Fire Raptor Gunship Part 2 - Straight Outta Forge World

Happy Friday everyone!

Just a short update on the Fire Raptor today. I have taken the time to straighten the resin pieces that were warped. As you can see from the first photo below, some of the parts can be fairly out of shape. It's inevitable with resin, but easily fixed. I use the hot water method but a hair dryer or a heat gun can be used (but use a heat gun with extreme care as they get far hotter than a hair dryer and can melt resin and skin with ease). As with all of these dangerous maneuvers, if you are a child, please get an adult to help you. No burns please. On we go.

So with the hot water method, what I do is use a shallow dish of some description and add boiling water with some cold added. At a guess, I'd say it was around 60 degrees centigrade, but I've never measured it. It's definitely way below boiling (how dangerous would that be?). Add the offending part to the water and make sure you have something you can retrieve it with that isn't your own digits. You only really need to leave most pieces in the water for about 15-30 seconds. Thicker parts may need a little while longer to warm up. Remove it from the water and very gently test it to see if it's flexible. Don't force it as you can snap it and I won't be held responsible.

When it's pliant enough, carefully bend it back in to the shape it should be. Some pieces will naturally start to straighten when they've been heated, Once you are happy, you can either use some cool water or just hold the part until it's cooled. Hey presto, you should have a resin part that's back to how it should be.

You can see below that I have done a dry fit of the main fuselage to make sure it will glue correctly. It's only held together with weak elastic bands so I'm pretty confident it will glue quite well.

Next up is the cleaning (even though I said that was next last time)

Fire Raptor Gunship Part 1 - Turkey With All The Trimmings

Hello again! As promised, here is the first part of the Fire Raptor series. In this post I will quickly go over the trimming process. There's plenty of it on this one.

First up, the tools I am using.

Very straight forward really. A selection of knives in varying sizes. I don't have a modelling saw (and I am not patient enough to get hold of one) so I have a large knife for the larger trimming tasks, and a couple of smaller ones for a bit more finesse. For the love of the Emprah, if you are a child or a particularly clumsy person, get someone slightly more adult to help you with sharp knives. Ten fingers are much easier to work with than nine. Along with the knives I am just using the two pairs of clippers. The red handled ones are not very delicate but perfect for the big resin parts. There's also a pair of Citadel clippers for accurate clipping.

And here's the mass of resin you will have to work through.

It doesn't take too long really, but take your time so you don't mess it up. Using knives, I have had to shave away extra resin carefully to get it nice and flat while not gouging into the model. You can see this in the two photos below.

Here's the resin clipped and tidied, back in the bags ready to be cleaned.

Next it's on to the plastic parts.

The plastic sections of the Fire Raptor are basically quarter of the Stormraven kit. I've got a small problem with the canopy bars being miscast but I've e-mailed Forge World and no doubt they will sort that out for me. Here's the clipped plastic parts of the Gunship.

And finally, below are the left over resin bits and the mess I swiftly cleaned up. I should be able to make some tank trap scenery and the like from these. After all, there's enough of it!

Next up is the cleaning of the resin. Stay tuned for part 2!

New Project - Blood Angels Fire Raptor Gunship

Hey folks.

So yesterday we both went off to Warhammer World for (half) a visit (thanks M6). While there I may have picked up this little project to add to the list (probably quite near the top of the list.)

As you can see, it's half a Stormraven and about 3 metric tonnes of resin.

I intend to do a fairly detailed walk through of the build and painting, with the hope that it might help a few people out. It has a reputation for being an absolute sod to build and yet there doesn't seem to be much help out there in internetville. I will go through everything from trimming, straightening and washing the resin to building, priming and painting, complete with any pitfalls I come across.

I am far too excited about getting started on this so expect the next post soon!