Scratchbuilding a nephilim/storm/dark talon for the wolves.

[Ch@oZ]

I've started this project a little while ago to add a flyer to my space wolves 9th company. Since at first it seemed like the wolves can field a storm talon, and that i considered it exceptionally unappealing, I've decided to build a nephilim jetfighter and field it as a storm talon. Considering the slightly prohibitive price of the dark talon/nephilim I've decided to build one out of plasticard. Only once I've seen the wingspan and size of the model I realized it might not have been overpriced at all- It's bigger than a land raider after all! But I'm already far down this road, so I'll finish it

Anyway here are the pics of progress:

First is to show my wing folding technique to provide a nice, rounded and flat wing in one go:

The first wing finished:

The second wing outer surface:

And here are all the parts of step one: mostly for wings, including decoration, a rear stabiliser and some air intakes:

[Ch@oZ]

Some additional progress:

First- some parts that will never be seen, but designing them took a substantial amount of work:

middle box support frame

rear wing support/ tail frame:

Tail wing with flaps cut out:

Side view of the front box. The lascannons are magnetised and temporarily stuck to the screw You can see. The screw can be rotated in and out to make sure whatever weapon is stuck to them is always at the correct angle and depth.

The underside of front and middle box:

The boxes are held together with screws, just to be sure they don't fall off:

And the overall progress so far, sans tail section (rear box) and decorations.

The cockpit WILL be built and the canopy will be constructed from clear plastic.

[Raztalin]

Very impressive start!!  Looking forward to see you progress with it!

 

:)

[Alpha PTP]

I'm sure I'm not the only one when I say this, but I'm hurt. You lied to us. I expected scratch built, not scratch built with some las cannons. <_<

All kidding aside it looks like a great start. I wish I had the patience to build something like this from start to finish. With that attitude that probably makes me the target market for most of GW's products. 

[Ch@oZ]

I'm sure I'm not the only one when I say this, but I'm hurt. You lied to us. I expected scratch built, not scratch built with some las cannons.

Here it is- the online equivalent of free lunch- the basis of a scratch-built lascannon, just for You

And some progress update of the tail support (aka rear box)

A papercraft canopy is seen, for size comparison- i constantly check whether all the pieces built fit the blueprint.

[Ch@oZ]

Quick update: first of all the internal structure of the rear wing, most of which will sadly not be seen:

some support structure of the tail:

And some of the further progress:

And a quick question:

What should i do with the circled parts? I've been thinking i could forgo the blue-circled part or replace it. The flaps in the red circle strike me as odd, but I'm not sure what to do with them. And then there's the thing in the green one. I think It'd be cool to put something there, but the chapel-shaped little thing just doesn't seem very spacewolfy. What do You guys think i should do with them?

[hendrik]

a small plate that leads to the fuel tank for a refill? i'm curious to see how you'll make it more space wolf like. it looks great so far though!

[kanan]

hail fellow Battle-Brother! i have always liked the Space Wolves and am intrigued as to how you will modify the existing Dark Talon/Nephilim blueprint into something more wolfish... your skills with plasticard and scratch building are incredible and i wish you well on the build... i will be following this thread over the next few weeks... good luck Sir!

 

 

peace

[Ch@oZ]

i'm curious to see how you'll make it more space wolf like.

i have always liked the Space Wolves and am intrigued as to how you will modify the existing Dark Talon/Nephilim blueprint into something more wolfish...

One thing that i'll certainly be adding is egil ironwolf's logo on the sides, much like seen here, on land raider doors:

I'll be adding a decal- half a wolf head on each side of the top rear stabiliser (the one on the forge world decal sheet).

Additionally- the nose before the cockpit will be modified- at first i though i could exchange the nose for an eagle's beak, which would be cool, but not very wolfy. At this moment i'm thinking of building a snout (based on egil's symbol) over the flat bit at the front.

[Styrofoam04]

That's Incredible, you have some Mad skills!! Your folding technique is perfect. I cant wait to see what you do for the engines

[jeremy1391]

That is looking pretty awesome!

[Ch@oZ]

Thanks for the comments everyone, i'm flattered

I cant wait to see what you do for the engines

I already got started on those- At first i thought i'll have to print out a cone layout (using the creatively named program "The Cone") and fold it out of 0,25 mm plasticard, around a tiny part of an e-cigarette liquid bottle. Then, luckily a pvc connector pipe caught my eye. The outer diameter was 20 mm, which was perfect for the basis of the engine exhausts. I cut the connector in two, glued 0,25 mm plasticard around it and pinned it. Then i cut off the excess length and was left with two short tubes. Those, in turn had chamfered edges, which i haven't noticed before. So i decided to use those as engine cowlings. I filed them until a rounded, beveled edge was achieved and glued two layers of 0,5mm plasticard underneath to flare them out a bit. This means, essentially, that my cowling will be superior, in terms of realism, to the original.

Anyway- here's how it looks:

exhaust base:

attached:

Cowlings around the air intake:

[pedrogzc]

Any progress?!?!?1