oileanach Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 The GW universe has a wonderfully skewed view of reality- clanking tanks that make WW1 look hi-tech, fighting supersonic stealth craft out of a 70s airbrush scene; or orcs with machine guns and dinosaurs tearing into little grey aliens with samurai armour and mechs of all sizes... It's utterly barking! And I love it! The ships of the Imperium, vast, mile long, iron cathedrals, are the very embodiment of the whole, mad show. They're the perfect subject for a sci-fi model. Trying to capture their age (most are centuries old) their majesty, the sheer size of the things, in such a gothic rendition, would surely be a challenge for the best of modellers. Soooo, has anyone tried one? Have you even heard even a second hand account of someone attempting the feat? How did it work out? The miniatures, while lovely little things in their own right, just don't capture the terrible, massive scales involved. Some Star Wars models manage to pull it off, but theirs is an entirely different look and feel. I'm curious; it might be an idea for a long term project. If I can build the skills required. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Vale Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 I don't recall seeing one built that wasn't a lead or plastic mini. And I think you're right, it'd be a lot of fun and make for an impressive model. The 40K scenery kits might be a good starting point, and it'd help if you could get a small scale gothic cathedral to provide the towers and buttresses. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonas_415 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Not quite the same, but I'm sure there was a 40k train built for White Dwarf magazine at one point! It looked like a gothic version of a Mad Max prop. Like you say...barking! As for building a model, I assume you mean something in a bigger scale than the Battlefleet Gothic miniatures they used to make? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Yeah Jonas, nothing too large, a foot or two long would be plenty, kind of like the various Star Destroyer/Enterprise/Galactica kits that are out there. The Gothic minis are a couple of inches long. Good size for a tabletop game- better than our tanks and 28mm minis, tbh- but not really representative of a Battleship or Grand Cruiser six to eight kilometres long. I really don't have the skill to scratch build one, but I reckon I could learn. I enjoy reading about builds, here and on other sites, magazine articles and books. I can't help thinking 'oh, that would work really well on my project'. How hard can it be? I know- 'kin hard! Still, someday, maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChancerUK Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I think an Epic scale 40K warship would be feasable, possibly try a destroyer as a managable project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Fontaine Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Given that a Super Heavy Tank in 28mm is really quite a size, I have to ask the question: How big is your work area?! (still saving for that Reaver Titan, it shall be mine!) Alex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted July 4, 2012 Author Share Posted July 4, 2012 Alex, I'm still praying to the Emperor for a regular GW version. The FW Titans are fantastic, but £317 for the base model? Surely a plassie kit, even one with less detail, isn't beyond the realms of possibility? On ships, escorts are supposedly @750m- 3km long, so at 28mm (1/72ndish ?) you'd need 10.4 metres for the smallest ones, a capital ship 8km long would scale to @ 111 metres. Just a tadge bigger than my table! A diorama based around an assault boat would be doable, I think. Can Astartes armour double up as spacesuits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyro-manic Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 At Games Day some years ago (2006 possibly) there was a big table set up for one of their huge showpiece 40K battles to be played on. It featured part (not the whole ship) of a crashed Cobra-class destroyer (the tiny, diddy little inch-and-a-half-long escorts you get in BFG) - it was about five feet long IIRC. Most impressive! I'm sure there'll be pics around on t'interweb somewhere. An Epic-scale one would be more feasible for those with sensible-sized houses, but it would still be a couple of feet long for an escort ship, and obviously more for one of the line cruisers. Scale is not even close to consistent with the GW-verse, so I think there's quite a bit of leeway if you want to make something smaller (or bigger!). Alternatively, just create a new ship class - a planetary police cutter or something - that is smaller and lighter than the Imperial Navy vessels, but still looks cool. As for power armour, IIRC it's completely sealed and self-contained, so would function as a spacesuit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Fontaine Posted July 6, 2012 Share Posted July 6, 2012 As for power armour, IIRC it's completely sealed and self-contained, so would function as a spacesuit. Correct. Or at least correct considering it's a fictional scenario anyway! So nobody's up for a Imperial Navy Destroyer group build then?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted July 7, 2012 Author Share Posted July 7, 2012 (edited) Not just yet! Do you prefer Frank or Alex, by the way? Thinking about it, the latest Heresy novel to feature the Raven Guard has some of the Astartes donning armour to enter a vacuum sealed hanger, so I guess the suits must be (kind of) space suits. According to the fluff, at any rate. If the novels are 'canon'. Think it'll effect the saving throw? Edited July 8, 2012 by oileanach Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 Found it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Fontaine Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Bloooooody hell, that thing's huge! I don't really care what anyone calls me to be honest, Alex is my name but I tend to use Frank Fontaine on forums because I obsess over Bioshock probably more than is healthy! What are the Heresy novels like? I've heard they can be a bit hit and miss as they are a collaborative effort by many different authors. I play IG so I struggle to look beyond IG biased novels (get to read a lot of Dan Abnett that way too!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oileanach Posted July 8, 2012 Author Share Posted July 8, 2012 'Hit and miss' is about right. At one end you have authors like Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill, who'd probably be established sci-fi authors even without the GW platform. But there are others on the team who are primarily games designers/developers, writing what amounts to officially sanctioned fan fiction. Still good entertainment and it's great to see your favourite chapter brought to life, but not really on a par with the latest Banks, Reynolds or MacLeod. So just like the IG stuff, really, now I come to think of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fog99uk Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 40K ships are on a massive scale compared to anything else. To give you an idea, Galaxy Class ships from Star Trek would fit inside an exhaust on an Emperor Class Battleship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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