Monday, February 17, 2020

Ork Dakka Jet 2.0


I have previously used a Hasegawa Egg plane as the base for an Orky conversion. I have quite a few of these kits waiting in the winds for their turn to be converted. As with the last conversion this one is based on the Corsair. I used a Grot for the pilot and made a few modifications. A pair of shades, adjusted his arms and later added a scarf flapping in the breeze. 


I swapped out the wheels in favor of some sturdy sleds. I thought perhaps the tires blew out on this at some point and the Orks swapped out the weak rubber for more metal.

 

I wanted a different look for this model and so I went with a bi-plane. Here I imagine the Orks wanted more lift so they pieced together this wing and slapped it in place. I made the wing out of 2mm thick PVC foam board. This material takes impressions well and allowed me to press in the panel lines with sculpting tool. I used various methods to create the fasteners. Rivets were pressed in place using a burnishing tool to create a recess, some of those recesses were left hollow, others were filled with micro beads. On some panels I used rivet and nut/bolt details from Meng.


For the points where the vertical supports met the wings I used polystyrene tubes and the supports locked into these points. The opposite sides of these were detailed with layered polystyrene disks. Half rods were used to create the hinges. Greenstuff was used to detail welds.


I replaced part of the tail section with wood and detailed spots of battle damage with putty to replicate the displacement of metal from the impact of kinetic rounds.

 

I used bombs from two kits and detailed them with a bit of styrene. All parts got some wear and tear by cutting out notches with my hobby knife.

I used paperclips for the foot and hand holds. For the vertical supports I used a combination of toothpicks and various types of extruded polystyrene. I used a lighter to soften some of them to introduce bends and curves. Various bits and styrene were used for other details.

 
 

For the base I laid out some scrap bits surrounded by putty and sand. A hole was drilled for an acrylic rod. The base was painted with crackle paint, painted, washed, highlighted with dry brushing, and then rust was added with a sponge method.


The model itself was first primed grey and then sponged all over with various rust colors. Water was laid down over areas where I would later want rust to show through and then salt was sprinkled over the wet areas. Once the salt was dried I painted the base colors with Vallejo and Army Painter acrylics. The overall tone was Army Painter Dragon red. Individual panels were tinted with various reds and oranges to give the impression they were painted at different times. The salt was then rubbed away to reveal the rust tones underneath and to add true depth to the paint.


The details were painted by brush and a gloss coat was applied to seal it all and to provide a smooth surface for decals. The checker pattern decals came with the model and were applied over the gloss coat with the aid of microsol and microset. Rust and chipping effects were applied over the decals using a sponge. 

Following that another gloss coat was laid down and then oil paints and washes were applied to achieve the desired weathered appearance.



 
 







Sunday, February 16, 2020

Hobby Year 2020

Well, to be honest not much hobby progress took place in 2019. Work, family, life it all takes time and my hobby bench didn't see too much love. I did complete a couple of projects I haven't had the time to share on here yet and those posts are coming. I picked up Blitz Bowl and knocked out another Orky conversion.

I'm proud to say that I've hit the ground running in 2020. I've started a hobby journal where I keep track of the progress of each of my projects and take detailed notes on the methods of construction and painting. It is my aim to go back to these notes in the future when I want to recreate a particular technique or duplicate a scheme for an army.

I've also begun attending regular IPMS club meetings and started to branch out tackling model kits other than Warhammer. This, combined with the journal has helped me to keep on track thus far. I've already completed a Star Wars AT-M6 from Bandai and a Battlestar Galactica Colonial Viper from Monogram.

I'm deep into a project building the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 from Polar Lights. I'm building it as a replica of the one depicted in the upcoming release of Ghostbusters 3. I also have on the table the Ork half of my Blitz Bowl box, a figure of Marvel's The Thing, and a Back to the Future DeLoreon.

Granted I have plenty of other kits to build but these are my goals for now and the ones I've been actively working on. Crossing my fingers for a productive year.