Night Lords Heldrake (and maybe more) Work in Progress

[Psykic_scribe]

This Heldrake is going to take some time, especially as my spray booth is in the loft and it's too cold up there! However, I have started to put together the sub-assemblies and chose some smaller parts.

So ..... I have made a HEAD START ! Well, two heads actually, as I want to be able to use a magnetised weapon swop. This needed an extra headcase from the Bitzbox, but well worth it for such a major focus in my small Night Lords band.

Rapidly assembled flashgun photo:

I have also chosen a fiery theme for the jaws and throat. The idea was to put in some contrast to the midnight clad colours for the rest of the model. Other than in a few small vents in the body, this is probably enough "fire and brimstone" for a machine with a touch of the deamonic.

There are no highlights on here yet. The spikes deserve some, but these can wait until the model is assembled.

I have been using GW Kantor Blue with Abbadon Black for the midnight, to give a darker shade than most NL armies. Using a base paint is not great but OK when hand painting - I may have a few problems with getting a decent airbrush spray, even with my bottle-fed gun. Here's hoping. The banding is in GW Gehenna's Gold, darker than Belthzar's marine models but not quite bronze.

[Psykic_scribe]

This is the second update with some progress notes and more pictures of my Heldrake in midnight clad.

With the weather being slightly warmer, all the base coats are now complete and most of the initial metallic paintwork is making progress. However, this is probably the first model where I have completed the base before the model is nowhere near complete. Here is why:

The Heldrake has several large vents for propulsion and I thought that it would be a great ideal to illuminate these. But the body of the Heldrake is too complicated to contain a battery that can be replaced, so most of the electronics are mounted on the base, in an Imperial weapon store /toolbox. Solution shown in these pics:



and with the LED shining through these orifices:



MISTAKE #1 – A single LED at the top of the stand (going into the hull) is not really enough, but the model will glow in the dark – works OK for midnight clad (?) with a glow from all it’s orifices – just don’t expect afterburners! It would have been better to mount more LEDs inside the hull linked to a loose connector with enough lead to pull out and link to the wiring from the stand, and to push it back inside.

MISTAKE #2 – Forget wiring diagrams, ignore red wiring and use black wires throughout to be less conspicuous.

MISTAKE #3 – I dripped superglue from a knife into the crease of the stand, but it didn’t hold on the plastic wiring. So I dripped in general purpose glue (Bostik) that is very stringy; it would have been better to coat the wiring and push into place rather than try to get the glue into the stand. Nail varnish remover or acetone is supposed to remove excess glue, but with limited success.

Now to press on with the talons and wings, before final assembly, and the highlighting.

[Psykic_scribe]

Nearly there - assembled, waiting on highlighting.

just a quick flash photo at this time:

[Chandrian]

Looking good Psykic_scibe! those LED's are going to look killer :P.

[Psykic_scribe]

DONE !

 

At last, the painted, assembled, and highlighted Heldrake is free to take to the night skies. 

 

The final pics are posted as part of Belthzar's Host at < link >

 

              Ave Dominus Nox.