Vendetta Conversion/Scratchbuild (4)

Hi everyone and welcome to the first of my regular Tuesday posts.  Most weeks these will be generally related to what I am building at the time of posting, but occasionally they might be about stuff I've built in the past and just want to show off (if I'm feeling lazy that is).

Its been a week or two since the last part of my Vendetta walkthrough, so feel free to remind yourselves how far I got last time Here. 



This time I'll be talking about all the miscellaneous bits of detail that needed to be added to the hull.  The most important part is the building up of the roof, but sadly I started that before I decided to make this walkthrough, so a lot of it wasn't photographed.  I'm pretty sure what I did is fairly obvious, but if anyone has any questions, please ask. 

Ok so these three photos should show the parts i used to make the bulk of the roof.  Most are pieces from the Valkyrie kit.  The two tail booms from the kit have been sawed in half and glued on in different positions.  The part from the kit which goes on the roof between the two engines was also sawed into two pieces and placed the other way round here.  The two thin sections which fill in the Valkyrie tail booms were also used, the longer parts were stuck in their proper locations and the shorter parts were used at the front to fill in some gaps.  The white part is a large girder section of plasticard.  The light panels from the Valkyrie kit just happened to fit at the front as well, and i think they look awesome :)

This shows the first strips of plasticard cut to shape and stuck on the roof.

And the second step.  The remaining part of the roof piece from the Valkyrie kit has been stuck on to fill the large gap, and some other pieces of plasticard and a panel from the nose of the Valkyrie kit have been used to cover the plasticard girder.

Sadly I didn't get a picture of it, but there were also some square pieces of plasticard cut to fit the ends of the girder section.  These are where the rotors join the hull so its pretty important that they are as close to vertical as possible. 

These two photos show the placement of the undercarriage.  This was actually put on earlier to aid stability during the building of the cockpit.  Some trimming of the joints and wedges of thin plasticard were needed to keep the three parts level.

These three photos are fairly self explanatory.  A lot of people don't use heavy bolters on their Vendettas, but i thought I'd at least give myself the option.  The are magnetised so they can swivel (not that i ever model for advantage, lol).

To make the wing mounted lascannons i used the outer halves of two sets of predator heavy bolter sponsons.  These were not easy to get hold of, but i begged and borrowed and got hold of a second pair from Ven.  The wings are simply made from the central tail fin from the Valkyrie kit. It was sawed in half and glued in place.  the lascannon barrels are from loads of different kits.  Most lascannon barrels are actually identical, regardless of which kit they are from, so it was pretty easy to find enough. 

lastly, to complete the hull and cockpit exteriors I needed to fill in the gaps on the cockpit.  This bit sucks, and i hate it, but it really brings the whole thing together and makes it look more professional. 

Using 0.25mm plasticard (as thin as you can get, same stuff as used for the tabs on the inside) I carefully cut some narrow strips about 3 or 4 mm wide.  Each one will be a different size and shape which is why it takes so long.  When each strip is cut to size, fold it gently over a metal ruler.

  Each strip can then be glued in place.

This is the finished exterior from above and below.  Note the overlap on the edge when seen from below so it fits over the lower half.  

And finally, the finished cockpit fitted together.

Well, that was a long post, but it cleared up the loose ends, so next Tuesday i can talk about the construction of the rotors!