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I'm thinking about getting one of those 'dream' models that I've wanted for quite a while, and am torn between the Warhound Titan and the Thunderhawk.
Now, bearing in mind that Forge World models are always tricky to build, which of these is the easiest? I can't decide between them, and I get angry at awkward models, so if one is much easier than the other, I may plump for that.

They are in the Forgeworld Modelling Masterclass books.
Grab a look in one of those, as it will tell you how they painted them.
Have you done many other Forgeworld models, to compare these with?
I don't have one, and lots of people on here will have P&M blogs of how they did it.

 Skinnereal wrote:
They are in the Forgeworld Modelling Masterclass books.
Grab a look in one of those, as it will tell you how they painted them.

Just to be clear: I'm talking about building, not painting. Do those books show how to build them?

 Skinnereal wrote:

Have you done many other Forgeworld models, to compare these with?
I don't have one, and lots of people on here will have P&M blogs of how they did it.

I have built An'ggrath, a Kytan, and a Blood Slaughterer.
Blogs are a good idea - I'll have a look.

So the short answer is "no" titan and thunderhawks are not easy to build.

the long answer is, yes they are just tedious. Out of all 3 of the titan builds the war hound is the most annoying to build because of its legs, the thunder hawk is a bitch because guaranteed everything is going to be warped and you need to rewarp it. If you have never built anything that scale i suggest taking your time with it, because there is a lot of extra work you need to do. Pinning drilling, clamping, cleaning, shaving, filling. Also unless FW has changed their instructions are very loose, and i use the words "Instructions" Very loosely.

 Backspacehacker wrote:
So the short answer is "no" titan and thunderhawks are not easy to build.

the long answer is, yes they are just tedious. Out of all 3 of the titan builds the war hound is the most annoying to build because of its legs, the thunder hawk is a bitch because guaranteed everything is going to be warped and you need to rewarp it. If you have never built anything that scale i suggest taking your time with it, because there is a lot of extra work you need to do. Pinning drilling, clamping, cleaning, shaving, filling. Also unless FW has changed their instructions are very loose, and i use the words "Instructions" Very loosely.

Thanks, that's pretty clear. I am earmarking this project to be a long-term, "do a bit each week" project, because I realise that it might be tricky! I'll look at blogs and such to see how people get on, and go from there. My friend has asked me to build a Tyranid Bio-titan or Harridan as well, sometime in the future, so I need to think about how good I will be at these kind of projects. I have pretty good modelling skills and the tools. It's just a question of whether I will end up in a fit of rage at trying to get the two sides of a thunderhawk to mate with each other or trying to get a Warhound's legs to not collapse!

 Backspacehacker wrote:
So the short answer is "no" titan and thunderhawks are not easy to build.

the long answer is, yes they are just tedious. Out of all 3 of the titan builds the war hound is the most annoying to build because of its legs, the thunder hawk is a bitch because guaranteed everything is going to be warped and you need to rewarp it. If you have never built anything that scale i suggest taking your time with it, because there is a lot of extra work you need to do. Pinning drilling, clamping, cleaning, shaving, filling. Also unless FW has changed their instructions are very loose, and i use the words "Instructions" Very loosely.

While I do not own the new thunderhawk, I have seen several myself and have seen multiple reviews and blogs about building it. On the whole the new kit is very good, much less likely to come warped and has very good instructions.
That said, OP if you've only built 3 medium-ish sized models from forgeworld I would recommend taking great care and consideration before you buy one, it's a big investment and a lot of work.

I've built a Warhound and a Reaver so I can offer you a bit of advice here.

Take. Your. Time.

Seriously, I can't stress that enough. You'll open the box and want to build it and get it done straight away, but it's a big project that you need to take your time on. When building them you want to ensure the pose is correct. I've seen some lovely titans before that have been ruined by weird and ungainly poses. You'll want something that looks within the realm of human movement, but also remains stable and won't tip over. Don't worry about the Warlord's legs collapsing, use the right glue and pins and the legs themselves are rather sturdy.

You may also want to consider magnets for the arms, this will help greatly in painting and transporting the beast.

As a quick list of things you will need
Drill (power preferred)
Drill bits of various size, and those bits used for drilling out large shallow holes
Sand paper of various grits.
Keysaw
Files
Apoxy/gorilla glue
Vice clamps
Green stuff
Heat gun/hair dryer
Pinning rods
Rare earth magnuts If you wanna magnatie.

The Kytan is good practice, actually. Get used to dry-fitting constantly and pinning everything. Take your time with it.

Built a Reaver Titan last year, and I cannot express how much those extra, paranoid dry fits will save your tail during the process.

I have built several titans of all sizes (Though only one warlord so far). And two thunderhawks.

The thunderhawk will be easier over all. But the panels are almost always warped. A heat gun (or an oven that can be set to a low temp) are needed. It's a pain to straighten and you will still have gaps. I would recommend connecting both wings to the same steel rod. As the thunderhawk is hollow. If you want the thunderhawk based as flying. You may want to reinforce the model for where you drill the flight stand hole. As well as heavy weights in the base to reduce tipping.

Titans have very possible legs. Which makes finding a balance point and a decent pose a nightmare. Though if you are putting the model on a base, it's less of a concern. You will want to pin every major weight bearing joint. So drilling pin holes that match up your pose and balance point will be no small task.

 Igenstilch wrote:
I have built several titans of all sizes (Though only one warlord so far). And two thunderhawks.

The thunderhawk will be easier over all. But the panels are almost always warped. A heat gun (or an oven that can be set to a low temp) are needed. It's a pain to straighten and you will still have gaps. I would recommend connecting both wings to the same steel rod. As the thunderhawk is hollow. If you want the thunderhawk based as flying. You may want to reinforce the model for where you drill the flight stand hole. As well as heavy weights in the base to reduce tipping.

Titans have very possible legs. Which makes finding a balance point and a decent pose a nightmare. Though if you are putting the model on a base, it's less of a concern. You will want to pin every major weight bearing joint. So drilling pin holes that match up your pose and balance point will be no small task.

Just thought I'd ask; I've got a Fire Raptor waiting to be built, it's quite warped in places, particularly around the ball turrets and nose, as well as other panels warped elsewhere. I tried to use hot water to reshape resin in the past and while it's worked on gun barrels and small components, will it work at all for the fuselage panels. Also, is there a particular way you'd recommend to build it? I'm thinking to glue around the nose and work backwards, shaping and clamping it together to make sure it's perfectly square.

 Igenstilch wrote:
I have built several titans of all sizes (Though only one warlord so far). And two thunderhawks.

The thunderhawk will be easier over all. But the panels are almost always warped. A heat gun (or an oven that can be set to a low temp) are needed. It's a pain to straighten and you will still have gaps. I would recommend connecting both wings to the same steel rod. As the thunderhawk is hollow. If you want the thunderhawk based as flying. You may want to reinforce the model for where you drill the flight stand hole. As well as heavy weights in the base to reduce tipping.

Titans have very possible legs. Which makes finding a balance point and a decent pose a nightmare. Though if you are putting the model on a base, it's less of a concern. You will want to pin every major weight bearing joint. So drilling pin holes that match up your pose and balance point will be no small task.

I actually had a lot of luck with just gorilla glue, have had a Titan set up for years now with no issues

 Backspacehacker wrote:

Drill bits of various size, and those bits used for drilling out large shallow holes

I believe you mean Forstner Bits?

 corpuschain wrote:

 Backspacehacker wrote:
So the short answer is "no" titan and thunderhawks are not easy to build.

the long answer is, yes they are just tedious. Out of all 3 of the titan builds the war hound is the most annoying to build because of its legs, the thunder hawk is a bitch because guaranteed everything is going to be warped and you need to rewarp it. If you have never built anything that scale i suggest taking your time with it, because there is a lot of extra work you need to do. Pinning drilling, clamping, cleaning, shaving, filling. Also unless FW has changed their instructions are very loose, and i use the words "Instructions" Very loosely.

Thanks, that's pretty clear. I am earmarking this project to be a long-term, "do a bit each week" project, because I realise that it might be tricky! I'll look at blogs and such to see how people get on, and go from there. My friend has asked me to build a Tyranid Bio-titan or Harridan as well, sometime in the future, so I need to think about how good I will be at these kind of projects. I have pretty good modelling skills and the tools. It's just a question of whether I will end up in a fit of rage at trying to get the two sides of a thunderhawk to mate with each other or trying to get a Warhound's legs to not collapse!

The bio- titan is a pain i the A$$. You have to cut the legs and pin it internally or it will warp on its own. Plus all the spikes are constantly poking you. Its like trying to perform surgery on an Alaskan king crab.

 Valkyrie wrote:

 Igenstilch wrote:
I have built several titans of all sizes (Though only one warlord so far). And two thunderhawks.

The thunderhawk will be easier over all. But the panels are almost always warped. A heat gun (or an oven that can be set to a low temp) are needed. It's a pain to straighten and you will still have gaps. I would recommend connecting both wings to the same steel rod. As the thunderhawk is hollow. If you want the thunderhawk based as flying. You may want to reinforce the model for where you drill the flight stand hole. As well as heavy weights in the base to reduce tipping.

Titans have very possible legs. Which makes finding a balance point and a decent pose a nightmare. Though if you are putting the model on a base, it's less of a concern. You will want to pin every major weight bearing joint. So drilling pin holes that match up your pose and balance point will be no small task.

Just thought I'd ask; I've got a Fire Raptor waiting to be built, it's quite warped in places, particularly around the ball turrets and nose, as well as other panels warped elsewhere. I tried to use hot water to reshape resin in the past and while it's worked on gun barrels and small components, will it work at all for the fuselage panels. Also, is there a particular way you'd recommend to build it? I'm thinking to glue around the nose and work backwards, shaping and clamping it together to make sure it's perfectly square.

Yes hot water will work on the large pieces as well.

FYI, the way the pieces come together at the nose is not intuitive - do a bunch of dry fits until you get it. I think that this is a big part of why people struggle with the fire raptor.