Blockade Runner "Warpstorm IV"

The Ship:

The Blockade Runner Warpstorm IV is the personal pirate raiding vessel of Captain Flint Thunder, the scurviest knave ever to haunt the asteroid belt. Originally designed as a light cargo pod carrier, the WSIV underwent major modifications at the hands of Flint Thunder and his crew who added armor, uprated engines and various weapons.

The Model:

The Warpstorm IV was the direct result of my discovery of Starship Modeler.com, about two weeks after we got the internet when I was a mere stripling of 14 or 15 summers. I was so inspired by the incredible kit bashes on the site that I just had to make one myself! After about an hour rooting through the cupboard where I kept all of my terrain making materials, I had a rough idea of how things would look. My brother donated various parts from semi-defunct kits of his own, most of which were painted (that saved me time painting them!).

For the next week or so I cut up cardboard tubes, glued my fingers together, added various spare parts, hacked up cream pots and generally had a great time. My brother again offered assistance in shaping the cockpit from a plumbing fixture - I could never have gotten the front window so regular!

Being a mere stripling of 14 or 15 summers I was not a very skilled modeler. I even skipped the more usual kit building apprenticeship - I think this was my forth model! Nothing lined up properly, the cargo pods stuck off all over the place, the weathering was very heavy handed and the paint job inferior, but I was having too much fun to care!

I created back stories not only for the ship, but for the crew (I've lost them unfortunately) and started creating a whole universe for it to fit into. In short, I was hooked on SF modeling.

I've since moved in and out of SF modeling a few times - usually to War games related modeling, but I always come back. I guess the magic of a crazy scratch build at 14 hasn't worn off yet!

When you read an article about someone's first model on the net or in a magazine they always seem to have lost it at some stage. Well, the WSIV is no longer with us. Not all of it anyway. The reason is simple. When I was about 19 or 20, my brother and I decided to re-build it using our current modeling skills and a much more planned appearance. Dubbed the WarpStorm IX Up-Armour Custom (yes, we'd been watching to much Anime) the skeleton was built from PVC pipe for extra strength and regularity. Unfortunately, that's about as far as it got... I've still got the pieces, and some of the original WSIV pieces somewhere, but nothing complete. Which is better than my first ever Wargames terrain piece - I chucked that out years ago like a fool...