Thursday, June 6, 2013

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!



9 comments:

  1. Aerodynamics?! Are you mad?! Faith in the God Emperor is all mankind needs!!! :P What a nice, simple and effective conversion - next show us what you can do with a storm talon...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My army is Chaos-based so the God Emperor means nothing to me! Thanks, Zab. Yep, worked out pretty good, I think.

      Delete
  2. Nice! I did a swept-wing Vendetta a while back and was quite pleased with how it turned out.

    http://mordian7th.blogspot.com/search/label/Vendetta

    Definitely looking forward to seeing it painted up, it certainly looks more aggressive with the swept wings! Perfect for a chaos force!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You know, Mord, you may have planted this seed. I don't remember seeing that post, but I do look at an awful lot of posts. Either way, great minds think alike! ... and so do ours. I've seen a bunch of canopies painted in lately, what made you decide to do that?

      Delete
    2. Hah! Great minds think alike, or is it fools seldom differ? Either way works for me. :)

      I can't claim credit either, I took my inspiration from an army I saw at Feast of Blades last year, he had a whole flight of 'em done this way and they looked really sinister. Definitely dig the swept-back look - it's very vulpine.

      As far as the painted canopies go, I forget to mask them when I spray sealed the Vendetta and they frosted over really badly, so they ended up getting painted to mask my ineptitude. Hah!

      Cheers!

      Delete
    3. Ahhhh, I thought painted canopies was the "new-hotness" or something.

      What do you use to spray seal. I use Testors Dull Coat but it still comes out a bit shiny. I want something that will be super flat.

      Delete
    4. To be honest, I've been experimenting with painted canopies since then and it's been fun! Did a 'reflected horizon'-style thing on a Nephilim, and am planning on doing a gold polarized effect on the Eldar tanks.

      For sealant, for the last couple years I've been using the "krylon matte finish sealer #1311" which works really well. It was recommended to me by an art-on-canvas style painter friend of mine, and I really dig it. When it's first sprayed on it looks glossy just due to it being wet, but dries to a nice matte finish. However, as I've found out it does fog the clear canopy and flight stand plastic that GW uses (that was the first clear canopy I'd sealed since switching over to the #1311), so I've taken to masking everything with painters tape since the unfortunate Vendetta incident! That caveat aside, ever since I've switched over I haven't had a single issue with frosting on my painted miniatures - I definitely recommend give it a try!

      Delete
  3. Out of curiosity, could you post an underside shot? I really dig the under-wing lascannon pods you've done, would love a closer look!

    Using the lascannons from the dread is inspired, that's a brilliant idea!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...