Ork Dread Mob 8

Done a bit more on the Killa Kans today. I have decided to go ahead and make a couple of other weapons rather than wait till I can get hold of a couple more Grotzookas.

The front piece has been added to all the Kans, I made some modifications to them so no two are identical.

So we have the Krumpin' Mob of two Grotzookas and a Skorcha.

Then there is the Shooty Mob of two Rokkit Launchas and a Kustum Mega-Blasta:

The KM-B is pretty standard but as before I modified the Rokkit Launcha to have three rokkits.

I made a couple of small mods to a couple of Kans.

First up to stop the one close combat arm dropping down I added a small piece of brass rod to the arm, then drilled an oversized hole in the socket. The magnet now holds the arm to the body while the rod keeps the arm in a raised position.

The other mod was giving the raised foot some tread...

Next up is to do the engine blocks, I've got my fingers crossed I get them done in the next few days.

Gun Emplacement Mk. II - 1

Recently I did a post which covered the start of what could be me getting some pieces 3D printed. The post, here, included some 3D models of a new gun emplacement. The design was based on my previous gun emplacement which I made out of foamboard.

How the gun emplacement will look when the pieces
are assembled (or at least that is the hope).

Today I managed to do a mock up in finn and foamboard to allow me to sort out the dimensions of everything. I'd picked up a (badly) built Bassie off eBay before Christmas so I ripped the Earthshaker off and cut/sanded the gun base plate down which allowed me to determine the size I would need to make the centre of the emplacement.

The central hole in the base is 70mm, around this the base pieces (each one being 30 degrees of the whole) are 32.5mm, so the overall diameter of the base is 135mm. The walls are planned to be 15mm thick, so 165mm diameter in total - smaller than the Mark I version I built (which was too big).

Above is the base mockup (the blue area in the assembly).
The cast base pieces have a lip which the central gun platform will sit on.

The walls will be 22mm higher than the base, giving cover as
shown in the pic for the troops set up behind them.

The gun platform is 75mm in diameter - this means it will sit over the base pieces by 2.5mm, underneath is a 70mm disc to sit into the central base hole. The depth of this disc is 1mm larger than the depth of the hole to the lip (did all that make sense?). Note the central hole in the gun platform, this is 13mm in diameter and will allow a FW Hydra or Manticure turret to be dropped in place. I've not decided yet if I will model/print or if I will scratch build it before I cast it.

The gun platform in place, top right showing the underneath,
bottom right shows the overhang and clearance.

Originally I was worried about having the gun platform higher than the walkway area as the crew would struggle to load the gun, but mounting the gun offset towards the front actually gives enough room at the rear for a crewman to stand while loading the gun.

The gun in position and one of the crewman behind it. On the right
you can see that the gun just clears the wall when in its horizontal position.

After doing the mockup I am pretty confident with the dimensions I can use. There is just enough room to get a ten man squad in the emplacement and still get the crew in. Though I am more likely to put special weapon or command squads in there.

Tight fit but they can squeeze in there.

Recalcitrant Daze - Stuff

Well the last week has proven somewhat barren model wise. I was hoping to work on the War Altar or Weirdboy Battle Tower but alas that hasn't happened at all.

However I thought I would mention a few things...

1. Part three of the Lootin' Article went up on Bell of Lost Souls yesterday. So have a look and post up any feedback if you can as it is always appreciated.

2. I was invited by Miniature Wargame Conversions a while ago to do some articles, but at the time I was working on the Lootin' articles for BoLS so couldn't do anything. However now that is complete I can look to do something else for MWC. But i've got nothing lined up for it yet, so if anyone can think of something they would like to see me do an article on please let me know and if it is possible and I'll look to do it.

3. Erm, there was a third thing. But I was distracted while writing this post and now I can't remember it.

4. What time I have left over the Xmas break I intend to do the following (but won't in all likelihood, if I get some of it done i'll be happy enough):

• Get the Veteran torsos sorted (something my CRM have needed sorted out for some time).
• Finish building the Killa Kans.
• Finish painting the Hell Blades.
• Do the MWC article.
• Determine the sizes of the Earthshaker Emplacement
• Plan next tattoo (ok, not really model related but I'm thinking something Orky)

You may think item four should be the third item but no, there was definately a seperate third item I had mapped out which has now escaped me. I shall leave No. 3 as above and edit in when (or if) I remember.

Oh, in other news I actually had a game of 40k today. I lost, but i'm not too disappointed by it as my mate finally won a game with his Dark Eldar...frankly his run of loses with them was getting a bit embaressing for both of us...

As I don't like doing posts without pictures...

CRM Veterans 1

The Kromlech torsos arrived last week so I have started to have a look at how they will go with Cadian legs and arms.

As a reminder the torsos look like this...NB: the backpacks are seperate.

I had to remove the bottom plate at the front for them to fit on the Cadian legs.

I'm not completely sold on them at the moment. Something about them just don't look right to me. Here is what they look like:

And with some pouches and arms in place.

I can't put my finger on why i'm not 100% happy with them. The plan is to try out some more arm combinations before deciding if I use them or not.

As a reminder the backpacks I hope to use will be these...

Any thoughts? Do the torsos work and if not why not?

Recalcitrant Daze - Ork eBay auctions are up

Good day to one and all.

Just a quick post to say the eBay auctions for the Looted Wagons, Ork Bikerz, Ork Nobz & Black Reach Warboss and Nobz are now up.

LINKY LINK

Oh, Happy Christmas, whatever...

Recalcitrant Daze - Ork Clearout on eBay

Basically as well as the Looted Wagons I am sticking a few other Ork bits on eBay this sunday (i.e. Christmas Day).

I am putting this post up now in case anyway wants to grab them before they go up as auctions.

So the items going on eBay will be...

The Looted Wagons

Unbuilt, still on sprue Ork Bikers:

Black Reach Warboss & Nobz:

Unbuilt, still on sprue Nobz:

Two five man squads and Boss Zagstruk. Bases have brass rod added for the boyz which have already been assembled and undercoated black, washers have been used to give the bases a bit more weight. Only one of the boyz has been assembled as a Nob. The jump packs and bases have been painted (though one base will need repairing). To reduce weight plastic parts have been used on Bozz Zagstrukk - both arms are plastic though his metal Choppa has been used.

If you are interested in these please drop me an email at rictusrd-blog at yahoo . co . uk

Recalcitrant Daze – Bell of Lost Souls, Tattoos and IA 11

Another one of those non-model posts, more general ramblings. I did do some painting today I put forward in my own defense, however it was a window sill not not really worth a picture.

Bell of Lost Souls

First up the second part of my article about Looting has gone up on BoLS. It went up a bit under the radar I think, anyway if you want a read it can be found HERE.

You might remember the plan was to list the three Looted Wagons covered by the articles on eBay this Sunday just past, however it dawned on me that would mean the auctions would finish on Christmas day. To be honest I can’t be bothered with the hassle dealing with them ending on Xmas day. So the Wagons will go up the first Sunday after Christmas I think.

Tattoos & IA 11

Everyone knows most Xmas presents you get are little more than stuff that takes up much needed space. So to guarantee getting something for Xmas I actually want I always buy something for myself, this year this was the following...

My Chaos Stars Tattoo. I love my tattoos.
Even the naff looking two I had done 10+ years ago.

Imperial Armour Eleven. Look at all those Titans.

Over Christmas I intend on deciding what tattoo will go on the back of my left arm and read IA11.

I must admit when the current Eldar Codex came out I was very tempted to do a Corsair force, full of walkers, jetbikes, vypers with Rangers, Harlies and verious other fluffy units. FW doing a Corsair list is relighting that temptation...however I will not give in.

Hell Blades of Nurgle

A bit more work has been done, mainly to the one Hell Blade.

It is still very rough and a lot is to be done still but i'm bored so I thought i'd do an update anyway. To highlight just how PIP this is I haven't even cleaned up around the vents after painting them black. Washes to be finished off, cleaning up to be done, migs, oils and so on still to do (of and the cockpit, pilot etc).

Should of got pictures during daylight really as these aren't great.

One last picture, somewhat appropriately a small fly (plague carrier no doubt) sacrificed itself in the paint. I have taken this as a sign from Papa Nurgle as his approval and blessing for the scheme.

Recalcitrant Daze – 3D Modelling/Printing – The beginning of the adventure...?

Due to a lack of material to go into a proper update (i’ve just not been in the mood, though I have done a little more on the Hell Blades) I thought I would put up something I have been working on which doesn’t use a knife or a brush.

Recently I did a post about a Gun Emplacement I built some time ago and it really planted a seed to do another one, but better. I also wanted to be able to cast it.

The original emplacement.

My thought was to break the gun emplacement up into sections which could be much more easily cast up. However making a small piece of a curved wall, and sections of a circular base accurately so that when the cast pieces are assembled they all fit together would be troublesome to say the least.

So I turned to what I do as my ‘real’ job. After seeing some time in the past an article on 3D printing I thought about seeing if I could use it to produce some masters to create a mould for casting the gun emplacement.

I started producing the 3D models, these are a wall piece, right & left wall ends, a base piece and a step. (NB: Forgot to get a render of the step...)

Treadplate...Bitch to do.

In the top plates I will add lifting eyes to the cast pieces.

When assembled they look like this:

The central hole would be able to accommodate a number of possibilities, such as an Earthshaker, Hydra turret, Manticore turret and so on.

The dimensions are not yet finalised as I need the Bassie I ordered off eBay to arrive first.

I did go ahead and price up how much it would cost to get all those pieces 3D printed and it wasn’t cheap. Now if I knew 100% that it would work it wouldn’t be so bad a price, but until I am confident I don’t want to fork out the initial outlay for the emplacement prints.

So, the plan is to get something else printed first.

The idea is some defensive wall pieces – a straight wall and a corner piece. Only two pieces so the cost of getting them printed is a lot less but they would prove if the process is doable or not.

That was mk. 1; I later changed the lower detail to something which looked better. I also made the corner piece slightly shorter, to both cut down on the cost slightly but mainly to as it would be better when assembling a wall (NB: I didn’t get a render of the revised corner piece).

Assembled up the straight and corner pieces allow you to make something like this:

At that point I was ready to order some prints.

...but then had another idea.

This idea was for something smaller and more detailed. My CRM need some Vets in carapace armour. My plan was to get some Kromlech torsos (THESE) and then add a rebreather unit to the back, combined with some heads Maelstrom (from The Rising Sign) did for me I could end up with a unique looking unit which still fits in with the rest of my force.

So, the end result is this...

Unfortunately at this point everything goes on hold. I am waiting for the Kromlech torsos to arrive so I can modify the 3D model to suit it better and due to Xmas I won’t be able to do this till the New Year...

So check back then to see what happens.

Looted Wagons 5

And here we have the final Looted Wagon done for the BoLS article.

As you can see it is the most 'basic' of the three, keeping the hull mainly as a regular Russ bar some plating, new exhausts and the reinforced ram. The new turret brings the real Orky feel to the vehicle.

As with the others the weapons are removeable while other pieces have
been left unglued for ease of painting.

If in doubt, just ram it.

Hopefully the three looted wagons will be up on eBay next Sunday. However if anyone wants to make an offer before then for one (or more) of the looted wagons please make yourself known...