Scratchbuilt Eldar superheavy transport - "Pegasus"

[chandrila]

Stunning...astounding...looks 10x better than the FW Eldar superheavies; they could definitely learn at thing or two from you.

Heh - thanks, that's very kind, if a little weird as I consider the FW superheavies to be excellent kits and I've been using them for a lot of reference! But seriously, thanks - when I first started this project, my aim was to produce something that wouldn't look out of place alongside the current Forge World Eldar range and I'm trying very hard not to make it look obviously scratchbuilt (if that makes sense).

Work continues at a good pace; most of the progress I've made recently has involved going back over some problem areas and correcting them, so not really worth a proper update. I've finally got around to cutting out the fiddly little plasticard triangles needed to complete the vectored engines (and I even made a sufficient enough quantity of them to finish those on my Scorpion too - a job that has been on my to-do list for over a year!). I've also added one of the classic metal Fire Prism sensor arrays to the Pegasus, to match those on my Falcons and the Scorpion (I use these as I prefer them to the long plastic ones that ship with the original kits) - I have a few of these in stock to use on the next few grav tanks that I build, but I do have to scour eBay occasionally for them as they've become increasingly hard to come by since the new Fire Prism kit arrived.

My website redesign is coming along well too and I'll be adding some conversion guides that cover some of the techniques I use, since I've had a fair few people ask about them (etching panel lines and creating curved edges in plasticard being the most queried).

[chandrila]

Just a small update (sorry for the double-post) - having received my copy of Imperial Armour 11, I toyed with the idea of producing technical blueprints of the Pegasus in the same manner as the Eldar and Imperial vehicles in the book. My Illustrator skills needed a bit of work anyway (I'm much more at home with Photoshop and more painterly things than vector-based stuff), so I figured I'd give it a go!

The attached image isn't finished (since the model isn't either), but I'm pleased with how it's turned out. When the Pegasus is done, I'll probably do some more from different elevations and add them to the Apocalypse datasheet that I'll put together with the rules.

[Sildani]

Very nice indeed. Perhaps you could be convinced to make files suitable for 3d printing? Sell the files for what you think it's worth, then others could have a Pegasus made for them. Get the jump on GW and everyone else, for I think this is where miniature sales and production will eventually get to.

[chandrila]

Very nice indeed. Perhaps you could be convinced to make files suitable for 3d printing? Sell the files for what you think it's worth, then others could have a Pegasus made for them. Get the jump on GW and everyone else, for I think this is where miniature sales and production will eventually get to.

Sorry to disappoint, but there's a big difference between 2D line art and 3D rendering; both from a technical perspective (I've not done any 3D rendering in my life) and from a copyright/IP infringement standpoint. Since the Pegasus clearly uses a lot of GW components, rendering them in 3D and selling the designs for reproduction would be a very clear-cut violation of GW's IP and I'd rather not expose myself to the full force of their legal department... Others might be doing this, but as an artist myself (and having a reasonable appreciation for copyright law), I am fully behind GW in stamping that out. Companies that make conversion kits and extra bits for GW kits that are 100% scratchbuilt are a different matter altogether and the lines become rather blurred.

On a related note, I have had a couple of enquiries from people about commissioning a Pegasus for themselves and my response has been the same, which I'll quote here for reference:

I’ve not kept a record of how long I’ve spent on this project, but as I started working on it back in January 2011, I’d estimate that I’m easily into hundreds of hours at this point. For a lot of my professional work I usually aim for a rate of £20/hour, however I have quoted for some conversion commissions at more like £15/hour. Even at that rate (hell, even at minimum wage rates), a Pegasus would cost a client thousands of pounds on labour alone, which I’ll readily admit is absurd. But with a project of this complexity, which could easily take another year or more to finish, I couldn’t give up so much of my time and not be properly paid for it. This is before taking into account the material costs – there are parts from many kits that I’d also need to bill for. I might be able to purchase some of the plastic bits individually, but Forge World parts (from e.g. the Phantom Titan D-Cannon, Firestorm and Type II Falcon kits) can’t be bought like that; those three kits alone would add another £86.

I’m sorry to disappoint anyone hoping to get one made for themselves. I have been encouraged by many people on Warseer and BoLS to take the Pegasus to Forge World once it’s finished to see if they would have any interest in producing it. If this were to happen (I have no experience in this area, so I have no idea how likely this is), then that would probably be the only circumstance under which I’d consider attempting to build another one (and the only way for it to be sensible for someone to buy one).

It means a lot to me that other collectors are so keen to have a Pegasus of their own and it's quite inspirational for me to read all the kind things that you all have been saying about it too. I hope that the final completed Pegasus lives up to your expectations!

Andy

[SDKFZ]

I agree with your thoughts on this matter, its just stupid to risk having GWs leaches on your back for casting something with their parts allover it.
This said, its still a bloody good model youve made ! I wouldnt get my hopes up to much, but it would be great if FW gave it a good lookover, IMO.

The pegasus is a true labour of love for eldar vehicles, and it sits right at the top of my like list.

No mather how long it takes, ill be here til the bitter (or should that be sweet ) end.

/ SDKFZ

[Evilgnome]

I sent Forgeworld a little heads up about this project last week, hopefully they'll see the potential and come knocking?

[Hendarion]

They won't. It probably will be trouble with IP. But damn, this would be soooooo cool. If FW would properly pay you, make a copy of it as master (to give you back yours), correct 1-2 things for casting or things they don't like and then cast and sell this one... I dunno if you would like that, I surely would and instantly order it. And you could always say the world's collectors are using YOUR model. Hell, I just wished this could work out. But thinking real... Forge World won't do that and I dunno if you'd even want that to happen.

Don't fear that your finished model will be up to our expectations. The current state is already so professional and clean, I'm not sure one could distinguish it from a professional model. It is just great. Great shape, great quality and great detail.

[Evilgnome]

Depends on how they handle it whether it's an issue with IP. Chandril would have to sign over rights to reproduce etc.

They might be willing to pay for an outside design if they can see a profit in it.

[Tinners]

After reading through this thread I have to say. Without a doubt you are the best scratchbuilder on this forum.

[Sildani]

It's been quite a while - any updates? Please?

[chandrila]

It's been quite a while - any updates? Please?

Still going well, though progress has slowed as we're buying a house at the moment and the end of the financial year is just around the corner. I won't be able to make it up to Nottingham for the Forge World Open Day this year, but it wouldn't have been ready to show anyway so no great loss.

I've also been doing some bits and pieces with the Phoenix Lords, which I'll post on my website once I've finished redesigning/updating that.

So don't worry, it's not forgotten and certainly won't be abandoned

[alim192]

this is amazing!! just hope one day my scratch building skills are as good as yours

[chandrila]

this is amazing!! just hope one day my scratch building skills are as good as yours

Thanks, that's very kind

Website redesign is about 80% done now; lots of new content will be added (alas, no blog/comments integration, but oh well). I've put a lot of effort especially into a new section, which I'm hoping will be one of the most detailed and comprehensive collections of Eldar runes on the web. I'll update this thread properly when the new site goes live.

Also, if anybody is interested, I am selling off a handful of my conversions to fund new projects and as part of my planned down-sizing/refocusing of my collection towards Craftworld Eldar - see this thread for more details.

[Sildani]

It's been far too long... any updates, please?

[chandrila]

It's been far too long... any updates, please?

It's on hold at the moment whilst we move house (lots of redecorating, packing, unpacking etc. etc.). Website update is almost finished too; hoping to have that uploaded in the next couple of weeks or so.

[Leeman Russ]

incredible work! You truly are an inspiration to modellers everywhere!

[chandrila]

Hello all - my redesigned site is now finally live and I've also updated the Pegasus project log - http://eldar.arhicks.co.uk/miniature.../pegasus_1.php.

The promised article on working with plasticard isn't online yet, but will be in the near future. The site redesign, reshuffle and new content has taken 6 months in my spare time, so I figured it was best to just get it online now and add the other bits later!

For those of you that might be interested, I've also added a fairly comprehensive guide to Eldar runes & symbols (http://eldar.arhicks.co.uk/miscellan...ldar_runes.php) and uploaded some line art for several unit types for use as painting templates (http://eldar.arhicks.co.uk/miscellan..._templates.php).

[Sauragnmon]

You are most certainly one of the gods of plasticard... I still find myself awestruck with your immense and amazing project that you have created here.

[Dylius]

The websites looking good.

[chandrila]

Wow, it's been a while since I updated this. Now that I've started playing some games of 40K, my attention has shifted a bit to other units that I wanted to assemble so that I could field them, but recently I've gone back to my pet project again as I really want to see it finished soon.

Work on the Pegasus is continuing and the exterior is nearing completion. The interior is the major job left to do, but I need to sit down an come up with some concept sketches first before I can start on that.

New photos to follow, but in the meantime, I've finished my dorsal technical diagram (I plan to do ventral and side profile diagrams too eventually) and finalised the first version of the datasheet. Let me know what you think!