thewarriorhunter takes to the sky!

[thewarriorhunter]

Greetings fellow pilots of tiny planes! After staring longingly through the window since AI's release I finally picked up the Wings of Vengeance box. It was going for a how-could-I-refuse-this-price so I picked it up. Finished building the planes last night and played through a solo teaching turn to get the basics down. I really like movement. At first I thought it would be pretty basic and inferior to X-Wing but that was completely wrong. I love how the speed lets you adjust how far you move in what segment of the Ace maneuver. This gives a lot of choices and means you'll really have to think about what you're doing.

 

I've already realized that the Ace cards are probably a 'must' in order to make the game play more quickly. I'll be scouring secondary markets for them in the hopes that I can pick up the cards. I ordered the Ork Dice and am hunting for the Imperial Navy dice. I'll eventually pick up Skies of Fire because I can tell this is going to be a fun game, and I really like the look of the Tau fliers.

 

No idea on color schemes yet but I'm thinking the Orks will be really wild and garish. The Imperial fliers will be more military looking but I'll probably take some liberty with squad markings. I wish the transfer sheet had kill count transfers so I'll probably pick up something used for scale models and add those as games are played.

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

I've already realized that the Ace cards are probably a 'must' in order to make the game play more quickly. I'll be scouring secondary markets for them in the hopes that I can pick up the cards.

It's entirely possible to knock up a roster in Excel/LibreOffice Calc (or similar) with boxes you can colour in/strike through for hit points, ammo, etc.

 

No idea on color schemes yet but I'm thinking the Orks will be really wild and garish. 

I think the options are black (Goff), or "the colours, they hurt my eyes" ...

 

The Imperial fliers will be more military looking but I'll probably take some liberty with squad markings. 

I'm sure you have ideas already, but the Vallejo Air War sets are a good starting point for inspiration.

[thewarriorhunter]

Meetings meetings meetings! Had a break and decided priming my planes would be a good idea since it would get me away from my desk and get me outside for a bit. I have a few things ahead of these on my paint deck but hopefully I can get to them in a week or so.

 

[Dosjetka]

Any progress on your planes? :)

[thewarriorhunter]

No, lol. They are in the hangar awaiting paint. I finished up a Blitz Bowl team, wanted to get my Eradicators painted up for a game, and have a bunch of models that needed decals and then sealing. I just got my varnish yesterday so I can start sealing all of them and after the Eradicators I plan on working on the planes.

 

Hobby ADD is strong with me and I tend to have multiple things going at once. I have a try of that I keep WIP stuff on and it was getting full. After wrapping up a few of these loose hobby ends I'll get going on the planes. Probably just work on one faction first but am still not sure about colors.

[thewarriorhunter]

I got a lot of my backlog cleared up this weekend. Got a varnish that I can shoot through my airbrush and sealed about 40 models, including the Eradicators and a couple bases that needed to be redone.

 

Next paint session I have I'll be working on my Thunderbolts. After looking at my paints I thought a light blue/grey base would be cool and I'll throw some red stripes on it. You can see my plans with my very excellent mobile markup skills:

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Was able to get the air brushing portion of the under coat done. Tried to 'pre-highlight' the areas I want to be brighter. I'd love to push the shadows more but I don't think my 105 will spray as small a line as I want, nore do I think my hand is steady enough. I also did one base layer on the underside so I'm not spraying right onto black.

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Progress begets progress. During some meetings today at work I was able to get the pin/recess washing done and tonight I dry brushed the final highlight for the undercoating. These four are ready for paint! I'll do the Thunderbolts first to see how things go. I'm not sure how I want to paint the Marauders yet but I know they'll have a different scheme.

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Was able to get the airbrush out tonight so I got the base coats down on the Thunderbolts and Marauders. I think the Marauders will have black trim.

 

 

[thewarriorhunter]

Slowly getting there. Going for black metal on the engines since I think steel/silver would not show up and think a bronze/gold would clash.

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Looks like you're off to a good start! :)

 

If you're looking for darker metallics for the engine, I can highly recommend the Vallejo Metal Colour range - they have some very nice dark colours (e.g. 712 Steel and 711 Magnesium), as well as some nice heat-damaged colours (e.g. 713 Jet Exhaust).  Examples of the range can be found in this thread, if you're interested.

[thewarriorhunter]

I remember seeing that thread a while back. Those are two really good colors. The blacks I used were 71.073 (model air metallic black) with a little 70.950 (black) mixed in. Without the black mixed in it dries a little more grey/graphite than I'd like. I'll have to keep those metallics in mind for other projects. I think the black is metallic enough and once I get some weathering in with the Scale75 silvers and steels I have I think it'll look pretty decent.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I remember seeing that thread a while back. Those are two really good colors ... I'll have to keep those metallics in mind for other projects.

The whole range is really nice, to be honest - really liquid and smooth, with great coverage, and very shiny.  I picked up a pot of Pale Burnt Metal to do the lascannons with (it's a bit of a more interesting colour than the standard silvers), and I now have 9 of them

 

The blacks I used were 71.073 (model air metallic black) with a little 70.950 (black) mixed in ... and once I get some weathering in with the Scale75 silvers and steels I have I think it'll look pretty decent.

Ah, now you say it, I can see it - it's a very subtle effect.  Should look great when you're done, though!

Edited February 8, 2021 by Firedrake Cordova

[MithrilForge]

Ah yes that love of tiny planes   i still have yet to play a game but painting those planes was a joy ! 

Glad you took the plunge   have you found the cards yet?... i think my FLGS actually  has the cards still...   if you really wanted them we could work something out...but it'll be Aussie dollars and postage from Australia though...that scares people off though  . if you really want them  send me  a PM .

 

anywyas well done so far on your plane work 

 

cheers, Mithril

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks for the offer. I managed to snag an eBay lot of planes and cards. I just need the Taros Navy cards but those are still out there for a reasonable price.

[duz_]

Great work TWH and yes those Vallejo metals are great - I've been using them for my tiny planes too :) 

[schoon]

First: excellent work!

 

Side note: the Vallejo 77-series airbrush metalics are even better than the 71-series IMO. They go through the airbrush smoothly, and paint on with a brush quite nicely as well.

[thewarriorhunter]

Thanks for the kind words! I got distracted by Legion and TinkerTurf terrain so the planes have been relegated to the hangar. I don't have anyone who's going to play with me anytime soon so I'm keeping this in the 'want a break from whatever else I'm doing' category of hobby right now. If I find an opponent they'll probably jump to the top of the 'get it done' list.