The Bishkek 2nd Valkyrie: Part 6: I am done with this!

Just letting you know right away: I am done with working on large models like the Valk for a while. With the Manticore and the Valkyrie I have had great fun and I have learned a lot, especially using the ForgeWorld modeling book. But in order to be a great modeler, you have to have lots of stamina, stick with it, do the best all the time, the whole way and never letting your guard down. And in that I failed. I had the same with the Manticore, in the end I just finished it as quickly as I could. Same thing happened this time. I worked so hard on the camo and the weathering and when that was done, I kind of wanted to stop. I didn't but now the end result feels like a letdown. Don't want to make anyone sad, but you all know what I am talking about, the fatigue that the likes of Dave Taylor don't seem to suffer from.

Anyway, here are the final pictures of the Valk. Be prepared, I do have a lot to show (and complain about).

Topshot. I worked hard on the exhaust soot, not just on the roof, but also on the back wings.....

and the inside parts:

I also worked on the soot of the wing engines

Here are the wings. The muck on this part of the wing is the fuel cap leaking while flying through dust chem storms

The other wing

keeping the weathering under control is so hard to do, its pretty aggravating. I should probably just build chaos vehicles where you can go all out. Then again, a workhorse like this should get battered up pretty badly in the desert.

Here's the Bishkek 2nd number

On to the pilots. The cockpit is challenging to finalize and I had to use all kinds of clamps and rubber bands to make it work, but it did. It was great fun painting the pilots and the interior.

inside the navigators spot

It's really hard not to mess up the 'glass'. You can see I failed to do it well, see glue in the left bottom corner of the front part of the cockpit. When that happened I was really disappointed, because I had kept the glass safe for the entire time of building, in the end a little too much glue will just push you over the edge.

and the other side, pilot has his red insignia on his arm

Here's the inside. I had to shave off a bit of the cockpit frame to make the roof come off easily.

I made the guns movable on their arms, but also on their own axis, so the heavy bolters can shoot forward, dramatically increasing the shooting arc of the guns....

And here is the base:

The stand for the plane is a prototype that I received from Dragon Forge Design to try out and see if I liked it. YES, I love it, this stand is way more robust and handy then the GW one plus it looks better. The base come separate and is great. Jeff doesn't have this thing online but if you all leave comments he might speed things up a bit, maybe we can even do a Give Away with one of them...

Here's the piece that goes under your plane

And this is what it looks like

and

Painted:

and the final images

A keen observer might have noticed the lack of ammo. I couldn't get myself to finish that part up, but I will in the very near future, magnetized of course.

Thanks for following me on this weathering journey. My next model will be a Dwarf.

Mike

Finished Maxmini Giant Wolf Mount!

We have been following the progress of these giant wolves from our friends at MaxMini, and here are the photos of the finished product.

each multi part resin set comes with one of the three heads, and will be up for sale on MaxMini's web store this week. Priced at 15EUR ($22.45USD) each with a 3 wolf set available in the near future.

UPDATE!

Here is a picture of the assembled wolf with a marine to give an idea of the size.

John

The Bishkek 2nd Valkyrie, Part 5: finishing the engines

OK, I am finally done with the engines. After the gloss coat I grabbed a palette and started using the oil paints, just like in the Forgeworld Modeling Book. I filled one spot with a mix of Black and Burnt Umber, the other Burnt Sienna. The browns and the oranges work well separate or together and with a little spirit I started working the wear on the engines. When I was done, I overcoated with Testors Dull Coat.

Here are some images. First the two side shots:

I find it quite hard to make both engines look the same. I painted them separately and ended up with one intake being a little brighter. Then again, in real life they could look differently as well after some missions.

A shot of the top. I added very subtle washes of blue to the exhaust, didn't want to go too far with that though. I had fun with the soot stains on the roof and on the exhaust. I am pondering if I should add some powders to that soot, but then again, maybe that would all fly off anyway when in flight. I kept the rust because I think it looks good to have once color that doesn't belong in the mix, even though a few readers have convinced me these planes don't rust.

The inside roof with the blue lamps. Painted this ages ago and have been keeping it sheltered for all the sprays ever since. Might still need some work, but not now.

Close up of the back. You can see the blue hue a little better

And the front. I did a bit of work to the little propellers but don't really know what they would look like. In the end I made them look plain dirty. Image all the stuff that flies in there. Maybe it would need a little screen...

Now it's time for the real work..

Here are all the posts in a row in case you all are not bored by this:

part1

part2

part3

part4

Mike

MaxMini Wolf Mounts Photos!

Well The folks at MaxMini are wasting no time on the giant wolf. We had lots of interest after or rumor confirmation post, and here are the first photos.

Photo from Przemek at MaxMini and is also on their forum

Space Wolves players (and everyone else) should be able to order these multi part resin models (with multiple head and rider legs or not options) as soon as next week in a pre release pack, and soon after in a 3 pack.

Price is not available yet but is sure to be much less than the GW Canis model, and will be further discounted in the 3 pack.

Don't forget these new Feral Heads from MaxMini which will also be great for Space Wolves.

I know I am looking forward to seeing these models, and I hope you are too.

NEW PHOTOS OF FINISHED WOLF MODEL HERE

John

The Bishkek 2nd Valkyrie, Part 4: Moving on

I moved on after my meltdown over the wing ornaments. I painted them white and that's how they will stay. I told myself it's just a model and I can always go buy another one..

1

Having resolved all of this, I started weathering the model. I intend to use the glossy coat and the oil paints, so before that I had to basecoat everything pretty well, including the basecoat wear and tear, using the granite foundation paint.

Using a green scrubber, I made tight scratches with the grey paint, all simulating wear because of speed, so all the lines move from the front to the back.

2

It's hard to keep them super straight and I did make a tool for this, gluing a little piece of scrubber to the end of a brush, but it didn't last very long. I also did some work on the parts that would get more dinged up and where people would walk or open up hatches.

3

The tail came out well.

4

so did the bottom, trying to keep it moderate and not go all out.

5

bottom

6

Here I gave the engines a basecoat

7

and added some wear to part in the middle.

8

After all that, I threw on a gloss coat and starting playing with the oils. On the right is the oiled motor, but no drybrushing quite yet. The little rust speck came out allright.

9

Do or die at this point in the game.

Questions about this model:

1. what are the big rivet-like things on the wings in picture 2?

2. what's that little piece in the middle of the corner in picture 3?

3. what is the piece between the engines with the little vents in picture 8?

4. what is the grooved part coming toward you in picture 9?

I appreciate the help; it will enable me to make better choices about the weathering.

Mike

Max Mini Wolf Mounts Rumor / Local GW Store Invasion

Well this is a two part post, first Mike brought a recent rumor to my attention, featuring our friends at MaxMini.

Word is they have a giant wolf model in the works just right for Space Wolves to ride around on. Well, unlike the Games Workshop rumors, where we have to wait for some secret inside leak or some sneaky cellphone pictures, this is MaxMini, they give us free stuff, to give out to our readers, so I figured I would just ask them. I emailed Przemyslaw, and here is what he had to say;

Hi John,
I confirm the rumor. We`re working on a giant wolf. It`ll be smaller
than Canis`s mount but still big enough to hold larger warriors like
SM. We still haven`t figured out the final price.
Definitely it will be cheaper than Canis ;) .
The full kit will have 3 optional heads and removable middle section
with 2 variants - you`ll be able to choose part with the armoured
rider legs or no rider legs, just fur.
Can`t share any pics as Jarek is resculpting the head as I was not
happy with the way it has turned out.
BTW - if you have any suggestions on the look, or some cool pics
please send them -
we`re still able to make some changes to the sculpt.

cheers
Przemek

Well, there it is, a rumor no more, but now I can't wait to see what it looks like, the sculpts have been great so I am sure it will be awesome, and you guys heard him, if there is any input you might have, now is the time to leave a comment, and let him know.

UPDATE! check here for photos and new info.

The second part of this post is a short review of the Games Workshop Invasion! event at my local GW store. I was notified online of a special event at my local store, with games, special merchandise, free prize drawings and a banner contest.

I printed out my pass, and a banner template to compete in the contest. I called the store to see when they opened, as the first 30 with passes were entered into a drawing for Gameboard set, and I wanted to be early to make the cut off.

I drew up my banner, there was going to be three divisions one for Fantasy, 40k and LOTR, and I thought I would max out my chances by entering all three, but it took me so long to paint the first, that I just did the one.

I showed up a bit before 10am this morning to find about 10 others waiting for the store to open, so I had made the cut for the Gameboad drawing, and was happy to be early for the exclusive models. I entered my banner, filled out the raffle ticket and got a free paint pot for showing up.

I was disappointed that the only "special" item for sale was a cheap looking ( with made in China sticker on the box ) folder/portfolio thing for 15 bucks, but I got it anyway. Someone mentioned that the ad promised "Exclusive items for sale and a number of direct only models " to which the employee replied " the folders are all they sent us", they did give out some free posters and stickers.

I had to wait until 2pm for the first raffle, as you had to be in the store to win, so I escaped to the movies and watched Boondock Saints II, and was out just in time first raffle, which I didn't win, and had an hour to burn waiting for the banner judging.

I used the time to look over the competition. I couldn't believe mine was the only entry that was painted, all the others were just pencil sketches, and I thought my chances looked good. I waited it out, they decided to judge all the banners together in a single contest, and after the store manager's decision, I was a bit disappointed with 3rd place, but I had lots of folks telling me I should have won, so that made me feel better, the winner's prize was any blister pack off the wall.

I decided to visit Mrs. Scdarkangel at work to burn some time, and was back for the last drawing for the $50 online GW voucher, I couldn't believe it when the same guy that won the Gameboard won the $50 voucher too. Some guys have all the luck. After that, I packed up and headed home.

John

The Bishkek 2nd Valkyrie, Part 3: Freaking out

So I have passed a few super frustrating days with the Valk. Here's the lowdown on inching my way forward with this great model.

In the FW modeling book they show this cool plane with the wing markings:

I know there is a decal for sale, but painting seems easier. So I cut out the template and drew it on the wing with pencil.

But I should have known it was going to be trouble. I could not for the life of me decide what color to paint this wing. I put all my paintpots on it to try, concluding that orange would look best. But what pilot wants to put orange on his wing? So I decided on brown..

Brown? is the first response of the wife...and that is never good. She has an excellent eye for estethics. I doggedly kept painting until it looked clean. I even got a nice india ink pen....

to sharpen up the corners. In the end I painted this thing so big, I covered up all the camo work!

I looked at it again and realized more was wrong but I didn't know what. So I figured, I'm going to weather it a bit with a stipple brush and some desert yellow, peeking through the top layer. That looked like this

At that point I had to constrain myself from crushing this plane under my foot. Of this whole wing thing, nothing was working out. Realize I worked my behind off to make the camo look as good as I can get it, and then I am going to mess it up with this. And there is no way back, except start all over. So I repainted the whole wing brown again, getting rid of all the weathering.

I let it be for a day, show it to my buddy Christian who says: "why brown?". At that point I know it: it has to be redone....

Mike