on the center of the last image; you wouldn't think such a huge flat tipped brush would serve for fin detailed work but this is what I discovered mainly by accident. I got called away and this flat tipped brush hardened with Agrax Earthshade wash, Rather than soak the brush to soften it I figured that applying paint with the stiff brush would gradually soften until the hairs were flexible again. Imagine my surprise that the stiff edge was ideal for applying paint to seams where say the 'pants meet the boot top'  or the 'sleeve meets the gun barrel.' When the tip of the brush softens that you cannot get a fine demarcated line just squeeze the excess paint off the brush between your fingers and let the paint dry to harden the bristles.

 

Has anyone ever heard of this trick before?

 

BTW None of the soldiers in these pictures are finished, I'm only about halfway through the process of detailing and washing.

  • 2 weeks later...
VIPER ARV:

 

Gotta get a couple of these for my Cadian company:

 

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Vipersfinished003.jpg

 

http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/NRFfinished019.jpg

 


100+ Reclaimed Cadians:

 

Well here is the fruits of a week or so's labor; 100 repaired and renovated and basically painted Cadians. 

 


http://i.imgur.com/YKULkThl.jpg

 

These sets do not include the 20 metal Cadians I painted last month.

 


http://i.imgur.com/hFfMhNcl.jpg

 

It's amazing how good these images came out.

 

For colour I spray painted the entire set with flat black and brush painted the tunics and trousers with Vallejo 'Model Air' Khaki Brown and my own special concoction of armour green of Citadel 'Death World Forest and Vallejo 'Model Color' Luftwaffe Camo Green 50/50. Flesh I painted Vallejo Model Air 'Sand'.

 


http://i.imgur.com/zTdtfp8l.jpg

 

After Painting I washed with Citadel 'Shade' Agrax Earthshade.

 


http://i.imgur.com/lmpQOjpl.jpg

 

Now I have to learn how to apply decals.......

Bovine Space Marines!

 

What next, Pigs in space? I was rummaging through the abandon materials I inherited and came across these humongous Space Marines standing half again taller than the usual SM grunt. On painting them I noticed decidedly bovine features.

 


http://i.imgur.com/QT3UDV3l.jpg

 


http://i.imgur.com/DNgGpoNl.jpg

 

The armour is quite elegant with compact jump packs but who thought cow faces would look good? What chapter are these; I can't find them with google.

Hi Blackadder,

 

An admirer of your plastic card skill and prowess I have learnt a lot thank-you. The figures you talk about are terminators they are the veteran elite of each space marine chapter. Each chapter of roughly a 1000 Marines is split into 10 company's more or less equal the first company are veterans and about can fight as terminators they can teleport, arrive by dropship, land raider and take up the space of 2 normal marines. They have no jump packs and their armour generally is more ornate. A quick Google search of space marine terminator will provide more info or message me.

Thanks Aaron

Boring:

 

Yeah that's what my son says, all my painting motifs are boring but having been in the military there is very little garishness in current military attire; I can only assume what holds today will hold in the far flung future, at least in some chapters.

 


http://i.imgur.com/fdnOHIhl.jpg

 

All my Space Marines, Cadians, and heavy equipment will sport this green and graphite with gold trim sparsely applied which seems satisfactory to me.

 

The Lackluster Blackadder

Robed Space Marines:

 

This next entry is ten robed Space Marines.

 

Google doesn't help much and my first inclination is to paint the robes my mixture of green and burnish the armour with graphite powder....

 


http://i.imgur.com/8zTaFfwl.jpg

 

but I also have a notion to paint the robes crimson à la the Monty Python Inquisitioners.

 


http://i.imgur.com/5LokJ3xl.jpg

 

The pieces came with the jump packs seen here but the google images show regular jump packs In either case it would seem the exhausts and the robes to prove mutually exclusive.

 


http://i.imgur.com/RL8Vftbl.jpg

 

I thought instead to mount mechanical arms packs and convert them into a Space Marine faction of Tech Priests.

 

What if any is the presidence for this?

Robed Marines such as therse tended to come from the Space Marine CHapter kown as the Dark Angels, their armour is a very dark green, with linen robes.

They do have a number of successor chapters of which I think the Lions of Caliban or somesuch wear silver armour.

 

Unless the robes are fire retardant, yes, they are not very practical, but do conjure amusing images of flying self-immolating marines descending upon an unsuspecting foe.

 

There is no precedent for making these guys tech marines wearing robes. 

Yup the robes are from the Dark Angel Veteran Squad.

 

Robes are a staple of the 1st Legion (or the DA and their successors), but there is no rule against equipping other marines with them. Especially with DIY chapters you find all colours of robes. So there is nothing wrong with crimson robes.

 

As for the jump packs destroying the robes, we don't really know how the packs work, so we don't know if they incinerate the robes either. On top of that I doubt wax and paper (i,e, purity seals) would survive an ork burna, but they are still everywhere. So don't hesitate to make robed jump troops.

 

There is very little garishness in current military attire; I can only assume what holds today will hold in the far flung future, at least in some chapters.

 

 

From what I can recall from the early Rogue Trader days, Space Marines eschew the concept of camoflage as they have no need to hide from their enemies (apart from Scouts, obviously!). They are all about shock & awe with surgical precision - smash into a critical enemy position with lightning speed, obliterate them and then depart.

 

 

Camouflage is the colour of fear... I have no need to hide from my foes... I have no fear of death. My colours I wear openly, they proclaim louder than any words, "I am proud to live - I am proud to die"

 

- Carab Culln of the Red Scorpions.

Warhammer 40,000 Compendium, p.84

 

Having said all that, the same book goes on to contradict this quote by showing Space Marines wearing camouflage colour schemes for specific campaigns....

badab%252520camo%252520schemes.jpg

Some thoughts on Uniform colouration........

 

Where I to employ camouflage in a cityscape I would use WWII German grey, in a forest American olive drab, in a desert British tan; today's uniforms seem to provide identification ah er uniformity (Well Duh!) rather than cover in like hued surroundings with the exception of jungle fatigues and desert storm tan camo recently adopted by our military. As a conservative I am naturally draw to somber accouterments and prefer likewise to deck out my troops in similar attire. 

  • 2 months later...
Forward Bolters

 

Well after much soul searching I finally conceded that front firing bolters are not redundant on Thunderhawk as the ball turrets sport turbolasers. So placement of the turret mounts is pretty much ordained by the 3D drawing as nestled up to the froward belt armour.

 


http://i.imgur.com/ZtpGwX3l.jpg

 

Yeah Blackadder, you leave this thread hanging for months and you show up with one measly image.

Forward Bolters:

 

Since my Thunderhawk is outsized I have elected to use Landraider sponsons.

 

Cutting and placing these sponsons had best be left for the end of the detailing as they have to fit right in the proper position. I was lucky in that with virtually no planning on my part the sponson fit as if I HAD PLANNED IT ALL ALONG?

 

After drilling the corner holes I used an Xacto keyhole saw to cut between the corner holes.

 


http://i.imgur.com/YzZ9TrJl.jpg

 

I then pared the excess styrene to the penciled lines and filed the hole carefully for a snug fit of the sponson inner flange....

 


http://i.imgur.com/X1xZA6sl.jpg

 

The plugs fit snugly; better than I expected.

 


http://i.imgur.com/rkPaVjTl.jpg

 

 I just had an inspiration to make these removable so I can replace them with other weapons or just leave the hull opening sealed with a plug door as in the 3D image.....

 


http://i.imgur.com/VosDIwwl.jpg

 

Ahhhh to be young and have a choice.

Good job on the Thunderhawk's forward fuselage.

 

Robed Space Marines:
 
This next entry is ten robed Space Marines.
 
Google doesn't help much and my first inclination is to paint the robes my mixture of green and burnish the armour with graphite powder....
 
http://i.imgur.com/8zTaFfwl.jpg
 
but I also have a notion to paint the robes crimson à la the Monty Python Inquisitioners.
 
http://i.imgur.com/5LokJ3xl.jpg
 
The pieces came with the jump packs seen here but the google images show regular jump packs In either case it would seem the exhausts and the robes to prove mutually exclusive.
 
http://i.imgur.com/RL8Vftbl.jpg
 
I thought instead to mount mechanical arms packs and convert them into a Space Marine faction of Tech Priests.
 
What if any is the presidence for this?

 

Are the robed Marines from the Dark Angels Chapter, or from the Black Templars?

Plug In Weapons:

 

At the risk of belaboring the obvious I offer my mechanism for quick change weapons. in the image below I have mounted my Bolter assembly with a sliding bolt lock assembly where you slide out the upper and lower bolts to remove the bolter mount. A simple yet effective solution.

 


http://i.imgur.com/87Fey7Nl.jpg

 

Below is the unit removed with one bolt in place and the other removed.

 


http://i.imgur.com/GfwcBILl.jpg

 

Pardon the blurred images please...........

Forward Cargo Interior:

 

One of the first things (in my optimism) I built for this model was the interior lo these many years ago so yesterday I began adapting the floor and walls to fit the amended exterior.

 


http://i.imgur.com/nV9G0z8l.jpg

 

First I had to cut out the floor to accommodate the nose gear housing which worked out rather well as the front reinforcing stringers gave sufficient height to clear the majority of the housing.

 


http://i.imgur.com/dGpclmxl.jpg

 

On further inspection of the interior it seems I have room for a few Space Marines on the upper level of the superstructure if the marines can stand and be suspended by a system of beams and hangers; wouldn't that be a rip

 

Of course I will have the interior lighting to show off the upper gallery.

 

Space Marine Transport Rail

 

I'm looking to add two rows side by side of Space marines to the interior of my T'hawk. I plan that they will be suspended standing upright from an overhead conveyor system as the most efficient system for transporting these soldiers seeing as they are virtually self-contained one man tanks. I seem to recall an image or sketch of such a device but cannot lay my hands on it. Does anyone have a copy or a source for this image? 

 

Below is what I have so far found which while sufficient for my purposes aren't quite what I have in mind:

 


http://i.imgur.com/FDNN9TDl.jpg

 

I wish I had this image when I was building my T'hawk, it would have made my guesswork that much easier....

 


http://i.imgur.com/OVnjuyol.jpg

 

This image isn't actually 40K Space Marines but it does get the point across.

Cargo Ramp:

 

I've finally addressed the issue of the front cargo ramp. this is a problem that has vexed me from day one of this project; how to cram a functioning mechanism into the tiny space available without compromising the exterior aspect of the model......

 


http://i.imgur.com/zjEoCKRl.jpg

 

Above we see the model as she exists today with some of the exterior detail as yet to be installed.

 

And here is the open maw of the beast with my new hinge assembly installed; Whoohoo! it works!

 


http://i.imgur.com/STMLuiPl.jpg

 

Now to show the mechanics of the rather simple device......

 


http://i.imgur.com/5r02hwxl.jpg

 

The piano-style hinge is 3/32 evergreen tubing cut into three pieces with two 0.060 by 0.250 inch tongue straps welded to the tubing and reinforced with 0.020 gussets.

 

A brass wire provides the hinge pin.

 

The assembly slides out for ease of maintenance and repair as the device may be quite flimsy....

 


http://i.imgur.com/5r02hwxl.jpg

 

With the ramp entirely removed the detail of the hinge points is readily seen.

 


http://i.imgur.com/usLHIG3l.jpg

 

Also note the cargo floor can be slid forward to facilitate reassembly. 

 

The underside of the floor showing the tongue receptacles.

 


http://i.imgur.com/AtOIFyHl.jpg

 

Finally the flexibility of the hinges

 


http://i.imgur.com/i8ChPiIl.jpg

The Best Laid Plans

 

Of mice and men ofttimes go awry. I had intended for this transport to have the capability to disgorge a Rhino but it seems the interior panels have taken up too much clearance

 


http://i.imgur.com/8aJ8Wjul.jpg

 

Not to worry I have an alternate plan (A cunning plan mayhaps Mr. B?)

 


http://i.imgur.com/vj7VHrxl.jpg

 

My initial intent was to have clam-shell doors à la C124 and assault ramp to accommodate the width of a slick Rhino but I put that aside until I had a good idea of the interior panels requirements. That project is still on the table.

 

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