40K: Comparing the New and Old Thunderhawk
Forge World has a new Thunderhawk coming soon – let’s take a detailed look at the new bird.
Forge World has a new Thunderhawk model coming after a great many years of service for the previous model. Today we take a good look at both kits to see how good a job they’ve done with the new kit.
Forge World says:
“This new resin Thunderhawk keeps the iconic and uncompromising outline of the Thunderhawk we all know and love, but also takes on a few design cues from other recent kits, like the Stormbird and Heresy-era Space Marine Legion tanks.”
Pre-production model – there may be some slight differences in the final model.
The New Model
Lots to talk about on this one.
This one appears to have been CAD created as it has that utter precision and left/right symmetry that is so very hard to pull off with the older hand designed models. Overall dimensions look about the same if perhaps a tad bit smaller. there are dozens of changes all over the place, but they did a great job of bringing over so much of the “little details” like the vents and panels directly behind the cockpit that it masks many of the bigger alterations. Here’s what I see so far:
- Redesigned main fuselage, with sloping upper left and right sides – as opposed to the previous model’s flying breadbox slab sides.
- Completely redesigned cockpit, now coming with a large clear piece canopy that spans the entire width of the fuselage. The old one was a narrower affair that protruded from the forward hull. This should also have the effect of filling in the windows with clear plastic much easier with a smaller amount of larger windows. The previous Thunderhawk was a terror in this hobby department.
- Forward canards resigned, with thicker roots, hopefully making them sturdier on the model.
- Chin hull sponsons redesigned. They more closely match Heresy-era Land Raider style sponsons, rather than the 40K Predator designs.
- Larger and more prominent wing root air intakes.
- Dorsal Turbo Laser is slightly thinner, with a less blockly rear weapon housing.
- Airbrakes/thrust reversers on the rear fuselage now more detailed and open in the opposite direction.
- Horizontal stabilizer on the empennage is gone. Apparently this model of Thunderhawk maneuvers more on brute thrust and less on airfoils.
- Movable secondary weapon wings are substantially redesigned. They have more negative space, much more detailed hinges and the tip-mounted las-cannons are smaller.
- Overall ratio of the wings to the fuselage is altered in favor of the wings. This has the effect of making the craft seem more balanced and “believable”. The previous model has more fuselage to wings in ratio making it appear especially ungainly.
- Large hinge mechanism added to the lower sides of the forward ramp.
The Previous Thunderhawk
The previous Thunderhawk has been in service for a while. It was one of Forgeworld first “big kits” arriving in 2004. It’s been with us for 13 years, and it shows. Anyone who has built one (we have a very nice one here in the office) knows what these early resin monsters are like. While the overall detail was good, fit and finish was very hit or miss. The old kit has some extremely thick resin part which are prone to slight warping, leaving the kit with large gaps that require major sanding (nasty with resin), or large amounts of filling. Getting exact parallel clean lines was often difficult with some parts not quite lining up.
See More Death Guard ThunderHawk Here
It was a challenging model that takes a tremendous effort to get together cleanly, before you ever think of putting a lick of paint on it.
For it’s era, it was a technical achievement and still earns respect when you see a fine example on the tabletop or display. But the new one looks to miles ahead in terms of fine detail, and probably fit and finish. I can tell you trying to pull off that new cockpit clear plastic bit with it’s large size and complex edge would probably not have been possible in 2004.
All good things must end and the new Thunderhawk looks to be ready to take the reins for the next decade.
The King is Dead – Long Live the King!
What do you think of the new design?
P.S. Everything about this model makes me believe it was CAD created. This means if GW wanted to, they could cut it up into sprues and make a plastic kit at will. We will see what the future holds.
