Restoring a 1995 Predator

[VanguardVeteran]

Aside from 4 Ultramarines which I botched with a gloss varnish, and 5 Dark Angels from a painting starter kit, I've never finished painting anything. As much as I am familiar with the lore of WH40k, and in utter disregard of the 200 White Dwarves I have, I can't seem to actually get an army started. Having lurked on the B&C forums for the better part of 4 years, I think it's finally the time to start my journey both here, and on the painting table.

 
So. What better place to begin than restoring an old edition Space Marine Predator! It was generously given to me as part of a Space Wolves force, in a (questionably) painted condition. Unfortunately, it's the only thing that didn't have matching instructions, some I'm rather at a loss as to what it's supposed to be. I'm thinking somewhere between a 'Destructor' or an 'Annihilator', but you could probably stick the phrase 'Rogue Trader' in there too.
 
Thank goodness for the prevalence of superglue in 1995, because I was able to break it down by putting it in the freezer, and twisting parts off when the glue had lost all its chemical bond (I unintentially gouged some plastic here and there, but nothing that can't be sanded/filled).

 

The next step in restoring the tank was to strip it of its old paint. This was simply done by leaving it "Dettol Classic Antibacterial Disinfectant Liquid" for a while. I say a while because I've read some tutorials saying that it's ready to scrub in 4 hours, but I left it for a week. The paint was basically falling off by the time I found it!

 

 

 

There's a few dots of Space Wolves grey remaining here and there, but nothing that should really impede a fresh lick of paint!

 

 

This last picture is just of the parts that I'm yet to drown in disinfectant. (Sorry about the Tactical Marines in the background! As you can see I'm working on two things at once!)

 

I'm looking forward to restoring this beast, as I understand it restorations are never particularly easy, so I hope to do it justice.

Thanks for stopping by!

[Charlo]

Who doesn't love a classic Predator?

 

Can't wait to see how it turns out.

[Lord Commander Eidolon]

Yes!! So much awesomeness! I do love a good salvage project!

 

I might be guilty of leaving stuff in dettol for war too long! But try isobutytol alcohol instead, it's much better, particularly on plastic!!

[Major_Gilbear]

It's a 2nd edition Space Marine Predator Annihilator. Looking forward to seeing your restoration progress on this! :)