Ork Dakka Jets for Aeronautica Imperialis

Bad Moons in the sky! Ork "Dakka Jets" for Aeronautica Imperialis.

Another fun bit of random painting - a pair of random "Dakka Jets" from GW's "Aeronautica Imperialis" rules for air combat in the Warhammer 40k setting. These are multi-part plastic kits from GW. 

Love that crazy "V"-shaped twin tail...

"Aeronautica Imperialis" was cancelled last year just as "Legions Imperialis" was released. While the game was available, it had great models, and these Ork fighter craft are a lot of fun to work with. They are kind of a genius model design, essentially a very interchangeable set of components you can organize in a variety of ways to create aircraft that look broadly similar without all looking the same - this is a perfect solution for the Orks, where each larger craft or vehicle is an individual work, and not something assembled off of any kind of specific plan. 

Seems like a totally safe craft to me...

The "Dakka Jet" is the basic fighter for the Orks, and as you might imagine, in the Aeronautica game they fly very fast and don't last too long damage-wise. They can also be upgraded with an assortment of bombs, rockets or even MORE blastas and other assorted whacky Orky weapons. While the "Dakka Jet" would generally be dog fighting and trying to shoot down opposing aircraft (most of the time), you can also equip it with weapons for ground attacks, so they can be used in the various scenarios the game offers.

Nice view of the engine work - surely a low-emission thing?

The wing-man...

These two models had been built, primed, and sat in a box for over a year, and they turned up here in Toronto while I was unpacking a box of hobby bits. I thought it would be a fun little palette-cleanser of a project to finish these two craft. I decided to make these primarily yellow/"Bad Moonz" type craft, to add to the color variety of the Ork ships I have painted so far.

Bombs and/or rockets away!

Love the little landing skid on the bottom...these things are so whacky...

In terms of weapons, I added a mix of bombs and rockets under the wings just to offer some further variety to the look these crazy ships. I find Ork craft don't paint too quickly, as the Orks are not the sort to go with uniform paint schemes any more than they are the sort to with uniform designs or blueprints.

So the Ork air fleet is now increased to six of these "Dakka Jets", to go along with two "Fighta Bommerz". Plenty for a game sometime. Might be time to work my way up to some of the larger "Bommas" in the Ork air arsenal...perhaps another palette-cleansing project for later in the summer? We'll see! That's all for now - thanks for reading, and I hope you have a great weekend!