The Base is made by stacking two 40K infantry bases on top of each other (one 25mm and one 40mm), through which a length of brass rod has been inserted. The base was then detailed up with ground texture prior to painting and flocked. I will cover the bases in more detail in the next week or so showing how they can add both height and more importantly a little more security than the plastic flying stands. In the meantime however, on to the painting. Just like the Marauder Bombers of the 2424th Squadron, I chose to paint my initial Thunderbolts in an ash wastes scheme. This is incredibly simple to paint and is as follows. First undercoat the Thunderbolts with a black spray primer. Once this has dried give the entire aircraft a light coat of Space Wolf Grey spray. Over the top of the Space Wolf Grey (but not the underside of the Thunderbolt) I painted with a watered down Kommando Khaki, over which I painted a thin wash of brown ink, flesh ink and kommando khaki. This helped to bring out any panel lines and detail in the Thunderbolt prior to highlighting. Once the ink wash had dried I carefully dry brushed Kommando Khaki back over the top half of the Thunderbolt and finally highlighted with neat Bleached Bone. The striping over the wings was also added with a light dry brush of Bleached Bone. For the engine manifolds, guns and main engines I first gave them a base coat of black and boltgun mixed together over which I painted Chainmail Silver highlights. The Squadron markings were then painted first Ghostly Grey and then highlighted with Skull White. For the cockpit canopy glass I first painted a 50/50 mix of Midnight Blue and Black to which I added Lightning Blue for the highlights. Assembling the Thunderbolt.
The two engines may initially look like a single part cast four times, but they are not! Each engine is designed to fit on one side and one side only, this is indicated by the slight curve to one side. The simple way to tell which engine fits where is to slide it into place and see if the channel at the end of the engine lines up with the spur that extends from the underside of the wing. With that in mind I recommend attaching the two wings and nose as the first steps. If attached correctly the wings will sit at a raised angle upwards slightly, not horizontal. With the wings in place it is then very easy to try out the engines and see which side they fit before gluing them in place.
The second handy tip is the three vents on either side of the cockpit canopy in the cowling are meant to be clear of any resin flash or blanking resin. In the case of this Thunderbolt there was very little to clean up, however it is intended that the slits go all the way through the cowling. This is because the engines should be seen through them once they are attached. Yet another nice design touch by Will in the creation of the model. With that in mind I actually left both engines of altogether prior to painting and painted them separately gluing them in place at the very end. This meant that all the nice metallic details on the engines can be seen through the vents without having to try and insert a paintbrush through the slots, clever stuff. The choice of course is entirely yours, however I believe it to be well worth the effort, especially when having spent the money buying such a great kit in the first place. Right, with those handy tips out of the way, I'm back off to paint a few more squadrons and start on the Lightnings. Have fun. | Next: Legio War Griffons Titans | | Back to Steel Legion Introduction | Back to Epic Armageddon Introduction | |
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The Thunderbolt
shown here is one produced by Forge World and like the Marauder Bombers is a
little larger than the metal variant produced by Fanatic (the studio ones not
being to scale). Sculpted by Will
Hayes, this is one highly detailed aircraft and well worth mentioning a few
pointers about its assembly which I have covered below.
Although the
Thunderbolt is a very simple model to assemble, there are a few things worth
knowing before you start getting busy with the glue.