The Neurode Crusade - Updates and Fixes to HQs and Elites

[Sword Brother Adelard]

Holy Throne of Terra...

[Medjugorje]

better then the original. (I really think so)

[WAR]

so awesome

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Impressive work.

[Brother Kraskor]

Mega! Well done.

[Brother Carpenter]

Almost done it seems?

Seriously if you have sub assemblies ready, consider painting them to keep the zeal burning, even if its to basecoat and minor detailing.

[Urkh]

This thing is going to look amazing!

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

By Sisismunds Sword!!! Wonderful work!

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you all for your kind words! I'm really happy that this thing starts to come together and in updates like these you can see where this is heading.

 

better then the original. (I really think so)

 

You are too kind! I'm extremely happy to hear that you like it. I also feel even better now about introducing the changes I did!

 

Almost done it seems?
Seriously if you have sub assemblies ready, consider painting them to keep the zeal burning, even if its to basecoat and minor detailing.

 

I'm not good at estimating the work ahead, but I'd say that the wings are 70% done.

To be honest, I considered painting finished subassemblies. I know it'd be very gratifying. But to the contrary to visible photographic evidence, I'm not really good at making models over an 8-year span. Hear me out - I'm worried that the front section and rear section won't fit together, having 2-4 mm discrepancies in width and 1-2 mm differences in height; that's why I want to postpone painting these until I put the front and back together and have a chance to cover up any misaligned parts and make up for other differences that may pop up. Having said that, I think I'll paint the wings once they're ready - they will attach to the fuselage using magnets and will basically be 'self-standing' components.
 

[Majkhel]

Hey brother!
There are numerous ways of keeping our hobby butterfly flying so do not worry if one project motivates you to do other things. It goes both ways and as long as the butterfly is in there air, it's good. By all means, go on and paint the wings or whatever suits you. Sitting with one thing for long periods can become frustrating, so it's good to clean your head with something different from time time. Zeal needs food too ;)

 

You're doing a stellar work with the Thunderhawk! :)

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for dropping a comment Majkhel! I appreciate it! I feel like doing something else, but I'll challenge myself and keep working on the Thunderhawk. I'm sincerely afraid that any detraction from this ambitious and noble aim will freeze the project for years and I can't accept that, not now Victory is its own reward or something like that!

 

I'm done with another draining stage of the built - the wing-mounted engines' nozzles are mostly done.

 

Over the last week, my scratchbuilding efforts took me from this rough shape:

 

 

 

To this:

 

 

 

 

They're a bit warped, but I weren't able to do anything about that with my current tools and skill set. The details appear rough, but I think they'll look good once some paint and heat effects are applied. As you can see, I deviated from the original and went with the style of nozzles used in more recent, smaller flyers. Recreating the original... might have actually killed both me and, as a side effect, the project

 

I'm super glad this is over!

Edited June 24, 2020 by Brother Cristopher

[Brother Kraskor]

They look very good brother! I like how they fit more with the newer flyer range.

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

it makes sense to incorporate newer style elements, like the nozzle, to the older model IMO. Looks great. I can't wait to see them applied.

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks! I'm glad you like the alterations. The wings, with the exception of weapons, should be ready next week.

 

I've got a question, though. I'm thinking about doing some changes to the heavy bolter layout and am extremely indecisive. All the ideas I have have their own merits and appeal to me in different ways.

 

1. Should I go with the original layout, i.e. 2 Land-Raider-style front TLHB sponsons and two TLHBs on the wings. This idea will bring me closest to the original and there's something cool about the front sponsons being so large and able to swivel in all directions.

 

2. Should I go with the original layout, but build WWI-style front TLHB sponsons, like on the new Thunderhawk. These make the front of the craft look more sleek, but at the cost of 'utility' and not being able to shoot backwards.

 

3. Or should I not put the front TLHBs and opt for wing-mounted quad heavy bolters? This way, the number of guns is right, they are able to shoot in "all directions" (minus the fuselage, duh) and I get a sleeker-looking front, more alike the Storm Eagle / Fire Raptor or even the Stormbird.

 

On the one hand, I really like to keep things close to the original and my judgement is probably slightly clouded by this. On the other hand, I've already made some changes and am planning to make further changes, so this way the model is already 'compromised'. That's why I could roll with it and go with the quad-HB option which could also save me some time. In addition, it seems slightly more practical - I imagine that more ammo can be stored in the wings than in the box magazines of the original or the fuselage-mounted WWI-style sponsons of the new model.

[Brother Kraskor]

[Brother Carpenter]

Torn between option 1, cool tech looking and option 3, but option 2 also looks nice........  

 

Roll a dice

1,2 = option 1

3,4 = option 2

5,6 = option 3

[SWORD BROTHER RYAN]

Having the barest bit of avionic mecanicum training, I would think that fuel is still mainly housed in the wings, so adding more bolters there would be an issue between fuel cell and ammo hoppers. Personally, I like the look of the WWI style, but I also see the design nightmare that could become. If it were me, I'd stick with the original design. slightly less problems than option 2, and more feasible than option 3.

[Brother Kraskor]

Having the barest bit of avionic mecanicum training, I would think that fuel is still mainly housed in the wings, so adding more bolters there would be an issue between fuel cell and ammo hoppers. 

 

Depends where it is operating I think! In atmosphere, it can just use air as propellant from its intakes, heated by the onboard fusion reactor and then expelled - the amount of fuel needed to sustain the reactor would be comparatively little, so plenty of space in the wings for ammunition.

 

But in space, with no air for propellant, the Thunderhawk shuts the intakes and uses reactor fuel as propellant and turns its engines into rocket boosters - and then you would definitely need a lot of fuel space.

[Sword Brother Adelard]

I think the WW1 style look too Imperial Guard. They look as if they are directly manned, whereas the first style look remotely operated. That was the reason the predator sponsors changed when they remade it in plastic, remotely operated weapons are more expensive, more elite, more space marine.

[Brother Christopher]

Great feedback! That's pretty silly, but I appear to have forgotten about fuel. And wars are fought with fuel and ammo, not only ammo :D Still, I suppose that the ammunition storage can be located at the wing tips, just above the weapon mounts - the part in my model is thick enough to fit more than a bucket-load of HB shells (the templates I'm using took a more liberate approach to the model than I initially thought; that's not me complaining, though - without the papercraft templates I wouldn't have embarked on this journey in the first place).

 

The sleeker design of WW1 front sponsons is nice, but I think that this advantage is outhweighted by other issues - the limited range of motion, that I've taken issue or what Borther Adelard pointed out - many thanks for your input, I realised that you put into words the issue I've subconsciously had with this style of sponsons.

 

So there's progress - I'm going with the more technologically advanced, fully rotating, modern Land Raider style weapons - either option 1 or 3.

[Brother Kraskor]

I think the technology of 40k would be sufficient to provide ammo to almost any hardpoint on the Thunderhawk. Even 20th century technology allowed for a protected deep central magazine with ammo fed upward to the turret. The Thunderhawk could have ammo stored in the fuselage and belt-fed along (inside) the wingtips to the hardpoint and this would only sacrifice a tiny amount of fuel space - no more space than would be required for option 1) provided the belt could feed twice as fast (not an impossible feat either). So if you are going to have any on the wings, it doesn't really matter if its twin or quad HBs.

 

Having all the HBs on the wings also gives the best field of fire - the wings protrude enough to get the full forward capability provided by option 1), but whereas the front-mounted HBs struggle to fire rearward, option 3) has no difficulty. And for defending itself in the air, a heavier craft like the Thunderhawk is going to get outmanoeuvred by interceptors and so it really wants to be able to shoot rearward. 

Edited June 26, 2020 by Brother Kraskor

[WAR]

Imho

 

option 1 may look ok as it could be a retro fit/ repair on your thunderhawk.

 

Option 3 takes a lot away from the aesthetic of the pattern you are building plus will make the wings look over burdened once the missile or bomb racks are added

 

Option 2 just has seems the most feasible

[Brother Christopher]

Hello Brothers! It has been a while since my last update; however, I want to let you know that things are roughly on track. Due to my life going back to the pre-covid normal, I get less and less hobby time for scratch-building the Thunderhawk. Still, progress is being made - slow, but steady. I have not abandoned it, even though I feel like painting some marines up. But. I. Will. Prevail. Otherwise, all will be lost.

 

In the meanwhile, I managed to play two (2!) games against a Ravenguard player. Both games were extremely fun. I've been experimenting with Terminators and Centurions (I've finally managed to field them!) and I must say that Tactical Terminators are pretty amazing. I managed to secure a 28:25 win in the first game; due to time constraints, we haven't managed to finish the second game and tally the results up - still, I don't really care.

 

Both games were an absolute bloodbath full of fun moments (like his Invictor blowing up in both games and causing insane numbers of mortal wounds to my troops, including stripping 5 wounds of an Ironclad dreadnought which would otherwise remain pretty intact). We played one game using the core rules for 8th edition and the other using the core rules for 9th edition; from this limited experience, I find the more recent rule set way more fun and engaging.

 

Instead of writing proper battle reports, I'll just leave you with some snapshots from the games:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Medjugorje]

The last picture is interesting. Its your Marshal with his best Sword Brethren against the mighty Chapter Master of the Raven Guard and his Lieutenant.

[Brother Kraskor]

The Raven Guard must've been consorting with heretics, and worthy of being put to the sword. Nice pics! Did you use 9th ed points costs for the 2nd game too? How did the Centurions fare? And what was good about the Terminators?