Warhammer 40K Ravenwing Dark Talon/Nephilim Jetfighter - Complete

Modeling Subjects Science Fiction
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40K Ravenwing Dark Talon & Nephilim Jetfighter is FINALLY done. Almost a full year of off and on work. I wanted to be able to run it as either aircraft on the tabletop, so apparently my hobby is magnets now?

Fun project, but as usual, by the end I was OVER it. As a result some of the chipping and weathering I’m not happy with, but it just needed to get done. The base was super fun to work on, lots of new techniques there. Just to be clear, it’s a 3D print I bought and then painted and detailed. I didn’t sculpt it!

It’s a great kit, despite its age. Everything fits! I did skip the kit flight stand and base and used a 1/2” acrylic rod with some magnets instead. This should make storage and transport a lot easier. Also, I cut the acrylic rod at an angle on the top so I can adjust the aircraft’s angle of attack by rotating the stand.

The basecoat for the “black” is airbrushed Tamiya XF-85 “Rubber Black” and XF-82 “RAF Ocean Grey 2,” mixed 3:1, then 2:1 for zenithal highlights. I love airbrushing Tamiya, but it doesn’t brush paint that well for me so doing touch ups was kind of a pain. Then I masked and painted the wing panels in a lighter grey – I think it was Vallejo Wolf Grey? I gloss coated and then did some oil streaking and an oil pin wash, then the chipping. Highlights were just drybrushing with light blue/greys. Final chipping and highlight was done with a silver Prismacolor pencil, and then I sealed it all up with Vallejo’s matte poly varnish.

Ravenwing Dark Talon

Ravenwing Nephilim Jetfighter

POV: you’re a xenos, daemon, or heretic

The jet nozzles were basecoated silver and then heat-burned using Vallejo inks and glaze medium.

The base is a 3D print I bought on Etsy. Mostly drybrushed – it’s shockingly easy to get a great result doing this.

Really happy with how visible the control panel is, and REALLY happy that I didn’t bother to detail the rear of the cockpit since it’s totally invisible.

I do wish I’d done some more testing of using the sponge chipping technique – I’m not that happy with the result. Something to improve on next time.

What’s more 40K than stone relief work on an aircraft?!

It’s a really fun kit to build, great engineering and details. The pilot’s got one hand on the stick and the other on the throttle.

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Really nice! All the detailing and wear marks/scratches looks amazing!

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I think you did excellent work, including the chipping. Very cool. You should be proud it. [Y]

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That looks fantastic!!! I love how the chips and scratches came out! I’d guess in the future they might have some sort of super paint that won’t wear but it looks so much better if you do a little weathering!

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Oh wow, that’s a beautiful piece of work.

The attention to detail is fantastic and everything looks so sharp. Excellent piece!

How did you get that wonderfully variegated color on the ruins?

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wow thats a pretty impressive build.

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Hey, thanks Phoenix! I think what you’re seeing is the texture of the resin print, highlighted by drybrushing. I mostly follow this process for doing my bases: https://youtu.be/ToL2VI_L-lo?si=KomjJhjtTR6xCCos

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Entirely possible, and if that’s the case, the print lines enhanced the look. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the link to the video! That methodology is completely new to me and I really like the results produced. Can’t wait to give it a try.

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Awesome job! The paint work is excellent.

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GREAT work! I especially like the details in the cockpit.

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Wow, what a nice surprise today to see an email from a resurrected FSM, and with pleasant notes like these! Thanks folks, it was a really fun project. I’d recommend one of these Games Workshop models to any FSM builder, just to enjoy the fit and engineering, and the nice quality styrene. My only complaint is that the instructions tend to be rather confusing, since they give you so many options for tabletop variations.

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very nice, you know another way to go with this build would be to change some paint tones and make this into a steam punk project, it’s got all the makings for it, just saying

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Certainly you could! That’s one of the funniest parts of the 40K hobby: you can build and paint your armies however you want. It’s really fun working up your own “paint and markings standards” and then creatively applying them to each model.

To be honest though, I’m a bit vanilla and mostly paint the “correct” color schemes for my Space Marines chapter, the Dark Angels.