Paint or Die

[Dosjetka]

In an attempt to get miniatures (and terrain!) assembled, painted, and onto the table here's what will hopefully be one big thread with lots of different stuff in it. First post will be largely empty until I fill it up with a table of contents.

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to have a look and don't hesitate to share your thoughts and suggestions!

 

---

 

Table of contents:

 

Shattered Skies, Part 1 - Dosjetka delves into Aeronautica Imperialis with the Imperial Navy (p.1)

[Dosjetka]

Shattered Skies, Part 1

I haven’t been in the hobby long enough to have played the original version of Aeronautica Imperialis, so when I saw the first teasers I was intrigued. At least a few dozen hours of my childhood were spent poring over books on combat aircraft of the past and I especially liked the sections on WW2 combat aircraft. Fast forward a few months and here I am with the Wings of Vengeance starter set added to my collection and my first aircraft, a Thunderbolt heavy fighter, painted!



Informally known within the squadron as “Old Codger” this aircraft is operated by Pilot Officer (PO) Alyssa Gundenberg and is the standard Thunderbolt variant armed with two nose-mounted lascannons, two nose-mounted twin autocannons, and four wing-mounted Skystrike missiles. Its role therefore is air superiority and its task to keep the skies clear for the heavier Marauder Bombers and Destroyers to fulfil their respective missions.



This side shot shows how to identify the aircraft’s unit:

• the tail “X” indicates its squadron, the 10^th, also known as “Buzzard” Squadron;
• the light blue stripe indicates its flight, the 4^th in this squadron;
• the number superimposed on the coloured stripe indicates the aircraft’s number within the flight, in this case it is the third fighter.

“Buzzard” Squadron is part of the 1985^th Fighter Wing of the Imperial Navy, a part of Battlefleet Morxephon which is posted out on the Eastern Fringe.



Since this aircraft, and by extension squadron, is tasked with escorting bombers to their target and then (hopefully) back to base, they will be flying at relatively low altitudes. With that in mind I decided to give the plane both ground (when viewed from above) and aerial camo (when viewed from below). I was inspired by the scheme that @brush_and_sword used on their Marauder Bomber; I can now confirm the scheme also looks good on smaller aircraft and am very pleased with the result!



The bases are quite detailed, so I decided to paint mine instead of leaving them blank. Again, I was inspired by a fellow hobbyist on Instagram going by the handle of @amoebabait. The idea was to go for a radar/scanner theme on the front of the base while the speed and altitude dials on the back were painted in sufficiently bright colours to draw attention to them and allow for an easier time differentiating the two.

Now, before I moved onto painting an Ork aircraft to settle on the scheme, I wanted to give some more thought to how my Imperial Navy squadron and the flights/aircraft within were going to operate and arm themselves. The 10^th Squadron will contain both fighters and bombers (with a wing or two of scout aircraft whenever those are released) so I had to keep in mind which role each flight would have within the squadron and each aircraft would have within its flight. I used this handy little chart taken from p.6 of the 7^th Edition Warhammer 40’000 Death from the Skies expansion to create my own squadrons.



4^th Flight, the one “Old Codger” and PO Gundenberg are assigned to, is made up of four Thunderbolt heavy fighters, one of which is the Fury variant (aircraft #2). Its current role is to keep the skies clear of enemy aircraft and is therefore additionally and exclusively equipped with air-to-air Skystrike missiles.
10^th Squadron will be exclusively comprised of Thunderbolts with flights having distinct roles. The other aircraft in my force will be sourced from other units such as 2^nd “Krakatoa” Squadron, 358^th Bomber Wing for the Marauder Bombers and Destroyers.

Right, now that’s done I can move on to other aircraft! I will most likely start putting paint onto the first of three Ork DakkaJets to settle on the scheme I want for them.

Fly high, brothers and sisters!

[Xin Ceithan]

Good start.

I like the camo in the Thunderbolt and the accompanying fluff, too. As another guy ruining his eyes leafing through aircraft books in his childhood, really love the attention to such things as squad markings and such.

 

The bases really lend themselves to that sort of painting. Well executed.

 

Open skies!

[Son of Sacrifice]

Nice work there, I love the dual camo scheme.

[noigrim]

I like the radar screen

[jaxom]

The paint work on the base is so smooth I didn't realize it was a painted addition until you mentioned it.

[Marshal Rohr]

Great schemes and the lore is very strong. The find from death from the skies is equally impressive, as I hadn’t seen any descriptions of sub-units in the Navy before. The choice of camo for low altitude escorts is very striking while retaining a solidly realistic feel. Also, I really dig Krakatoa for the bombs. It has a suitable gravitas for the big boys.

[Soldier of Dorn]

Wonderful, brother! It's been far too long since we've talked, but I'm glad to see your prodigious painting talents applied to Aeronautica -- a game which has seized my interest firmly with both hands and not yet seen fit to let go. The Thunderbolt so far looks lovely, but that base! That base is, by far, my favorite that I've seen anyone do so far. I'm absolutely in love with it.

[sockwithaticket]

Good camo work indeed.