A little over two years ago, someone was discussing on the VLK-QD1 Valkyrie and let’s just say the comments were less than flattering. Having seen the newer Valkyrie, but not owning one, I went to my FLGS and purchased one. Once I had a chance to look at it I had to agree that the jump jets were too big, the fins on the shoulders look more like they belonged on a ’59 Cadillac and if Tony Stark ever built Stewie Griffin power armor I’m sure that’s what the head would have looked like… But underneath it all, the VLK-QD1 has some solid lines and all it needed was a little help. So I did.
The fins were easy enough to take care of, they got hacked off. The jump jets in the legs also got removed and the leg rebuilt. This also required the sculpting of more Unseen Valkyrie sides to the legs, as well as smaller ports on the back of the legs. The head once I saw it was a natural, but still required a little modifying and sculpting work. Because this is the VLK-QF, I also decided to modify the arm with a new barrel and tanks. I also moved the legs into a more running pose, but didn’t get the knee high enough so it may be more of a walk. The paint, gave me issues. Not the painting portion mind you, but the pallet. In my
STK-3H Stalker post, I was talking about Reaper’s True Blue Triad, and planned to use it here. What I forgot was that the Stalker used Reaper’s Ultramarine Triad, which are more vivid blues. I got half way through using the True Blue, realized it was too light and started over. Fortunately, because the Valkyrie is a smaller ‘Mech, I only lost 1 day of painting. I like the end color, but I am still waffling back and forth between the True Blue Triad and the Ultramarine Triad. But it will be a while before I paint another, so I have until then.
Even adding insignias gave me a hard time on this one… Normally, I stop at CSO, check placement and go to town. The problem is, CSO will tell you what the Davion Guards insignia look like, but not where they go. Normally that gives me a lot of freedom, but then I ran into a snag. The original House Davion: The Federated Suns sourcebook, <1623>, on page 137, states “Only the RCT patch marks a Brigade member”. I took about an hour of trying to dig something up to confirm or deny this, but ended up only with artwork that suggest they use no other insignia than the RCT patch. So where normally I would decal it up, it only has the insignia for the 1st Davion Guards. That is why instead of it being on the arm or leg where I tend to put them, I went right up front on the torso.
Lastly, while this is the first mini specifically painted for the 1st Davion Guards, it is not my first Davion Guards mini. To my surprise, I have three already that were painted up but never really designated with an RCT. I have a plasTech Atlas, a Pegasus and a custom made Ferret. The first two were painted back in the early 80’s, while the Ferret was done about 2 years ago. I added a group picture just for fun.
As always: Comments, suggestions and steal-able ideas welcome…
Caz