Vengeful Spirit and Venerable BB models - advice sought!

[Gorlak]

Hello all,

I finally found some time this weekend to start on the box of pieces that I ordered in those horrible last days when we discovered GW were stopping production of BFG models. As such, it rekindled my interest in creating the Vengeful Spirit as a centre piece for my (new) Chaos fleet. Frustratingly, given my research last night, I did not buy the models at the time that I require for my plan of this model.

Before I dive headlong into eBay for the ships (I'm already watching all the Battleships on there...) I wondered if anyone is willing to sell any unwanted Battleship models? I am after;
1x Retribution
1x Chaos Battleship (preferably Despoiler, but not too fussy!)

I thought I'd try  on here first as it avoids ebay fees for the seller and, frankly, I'd rather see the money stay within this community! That, and I thought here would have the best chance of someone having such a spare/no-longer-needed model.

The concept is as per the diagram:


I've altered the tone of the constiuant parts to make it clear what is from what. This is obviously only a very quick mock-up. This is an attempt to have something that can represent what we now know is referred to as the 'Gloriana' class battleship. Any further suggestions are of course welcome.

The other ship I'd like to make is my Blood Angel Venerable Battlebarge, which would require a Despoiler prow (hence my prefernce for a Despoiler model above!) and any Imperial Battleship. I appreciate the chances of 2 Imperial Battleships and a Despoiler being available are slim to none however.

It is definitely a long shot, but thought it worth a try asking on here. I am happy to pay via Paypal or whatever you prefer, just wanted to see what people had, one way or another.

Cheers,
H

[Gorlak]

Hello all,

I have managed to get my hands on the first ship needed (an Emperor class was the first) and am hoping to pick up the other two soon (a Despoiler and a Retribution).

My only issue now is I am not 100% certain wheather a Despoiler prow or Desolator prow would look better on an Imperial hull as my Blood Angel Venerable Battlebarge.
This photo shows a mashup with a Despoiler prow, but obviously this view can be a little misleading:



 I took a quick plan view photo this morning of the options to at least eye-ball the issue:




Which do people think would look better on an Imperial Battleship hull? Any help appreciated!

Thanks,
H

[Gorlak]

Apologies for the double post, but to keep the updates consistant, I've added the mock-ups below.
I'm just double checking really and asking for second opinions before chopping up models.

I've done some (very quick!) mock-ups to test the visual impact:

Option A - Despoiler:


Obtion B - Desolater:



I do like the idea of the Despoiler, both for its seeming relationship/similarity to the 'modern' battlebarge prow (a sort of 'design lineage', as I mention in my other thread) and the fact that a battlebarge would focus on launch bays, which suggests the Despoiler prow.

On the other hand, the Desolater does look cool, and I keep thinking of the description of 'The Red Tear' in Fear to Tread by James Swallow (the BA Horus Heresy novel) that describes a prow like this on a Blood Angel battleship...

Tricky.

[FistusMaximus]

i cant see the attached pictures for some reason... am i the only one with this problem?

[Gorlak]

I've hosted the pics in the Public folder of my Dropbox, which seems to be working ok? I've tried replacing this with links to both a Google+ album (a truly terrible service that has become) and Skydrive (very good, but didn't seem to work when I put the links into the forum code...) but Dropbox seemed the most successful. Let me know if this persists and I'll try another route.

Cheers,
H

[Jimmy Zimms]

http://imageshack.us/

 

[Gorlak]

http://imageshack.us/

 

Done 

[Seahawk]

I like the Despoiler prow a bit better.

[Armiger84]

I like the despoiler prow as well.  I'd also suggest using some styrene to push the launch bays and batteries a little further out of their sockets to beef them up a bit and bring them closer to the despoiler prow's lines.  I did that with my Emperor (pics later in my thread when I get around to doing a second pass at her decorations) and put the gun batteries in the back to get it to look like the "Divine Right" artwork from the rulebook, and with a some detailed gap filling between the hangars, a little bit of effort goes a long way toward giving the impression of greater mass.  I feel like the same sort of thing here could keep the hull in line with the prow and keep it from looking like it tapers from the prow to the stern.  It would also give room to mount rows of little turrets next to the spine on top of the hangar bays... Crap, now you've got me wanting to take a try at a build like this!

[Cneo]

Try with the Repulsive's prow. I think it fits almost perfectly in this battleship hull.

[Gorlak]

Thank you all for the suggestions and linked images. These were the very same images I was looking at (I have Collected Visions, but not HH boardgame - google images helped) as a starting reference point.

The problem with the HH boardgame version is that it appears to simply be a variant of the Repulsive class, whcih is already smaller than both the Desolater and Despoiler - hardly fitting for Horus's flagship/a Glorina class ship that can carry Legion style forces. Therefore, an upgrade beyond this is necessary. The other difficulty is getting a-hold of a Repulsive hull to use for conversions. I don't even have a stock Repulsive in my collection, let alone one for conversions!  (damn you GW...)

So, an update. I have now sourced an Emperor, a Retribution and a Despoiler as the basis of the conversions. From these, I am hoping for a Venerable Battlebarge (comparable to Despoiler class) for my Blood Angels and the Vengeful Spirit.

Venerable Battlebarge (Blood Angels):
Having test fitted some options and components, I feel the original plan of a Despoiler prow on an Emperor class is not working. I can't get the image of a spanner out of my mind...  So, an alternative option is needed. A stock Despoiler, converted to have side armour (as the modern BB) and Imperial weaponry is looking good. This does mean the Despoiler components wouldn't be available for the Vengeful Spirit though...

Vengeful Spirit (Sons of Horus/Black Legion):
Now, this has been the hardest to reconcile. The previous plan was a Retribution with additional Chaos Battleship upper hull at the rear, in the style of the Grand Cruisers. As mocked up here:


However, this may not be possible and doesn't really fir with the consensus I'm getting from the forum.
Having tried a few options and components though, a new plan is forming, particularly taking inspiration from the ongoing Heresy Era Battlebarge threads and this image:


So, what does everyone think of this double-decker version -


Too much? I'm worried it might be...

I am not sure whether to go for this, obviously with some fairly extensive work to get the prow right, or go for a version using the Chaos Battleship upper hull and try(!) and source a Repulsive prow and/or hull for the conversion. Decisions decisions! Any help or opinions are of course welcome!

Thanks,
H

[Islacrusez]

Too tall, needs to be longer!

[Gorlak]

Gah, this was my fear also. Not the best option then. Perhaps it has to be the Chaos Battleship top hull and Imperial Battleship main hull, like a scaled up Vengeance Grand Cruiser. The prow is the tricky bit. A Repulsive would be good, but I think its going to simply be too expensive to do.

[timdp]

Gah, this was my fear also. Not the best option then. Perhaps it has to be the Chaos Battleship top hull and Imperial Battleship main hull, like a scaled up Vengeance Grand Cruiser. The prow is the tricky bit. A Repulsive would be good, but I think its going to simply be too expensive to do.

That is similar to my current thinking on the VS: Chaos Battleship upper hull extended to four bays long, with an Imperial battleship lower hull and Desolator prow. This will make a very large and imposing (intimidating) ship, but won't be a simple build. See top and side mockups below. After comparing the Desolator and Repulsive prows I prefer the Desolator for this application. Its quite a bit longer than the Repulsive prow and fits the HH novel descriptions (broad spearpoint) better IMHO.

A simpler version would be: Chaos Battleship upper hull with a Vengeance cruiser lower hull and Desolator prow.

Version 1




Your double stacked idea is good (but perhaps not for the VS), but it does need to be longer for a Heresy era battle barge based on the Imperial battleship design.

An interpretation of the Aratan:



Another version with a stretched rear hull:

[Islacrusez]

Would the large bay doors of the despoiler prow not be a necessary piece of a large battle barge, especially of that era?