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I want to get a B-17 and turn it into a orkish flying fortress, but what scale would be close to the dakka jet?

I'm thinking 1/35 would be decent if you want it big.

1/35 will likely have the most usable parts, but even that will require heavy modification (to the base structure, not simply adding bitz). Functional planes are generally much longer and thinner, for both the wings and fuselage, than their 40k counterparts. Any model of the proper length and/or wingspan will look incredibly weedy, by comparison, so going larger and chopping the parts down to length would likely prove easiest. All the more so, for you, as you'll be adding orky touches, anyway.

Thanks guys!

The scale model airplane will just be a skeleton in a way, I have been thinking about scratch building it aswell, but I'm not sure how I would make the wings and body.

I have been playing around with the idea of using dakka jets as the engiens, but then again, I would end up with a huuuge airplane.

Up to you, ultimately. The clincher, I think, is just how much of the original model you expect to show. I would scratchbuild it, personally, but there are times when using a model kit is both more expedient and lends detail and character that would otherwise be lacking. Give it a good think before starting, as even a reasonably priced model kit is an expense, and 1/35 aircraft aren't generally on the shallow end of the pricing pool. Although, if you're considering using Dakka Jets as engines, cost may not be an issue.

I mention this because I've seen more than a few historical model aircraft- and tank-based builds where the original kit was completely unrecognizable - literally every single surface was clad in new armor plates, major structures were hacked apart and rebuilt or replaced... At that point, what was the purpose of the initial kit? Surely $5 in plumbing supplies or 20 minutes with some foamcore/styrene/cardboard would have served just as well.

I'd suggest trying to find some shots of built kits that you're considering, preferably with some scale reference. Kit dimensions and shots of the actual aircraft can also be extrapolated, although it gives a somewhat less tangible sense of size. Compare that to your vision of the finished craft and see how things align - if it's not a simple matter of clipping a few bits and adding some surface details, the kit isn't really doing you much good. After all, under three layers of styrene, a roughly cut sheet of foamcore is as good as a finely detailed piece of injection-molded plastic.

I see what you mean and my first though was to scratch build it, but I'm not too familiar with building things outside of the normal GW stuff.

I also thought about using a dakka jet as the wing and itself, or maybe two, and when the fortress ran out of ammo, they would just detach from the hull and drop it onto the enemy and fly away, or continue fighting.

I do want a big orky thing, so I guess the model airplane would not show through in that sense. I could just as easily build it like a B-17 myself, but what measurements would you use for the plasticard and such?

I don't know much about scratch building, but could you maybe give me a few "plasticard" options? Tunes, sheets and what not.

1/48 or so would scale better with 40k.

Most aircraft over 1/48 scale tend to be of the 1/32 scale variety though, rather than 1/35 and a b-17 is HUGE in that scale.

 chromedog wrote:
a b-17 is HUGE in that scale.

How huge?

http://www.hlj.com/product/HKM01E04/Air

Wingspan = 99cm.

That is about 39 inches, compared to a table width of 48 inches.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
There is a scenario in one of the Advance Wars games that is a battle fought out on top of a giant aeroplane. This proposed B17 is not quite that large but it is getting there.