Nurgle Fighter

Liking having more than one project on the go, and being in a hardware frame of mind, i've been looking around for something new to do. There seems to be a fair bit of talk now about fighters in the 40K universe, so thought i'd have a go at a scratchbuilt Nurgle one. Okay then, but what to use? Figuring an existing aircraft kit in 1/48th scale, as that's closest to GW's 28mm range, would be the simplest option, i had a ponder over what one to go for. That was easy - the Stuka has always struck me as a bizarre design, totally unlike anything else in the skies of WW2 and i figured it'd do just right. At a model show a little while back i picked up Airfix's version for only a tenner:

Back at home, it was strange to be building an Airfix kit again after 30-odd years, and i started by sticking the two halves of the main frame together, leaving out any cockpit details as (A) they won't be visible when i'm done with it, (B) more additions to me bits box. Anyway, i'd already decided to do away with the propeller and had it in mind to have some sort of jet intake in its place. I also junked the cockpit canopy as i want just a resemblance to the original aircraft. I couldn't find a substitute in any of my bits boxes, so decided to sacrifice my ARC-170 from the Clone Wars as its canopy looked just about the right size and width. It did fit just right, and i decided to place it much further back than it should be, to try and tie it in with similar looks on some of the GW planes:

The area right in front of the cockpit has been filled in with Plasticard, and the plan was to have all the weapons up and on there. Next was to attach the tail wings and i thought if i glued them up at an angle, it again took the thing away from the original, plus it'd tie them in with the main wings:

Next thing i turned to was the jet intake. I was having a trawl to find something suitable, when i stumbled on this interesting shape. It wasn't what i was after but, offering it up to the front of the plane, it looked kind of nifty - changing the shape of the craft completely and giving it almost a mouth, along with a jutting jaw, while still being an air intake:

So i filed down the back of it to make it flat and cut back the end of the Stuka's nose as it was turning in too far, glued it on then P38'd the join. You can also see here that i've moved the cockpit forward - it didn't look at all right with the new nose on. And i've added a horn made from Plasticard, just a little nod towards Nurgle's usual trademark.