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Hi guys finally decided to splurge and set my sights on the Thunderhawk for my WiP Pre-Heresy Salamanders legion

SO in this blog im going to go through every step of creating a Thunderhawk including pinning, magnetizing, and hopefully (fingers crossed) using LEDs to bring this model alive. In conjunction to the regular posts and updates on Dakka I will also be doing YouTube updates at regular intervals for Video of the model which will also appear here on this thread. I will be posting tips and tricks with working with Forge World large vehicles as well as Thunderhawk specific tips for those who may eventually be working on one of these themselves! I will attempt to update regularly (every week or so) but work and school will demand my attention later on in the project but fear not!! I will try to keep everyone as up to date as i can!! recommendations and assistance from those who have assembled one themselves is appreciated!!

so without further a due, I shall start with the Base...

The Items i will be using for the making of the base are as follows

GW:
-Basilica Administratum+bits from the Sanctum Imperialis
-Quake Cannon Craters

Woodland Scenics:
-Medium Grey Ballast (B82)
-Fine Dark Brown Ballast (B71)
-Talus Fine Grey (#C1278)
-Realistic Water
-Flex Paste
-Scenic Cement spray

Dragon Forge design:
12" Large Flight Stand Kit with 3/4th In. Acrylic Rod
Power Cables Sample set

Sceret Weapon Miniatures:
-1/48 baked ceramic bricks

Hobby Store Things:
small long piece of wood (2mm diameter)
Oval Wooden base

Whiltmanns Plumbers putty (any plumbers putty will do)
Locktite Glue (plastic)
Gorilla Wood Glue (wood & PVA alternate)


Still working on the small building in back for 2nd level then add the craters in and drill out the hole for the flight stand

Base is looking good already . Will you be adding any salamanders or something to the building?

yes i plan to magnetize 9 MK III Marine to the base to represent the Thunderhawks Hull Points

That is actually a really cool idea. Can't wait to see it.

Ambitious project, good luck.
Will the 'hawk be permanently attached to flying base, or will you be able to remove it?

I bought 3/4 in" Neodymium magnets to attach to the flying stand and the Thunderhawk itself so it will be removable for storage the flying stand from Dragon Forge Design comes with a rod and a holder as seen in the pic below so i will epoxy one side onto the Acrylic rod and the other inside the holding

Based on my resin and magnet experience, that doesn't sound like it's going to work. Resin is very heavy, and as strong as those are, they aren't that good (my experience with magnetizing the Warhound Titan). You would need to mount it in the perfect balance center of the 'hawk and the vertical stand perfectly vertical....

Maybe I just don't understand what you mean, I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Im just going off of how my friend told me to do it he did it and said he used magnets for "insurance" thats his Hawk and he used the same materials im using. Ill test it and if i dont feel comfortable, ill figure it out when it comes around

also since im here ill go ahead and post my Thunderhawk Captain plus Crewman#1 of 3 that i just got in today, they are from the rapier destroyer kit

Looks fantastic! Of course, what it's really going to need to make it shine to it's fullest potential is a pilot of truly exceptional skill. Someone from a chapter who has devoted themselves to training the best pilots in the galaxy, and sometimes loans out said pilots...

Back again now working on the Quake cannon craters than will be in between the blown out building as well on the debris that will be spread all along the base

the mix for the debris is a 2:2:1 mix of the Grey Ballast: Brown Ballast: Grey Talus with some bricks and pond stones thrown in there( this will not include the wood and plastic pieces)

I placed green stuff along the cracks of the Quake craters to fill the gap so later when the muddy water effects are applied it does not seep through. IMPORTANT: make sure you use water resistant PVA or Wood Glue when applying the debris. I am not to worried about the green stuff appearance because i will be making the water effects muddy so it wont be clear where the GS is

the final pic is not the end result thats WAYYY to much debris, i spread some wood glue in different spots to give texture and a gritty and add some visuals under the muddy water. I will post again in about 6 hours to show final effect of debris on craters

Cheers!

Best of luck with this!
I shall be keeping an eye on your progress

ok looks like everything has dried for the most part i decided to go on ahead and add some of the debris mix to the buildings as well. however the base is far from finished the flying stand hole has to be drilled and then the debris mix will be applied around the buildings along with plastic sprue bits wooden planks(nothing is glued down yet) next im going to start drilling holes for magnets where the Space Marines will stand (they will count as Hull Points) i think ill put one walking in the crater then put the water effects down to add even more detail lol

Looking great. I've learned you can never have too much rubble. When you think it's enough, add more.

something Super Heavy this way comes....

so i have let the thunderhawk soak over night in water and soap to help get the release agent off its better to do in warm water as heat removes the agent. so now to scrub the hell out of it with a old toothbrush and let it try...then off to final cleaning and dry fitting!!!

Looks exciting Any significant warpage? I've heard FW flyers are notoriously difficult to assemble properly.

I am Uber lucky of all the horror stories and notorious parts that come bent i only had 1!!! the front nose cone as a bend on the top and side thus leaves gaps elsewhere on the front assembly but its an easy fix...there are the occasional gaps around the hull but thats to be expected due to resin shrinkage during casting so i can easily go in later and fill them with Greenstuff

so.....things happened....kids were involved....Forge World got a call....and the post service is sending me a box.......nuff said hopefully some more, and better, news will be coming along shortly

so id thought id give everyone a general idea of what colors are going to be used compared to how the rest of my Salamanders look and my Contemptor was just finished and is by far one of the best looking so id thought id throw it up here while also showing the colors.....OHH THE COLORS!!!!!

Green? Supergreen!

Too bad about the rabid kids incident, mate. I hope you managed to scare them off back into the woods. 'Don't come back 'til puberty!'
Luckily FW's customer service is most excellent when it comes to replacements.

Do you have an idea yet on the paint scheme on the TH? Salamanders, obviously, but l mean, certain section in a different colour, a certain pattern to mask out, etc?

Wow just realized how bright that green came out on camera....damned flash it looks almost near identical to the one they have on FW site IRL

and yes if ihadnt already said so...I SHALL DO SO NOW!!!! its Thunderhawk "Ohideran" and will be painted EXACTLY like the Salamanders Thunderhawk (Which is also named Ohideran, coincidence? I think not) in the HH Book 2 Massacre....if you have the book you know what i mean by a sick paint scheme....dont know how hand painted flames will come out though....tricky. meh thats why they gave me blocks of resin to test stuff on the same materiel right!? and i know someone was going to mention stencils....NO sorry but those flames look so unrealistic

sorry ive taken so long guys several things have been going on and college is kicking my butt but im BACK WITH MORE PHOTOS of the actual thunderhawk no less!!! bout time right?
so i finished full wing assembly as well as the tail piece (not shown) and rear thrust i have also done the HB assemblies which i will show later but will be leaving them off for painting...one mistake i made on the forward HB Sponsons i cliped the bottoms off by accident so they will the free hanging HB like the Predator kit side sponsons....eh I like them that way any-how.

in other news played in my local Store Champion-chips and won 1st place!!! if any of you who also play Conquest and are in Texas ill see you at Regionals!!

Congrats on the win.

Finally this thing is starting to look like a Thunderhawk the wings are pinned and glued for extra strength due the weight of the wings...measured it out to between 17-18 inch wing span....damn!!

next up is the top fuselage including tail piece and rear thruster

well....its almost done..assembly wise..and hot damn does it look sexy. It better gave me more headaches and bouts of uncontrollable rage than i care to re-visit

SO anyway the main fuselage is done attack wings are fully movable, all 6 hellstike missiles are magnetized, and everything that will be glued is glued...(I may put magnets along the back rear thruster to hold the top piece to the bottom during gameplay)

all thats left is thecone piece and thepiece of pilot area THAT STILL WONT BEND LIKE I WANT THEM TO
then attach the HBs were they will go after painting and shes done!!.....well still have to go back to the base kinda neglected it since i got her

Got another shipment in today from FW and its a biggie....in the photo are 30 tactical Marines Mk III's, 5 Multi-melta and 5 Lascannon Devs both MK II's, the Legion Praetor set and a bunch of upgrade sets including Mk III power weapon set several Command upgrade sets and a crap ton of Salamander shoulder, torso, and head upgrades....these are what they Thunderhawk will be transporting!!

sorry for the long break but nothing new has happened as of late due to mid-terms and jobs..and helping family but i do have a little piece of paradise im going to drop today just had my birthday and wonderful parents being what they are bought me this little piece of heresy....im going to be busy...hopefully this will motivate me to finish up that Thunderhawk eh?