Tutorial - Magnetizing a Pintle Mounted Weapon

I have a few works in progress but as I worked on them I thought I could put together a few tutorials on what I've been doing. I'm a big fan of magnetizing weaponry on my models, you never know when you're going to want to swap out a weapon or two.

In this example I have magnetized a heavy stubber. The magnets I used for this project are the tiny 1/16 inch x 1/32 rare earth magnets from AmazingMagnets.com part #D032-063. They have great prices and an amazing selection of different shapes, sizes, finishes, and strengths. 100 of these magnets cost me less than $10.

Start by drilling out the hole on the interior of the stubber. It's almost already 1/16 inch but it will need to be opened up just a little to fit the magnet.

Cut off the post on the pintle which fits the same mounting hole which you just reamed out. After that, drill out the area where the post was with the same bit.

Drop a very small amount of superglue into each of the drill holes and sink the magnets. When placing the magnets make sure that the polarities are opposites, you don't want them repelling each other. I would also suggest that you always arrange your polarities in the same way. This way each model can swap weapons with the next. If you don't make this a standard in your models then there really is no sense in magnetizing at all.

Once this is done you will be able to add or remove the stubber as needed and swap out other weapons which you've magnetized, like a storm bolter or hunter killer.

WIP - Salamander Scout/Command Vehicle

After building an Imperial Guard Chimera using the Chapter House Studios six wheel kit I had a set of Chimera tracks left over. I used those tracks, a multitude of bits, and styrene stock to create my very own Salamander Scout/Command Vehicle. This will become part of my 8th Pardus Armoured Regiment, the heavy support for my Tanith 1st army. The following are pictures of my current work in progress prior to painting.

All of the weapons, the main gun, hull mounted weapon, pintle mounted weapon and a hunter killer missile (not shown) as well as the dozer blade have been magnetized.

I've always liked the look of a modified exhaust. This one was made from styrene and a Leman Russ exhaust.

Shown above with the autocannon option.

Storm Eagle Assembly

I recently started helping a fellow gamer (Joe) out with some of his assembly work in exchange for trade. The most recent project was a Forge World Storm Eagle he had acquired for his Imperial Fist 30k army.

The kit was new in the bag and ready for work. There was some mild warping of the hull, weapons, canards, wings, doors, well basicly all of the resin was slightly warped. Nothing a little hot water couldn't help.

After everything was straightened I went about cleaning everything off the sprue and touching up the resin bits where needed.

Joe wanted the interior detailed so I went about assembling all that I could before that point first. One of those steps was to magnetize the missile pods. This will help to prevent breakage during transport and allow for easy removal in game after receiving weapon destroyed results.

After the various hull sections were assembled I primed the interior black, gave it a drybrushing of Army Painter 'Gun Metal' and went about detailing the interior lights and screens.  I applied some OSL to all the lights and finished the lights and screens off with a gloss varnish. 

The front ramp got a little love with some hazard stripes too.

Later, after I assembled the hull I realized just how obscured almost all of the detail work I had done had become. Oh well, I suppose it's best to err on the side of detail.

Once the interior had been painted it was time to glue the hull together. I would normally use plastic weld, but because some of the parts are plastic and some resin I had to use super glue. I was also glad to have several small clamps on hand as the resin, despite my work straightening it, was still warped to some degree.

After a night curing in place the clamps were removed and I was back to work. The engines were added. Some areas needed either plastic card, putty, sanding, or a combo of all three to get them squared away. I also magnetized the wings to allow for easy transport and to reduce the risk of breakage later on.

All in all I was quite please with the end result and so was Joe.  Now that he has it in hand I'll be looking forward to see how it looks after he gets done painting it.

Imperial Guard Chimera

Catachan 2nd Company APC

After playing a game of 7th Edition 40K against a 30K Imperial Fist army I decided that my IG were in desperate need of armoured transport.  My choice was a Chimera.  It has been marked for the Catachan 2nd.  Those familiar with the fluff will recognize this as Colonel 'Iron Hand' Straken's company. 

Unfortunately I didn't have a camera handy for many of the steps in this build but I will do my best to explain my process.

First I made two tread guards for either side of the chimera. I created these out of sheet styrene and rounded them off with some modeling putty. I trimmed the ends with a thin strip of styrene and added pre-made rivets for detail. For added texture and detail I added some plastic netting to simulate metal tread plate. Not only does this give me a nice custom look and adds some real world detail, it saves me a lot of tank tread which I can use at a later time.

I also added some accessories from a Tamiya 1/35 scale accessories kit.

I wanted a heavy weathering effect on this model so I began by laying down a coat of rust colored primer. After that had dried I airbrushed a coat of AK interactive Heavy Chipping Fluid.  After that had dried I air brushed a series of Tamiya Acrylics: Nato Green, Nato Brown, Dark Yellow, and Flat Black.  Once that had dried I began chipping the camo pattern by rubbing a toothpick over the edges and other areas of heavy wear.

I followed up the chipping with additional wear by sponging on some Army Painter Gun Metal along the edges and other areas of heavy wear.

I also added army decals and rub on transfers which I chipped at with a toothpick.

I created a couple of mounting brackets for a shovel. These were made out of brass photo-etch scraps. The shovel I had in my bits box turned out to be a little too short so I cut of the spade and hilt and replaced the handle with a piece of styrene rod.

I applied a wash of oil paints (black and burnt umber mixed with Mineral Spirits) to each of the rivets, in all the grooves, over the details and across all the tread. Using a brush slightly dampened with mineral spirits I dragged the wash downward to create streaks of rust and grime. I picked up any extra wash with a toothpick.

Once the oil paints had dried I followed up by applying rust colored weathering powders from Secret Weapon Miniatures. These powders were applied by brush with mineral spirits.  I used the same process to apply dirt colored powders to the tank treads.

After I was satisfied with the weathering powders I applied MIG Fresh Engine Oil to the hubs and pistons to simulate leaking oil and grime. I also used the side of a pencil to highlight some of the sharp metal edges and the details of the tread.

I colored the lens of the viewports with a base coat of apricot followed by a coat of Tamiya Clear Red.

I created an exhaust effect by brushing a charcoal powder around the exhaust vents on either side of the chimera. I made the charcoal powder by filing down a piece of artists stick charcoal. This material should be readily available at any art store and is very inexpensive.

The interior was a bit more rushed and not as detailed.  I did however include a detail kit which I made out of styrene and green stuff, molded in silicone, and cast in resin.  I think it looks a great deal better than the bare interior that the kit comes with.

I magnetized the main turret weapons, except for the optional flamer.  I don't intend on using it and if I should change my mind later I will put one together.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the result.  I had nearly completed the dozer blade when my dog ate it.  It is still partially intact so I plan on piecing it back together later. I still feel like something is missing and I welcome any critiques or comments.

Custom Space Wolf Dreadnought #1

My first dreadnought was a vanilla marine I picked up off of ebay for about $10.  My goal was to turn it into a Space Wolves Dreadnought.  To accomplish this I used a combination of Apoxie Sculpt, Green Stuff and a little tough love. I began by removing the paint with Super Clean.  This normally works very well but will sometimes not remove black primer.  In this case it worked well enough to move on.

I used Apoxie Sculpt for all fur, and Green Stuff for more minute details. In this photo you can see one of the furs on the first Dreadnought.  I use dental tools to sculpt the fur. I also went about magnetizing the Dreadnought and the arms so that I can change up my list to meet specific threats.

You'll notice that there is still some paint on these.  I soaked them in Super Clean for a couple of days and what you see left is the tough stuff that stained the plastic.

The Lascannon received a Green Stuff wolf icon. The hash marks help the Green Stuff adhere to the plastic. I then spread a ball of GS across the side of the lascannon and carved out the wolf using a x-acto knife and dental tools.

The Missile Launcher got the same treatment.  I also added a bit of small chain to the missile launcher. I got this from Michael's craft store. Check out their jewelry section. There are a lot of great necklaces that can be used as chain and power cords.

The legs of the dreadnought were missing the shin guards.  I fixed this by cutting a piece of styrene tube to length and then cutting it in half.  I applied those to the front of the legs and finished them off with some more Apoxie Sculpt fur and a Green Stuff banner.  I "Wolfed up" the feet by cutting notches into the toes and cutting some sprue into claws.

For the classic wolf skull and cross bones I created a push mold of an original using Apoxie Sculpt and used that to press a Green Stuff duplicate.

A coat of Wolf Grey primer and base coat from The Army Painter  really starts to pull it all together.

Next came paint. I don't have any in process pictures but the colors used were Wolf Grey, Dragon Red, Greedy Gold, and Weapon Bronze, from The Army Painter as well as various craft paints.  The mechanical details were blackened out out and then dry brushed with Games Workshop Boltgun Metal.  I used The Army Painter washes for shadows and Secret Weapon Miniatures pigments for rust/weathering.  The base was flocked with Army Painter snow and some other snow flock I had on hand.

Tada!