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WH40K Viper Jetbike

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  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
WH40K Viper Jetbike
Posted by Real G on Tuesday, January 10, 2012 9:20 PM

I don't see a lot of Warhammer kits on the forum, so I thought I'd toss one on the barbecue.  Stick out tongue

Viper Jetbike-01

This is Games Workshop's Eldar Viper (Vyper?) Jetbike from the Warhammer 40K series of gaming miniatures.  I had no idea what the series was about when I received the model, but it looked so cool that I had to build it!

This is an older kit, so some (but not all) details were a little blunt, especially the forky points on the nose and wingtips.  I grafted on some sheet plastic to these areas and reprofiled them into sharp points.  The four engines on the undersides were a bugger to fill and sand, as they were longitudinally split and the fit was less than stellar.  I plugged the engine tunnels with some short plastic rod, with scribed sheet plastic standing in for intake/exhaust grille details.  (Sorry, I didn't take any shots of that, and the model has since been given to a friend.)

Viper Jetbike-04

I replaced the cables on the gunner's chair with coiled wire from Radio Shack, as I was too lazy to clean up the ones that were molded on.  The rest of the kit went together without any problems.  The two crewmen were especially nice and were very sharply molded compared to the somewhat dull details on the vehicle.

Viper Jetbike-02

The model was finished with Testors Model Master enamels, but I didn't paint the "lumps and bumps"  like jewels because I didn't like that look.  My apologies to the WH40K Eldar fans out there.  The decals were thin and could be persuaded to follow the curves of the model using lots of Microset and Microsol.  The white decals were translucent though, so the black chevrons showed through.

I had a blast building this kit, and it opened my eyes to a whole world of models that existed under my radar.  Games Workshop has steadily improved their mold making, and their latest releases have amazing details and dangerously sharp pointy bits!  Most of the serious "scale-only" guys avoid these kits, but that is a pity.  Try one, you will not be disappointed!

Viper Jetbike-03

 

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    October 2008
  • From: italy
Posted by bsyamato on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 4:15 AM

Great clean work Real!!! 

  • Member since
    October 2009
Posted by DrShrinker on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 7:54 AM

Yeah, great build. looks like it was a fun kit. I've never played the game but there are a bunch of neat war hammer kits. I especially like the tanks.

  • Member since
    March 2006
Posted by TD4438 on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 8:00 AM

GamesWorkShop does make some awesome kits.This is one of them.Nice job.I got piles of Citadel Miniatures in the stash.

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Huntington, WV
Posted by Kugai on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 12:12 PM

Very nice!  I'm not that familiar with Warhammer, so I didn't realize they had stuff like this.

It was also a nice surprise to see that this is what you meant by "Viper Bike."  I didn't catch what the "WH40K" referred to before clicking on it and was dreading the idea that someone had made the flying bikes from a certain show that should not have been made in 1980.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww122/randysmodels/No%20After%20Market%20Build%20Group/Group%20Badge/GBbadge2.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y211/razordws/GB%20Badges/WMIIIGBsmall.jpg

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 12:47 PM

Guys,

Thanks all for the comments!  A friend builds a lot of WH40K stuff, so I get to see what the latest kits look like.  I am constantly amazed at the sculpting and parts engineering that goes into these things.  Despite being a nice looking model, the Jetbike is "old school", and can't compare to the stuff coming out from Games Workshop these days.  Don't be put off by the fantasy or gaming aspect of the product.  My friend is the biggest WH40K fan I know of, but he just builds the models and does not play the game!  Like I said, give one a try if you have not.

Kugai, I know which bikes you are referring to!  Indifferent  Funny thing is that when I saw it on TV for the first time, I thought that it was the coolest thing since plastic digital wrist watches!  For those of you who were not around when the original Batlestar Galactica aired, the main characters had motorcycles to cruise around on.  In a chase scene, they flipped a switch, the bikes deployed ridiculously small fins, and the bikes took to the air.  Galactica 1980 - I try not to remember it as best as I can...

The Warhammer bike is much cooler, IMHO.

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: SW Virginia
Posted by Gamera on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 1:26 PM

Cool model and beautiful job on her! I agree that a lot of the Warhammer stuff is really cool, if it wasn't so darn expensive!

Would love to see anymore that you'd like to post.

"I dream in fire but work in clay." -Arthur Machen

 

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Huntington, WV
Posted by Kugai on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 9:44 PM

Real G

Galactica 1980 - I try not to remember it as best as I can...

That and the "white" episodes of the original series...

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww122/randysmodels/No%20After%20Market%20Build%20Group/Group%20Badge/GBbadge2.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y211/razordws/GB%20Badges/WMIIIGBsmall.jpg

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Thursday, January 12, 2012 12:35 PM

Kugai - "White episodes"?  I think I'm playing with fire, but what pray tell are those?  Or should we leave well enough alone and move to the next thread?  I do miss the firing missile launcher on the original Viper kit though.  The Eldar Viper has no such feature.  Sad

Gamera - Sorry, but that's the extent of my WH40K collection!  I did pick up a couple of other kits, like the Tau Gav Tank and an Eldar Batwing-looking thingy, but I passed them on to my WH40K buddy when I realized that I had too much other stuff to build.  BTW, I love your high stepping commie parade girl avatar!  Are they North Korean?  Gotta be, knowing their penchant for hysterically extreme antics!

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    January 2009
  • From: Edmonton, Alberta
Posted by Griffin on Thursday, January 12, 2012 1:40 PM

Nice work on the Jet bike. I used to play the game and I had a fairly large Eldar army. I never really got around to painting too much of the stuff but the models are pretty cool.

  • Member since
    July 2003
  • From: Huntington, WV
Posted by Kugai on Thursday, January 12, 2012 7:40 PM

Real G

Kugai - "White episodes"?  I think I'm playing with fire, but what pray tell are those?  Or should we leave well enough alone and move to the next thread?  

Nothing controversial.  It refers to the original BSG episodes where the folks abducted by aliens woke up with their uniforms and their surroundings all in white ( In addition to parts 1 and 2 of "War of the Gods", there was another episode where the white uniform thing happened ).  Even the aliens were in white makeup and wearing white robes with white-veiled faces.

When Richard Hatch showed up at one of the conventions I went to plugging his "next generation" idea for a sequel series, his contempt for those old eps was made clear when he emphatically stated that there would be absolutely no episodes where people would suddenly be in white uniforms.  Apparently, some of the cast's opinions ( and every single BSG fan I've mentioned them to who hasn't blocked them out as a traumatic experience ) of those episodes is about the same as the original Trek cast's opinion of such gems as "Spock's Brain" and the "space hippie" episode.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/ww122/randysmodels/No%20After%20Market%20Build%20Group/Group%20Badge/GBbadge2.jpghttp://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y211/razordws/GB%20Badges/WMIIIGBsmall.jpg

  • Member since
    May 2011
  • From: Honolulu, Hawaii
Posted by Real G on Thursday, January 12, 2012 8:00 PM

Kugai,

Huh.  I must have blanked out those episodes from my memory.  Well, I can''t say that I remember a lot about the show, except that some years later I witnessed a RATO take-off by the Blue Angels' "Fat Albert" C-130, and noted that the sound of the rockets was identical to the Viper's turbo boost.  But the rest is blurred by the passage of time.  (Except the immortal tag line "by your command." )

Maybe I was abducted by aliens, put into a white room, and had my memory erased...

Thanks for filling in the memory void.  See, now the aliens' evil plans to conquer the Earth are foiled.  The galaxy is saved!

We now return you to your regular thread.

“Ya ya ya, unicorn papoi!”

  • Member since
    August 2009
  • From: Central IL
Posted by SLW 45 on Thursday, January 12, 2012 8:07 PM

Really nice work on this

 

                 

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