8/18: Updated with new pictures a few posts down!(Here comes the text):
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Excerpt from Personal Communication:
From: Brad "Ace" Armbruster
To: Conrad "Duke" Hauser
Glad to hear you're finally off of the new government's chain, Duke. Maybe now we can start actually getting things done. As far as information, yes, I have been to Washington since the occupation, and if you're planning on trying to retake the capital, you've got your work cut out for you. Serpentor's forces have the city turned into a veritable fortress. If you can find me and the boys some planes, we'd be more than happy to give you a hand, but you're going to have to clear the way for us, first. Serpentor has these damned airships called Nephilim. They're big, bulky, and ugly as sin, but they're also powerful enough to chew us up on land or in the air. Don't even think of them as planes; think of them as the bastard child of a battleship and a helicopter. Serpentor uses them to patrol most of the larger cities he's conquered, due to their ability to maneuver with ease through urban landscapes. What's worse is that each one carries a full squad of Serpentor's Air Troopers. I swear that Serpentor must have drafted these maniacs from a mental asylum. They launch directly from the Nephilim airships and just throw themselves right at any aircraft trying to attack the behemoths. They're a pain in the ass to try to target, and they've been known to land right on the wings of aircraft and just start ripping away at anything that looks important, like those gremlins pilots used to be superstitious about during World War II. Or that thing in the Twilight Zone episode. When we tried to engage the airships over Chicago, the air troopers got us before we were even in range. You find a way to take out those Nephilim airships, and the damned air troopers on board, and we'll see about getting you some air support.
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....and thanks for reading. This has been a big project, and painting it has been a colossal pain in the ass (I don't have room to spraypaint, so I had to do it by hand. Not fun). If anyone remember the giant airship I'm building, this isn't in. This is the lighter version. The big one is still under construction (though the turbines on this one are scavenged from it...I decided to go in another direction, but didn't want the turbines to go to waist). My camera died halfway through taking pictures, so if there's interest, I'll take a few more tomorrow after it charges. The main things I didn't get pictures of are the pilot and the Air Trooper compartments (I gutted the areas where the jet skis go on the bugg). Here are the pictures I have:
The Nephilim-class Airship:
Another view (had to play with brightness, which is why it looks a bit washed out)
And the Air Troopers, painted to go with Serpentor's forces:
And here's a part list for the airship (the troopers are just repaints)
Nephilim-class Airship:
Main Body, doors, canopy: Cobra Bugg
Engine turbines: Made from POGO body, SW Senate Pods, Crusader/Defiant Engine Cones, Air Assault cobra symbols, Doc Ock tentacles
Tail/Landing skids: Dragon Hawk
Small turbines: Sting Raider
Top guns: RHINO
Radar Dome/misc kibble: SW Tri-droid and parts from Sigma6 Iron Hammer arms
Anti-Aircraft gun: Venom Striker
Chin Gun: NACC
Missiles: Stargate Glider