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Looks awesome dude!

Interested in how you base it still haven't based my Thunderhawk yet.

okey dokey did some more work, have been working diligently trying to get it done. By my estimation, there is currently nearly 51' of wire that I have to hide. This has been providing a very unique challenge. I think plastic tubes will be my most viable option.

@_@

I have been busy with other projects, and covered a major milestone last night, here are the pics...

I am officially Subscribed!

nice to see a good update!

awesome!!!
subbed!

Love the ethereal. Nice work on the whole thing so far!

Forgeworld pls.

Here I have joined the cockpit to the upper fuselage. Due to the model being pulled hot from the molds the two pieces that make up the fuselage were warped, and I am going to have to fill a gap nearly 1/16" with plasticard and JB Weld. Now I gotta do some sanding to mesh the two together.

First, my apologies to the mods in taking so long to post, with their indulgence we will get to finish this one soon. I have been very busy of late, doing other commissions, and holidays, but we are getting closer with this beastie. After running all the wire, I had nearly 128' of wire to hide, which meant that I had to have conduit. I manufactured a space for both switches and batteries. I fit the wings on, and they do not fit the way they are supposed to. There is a 1/32" gap on the left wing and a 1/16" gap on the right, plus a 1/64" ledge where the right wing doesn't meld well with fuselage. I first drilled holes for pins, then super-glued the wings on. Then I filled as much gap with JB Weld two part epoxy extruded through a syringe. Where the wings had a ledge I added JB Weld and Greenstuff, wet-sanding it to blend it and then Liquid Greenstuff to get the pits. And then it was back to wetsanding by hand. And for giggles I have a few pics of some of it lit up. the last pic shows where the cockpit is lit(blue) the weapons bay(yellow) and the troop bay(red) as well as forward running lights. Now to finish sanding, a wash, and then prime....

What an epic undertaking - the lighting work in particular is amazing.

Thank you, each light has roughly 6' of wire. Altogether I have close to 200 hours into it, and I still have some final modelling to do before I paint.

I didn't even know there was liquid greenstuff, where do you get that? Nice use of conduits, lights looking good. That orange thing that holds the coin battery looks a bit big.

Liquid Greenstuff is a GW product, it is used to fill the bubbles and holes in Failcrap. The orange thing actually is perfect for holding both batteries, and the switches and the 8" of wire used to connect everything) I had to think like an electrician to hide all the wire, and conduit was the logical choice.

That is specfreakingtacular mate. This will look grouse once its all done up.

 Snrub wrote:
That is specfreakingtacular mate. This will look grouse once its all done up.

Here I have flipped it over and started working on the underside to fill in the gaps. One of the gaps(port wing) is 1/4", I had to use two different size plasticard. On the Starboard wing the was 1/16" gap. I really wish that FW would at least test fit their models, especially when they are as expensive as this one.

After working on my first Titan I was shocked at the issues in buying something from FW. Anymore now I just assume they are so pretentious that if you can't fix the problems in the model, then you shouldn't be building a FW model. Looks like you've handled it excellently.

Thank you. I have to say tho, this is not a model I would personally buy, and I am less than impressed with their quality control. Fortunately my client has access to someone like me with some modelling skills.

The Manta is on my list to buy one day (a long, long way down the line, once I've done so, so much other stuff... around 5-6 armies and 3-4 years down the line... after Barracudas and AX-10's), so especially with all the praise for their 'regular' pieces, and how good it's supposed to be, the standard on their most expensive model is surprising.

Keep up the good work though!

I salute you sir
Looks like it's going to be an epic build. Will be following this for sure.

That is incredible. I cant wait to see how it turns out.

 warhamster77 wrote:
Here I have flipped it over and started working on the underside to fill in the gaps. One of the gaps(port wing) is 1/4", I had to use two different size plasticard. On the Starboard wing the was 1/16" gap. I really wish that FW would at least test fit their models, especially when they are as expensive as this one.

There really is no excuse for models being cast this way. I just put together two Storm Eagles and OMG it was horrorific. The fit was so bad that I had to saw the back ramp in half and shave 1/8" off just so I could make them fit. And once they went in, the ridges were offset. I'm going to have to remove the riges entirely and put down strips of plasticard. Moral of my story? Friends don't let friends buy Storm Eagles.

I am truely in awe of your diligance and patience with this massive model and all the modelling problems that FW included in the kit for free.

@Ovion, If this is a model you want for your army, make sure that it is a purchase you truly want to make. I know here in the U.S., the price of it would buy a used automobile. I would look at getting a few Tigershark AX-10 first, or maybe some Eldar phantom Titans( I want three) . @Breotan you lucky B*****d, a Phantom and a Tantalus

 warhamster77 wrote:
@Ovion, If this is a model you want for your army, make sure that it is a purchase you truly want to make. I know here in the U.S., the price of it would buy a used automobile. I would look at getting a few Tigershark AX-10 first, or maybe some Eldar phantom Titans( I want three) . @Breotan you lucky B*****d, a Phantom and a Tantalus

At least 2 Barracuda and an AX10 first yeah.
And yes, £960 is a lot of money to sink... but I won't be till I've finished the armies I've got, built a few more and worked my way through other Forgeworld bits, such as a couple of Tantalus, 1-2 'sets' of 2 Barracuda + Tigershark AX10, possibly some Eldar titans, possibly a regular Tigershark (though it's a little disappointing armament wise) etc...
It'll pretty much be a crown on a massive collection of models when it comes to it.

But ultimately... a Manta flanked by 2 AX10s, a Tigershark and 4-6 Barracuda will look pretty damn amazing.
Strangely enough... don't want an Orca.

Tau Air Force, Aim High

this thing is so big, only part of it fits in my spray booth :-(

"You're going to need a bigger box"

I don't even want to imagine having to ship a completed one of these