Swept Wing Vendetta Conversion

by Novus

I like the look of the Valkyrie and the Vendetta.  Mostly.  To be honest, I really don't like the wings.  They are just too chunky for something that is supposed to fly.  So, I had an idea.


What if I reversed the wings?  Left wing on the right side and right wing on the left side.  That should give it a more aerodynamic look and convey some of the speed the thing is supposed to have.  Oddly, there are no control surfaces on either of the main wings, otherwise this conversion would look silly.

Now, to make these kits idiot-proof GW added some features to the wings and the sockets they go into.  Unfortunately, I didn't think to think that anyone might want to make this modification themselves until after I finished what is now the left wing.  That said, the now-left wing and socket combo is much easier to modify than the right.  What follows is the right side...

What is pictured above is the right side of the plane with the left wing held up against it.  There are three things that need to be cut/modified for the right side of the plane to connect properly.

Firstly, notice the key-like bit of plastic in the socket (yellow circle) that normally fits into a channel on the right wing assembly.  This keeps us from unintentionally doing what I am deliberately doing.  That key must be shaved out of the socket.  It doesn't have to be pretty because it will be hidden.  Just don't slip and screw up the overall shape of the wing socket by shaving too deeply.

Secondly, the part of the left wing that will plug into the socket on the right side is too long for the socket at the front edge.  The section of the wing-plug that is between the red and blue lines above needs to be removed.  Again, this doesn't need to be pretty as it will be well hidden once the model is put together.

Thirdly, the green circle above is the part of the left wing that fits into a channel in the left socket.  That key needs to be shaved off, like in the picture below.

Keep shaving until you can fit the wing flush against the body of the plane.  As you can see, I'm not quite done with this part, yet.  The blue lines above show you what got removed from the forward end of the left wing-plug to make it fit in the right socket.

If I remember correctly, the only thing that needs to be done to make the right wing fit in the left socket is that the rear end of the wing-plug needs to be cut back, similar to the photo above.  It's about 0.25" too long.

When all is said and done, you get a model that looks like this.

The cockpit is covered because the pilots are painted with a fair attempt at Object Sourced Lighting and I'm about to prime the entire model.  The TL Lascannons on the wings and at the side of the cockpit are magnetized, too.  I will cover that modification in an upcoming post.

I like this swept wing version much better.  The wings are still chunky but at least it looks faster.

Happy Bashing!