Plastic Thunderhawk Gunship

[Brother Christopher]

Thanks for the reassurance! The damage/chipping/weathering will be the final step, once I get the whole thing assembled and painted to more-or-less the level in the previous photos.

 

I think I might've gotten a bit overzealous yesterday and made my life - again - slightly more difficult. I 'installed' the rear landing gear without finishing some of the details on the underside so now, I'll have to watch out for the 'prongs' while handling the model.  But I count it as something positive, I'd even dare to say passion-driven :D

 

If time permits, I should finish the bottom plate today and glue it on. That'll leave me with some minor plasticard work (gap-filling and greebling).

 

As you can see, the original model has a 'frame' or 'skirting' (I don't really know how to call it) along the edges of the bottom that I still need to recreate and will cleverly use to hide some of the misfits (yeah, it would've been more clever to avoid these issues in the first place).

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I'll echo what @TheArtilleryman said.  

 

I think it's one of those things where taping the surface to get a crisp line for the stripe probably won't work? (I'm thinking of Tamiya's modelling tape)

[MetalFingers]

This hasbeen an insane log to catch up on, incredible build!!!

[Brother Christopher]

  On 3/5/2025 at 12:19 PM, Firedrake Cordova said:

I think it's one of those things where taping the surface to get a crisp line for the stripe probably won't work? (I'm thinking of Tamiya's modelling tape)

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I've already tried some masking tape but it was a bit problematic since sometimes the paint got under it and other times the glue ripped bits of paint. I'm postponing the decision till I get more done. Right now, it isn't bad. I think that my mistake was to attempt to paint a brighter grey line along the edges to set it off from the black; while the stripe is quite okay, the line is more way more messy.

 

  On 3/5/2025 at 2:25 PM, MetalFingers said:

This hasbeen an insane log to catch up on, incredible build!!!

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Thanks for your time! I'm glad you liked the build!

 

***

So, in terms of progress, painting has stopped and I got back to finishing the fuselage, i.e. adding missing details, dealing with the remaining gaps and trying to refine/fix some of my previous mistakes. Surprisingly, the process takes longer than I expected and is a bit draining and annoying. Unsurprisingly, while doing it I'm messing the paintjob up. 

 

The extremely good news is that the landing gear is sturdy enough to support the weight of the model. That was one of my two biggest concerns, the other being the connection between the front and back sections of the craft. Since I built the cargo bay all those years ago and it's a hollow construction, I couldn't find a way to properly reinforce it. Luckily the reinforcement/support structures I've added seem to be enough - the entire thing appears to be sturdy.

 

I'll post photos after I finish this stage of plasticard work, hopefully today or tomorrow. The next stage is to paint and attach the tail.

[Grotsmasha]

  On 3/11/2025 at 9:23 AM, Brother Christopher said:

I've already tried some masking tape but it was a bit problematic since sometimes the paint got under it and other times the glue ripped bits of paint.

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To prevent the paint seeping under the tape, paint the original colour over the tape first, this will seep under the tape, then do desired colour, leaving the top coat with crisp lines

[Sir Clausel]

  On 3/11/2025 at 9:49 AM, Grotsmasha said:

To prevent the paint seeping under the tape, paint the original colour over the tape first, this will seep under the tape, then do desired colour, leaving the top coat with crisp lines

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Why have i never thought of this before?! Genius!

[Brother Christopher]

@Grotsmasha That's what I tried but it didn't always work out. I suppose it might have something to do with the fact that this is a scratch built model and the plasticard, well, was exposed to different kinds of treatment - maybe there is the very slight unevenness that somehow affected how the tape adhered. For example, I noticed that I had more problems with sections of the model where the top layer was a 0.25 mm layer of plasticard glued on top of the main model. I don't remember having similar issues when doing stripes on GW's original kits.

 

Regardless, thanks for the advice!

 

Here are the promised photos of the updates and fixes. I figured that this is the best moment to post them since they're still white and it makes it clear what I added.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the white balance, which is all over the place, in the photos. I used auto settings without giving it much thought and, well, now I see that it struggled. Then again, these should do as WIP shots.

[Dr_Ruminahui]

Looks great!

 

In regards to tape that doesn't remove your paint job, I find painters tape works better - its typically green in colour and available at home improvement type stores like Home Depot and the like.  That said, I too have had problems with the paint seeping to where I don't want it, so generally find it easier to use the painter's tape and a pencil to draw the line, then paint carefully up to it.  That's how I did the straight lines on the top of my maulerfiends, for example.

[Brother Carpenter]

It is a thing of beauty.

Unmatched ZEAL

 

I've had problems with paint adherence when plasticard / resin model was not degreased enough.

 

Maybe that's your issue.

[Brother Christopher]

More progress! I'm very, very close to finishing the main part of the fuselage. The feet and tail are mostly done and ready for assembly; I've also started painting the front wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm very much tempted to add more to the paint scheme - maybe more patterns or colours or more grey stripes, bits and bobs... but I'm doing my best to keep the vehicle relatively plain - even though the model is very special to me, in-universe, it's supposed to be a workhorse landing craft.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I like the liturgy text and crests you've added

[Brother Christopher]

I have to vent, but just a bit. Hobby life is very frustrating of late since I have limited time for things 40K-related. With the limited time (hour- and minute-wise), I feel that painting this model takes way too much time. Having said that, I finished another important stage; I declare that I painted the 'main part of the fuselage' (whatever that is).

 

I just need to glue the canopy on and everything that isn't white is deemed as painted (minus weathering/battle damage that I intend to add after painting and assembling the whole thing).

 

Here's a close-up of the ornamental stripe that I couldn't help myself adding:

 

And the rear:

[Firedrake Cordova]

That Thunderhawk really is an impressive bit of work

[Rusted Boltgun]

It may be taking a lot of time and effort but, boy, is it worth it! 

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you, brothers! Overall, I give the experience an 8/10. At the same time, I'm quite certain that it's a one-in-a-lifetime thing. While having a model as ambitious as this will surely feel great, the scope of the project is way too large for my liking. Also, working on a model this large is a bit annoying - handling it is a bit difficult/unwieldy and requires extra caution. To be honest, despite me being careful, I damaged the rear landing gear - I think that I nudged the prongs and damaged the glue. It should be fine, however, since gravity works to my advantage.

 

I'm quite looking forward to finishing it since - if I'm not mistaken - I shouldn't have to do any more annoying assemblies - just painting.

 

As always, thank you for the support. I also hope to have more forum-time once I'm done with this model. I feel I've been neglecting others' threads lately with my laser focus on this thing.

[W.A.Rorie]

Gorgeous 

[Brother Carpenter]

What a stunning piece of work it is (evolving into).

 

Really inspirational.

 

Hope you finish it soon. Relly loving the band of decorations.

[Brother Christopher]

Thank you for the unyielding support!

 

I feel I'm very near to finishing the wings. Base coating and edge highlighting were unexpectedly draining but now somehow things start to go smoother. I wanted to wait with posting photos till the moment the wings are properly done but I figured I'd ask impartial third parties about one thing.

 

I was feeling frisky and decided, against my better judgment, to try something new, i.e., some jet nozzle heat discolouration effect. I figured that it should be a reasonable way of adding some vibrancy/colour to the otherwise drab model, as well as have some fun while experimenting. After doing a quick Google search on how people go about doing similar heat effects, I bastardised whatever I read and saw and ended up with this:

 

 

 

I will admit: I'm extremely happy with how it turned out. Not to brag, but I think that this is a nice first try, at least insofar as the transition and texture goes.

 

Now here are my questions

1. Leave the effect or redo the nozzles so that they are plain, sepia-stained silver (this is what I did for the other flyers)? 

2. If I were to leave them, do you think that the effect should extend further towards the front? I thought that the "moving" parts (I imagine that the rectangular sections are flaps) were the natural place to stop but looking at the painted piece, I'm not so sure.

[Firedrake Cordova]

You're right to be happy - it looks like it came out great.  

 

  On 4/16/2025 at 3:01 PM, Brother Christopher said:

redo the nozzles so that they are plain, sepia-stained silver (this is what I did for the other flyers)? 

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A quick Google Image search seems to suggests this is the "more realistic" colouration (although it's probably the more visually boring one, too). I can highly recommend Vallejo Metal Color Jet Exhaust as a semi-matt brown-silver (example via Google).

Edited Wednesday at 03:50 PM by Firedrake Cordova

[bloodhound23]

Really nice transitions on the heat burn.

 

We're getting close!

[W.A.Rorie]

Awesome!

[Tallarn Commander]

Wonderful heat effects. I'd say leave 'em as is.

 

How did you achieve the nifty yellowish color in the heat effects?

[StratoKhan]

Absolutely gorgeous work there on that wing! 

[phandaal]

Gotta say, you always knock it out of the park with the black armor. Looks like everything you paint would look awesome and show up in great detail on the tabletop! Looking forward to seeing how this latest one turns out.

[Brother Christopher]

Oh, my! Thank you for all the great feedback ;) I'm stoked that you also like it.

 

  On 4/16/2025 at 4:19 PM, Tallarn Commander said:

How did you achieve the nifty yellowish color in the heat effects?

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To be honest, I'm not entirely sure - I kinda winged it. The base was a dark silver (gunmetal) followed by light silver drybrush. Then I applied some sepia wash (Army Painter Strong Tone) and moved forward with the purples, blues and blacks. As for the yellowish colour, I applied a very watered-down regular yellow paint (Yriel Yellow) but I can't tell you anything more specific since I kept watering it down till it felt right. Unfortunately I don't know what the ratio is.

 

But all in all, the yellowish colour is just a super-transparent, glaze-like coat of yellow... which turned out super cool.

 

  On 4/16/2025 at 5:47 PM, phandaal said:

Gotta say, you always knock it out of the park with the black armor. Looks like everything you paint would look awesome and show up in great detail on the tabletop! Looking forward to seeing how this latest one turns out.

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Thanks a lot. I must say that this time, the photo worked in my favour - the lighting was right. In reality, the black isn't as good/smooth and I hope for a coat of varnish to help with that. But regardless, I have my "Templar standard" that I'm trying to keep.