Brushing the Dust off

So I only recently remembered that this blog existed, so I'm brushing the dust off and bringing it back as an excuse to build more shtuff.  Also I've recently realized that I really like the build than post progress, especially because looking where it came from and the evolution of a model's progress is cool.  And who knows, maybe something someone will read.

Currently I'm working on a project for 40konline's Way of the Waaagh's event titled The Junkyard: Gitz it Done Event II.  The Event is a way to encourage participants to complete their Orky projekts that are incomplete and get them to tabletop standard by the end of the month.  My contribution is 2 Jets out of 1 box.

This is where I started the projekt out on the 5th.

 As you can see, not all that impressive.  Just the main body of the standard kit mocked together with rubberbands and 2 length of PVC pipe cut and glued together at close to the same proportions (admittedly not exact, but close).

Now I am 30 hours into the projekt, and they look considerably different.  I'm not going to post all the WIP's here, especially when I've already done so on the Junkyard post.  But I will be posting the current looks, starting with the Base...

At the beginning of this block of time (post hour 26) the scenic base for the scratchbuilt looked like it does
on the left.  Pretty cool huh?  I think so.  I based the base on the old Orky concept of scrap piles, and what better resembles scrap than a blown up Leman Russ and cut up bits of sprue?  (Yes the side of the Russ is scratchbuilt from card).  Anyway shortly after posting my last update on 40konline, I was putting some boxes away, when one fell out of my hands and scattered its contents across the floor of my closet.
 

It was there that I rediscovered this old gem I had managed to trade for, an old 2nd Edition era Lictor. I've always been a fan of the Lictor, both as a model in all its incarnations, and from a fluff perspective, but rulewise they've progressively gotten worse every edition.  But this was a chance to rejuvenate the old!

You may note that there aren't legs or the Scything Talons, that's Ok though.  Gives a bit of a challenge.

So here I am, plopped him in hanging on to the pipe I had to add as support.  He fit in unbelievably perfectly into the nitch, it's rare something works so easily for me.  The Talons I got in a trade, I think from the Trygon kit, whereas the leg is from the Warriors kit.  I also figured with those cool Flesh Tendrils firing he needed some poor victim around so I put out one of the AoBR Orks (3 piece models that were hard to convert, this is a good use for him.)

If you couldn't tell, working on this one base is a considerable drain on time, but it is quite worth it I think.  At this point the base itself without the flyer would work well as a centerpiece for an army.  But of course there's still a long ways until its finished.

Moving onto the Jets themselves, most of the work on paneling has taken place.  Jet 1 now only needs the undercarriage, specifically under the wings, but is on hold until I figure out the other weapon mounts.  Jet 2 (the scratchbuilt), is about 60% in this stage, the top portion is complete but I still need a bit on the sides.  The bottom can't be done until everything else is so I can find where the center of balance is to attach the pipe.
It was at this point that I realized that Jet 2 felt slow.  Originally I thought this was due to only having 3 thrusters instead of the 5 on Jet 1 and thought about adding a couple extra engines.  However instead of doing that I rumaged through the bits box and found some DE rudders for wings!

 The picture doesn't do it justice, but then again I'm a model builder not a photographer.  The whole thing (especially when the wings are removed) reminds me of the Batman Returns Batmobile, not what I was meaning to build, but nevertheless cool.

Anyway I'll leave this post with this.