Blackadder's Marauder Destroyer: A Kit WIP

[Blackadder]

Blackadder's Marauder Destroyer:

You know what the Blackadder needs, another project that's what............

Or the hole in his head examined.

Well a few years ago I decided that its a toss up between me and the government who can spend my money more stupidly so if I'm gonna waste my earnings it's going to be on something I enjoy.

Every year at Christmas I treat myself to a Forgeworld model, Hey Free Shipping; better than paying 15% of the model cost right? 15% outrageous!

Anyway this year I've given up trying to buy a used one on ebay and bought a Marauder Destroyer, the sexiest flyer in the Imperial Navy (IMHO). I had to get one before either they were discontinued or worse still ruined by reissuing them in plastic.

You don't see many threads about building Marauders, like Zero that I know of, so here goes:

First of all, Where's the certificate of authenticity? Doesn't FW distribute them anymore.

Second, there doesn't seem to be too many parts, maybe a couple a dozen, piece of cake. actually 42

http://i.imgur.com/gpwiPhI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gpwiPhIl.jpg

So I spent a few minutes unpacking and documented all as I went along.

To bring my total up to the minimum required for free shipping I ordered a few bitz to flesh out some of my scratch builds Brass etched Eagles and a full set of Hellstrike missiles and a Chaos Decimator Butcher Cannon.

It strikes me that FW would sell a lot more products if they would standardize their shipping rates instead of basing shipping on the cost of the items.

http://i.imgur.com/HXN6N26.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HXN6N26l.jpg

So here are the only discrete parts bags that come with the model, everything else; Hull, nose gun mounts wings, engines et al is just unceremoniously tossed in a large bag, catch as catch can.

http://i.imgur.com/9Qlb9Md.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/9Qlb9Mdl.jpg

All the major components seem to have survived shipping and the inventory seems to be complete and there is no visible warping but I won't know for sure until I clean off all the mould vents and dry fit it all together.

http://i.imgur.com/dNXGrqT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dNXGrqTl.jpg

And finally a closeup of the 'Raison d'être' component that makes a Destroyer a Destroyer; that nasty looking forward gun array.

[Wolfshade]

Yay! Another Blackadder thread :)

[Kirsten]

the shipping rate is really weird, no idea why they do it that way, it is a bit of a pain. I look forward to seeing this built. I would love to have one but never unless they release a plastic one, same with the thunderhawk. I am not having that much resin balanced precariously on a flying stand.

[Blackadder]

A shipping policy that penalizes larger (in price) orders defies logic. There is no incentive for the purchaser to add extra items to the initial purchase. Shipping cost should be based on size and weight if anything and there are plenty of companies that make a healthy profit that offer free shipping.

The newest stupid idea from FW is the Free Shipping Voucher. Besides only being applicable only until Jan 31 2015; to use the voucher you have to call FW and get a validation number to validate the voucher number already on the card. Once you receive the validation number you then have to call or fax FW the order, you cannot order from the FW website! So the free shipping vouch is only for one thing and it's too small, coarse and non-absorbent for that use.

Anyone ever try to contact FW Customer Service? Good Luck! you'll spend more in overseas call phone rates than the voucher is worth. Why not have an online site to receive your validation number. Hey Forge World; it's the 21 century for crissakes!

I always wait 'til Christmas to order from FW and make up a $300 dollar list over the course of the year to take advantage of the Xmas free shipping.

[Kirsten]

yeah I just placed a £250 order and got free express shipping. I hate the fact the use couriers though and not the postal service, couriers to the Isle of Man take far, far longer to reach us, usually a week longer. I would think Forge World are big enough now that they can charge a set rate for postage without losing out.

[Blackadder]

I made my order last Sunday Dec 28 2014 and my package arrived Friday Jan 03 2015 You can't beat that for an overseas shipment. I have no complaint with the shipping service just the cost..........

Basic Mould Vent Removal:

True to form Forge World provides the barest minimum of documentation to build the model so this thread will serve as a tutorial on what to do and not do as far as construction at least, painting of course is up to the individuals taste.

http://i.imgur.com/GJERuKj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GJERuKjl.jpg

Here we have the basic hull components ready to have the mould vents removed.

I've decided first to cut the vent from the aft end of the fuselage first but you can see in the closeup below that the vent might be mistaken for the actual end of the hull on both the top and bottom sections........

So where does the hull end and the vent begin?

http://i.imgur.com/hu5bWDd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hu5bWDdl.jpg

Studying the accompanying documentation it appears that the vertical furrow just aft of the rivet row is the end of the fuselage but being a somewhat experienced FW modeler I take nothing for granted so I am going to cut off the obvious vent plug and leave the extension attached until I can see how the top and bottom fits together.

I don't cut off any more than necessary (That's what the Mohel said...) because you never know what that extra bit of resin may be needed for............... I'll address that statement further down the page.

[interrogator_chaplain]

I just wanted to chime in to let you know that with my current state of mind, that Mohel joke sent me into an uproarious fit of laughter. So thanks for that.

I've also always lusted after one of these things, so I will be using this thread to live vicariously through you.

[Kirsten]

I made my order last Sunday Dec 28 2014 and my package arrived Friday Jan 03 2015 You can't beat that for an overseas shipment. I have no complaint with the shipping service just the cost..........

lucky you, takes longer than that to get from England to the Isle of Man

[Meph]

Nice! It'll be cool to see one painted up. They're awesome models so rarely seen.

[Blackadder]

I just wanted to chime in to let you know that with my current state of mind, that Mohel joke sent me into an uproarious fit of laughter. So thanks for that.

I've also always lusted after one of these things, so I will be using this thread to live vicariously through you.

Always glad to provide a good guffaw :D


Don't Cut Off Any More Than Necessary:

This is no joke, back when I was building my Tyranid Harridan the wings are extremely heavy and the wing roots had these nice hefty vent plugs attached. The idea is to cut them off and then I guess epoxy the wing root into the shallow socket in the carapace.

Well I wasn't too satisfied with the overall wing attachment anyway because in the first place it was physiologically untenable. The wings as presented on the model could never flap were it to be an actual living animal so I put the model aside until I could sculpt a believable wing shoulder but I still wanted to display the model assemble as FW intended until I made the modification so I carved and shaped the wing vent plugs to fit into sockets I drilled and carved into the carapace.

http://i.imgur.com/4X0Kjgj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/4X0Kjgjl.jpg

With the plugs in the carved sockets the wings hold on their own without the need for gluing and the model can be disassembled whenever I want to make the changes which are still in the design stage.

http://i.imgur.com/Ro7UJVA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Ro7UJVAl.jpg

But the point is had I just arbitrarily cut off the vent plugs I wouldn't be able to have the wing affix and lock in so well so be sure before you cut them off willy-nilly.

http://i.imgur.com/8sKDLAX.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/8sKDLAXl.jpg

[Darren Richardson]

Your threads are an education to us all Blackadder, I'll look forward to this thread just as much as your others...

[Blackadder]

Thanks for the reply,

Mould Vent Removal 2:

So cutting off the wedge shaped vents and leaving a bit of the plug attached to the actual model is the way I went.

http://i.imgur.com/YRifw79.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/YRifw79l.jpg

Flipping the hull pieces over to reveal the interior shows the incredible thickness of the resin which I suppose is necessary to keep the model from warping during the curing stage and also to counterweight the massive castings at the front of the model.

http://i.imgur.com/Myi07Lp.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Myi07Lpl.jpg


Next I cut off the flash and the filling vents for the wing roots as it appears the wings surface mount to the lower hull wing roots although it is difficult to determine what is model and what is vent plug dross without referring to the single sheet of model documentation.

http://i.imgur.com/dylbClm.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dylbClml.jpg

The vents and sprues are very precisely crafted on this model and it may be hard to determine what is actual model and what is needed to be removed so take your time and make sure that you don't remove other than that which is intended....

http://i.imgur.com/W2GFSXS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/W2GFSXSl.jpg

Utilizing my razor saw I cut the final bits of what I determined to be vent from the wing root leaving the rough excess unfinished until I see how the wings look before I commit to the final sanding.

[Blackadder]

A Minor Discrepancy or Two:

Okay aside from two minor cracks there is also a few minor discrepancies.

I won't repair the tail skid right now because it will just crack off again, the other was a brittle piece of vent on the tail that I trimmed and glue back into place.

Employing my utility knife I pared down most of the flash and the moulding discrepancies. A strong bladed utility knife is just the thing for shaving down resin as a sharp blade can cut through the resin as if it were stale cheese.

http://i.imgur.com/36LxHI6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/36LxHI6l.jpg

Now for the discrepancies, the red arrows show that when in place the top half of the fuselage is less wide than the bottom by about a millimeter. I am thinking of cutting the bottom part in half lengthwise and re-gluing it together so it matches the top fuselage piece in width. That shouldn't be a problem and I can disguise the cut easily but before I do that I need to check the width of the tail piece.

http://i.imgur.com/SfuZfFl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/SfuZfFll.jpg

The other discrepancy is the top half of the fuselage is also a millimeter shorter than the bottom which can be seen when the rivet rows are aligned indicated by the red arrows.

http://i.imgur.com/iZoLz4G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/iZoLz4Gl.jpg

More fun and games from FW.