Tuesday 18 January 2011

Vendetta Conversion/Scratchbuild (2)

So it begins.  This is the first (or technically second, i suppose) of what may turn out to be a reasonably lengthy series of posts detailing exactly how I built my pair of Vendettas.  Yes, I have indeed virtually finished the second one.  If you have no idea what I am talking about, or just want to remind yourself of the end result, you can see the completed first one here.

I should note that I learned an awful lot when I made my first Vendetta, so the construction process was a little different this time, but its come out looking almost identical, which is gratifying. I never expect anyone to build one the same (though I'd be honoured of course, lol), but if anyone wants measurements, or more detailed instructions on how any part of the process, feel free to comment or email. 

So, onward.  Today, I'll be taking about the hull.





My Vendetta design does not have a pressurised cabin, and has more in common with modern helicopters that planes.  Because of this, it has extra windows for the crew to shoot and disembark from (though obviously this has no effect outside Apocalypse).  to make the extra windows I sawed each of the hull side sections from the Valkyrie kit into three pieces as shown, and then cut out the middle section of the central panel to be in line with the other door.  I might add that the first time i did this i was bricking it.  if i got it wrong or it just didn't work, that was a lot of wasted money.   





Luckily, it did work, and after a bit of filing, the four pieces fitted back together tolerably well.  However, the contact area was so small that the glue wouldn't hold them together steadily so i was forced to glue them straight onto the bottom of the hull.  Please don't forget the rear ramp like i almost did both times!




To make absolutely sure the thing would fit together later i let it dry overnight with the roof sitting in place and elastic bands holding the whole lot tightly.  (ignore the stuff stuck to the roof, I'll get to that in another post)


It should end up looking like this.  Note the white plasticard girder section.  As well as a little detailing, this helps hide the roughness of the cut at the top of the doorway. 




Now for the undercarriage/nose lascannon housing.  I sawed the two cockpit side sections of the Valkyrie kit as shown.  My saw is pretty blunt and this was a bit of a pain.  The two bottom pieces were then glued to the bottom of the cockpit section of the Valkyrie kit, just as they would be if you were building the real model.



When i made the first one i reallied near the end that I'd screwed up.  There was no room to put the flying base attachment! This meant i had to shoehorn in this adaptation.  I sawed the flying base attachment as shown and glued it to the rear of the lascannon housing.  It doesn't exactly look pretty, but its hidden well by the landing gear. 




Finally, i sawed the barrels of two old lascannons and glued them in place with the help of some 1.5mm plasticard. 

I realise today's post hasn't been very exciting, but i hope you guys enjoy watching this come together as much as i enjoyed building it.  Next time I'll be showing how the cockpit section was constructed entirely from plasticard.  spoiler: it didn't get any damn easier the second time round...

7 comments:

  1. Good stuff Atreides.

    Can I ask, as this is something that always niggles at me, where/how do you visualise this prior to the project.

    Obviously you have the C&C Heli for your basis, but was it a case of getting a Vendetta kit and hoping you could do it, or planning ahead of time/purchase via looking @ sprues? Or just a case of buying the kit with the intention to create a regular vendy and then realising it could be bashed into something a bit more unique and exciting.

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  2. good question. with all my conversions i have a vague (and i do mean vague) idea of what i want the finished model to look like. usually i also have a very specific idea of what i want one aspect of the model to look like. in this case, i knew i wanted the two VTOL rotors and knew exactly what i wanted them to look like.

    i had absolutely no idea what to do with the rest of the thing. the first one took me over 24 hours of work time to complete and most of that was trying bits in different places, or just sitting and staring at the thing hoping for inspiration.

    in my opinion the only way to build and convert stuff like this is to start with a vision and not be afraid to change it if it something else turns out to look better. in this case, i was convinced i was going to use the valkyrie wings to mount the rotors on, but it looked shit, so i just magnetised them straight to the hull.

    i know a lot of guys draw their plans out, but i never found that worked for me. its too restricitve and you can end up being tied down to your original ideas, which can make a model seem forced and wrong.

    and incidentally, i no longer buy ANY models with the intention of building them straight out the box ;) lol

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    Replies
    1. My only qustion is do you still have the original cockpits and canopy becuase I would buy them off of you because i plan on making my own conversions with those and i have ran out of them. please email me if you do at RPD1227@msn.com

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  3. I really want to get that mentality, and thats what my Deathwing/Grey Knights hopefully will be like.

    My DW is going to have a couple of squads of the old old Grey knights with TH's in crazy dynamic poses for a unqiue look. (Speaking of DW, I think I have a 1750 list for Thurs, but might get your's/vens thoughts on it).

    "i no longer buy ANY models with the intention of building them straight out the box ;) lol " - yeah by the fact you have like 27 different chimeras on the table lol!

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  4. Another awesome post dude, loving it.

    I love the idea of you sat at your desk just staring at this fucker until it comes to you... thats true inspiration right there man.

    I do agree that having an image/vision is all you need, unless of course, you are going to replicate it a few times, then a plan could help, but I would have thought 'design notes' of some kind could be good enough...

    Great work man.

    @ Bully - more than happy to look at your Deathwing list dude, they were one of my early armies and have been gathering dust for over 2 years...

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  5. Is it really 2 years Ven?!?!? God really doesn't seem that long!

    @ Atreides, this really is awesome dude! I echo the others and I'm amazed at the creativity and straight out balls to just go with it and try it. I don't think I'd manage to just do that, I'd just sit there in a state of panic afraid of messing it up. Then after about half an hour just say fuck it and build the kit as GW intended lol

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  6. In other news I managed to create a drop pod which doors actually shut flush. Thats right, x-acto blade to the rescue. Who's the modelling marvel now? Andy still tbh, but at least I wont want to throw it at the wall when it doesnt shut properly.

    @ven going to shoot an email over w/ the list since I dont want to side track any other posts.

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