A bit of a different post today. And long, you have been warned.

The intricacies of making a futuristic weapon look workable has always intrigued me. The thinking behind the form and function of successful military hardware is usually very sharp and to the point; if it didn’t have a purpose, a design point would quickly become redundant and likely disappear in the next iteration. Good military hardware must function, must function well in difficult environments (including stupid users), and must be built cheaply in both initial cost and ongoing maintenance cost.
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One of the things I definitely did not like about the Nephilim is the way the front cockpit portion connects to the rear fuselage. The connecting points was basically three thin plastic parts out of box, plus a hood over the clear acrylic canopy. It’s just a stupid way to glue a heavy tail to a small head. This is quite unlike the normal Talon kit, which has long wraparound parts that glues well.

So.. I reengineered the connecting part. Took a lot of swearing before I worked out a good scheme that both allows me to take the fuselage apart to continue work on the flying stand connector, etc. and good contact for gluing shut later. Took enough time, the blasted thing…

Not that much work on the Talon today, as I put together something else. But, at least gave the Talon some teeth.

Plarod, platube and some Kotobukiya parts for the Gatling. Intended to be two tribarrel guns, linked together, for one Hurricane bolter, so that’s just half the armament. Total 6 barrels per weapon, so the count is correct.. Will still need to scratch built another pair.

Why not just six barrels in one? Because that looks too much like an assault cannon and the weapon description did say twin-linked….

Oh and in case you are wondering, the stand the Talon is on:

Yes, it’s a big stand! It’s a Bandai Gundam stand. I just put it together and got the Nephilim to balance on top. Need to work a ball joint in there somehow… Then I’m good for dogfights!

Well the Nephilim is mostly done now. Sorted the lascannons and the wee little pilot in his wee little cockpit.

Also, superglued the wing weapons pod into place rather than liquid cement. This is in case I need to do servicing on the wing spars and/ or magnets. The wings hold up well under full weight, which is nice.

Then we have the Dark Talon. Well, still a Talon… Somewhat.

Well.. So what did I do?

• Separated engine pod linkage.
• Magnetized engine pods.
• Added vent-like plate to replace antenna.
• Replace tail with Nephilim tail and scratch built connecting parts.

Hmm still a small list. Still to come, weapons. Question really is does this guppy need a horizontal stabilizer?

And… Finally, when you really, REALLY have a need for speed…