Recaf and Medals: Beaky's Imperial Air Wing

[Ahistorian]

Lovely work! Did you ever finish the sea bases?

[Beaky Brigade]

Lovely work! Did you ever finish the sea bases?

Thanks! I'm afraid I've parked the aircraft in the hangar since COVID hit the UK and killed any chances of getting games in for the time being. Some people have used the time at home to catch up on the painting backlog but I've gone the opposite way and had a break. I hope to return to the skies eventually though!

 

 

Edited July 31, 2020 by Beaky Brigade

[Ahistorian]

I look forward to it!

[Beaky Brigade]

No sea bases as of yet, but I have started assembling some of my unbuilt ground targets and ground defences. Having completed a competition size force earlier this year I'm now enjoying the new pleasure of being able to add extra models at my leisure without it being a requirement to play a game :)

Unfortunately I ended up getting distracted by macro-scale DIY projects the last few weeks for some bizzare reason, but with the local gaming club tentatively re-opening soon its time to Scramble Scramble Scramble!

The smaller FW Titanicus scenery seemed like a way to add some cheap portable ground targets to my game so I bought those up a while ago. The precautions required to work with resin always make it a chore for me but I found the time to clean up the undersides and add some simulated cracking and chipping to the concrete - I felt that even allowing for the smaller scale the concrete bits looked too much like a 'Jelly Mould ' without the damage.

They say the key to art is hiding how it's done, while I wouldn't call this that, hiding how the battle damage was cut or painted is the key to making it seem real. You need to use multiple tools and techniques so it's hard to see how it was done. For example attack the model with a scalpel, dent the cut with a blunt tool, and then sand the result.

[MithrilForge]

Awesome ...but we need to see you attack it again but with paint  ... looking good so far bud!! what size are they?, can we see a plane next to a piece next time you post em up ?..

 

Cheers, Mithril

[Beaky Brigade]

Your wish is my command @mithrilforge! They are quite small, or rather the Thunderbolt is quite big! They fit nicely into the hexes which is the important thing for gameplay.

I've spent the time since the last update consolidating (selling) some of my unbuilt collection of 40k minis and bits to raise a bit of money for the consumables for projects I'm actually interested atm and to reduce the anxiety of having more minis than I could ever paint. I feel this clear out has been a real success as some of the ideas were nearly 10 years old now and just emotional baggage if nothing else.

While I'm not yet sold on Primaris marines I feel they have made mini marines aesthetically obsolete, and not having any finished ones to be attached to I have cleared out all but a few Firstborn marine kits (don't worry I kept my Beaky helms for when the time comes ).

I got tempted by lots of kill team ideas (which may yet see the light of day!), but eventually the siren song of an AI Match with my regular opponent vectored me back on course. Unfortunately nothing seems to work as well as the self inflicted angst of a deadline (having some time off work helps too!).

It hasn't been a great year for actually playing Tabletop games in person, for fairly obvious reasons.

We played one game at a very safely distanced venue a month or so ago but I found it a bit tricky with my glasses steaming up with a mask and generally I wasn't well prepared ( Mission one an Imperial Victory in the Dogfight, Mission two was an Imperial Rout as the Orks came in for a bombing run, no pictures ).

This time I have a better mask and we're going to play 250 points 'Garrison Relief' using the Rynn's world historical rules for the 'Assault on Scar Lake' which turns it into an Imperial evacuation. On turn 7+ the Imperial AA guns switch to Ork control and the Imperials take damage if they land as the Orks swarm into the base. There may also be some old school Epic Ork ground forces decorating the Area of Engagement . I'm lucky to play with someone who values the narrative possibilities of the game! I'll defo take pictures.

Naturally I thought it would be a good opportunity to finish my AA guns and buildings, as well as building the recently purchased Arvus Lighters. A bit too ambitious really with the details of the game decided only a week or so in advance, but I will get the buildings in base colours at least. I feel less guilty about unpainted minis when I already have 200+ points of painted stuff. It will be great to plonk it all down.

My desire to build the Arvus' in sub assemblies using what I learned from the other aircraft means I can't get them done in time without compromising on quality, so if I do run them they will be unpainted. I'm also not sure whether to stick with what works with desert tan or paint them black like 'Little Bird' helicopters.

The model has wonderful crisp detail hampered by the usual FW minor issues that aren't quite bad enough to demand replacements. I expected a bit better given it's only a few months since release. If you want some I would buy them now before the moulds get totally knackered!

The controversial 3d printing artefacts were visible all over the model. Personally I feel my generous undercoating and layers of paint will mean this isn't an issue when painted, but perhaps it will show up if you are doing a competition standard thin coat. I am pleased that they give you the option for an open tail ramp, though there is no actual interior detail to see, with a solid inside no one is climbing in except Wile E Coyote. I'll give the Arvus a more thorough review in the next update.

I remembered why I put off doing the Manticore Missiles, they need to be pinned if you want to paint them as sub assemblies as the contact points for the missiles on the rails are tiny! 0.5mm wire and drill bits do a great job.

I feel like this was under designed to some extent. Having realistic contact points instead of a big slot to attach the missiles to the rails means you can easily model them with fired missiles and launching etc, but it makes it too fiddly IMO. It seems this model won't come back now so it's pretty moot. I over drilled some parts so they now need fixing

Over lockdown I've decided life is a little short and the sea bases are too tricky for the whole Squadron using the green stuff impression method I was intending.

There is a lot of work to make the sculpting work around the holes for altitude and speed, not to mention panting. The hex bases are a very small canvas for the forced perspective idea and they also don't really work with the name plates I ordered and my pragmatic habit for using a D6 for altitude.

I think I'm going to paint them like the 1st edition AI bases in plain old black and white. The sea idea could eventually return as a display board though...

More updates soon!

Edited October 20, 2020 by Beaky Brigade

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looking like some good progress there!

 

The controversial 3d printing artefacts were visible all over the model. Personally I feel my generous undercoating and layers of paint will mean this isn't an issue when painted, but perhaps it will show up if you are doing a competition standard thin coat. 

Any chance you could elaborate?  I can't see anything obvious in the images (to be honest, it's really disappointing to read - my only experience with 3D printing was with an industrial UV-laser unit [printing bones!] over a decade ago, which produced perfect output - better than the modern domestic units some of my colleagues have)

Edited October 21, 2020 by Firedrake Cordova

[Beaky Brigade]

So to explain in more detail, the models are still traditionally produced by resin casting using silicone moulds. FW now design models almost exclusively digitally (No idea if people like Simon Eagon still get to use putty for their figures) and use 3D printing to produce the prototypes and master models for moulding.

The 'controversy' arose on the AI Facebook (!) when some people got their Lighters, they complained of visible 3d print lines on the models. Other people claimed to have gotten perfect casts which only added to the mystery. Some people got pretty upset about it and received replacements with the same problem. The whole thing made me a bit wary about buying the models.

There was a tinfoil hat theory that there were two sets of moulds, with one master where the print lines hadn't been cleaned up properly, so it was pot luck if you got good casts.

Personally I think there is probably just one master and variables of the production process and the individual customer's own eye of detail can exacerbate the problem (some people don't bother with mould line clean up after all), but I have no insight into how commercial resin casting is done.

The wing is the most obvious but it occurs on some of the hull too. I found it very hard to photograph effectively. Personally I think this will fill in nicely with a good undercoat, I'm only sharing my experience to add some more anecdotal experience to the debate rather than complaining.

[Firedrake Cordova]

Thanks for the explanation - makes sense.   I'm unsurprised that they're using 3D printing to make the master for the mould, although I'd have thought that an industrial-quality 3D printer (or similar) wouldn't have produced artefacts - there again, it looks very minor in your image. :D

Edited October 21, 2020 by Firedrake Cordova

[Beaky Brigade]

I thought it would be cool to have somewhere for the transports to land and pick up the ground forces in the upcoming game. The hex board sort of makes larger terrain pieces a bit awkward, so I decided to take on the very minor challenge.

Basically it's a raised landing pad with the supports not exceeding one hex in size. This allows you to place aircraft in the adjacent hexes without moving the pad. The stairs get in the way of one extra hex but in the event of that happening you can simply rotate the pad slightly. I would have preferred a trap door in the pad approach, but I didn't want it to be ladder access only, and had to make do with the materials I had to hand today.

I used layers of 1mm plasticard and tiled plasticard cut with a circle scriber. the legs are corks. Just about time tomorrow to give it a grey weathered paintjob and maybe get an eagle transfer in the middle :D

If I had more of a time budget I would have redesigned it with an angular shaped pad as it looks more imperial and aggressive, and also come up with something else for foot access, but perhaps next time. It was just a bit of fun to free build with plasticard and not worry about measuring that much.

[duz_]

That's really nice work! Looks great :tu:

[Beaky Brigade]

Thanks Duz!

Landing pad Eight Alpha complete. Just used dry brushing, washes and a bit of hastily layered white. The transfers are a combination of the IG tank sheet and the AI Thunderbolt sheet.

No sooner was the paint dry and it was attacked by marauding Orks. More to follow...

[duz_]

Any one else make "pew pew pew" sounds when they saw the second picture? :lol:

 

Hope you showed the orks what's for

 

 

Paint job really finishes it off :tu:

[Master Commander Ajax]

Really enjoyed reading through this thread, excellent paint jobs too. I’m trying to paint my own AI kits at the moment and am struggling with the windows. Is there any chance you remember how you painted the window on the Marauder in the picture below? It looks more effective than anything I’ve been able to achieve!

 

http://bolterandchainsword.com/uploads/gallery/album_11755/gallery_92870_11755_653897.jpg

[Beaky Brigade]

Really enjoyed reading through this thread, excellent paint jobs too. I’m trying to paint my own AI kits at the moment and am struggling with the windows. Is there any chance you remember how you painted the window on the Marauder in the picture below? It looks more effective than anything I’ve been able to achieve!

 

http://bolterandchainsword.com/uploads/gallery/album_11755/gallery_92870_11755_653897.jpg

I'm glad you enjoyed the thread @Master Commander Ajax!

 

I'm happy to share my 'secret recipe', luckily I wrote everything down. It's been fun to think about this, taking me back to the pre pandemic hectic painting times!

 

I'm really a technician rather than an artist when it comes to painting so I wanted something simple that looked reasonable. Finding I was too lazy to do the hand highlighted reflections well, I experimented with washes and the GW gem paints.

 

The gem paints weren't quite right but luckily the washes worked. You just need a shiny silver, Drakenhof Nightshade and Lahmian medium (or non GW acrylic artists medium).

 

This method should work with any of the Imperial aircraft with flat glass in bulky frames. I haven't tried it on bubble cockpits.

 

 

1) Paint the window frames (and probably the rest of the model) first. You don't want to accidentally paint over the glass when you've got it just right. It's easier to touch up the frames than the glass effect, so this is best left towards the end of the paint job.

 

2) Using a fine detail brush paint 2/3 thin coats of Stormhost Silver or your shiniest alternative silver paint over a dark basecoat until you have a very smooth and shiny surface on each pane.

 

It's most important to get the centre of the panes shiny, the transition between the frame and the glass can be left imperfect as it will be hidden by the way the wash pools. Try not to paint on any dried 'bit's' of paint that would make the glass lumpy. It can help to wipe the brush on a paper towel or finger nail before applying it to the model.

3) Carefully touch up the frames if you've gone over (can be left until the end)

 

4) Mix up a solution of 66% Lahmium Medium (or Acrylic Medium) and 33% Drakenhof Nightshade.

 

I made a whole batch which I put in an empty pot to save doing it by eye, but you may want to hand mix a small amount with a test model in case this method does not work out for you, to avoid wastage.

 

I used a pipette with ml markings but I'm not sure how exact you need to be really. 2/1 was just a convenient ratio and it worked, and that can be done by eye.

 

5) Orient the model so the pane you are painting is flat on the horizontal plane. This will stop the wash flowing out all over your model! I had the aircraft on the flight stands for this. This is very easy with the top pane, just have the model flying straight and level.

 

For the other panes you will have to do aerobatics! I tried various things including tilting the base on wedges and sticking the base to the side of something to do the side windows. You may have an better solution but whatever you do make sure the aircraft is secure!

 

6) Get a good amount of wash on a slightly larger brush and then carefully flood the pane you are painting with wash. The exact amount is more art than science. you don't want it overflowing, but you don't want too little either. While it will pool in the recesses as it dries it should be relatively evenly spread across the glass to start with. I haven't got a photo but it should look light in the middle and dark at the edges. Larger windows need more wash than small windows.

 

It's probably best to experiment on a test model first.

 

If you put too much on you can soak up the excess with another brush.

 

7) Patiently wait for it to dry! I used a USB fan because I had one lying around (don't blow the wash out!). You can always paint another aircraft assembly line style while you are waiting.

 

8) After it's dry, check you are happy with the result, if you are you can (extremely carefully!) touch up the frames if the tide mark bothers you. If you have black frames this probably isn't needed. It's not 100% perfect on my marauders but the eye is drawn to the pane not the frame edge if you've done it right.

 

 

Troubleshooting:

• Too dark because you put too much on? Don't worry, you can fix it. Repaint the silver in the centre where it's already looking the lightest (don't need to go to the edges), and then apply another wash over the top, using a very modest amount of wash.
• Not enough on? Try applying another thin coat of wash
• Aaahhh the wash is leaking out! Have a wet brush on standby to mop any mess.
• Consistency: It will take some practice to get it right, and not every aircraft will look exactly the same. This is ok as it's meant to be a reflection so it could vary.

 

 

Thunderbolts:

 

I built my Thunderbolts using a very minimal amount of glue and a careful light spay coat. The cockpits are two piece so if there isn't a lot of paint there can end up being a tiny gap between the frames and port and starboard side panes. If you've built a thunderbolt you'll understand how that goes together.

 

I found that my wash was vanishing without a trace on the side glass of 2 of the 6 models, almost as if there was some sort of magic reservoir slurping it up by capillary action! It definitely hadn't spilled out.

 

It was quite frustrating and I almost gave up on the method due to this.

 

I think the pre-emptive solution would be to get a good amount of basecoat around the 'crack' to fill it in, or even address it at the build stage with filler. I was worried if I kept adding more wash I would fill the fuselage!

 

What I found worked was leaving it to dry when this happened and this seemed to fill in the crack it was draining into. Ultimately you just need to be a bit brave about it if it happens. I didn't have this problem with The Marauders, but I had carefully filled the turret join.

 

I hope that works as a method! Feel free to post your results here if you end up using it.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2020 by Beaky Brigade

[Beaky Brigade]

My first post lockdown game: Imperial Navy vs Orks 150pts

Mission: The Straggler (Orks defending)
Special Rules: Low level flight

Special guest: The mighty Mega Bomma!

Unfortunately it was obliterated after 4 or 5 turns, and one Ork Dakkajet managed to disengage, with the loss of 2 thunderbolts, and 4 thunderbolts and 1 Marauder Destroyer damaged.

It wasn't that easy to kill the Mega Bomma, I did get two turns of all my aircraft firing everything at medium range, so it did require a lot of overkill and gave as good as it got.

I would say we should have increased the speed of the straggler aircraft to 3 because this was a larger board, and also that low level flight disadvantaged the defender, because there was no altitude to hide in.


I'm glad support is still ongoing for the game, and I hope to get some more games in and finish some more stuff!

Edited May 30, 2021 by Beaky Brigade

[duz_]

Those tiny buildings are great! Are they for / from AT?

[Beaky Brigade]

Those tiny buildings are great! Are they for / from AT?

Yeah they are designed for AT, my opponent is building up a Titan Legio. I'm not sure what brand they are but I can see some very similar stuff on eBay.

[Beaky Brigade]

I've finished my 28mm projects for the time being, AI is back on the menu boys!

I've pledged to complete these ground assets for the 12 Months of Hobby Challenge, though I hope it won't take me all month.

I was very kindly given the Titanicus command assets for free by my AI opponent. The seem to be a bit more abstract scale than the AI assets or Forge World terrain so I think I will paint them a different colour and use them as targets rather than AA guns.


It did make me think about forced perspective (the idea of smaller scale terrain making the aircraft appear to be flying higher) so I've ordered some 2mm scale terrain (I believe that current AI and AT is considered about 8mm?) to decorate the bases of my aircraft. I won't go with the original sea idea but hopefully this will still look better than grey plastic.

More on this story as we have it folks!

PS

In other AI news I've finally decided it's time to do a second touch up pass on the aircraft I've finished, and add the missing missiles and bombs. I've done some experiments with Tamiya TS-80 Matt varnish and I'm happy with how that came out on my finished ground assets, so all the aircraft will eventually get a coat.

Edited June 5, 2021 by Beaky Brigade

[Beaky Brigade]

WIP on the generators and the bunker entrance.

Very satisfying and forgiving to paint. I like how the dirty grey has come out, and I might do something like that (less corroded) for the Arvus Lighters or other aircraft I finish.

Edited June 6, 2021 by Beaky Brigade

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks great! :)

[Mandragola]

Very nice terrain. Now you just need some titans to stomp on it!

[Beaky Brigade]

Finally finished the ground asset set, just awaiting an order of Tamiya spray varnish to finish completely. I'm really glad I pinned the Manticore missiles and did sub assemblies, but it only made it marginally easier to build and paint. I think I'm going to run the missile silos as proxie a Manticore vertical launch variant if I need more than two. My theme idea is to have military assets in desert colours with generic targets in grey or other appropriate colours.

Next up.... Possibly a bigger building?

Edited June 21, 2021 by Beaky Brigade

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looking really good :)

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Good job.