Chaos Space Marines Heldrake

"Out of the storm it came - a beast of brass and obsidian, of cable and bone, the wind from its jagged wings smelling of sulphur and rotten souls..." Anonymous

The Heldrake is a winged demon machine of Chaos that swoops out of the sky like a living comet, hurtling towards enemy aircraft and crashing into them from above, claws first. Each Heldrake is a vicious predator forged deep in the warp by Hell.

These monstrous creatures take cruel pleasure in pouncing on the unsuspecting aerial support of their enemies, tearing them to shreds with their scything wings and rune-carved claws. Heldrakes are usually found in the ranks of the traitor legions of Chaos Space Marines, clinging to the bottoms of Chaos warships and waiting until the ship reaches the low orbit of its target planet, at which point the Heldrake will enter the world's atmosphere and attack enemy forces the war-torn skies.

Like the dragons of ancient Terran myths, packs of Heldrakes soar through the churning smoke of the battlefield, metal wings spread wide and thrusters white-hot. Fire shoots from their iron-armoured mouths and roars out in jets to consume the unwary, while the Heldrakes' razor-sharp claws are strong enough to tear an armoured plane in two.

Daemon Engines like the Heldrake are hellish creations of corrupted Chaos Warpsmiths, ritually summoned demons trapped in iron and brass. The hatred and rage of these imprisoned beings burns like a forge, powering the infernal machines that form both their prisons and their weapons. Driven by the dark sigils engraved on their metal frames, each Daemon Engine must serve the will of its mortal master. The greater the demonic entity, the more powerful the Daemon Engine and the greater weapon of war it becomes.

Heldrakes were once noble fighters flown by Techmarine pilots of the Space Marines, though they are now something far more vile. The dark energies of the Warp have given them a form much more suited to the predatory role their corrupted spirits enjoy. While all Heldrakes have curved wings and the powerful engines common to all Chaos fighters such as Hell Blade or Hell Talon, the similarity ends there, for their appearance is that of flying demonic reptiles or flying dinosaurs more than any ordinary aircraft.

The miasma of falseness surrounding these cruel creatures is not only due to their vile hybridisation, but also to the haunting fear of what remains of the individuals who were once their pilots. The helmsmen within the Heldrakes, consumed by the power and independence of their battleships, have literally become one with their vehicles due to the power of the warp.

Often the first sign of a full-blown Chaos Space Marine invasion is an attack by Heldrakes. These metallic monstrosities traverse the void between worlds by clinging to the underside of Chaos Space Marine attack ships, folding their wings protectively around themselves like bats and clamping their piston-driven claws to the hull above.

Dark umbilical cables, sheathed in organic tissue, bore outwards from each Heldrake body to bore into the outer surface of the host void-ship, drawing raw energy as a leech draws blood from its victim. As the Chaos warships arrive in low orbit, the Heldrakes detach and spread their great wings as they rush towards the atmosphere of the victim planet below.

The Heldrake is armed with two sets of powerful, piston-driven claws capable of ripping through enemy craft as easily as if they were flesh. The creature has one set of rear claws on what appear to be short legs, which the Heldrake uses to hang from the bottom of Chaos spaceships and land on and cling to enemy aircraft, allowing its other claws, which are on its longer main limbs, to penetrate the enemy aircraft.

The Heldrake is also armed with a single long-range weapon, a Hades autocannon, located in its mouth. The Hades autocannon is a massive six-barrel, rapid-firing autocannon that allows the Heldrake to mow down masses of enemy troops and aircraft with contemptible ease.

This multi-part plastic kit contains 49 parts, a flying stem and a large oval base with which to build a Chaos Space Marines Heldrake.

This kit comes unpainted and must be assembled together.