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Blackadder's Scratchbuilt Thunderhawk


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The Assault Door Lacks Panache:

 

It seems I've been too conservative embellishing the front door. Besides the ho-hum paint job the loading ramp is rather bleak so it's back to the drawing board to try to perk up this dismal effort; in point of fact the whole nose of this work is pretty bland.

 


http://i.imgur.com/mz1DS4Kl.jpg

 

Whom I kidding; I don't have a drawing board but instead.... 

 

Eureka! I've found it while contemplating my next iteration of the loading ramp I've just thought of how I can extend the ramp to make the egress more user friendly.

 


http://i.imgur.com/rCpQ0mjl.jpg

 

And the paint erosion needs to be toned down a tad as well.

Assault Door Redux:

 

Oh yes much more business like. I had to fake the sensor units on the doors as the images I have are pretty vague

 


http://i.imgur.com/z3g96SSl.jpg

 

and there is only one that I can discern on the left side of the nose. 

 


http://i.imgur.com/FKT7rhZl.jpg

 

The right one is a pure fabrication I put in just for artistic balance.

 


http://i.imgur.com/UhDAP3fl.jpg

 

More painting to come but I had to see how this would look before I continue.

Done!

 


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

 


http://i.imgur.com/52YbS5jl.jpg

 


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

 


http://i.imgur.com/FMtF4C4l.jpg

 


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

Basic Painting 101

 


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

 

Years ago when I began this project in my naivete I thought the Thunderhawk was able to transport a Land Raider. I did not know the FW model was too small to have that capability. So my son and I based our model on the size of a Land Raider slung beneath the seeming cutout in the belly that ideally fit the tracked APC to the flying APC.

 


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

 

Today I began painting the Land Beastie after a preliminary assembly used a light gray spray primer to paint the interior which was fast and easy (took about five minutes)

 


http://i.imgur.com/MqQk07el.jpg

 

 I heartly recommend doing your base coating with cheap spray paint as opposed to expensive GW Citadel paints as so many are wont to do. $0.99 cents a can at Walmart, fast drying and plus it provides a durable base coat for your more expensive detailing acrylics.

 


http://i.imgur.com/YMHcX3Jl.jpg

 

So here we have the Land Raider neatly tucked up under the the Thunderhawk albeit in it's slick mode as I used most of the armament on the Thunderhawk......whoops!

 

Yeah I know someone building a Land Raider is about as exciting as watching ice melt but I'll try to make it interesting.

 

After spray painting the interior gray I proceeded to apply a coat of black primer to the exterior of the hull.

 


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

 


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

 

I left as many parts as I could removable; I had no idea Land Raiders were so complex. Seems like they're built like a house of cards and the front loading door is a masterpiece of engineering, kudos to that. I'll have to keep that trick in mind for a future scratch project.

 


http://i.imgur.com/1Y68Vrnl.jpg

 

After the paint dried I began applying the Grey Knights Aluminum Metallic powder.

 


http://i.imgur.com/oA4LMgul.jpg

 


http://i.imgur.com/1fN59uSl.jpg

 

So you're telling me Blackadder that after all that we're gray again.....

Fifteen Minute Paint Job:

 

Sidetracked as I've been with the election primaries I've missed working on my Landraider so today I bit the bullet and painted er coloured up the whole tank less the armament which is still in the mail from Australia.

 

Granted I did have the whole tank primed with flat black but swear to Gawd it took fifteen to twenty minutes to paint er colour up this tank and no drying time. Of course there are pro-painters that can fault this tyro effort but you cannot beat the speed of the result.

 

So here's a few views you might find interesting:

 


http://i.imgur.com/o6c0MZUl.jpg

 


http://i.imgur.com/Zf19C0vl.jpg

 


http://i.imgur.com/aavguV7l.jpg

 


http://i.imgur.com/Xe74ERwl.jpg

 

Yeah that's copper powder I put on the track as an experiment. I've had the stuff lying about for years and decided to give it a go.

Impressive work, overall. As for the Thunderhawk's front ramp, I understand you didn't want it to look bland, but the sensors shouldn't be where they are- I wouldn't want to risk the possibility ground debris may damage those sensors when the ramp opens. Better to put them above the ramp, and paint a shark mouth or other colorful decoration on the ramp.

Amazing as always.

 

But one thing jumped out at me:

 

Have you never assembled a Land Raider before?

 

All these monstrous creations of yours and you've never made a LR before? LOL

 

Nope, what did I do wrong?

 

Seriously I've never been a fan of Landraiders; they seem a but undergunned. My son built a Landraider once or twice I think  and a couple of Rhinos. I'd like to see FW do an upgrade on them to give them a bit more pizzazz.

I like the TH - very impressive!

 

However, I do find myself agreeing with Bjorn Firewalker: the sensors on the ramp are just begging to get broken every time it crashes open!

 

 


Nope, what did I do wrong?

 

Ah, the doors should really be swapped with the guns... Otherwise you hit the guns when disembarking.

 

Yes, I know the original Studio model is like that, and so is a lot of the art, but... It is incorrect - the studio built theirs wrong, and GW've depicted it both ways ever since! ;)

I feel what was employed here was artistic license. Of course no one in their right mind would stick sensors up in such a vulnerable area but it does look cool and (be honest cool is better than function) there is a vast surface devoid of interest. Besides are we really worrying about realism when we are discussing a Thunderhawk! Really!

 

Fifteen Minute Paint Job Part Three:
 
Last night I masked of the entire tank and sprayed the front end with rust primer. The masking took the better part of an hour but the painting bur a couple of minutes............
 
http://i.imgur.com/ygbyuSFl.jpg
 
Kyrlon Rust Primer is no longer made which is a pity because it provides a deep base for reds and oranges so when dry brushing on these colours the primer provides shadow.
 
http://i.imgur.com/tLt7SkIl.jpg
Phoenix Rising:

 

From ashes This little Rhino was painted red and forgotten. I primed it in black and rubbed in aluminum powder.

 


http://i.imgur.com/Hdn4dA1l.jpg

 


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

 


http://i.imgur.com/RU671qUl.jpg

Aluminum can be extremely finely divided and still maintain it's shine. when you are working into a matte surface you are in effect polishing the surface the powder being microscopic flat flakes they align in much the same manner as graphite thereby creating a highly reflective surface. That is why this powder is used on picture frames.

  • 2 weeks later...
The Case of the Missing Stancheon Shield:

 

As if I didn't have enough to do I cannot find the Lascannon cover shield so after an exhaustive search I decided to build one......

 


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

 

These photos reveal it's still a bit rough around the edges.

 


http://i.imgur.com/1WlIxmvl.jpg

  • 2 weeks later...
Rhino Revisited:

 

Work has pretty much been stalled due to working on the new bath but I did manage to sneak in some painting when no one was looking.....

 


http://i.imgur.com/IjM58cal.jpg

 

In the scrap box I found some Rhino accessories and a vintage four bogie GW Rhino which astounded me because of it's size and simplicity; we'll go into that at a later date.

 

Meanwhile the current Rhino is beginning to look pretty good (IMHO) and the ugly little cuss is growing on me.

 


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

 

Some day I'll get around to applying decals.

 


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

 

After I learn how to do it that is.
  • 3 months later...
It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas:

 

I was in the mall the other day and wandered into a store I've not seen before called 'Big Lots' They had these marvelous seed type LED Christmas lights:

 


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

 

Prewired and ready to be installed in your model project, in this case my never ending Thunderhawk Project:

 


http://i.imgur.com/kpd3JDcl.jpg

 

Striping down the fuselage and just jamming about half the bulbs into the forward cargo bay shows me they will provide sufficient light to illuminate the interior and taking so little space to be readily hidden behind the thin walls and ceiling of the bay

 


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

 

Threading the lights though the hull will require a bit of effort but the savings of time manufacturing the circuit is worth the $5 cost of the string. 

 


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

 

They come in Cool White, (Shown) Warm White and Multicoloured .... I may buy the multicoloured string and splice colours in strategic areas of the model.

 

I can't wait to install some of these in my Warlord Titan. 

 

 

 

Ceiling Panel and Lenses

 

last night it came to me how to employ these marvelous lights. I had hoped for more conventional LEDs' but the circuitry behind the ceiling panel was quite restricted if I was to have adequate clearance for a Slick Rhino in the cargo bay. These seed Leds were just the ticket but how to mount them???

 

I began with a sheet of 0.030 inch styrene cut to fit the ceiling... initially I posited 18 lights to illuminate the bay interior and drilled two rows of nine per side but I hit upon some scrap plastic interesting shapes in the form of dispossible contact lens containers. Slightly fogged thes container vials provide interesting shapes, just the thing for a set of 40K light fixtures plus they diffuse the light.......

 


http://i.imgur.com/1Au7mJTl.jpg

 

With the holes drilled for the sockets to mount the LEDs and a dry trial run I think these will work out nicely.

 


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

 

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