I'm taking a break from my usual hobby how-to articles to show you this fabulous Imperial Guard Valkyrie conversion done by a friend of mine.
Besides being quite an elaborate conversion it also has a terrific paint job and I just had to share it with the hobby community.
So where to begin on this amazing conversion? Let's talk about the firepower!
The first thing that might strike you about this Valkyrie Gunship is the sheer number of guns. There are five quad autocannons on this beauty. The autocannons from the Games Workshop Aegis Defense Line kit were used to give this model its massive armament.
The concept here is that transport capacity has been sacrificed in its entirety for the sake of maximizing firepower and ammunition to support it.
The inspiration for this model was the B-25 Mitchell gunships of WWII some of which carried eight 0.50 caliber machine guns in the nose and additional guns along the sides of the fuselage. Some versions instead had a 75mm gun in the nose with multiple 0.50 caliber machine guns. Various versions carried a total of 14 to 18 machine guns!
Now a great conversion deserves to have a great paint job and my buddy didn't skimp on that either. From the hand painted Imperial Aquila on the wings to the extensive weathering around the seams this model has a carefully executed paint scheme from nose to tail. It also has a nice scenic display base to show it off using part of a Warhammer movement tray as tile and a Warhammer 40,000 barricade on top. He so liked my use of the GW Ork Barricades on the flying stands for my Ork Bommers he decided to use the idea for his own flying stands with the Imperial looking barricades. That's part of the fun of doing this hobby with friends, you give each other great ideas and we've borrowed ideas from each other more than once.
As you can see the model looks fantastic and battle ready on a finished game table. What Ork mob would want to be on the receiving end of that much firepower?
This is officially my favorite Valkyrie conversion ever starting from the B-25 Gunship source that inspired it and through the careful conversion work right down to the final bit of paint, it oozes "cool". If you want to see it up close and personal it's currently on display at the Games Workshop Battle Bunker in Bowie, MD. While you're there you can also check out my Ork Bommers, part of my Dark Angels army, my Khorne Helbrute conversion with buzz saws, and lots of other cools stuff, some of which I've also featured here on Spikey Bits.