Valkyrie assembling and painting advice

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

I'm considering buying a Valkyrie to serve as a personal transport/gun cutter for my Inquisitor and his cadre, purely as a painting and modelling project. The biggest thing I've worked on so far is my Raven Guard Whirlwind, so a Valkyrie is something of a step up.

 

So I call on you, brave defenders of humanity, to help me out. Does anyone have any links to good resources for, or personal experiences with, building and painting a Valkyrie? I'm talking basic assembly tips, magnetising the weapons and the doors, conversion ideas, painting guides - anything that'll make my Inquisitor's ride the envy of the conclave.

 

I tried the link in the AM resources thread about painting a Valkyrie but it seems to be dead, and I've not found much else of use.

[WarriorFish]

Don't glue the wings on - makes for much easier painting and they can slot in and out securely so the model is much easier to transport too. The transparent canopy should be left off also as you'd expect so you can paint the crew. Be careful when gluing near transparent plastic as it can get fogged, I use small amounts of super glue to help avoid this

 

I did a Vendetta as part of ETL II, my log of work from here might help you. I worked in modules starting with the transport section so I could paint the inside and going from there. I pretty much kept as much of the model unassembled as possible so once the main chassis is complete the nose, engines and wing parts can be left unassembled for the most part It's also a pretty easy kit to magnetise, as you only need to do the weapon mounts - the rest is easily slotted in and out :D

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Don't glue the wings on - makes for much easier painting and they can slot in and out securely so the model is much easier to transport too. The transparent canopy should be left off also as you'd expect so you can paint the crew. Be careful when gluing near transparent plastic as it can get fogged, I use small amounts of super glue to help avoid this

 

I did a Vendetta as part of ETL II, my log of work from here might help you. I worked in modules starting with the transport section so I could paint the inside and going from there. I pretty much kept as much of the model unassembled as possible so once the main chassis is complete the nose, engines and wing parts can be left unassembled for the most part It's also a pretty easy kit to magnetise, as you only need to do the weapon mounts - the rest is easily slotted in and out

 

Thanks WarriorFish. Had a quick look through your work, it's provided a lot of ideas. I'm glad it doesn't require a lot of magnetisation, I've only worked with magnets once before (on my Raven Guard Land Speeder Storm) and I'm not completely comfortable with it yet.

 

Is there a way the kit can be assembled or magnetised in such a way that you can essentially take the top or the front of the airframe off to access the rear bay? I'm planning more of a modelling project/display piece, so I want to do some conversion work on the inside, but I don't want it to all be invisible inside the rear bay.

[WarriorFish]

Hmm. That's a bit of a tricky one. I'm assuming by accessing the rear bay you mean taking the roof off?

If so I think it will be possible, but only with some effort. For example in the picture below most bits sort of "build" upon it so could be attached and removed in some way (I'd imagine magnets to ensure they're secure):

However, the supports for the tail (and what the wings slot into) go next to and over the above if I remember right. So while the upper parts could be easily attached and re-attached with magnets (e.g. engines), this makes it more complicated.

Still possible though, but you will need to get busy with magnets as you'd essentially be building the model to be mostly able to fully break apart. There may be some intricacies that make this harder, but I'm afraid this was too long ago for me to remember the finer details of the model! Perhaps someone with more recent experience can provide this for you

As mentioned, it should be possible and magnetising isn't hard - it's mostly a case of the right tools coupled with patience and diligence If all else fails, you can peer into the insides quite a bit thanks to the size of the rear ramp:

Plus there's the side doors, so perhaps it might not be necessary? I do have another Valkyrie still in the box, sadly left unloved by GW, but this has reminded me how much fun it was to paint up so maybe that needs to change (and GW be damned!)

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Thanks Frater, sounds like it'd be way too much work for someone of (lack of) skills. I'll have to make sure all the cool stuff is visible through the doors.

[WarriorFish]

No need to give up just yet - give the model a good review as you're building it and you might see it's not quite so much work. Nothing ventured nothing gained, I'd never done anything that complicated with magnets and never touched LEDs or fibre optics before I started on my Knight but that didn't stop me. It was a lot of effort yes, but it was worth it and I learned much

[Wassa]

Mines fully magnetized, I'll see if I remember to take pictures of it over the weekend :).

 

With the Valkyrie, I would say it is more of a case of magnetizing it so that it can easily be packed away and transported..

 

It is very easy to do and I think it was the first model I magnetized. 

[HallofStovokor]

The valkyrie is the most fiddly model to paint. Significant portions of the model must be painted in sub-assembly. The cabin has got quite a bit of detail and should be painted especially if you want to have the side gunners. The wings are a bit of a pain to paint. The you must paint the pilot and RIO along with the rest of the cockpit before you fully assemble it. It took me about 3 days to paint my valkyrie and I had no other side projects.

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Thanks for all the tips Fraters. I'm mostly aware of what I'm getting myself in for, having recently finished full magnetising my Land Speeder Storm so that I can dismount the Scout Squad (pics available in the Raven Guard WIP linked in my sig for those who are interested). I've seen a few videos of painting the Valkyrie in sub-assemblies, so I'm psyching myself up for that sort of work.

 

It's a great model that I've admired ever since the first Forge World one came out (which must have been 15ish years ago) and I want to do it justice.

[ScionOfCorlesia]

Like mentioned above, don't glue the wings on. They slot in very tightly so you wont even need magnets, I picked up a second hand Valkyrie whose wings had been glued on and it's so much more awkward to transport. I'd also make sure your pilots are inplace before fully gluing up the cockpit. I tend to paint and glue my stuff in bits, and I've ended up with only one pilot now as my second wouldn't fit in his chair.

[WarriorFish]

Snapped a picture of my Vendetta as conveniently it suffered some damage and is awaiting repair - no top part on the side at all :) Just need to remember that it also holds the doors in, so you don't lose them. Should be relatively plain sailing to have your detachable roof :)

The dust just shows how long it has been waiting... :P

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

So theoretically if the tail boom, wings and engines were all magnetised or push-fitted then the roof of the rear bay should be removable?

[WarriorFish]

Indeed. You might need to review the strength of the roofless bay assembly to make sure it's sturdy enough without the roof on but this should be fine or resolved easily enough.

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Indeed. You might need to review the strength of the roofless bay assembly to make sure it's sturdy enough without the roof on but this should be fine or resolved easily enough.

 

I was thinking I would have to do this anyway, either with additional glued joints or more magnets.

 

Thanks for all your advice WarriorFish, I knew the Guard wouldn't let me down!

[duz_]

Good luck GDF! This should be a breeze after your LSS effort :tu:

 

Magnetising the nose weapons is pretty easy put some sprue in the fuselage casing for a magnet to sit on and your done

 

Wing weapons slightly tricker

I'd recommend square/rectangular magnets given how the mounts are designed

Having the rear compartment is going to be an under taking curious to see how it turns out!

 

Or you just just cheat and magnetise the rear door so it can open and close :lol:

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Good luck GDF! This should be a breeze after your LSS effort

 

Magnetising the nose weapons is pretty easy put some sprue in the fuselage casing for a magnet to sit on and your done

 

Wing weapons slightly tricker

I'd recommend square/rectangular magnets given how the mounts are designed

Having the rear compartment is going to be an under taking curious to see how it turns out!

 

Or you just just cheat and magnetise the rear door so it can open and close

 

Sounds like it's going be much more work than my LSS!

 

Thanks for the tip on the wing weapons, I'll see what magnets I can find.

[WarriorFish]

There's details on the magnetising in my WIP that might help, I'd also recommend rectangular magnets in the wing weapon mounts if you can as that will be easier to do and have a strong connection :tu:

[Wassa]

Travel/Storage Mode:

 

Battle Mode:

 

 

The main thing I regret is sticking the flying stand onto the flying base, as it makes it an awkward shape to transport!

 

I didn't bother magnetising the tail. I didn't think it would work well and would mean the doors are extra pieces as they're meant to slide freely but are trapped by the tail. I instead made the front part detachable which I think really helps.

 

 

One day I shall finish painting it!

[golfdeltafoxtrot]

Thanks Wassa, and that camo job is amazing!