by Chris Binnett

One of the few successful aircraft from the Gaeolis Manufacturing Company was the 4R series hunter/scout, nicknamed The Hatchet. It was originally conceived as a one man observation craft; however its early trials proved so successful that its service roll was expanded. It saw use in scout patrols, armed sentry units and light hunter squads.

The Hatchet was designed to have nimble flight characteristics. The hover and minor directional control was provided by the four Weak/Strong projection rings, while the main thrust was provided by a low volume “whisper” particle drive. It had a maximum flight ceiling of 28 meters above surface, and its top speed was 132 kmh. These numbers may seem unimpressive, but the weapons and its virtually silent operation made up for the deficit.

The H model, as seen, was equipped with a 12 mm fast bore rail gun with 2200 slugs and a maximum firing speed of two per second. It was effective against armor and personnel.

This is the aircraft of Fayah Norn, the most famous member of the “Night Serpent” hunter squad (21st Gr.) He served in the Tangle Canyons in the N. Menha territory. On the night of 244-6-661 Major Norn was credited with 9 unassisted armor kills, a record that lasted throughout the war. The “camo” on this vehicle was the most outlandish of the squad. “You might as well paint yourself Orange..” the famous quote from the territory commander.

The model was built like an aircraft. The interior was built, painted and detailed, the fuselage halves were glued up and then the outside was taken care of. The pilot's head was the last thing I put on, just to make masking and handling a little easier. The cowling over the "engine" is very thin and required a lot of "stuff" be added, if you look close you can see a small oil filter, and some other recognizable objects.

The paint was done in stages, black first, then grey then white. It' didn't turn out the way I was hoping, but the effect is still sort of cool. The top surface of the craft was drybrushed with a lighter shade of black in the center of the panels and on any high spots, to give a nice definition to the monochrome surface.

Some of the stuff you see on the ship (in my head) are laser targeting pod (pilot's right), com bubble (pilot's left), and the whisper cooling fins (copper plates at the rear). The Ring hover system was armature wire bent around a form, textured and painted bronze, then drybrushed and weathered.

The wires to the rings are from an old (1960's) television set, with a cool braided texture.

The base was two pieces of drywall on top of each other, the top with a hole and the bottom flat. I stripped the paper, textured the gypsum, sealed it and painted it with acrylic from Michael's (good stuff). The cradle was built from styrene and holds the ship about 1/2 inch above the blast pit. The grass was some of that cool railroad "blob" stuff that you buy in sheets and stick on in small clusters, I forget the name.

Image: Closer look at the business end

Image: Above/right view

Image: Top view

Image: Right/rear

Image: Above/right