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BITS, BITS AND MORE BITS

The Venerable Dreadnought Boxed Set can be a little intimidating when you first look at all the bits included. It's really not all that hard to assemble, though. In fact, for this project, I added in a few extra bits to give it that Dark Angels look. The winged skull plates are from the Sisters of Battle Exorcist, the legs are from the Throne of Judgment, the halo is from St. Celestine, and all of the plastic bits come from the new Dark Angels Ravenwing sprue frame. Add the winged skulls to the arms by pinning them over the gothic-arch area.

HERE'S YOUR CLOSE COMBAT WEAPON

Though Dawn of War really showed us how brutal just the digits are on a Dreadnought's close-combat weapon, I've always thought its effectiveness deserved more emphasis. Spiked brass knuckles should do the trick! First, use your sprue clippers to bend the hand into a fist (carefully use the flat edges to pry the fingers without leaving a mark). Then, clip off and glue St. Celestine's halo over the fist by slotting it in the two notches on the top and bottom of the wrist. Finish the arm by attaching the winged skull as before.

TORSO ASSEMBLY

The real tricks to assembling a Venerable Dreadnought is placing the arm supports facing the right direction and filling in the gap on the torso. Dry fit this assembly until you're sure you have the arm supports seated correctly, and then glue away. While that dries, grab the Dark Angels winged sword from the Ravenwing sprue and clip off the lone wing. File down a notch just below the doulbe-headed eagle on the chest turret and glue the plastic sword in place. Instant Dark Angels iconography! Glue the turret in place, and then carefully fill in the gap with very small amounts of Green Stuff.

FUN WITH PLASTIC & FEET

Returning to the Ravenwing plastic sprue, grab the small statuette of the angel with the sword and pin it to the flat area on the top of the Dreadnought's torso. Next, grab the leg shield plates and file a vertical notch in the centre of the scrollwork on the one. You're trying to make room for the Ravenwing icon, which you can glue in place once it fits. To attach these shield plates to the Throne of Judgment legs, you might have to clip out a notch on the inside corners of each one to accommodate the hydraulic hoses. Once you have the dry fit looking right, glue the shield plates in place. Next, bend one of the toes on what will become the Dreadnought's right foot and pin it to the right leg. Pinning here is CRITICAL, as just gluing the ankle joints to the feet will not be able to hold up the weight of this metal monster (it weighs about 1/4 kilogram when fully assembled).

WATCH THAT LAST STEP

Making a base like the one above will take another set of instructions. Of course, you don't have to make anything too complicated – just build up a base that allows your Dreadnought's feet to step naturally. Again, don't forget to pin your final foot, or your fine Venerable Dreadnought is in for a tumble by about Turn 2.

Next: Ravenwing Base
Previous: Introduction