42nd Krieg Engineer Korps

[Deleted]

What colour scheme do you have oin mind ?

Can't wait to see the infantry .

[Jackal-0311]

How did you make your rivets?

[majorspeirs]

@ Ivory, I'm still undecided on the colour scheme, though for some reason I've got the colour orange in my head at the moment....

@ Jackal-0311, here is a brief walk-through of how I make rivets:

Materials:
- Thin plasticard rod (I use 1mm rod)
- 1x Sewing pin
- Super glue
- Really sharp knife (I usually grab a fresh blade for this)

1. Go, 'chop-chop-chop-chop-chop' and cut the rod into tiny little disks. They should be a little thicker than a sliver (i.e. the plastic should not curl when you trim a bit off).
2. Put these in a bowl and make a small pool of glue on something (I use a scrap of plasticard).
3. Poke the rivet with the pin to pick it up. Dip it in the glue and position it on the model - after a few second the glue takes and the pin pulls away.
4. Repeat steps 3 and 4
5. After a few hours go back with the really sharp knife and scrape the top of any of the not-level rivets to make then flat, smooth and not jut out too much. If you do this too soon half of the rivets will break off as you try to trim them, which is extremely frustrating.

It is a little time consuming, but I personally think most Guard vehicle conversions require lots of rivets to look effective. Each of the Medusas on the previous page has 90-100 rivets each, and that is only over a small area.


I’ve been making progress on the Hydras. The trailors are almost done – I just need to trim the rivets. I still need to construct the two Centaurs which will be towing them, along with the bases:








With clever use of magnets I was able to make the autocannons interchangeable with mortars so that I can make a pair of Griffons if I so choose.


Here is the Hydra with the Manticore Centaur. I hope to get the two additional Centaurs finished in the next day or so.

[Welsh Paul]

How would targetting those trailers work? Would the entire model, Centaur and all, count as a single model, with 12 front armour and 10 side?

[majorspeirs]

@ Welshpaul, in my other guard army I made a static Basilisk platform (my prized Blitzen 88) and put it on a rectangle base with a footprint similar to a chimera chasis. I even had a crewman standing at the front with a heavy flamer to represent the fire-point.

I was concerned about this when I first did it, but I found it worked well in games. General principle is that if you could see the gun, shield or crew it is line of sight, and the rectangular base is used to determine the fire arc of the vehicle.

My plan is to do the same here, but due to the small stature of the Centaur I'm going to build up the base underneath it a little to add height.

I used the Blitzen 88 "Basilisk" model in two tournaments and all 11 of those competitive gamers didn't have any issues. I made a point of clearly explaining what it was and how it how it worked in-game before starting.

[kobracommander]

I am both supremely jealous, and afraid for you over the ambition of this project

As of the color scheme, why not got WW1 French. They actually wore blue coats. But mud and ash has a way of changing that color. I would paint them up blue and use a muddying effect on them. They will look way different, but still have that gritty feel.

[majorspeirs]

@ kobracommander, I'm planning to steer clear of too much mud and weathering, however using clean(ish) French WWI uniforms might be a good way of tying them into the historic bent. I'll add this to my list of potential ideas - I suspect I will decide on a scheme by painting up 3-4 engineer models with possible alternatives.

I managed to finish the two Centaurs. I need to fix the two plates of top armour (they need reshaping as they are a little wonky). These and some other components (namely the crew) are only sitting in place and will be glued in after painting.




Here they are with their respective trailors as both Hydras and Griffons.




Here is a shot with the Manticore (again, all three still need to be based).


And finally a shot of my 95% finished Heavy Support section.


I’m thinking (dependant on time and motivation) of moving on to the blimps now (I may look at the Engineers instead), but it will probably be 3-4 days before I have any updates. Thank you all for the positive encouragement so far. Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

[Deleted]

EPIC.

Really inspiring work

[teku18]

Army's looking great. FW must love you right about now. Can't wait to see more.

[3ff3ct]

I love these conversions, making what would have been an amazing army even better!

[Jackal-0311]

outstanding work sir!

[magot]

did you do some casting your self?

[majorspeirs]

Thank you all for your positive comments.

@ magot, no I haven't been casting anything myself. As I noted on the first page I'm happy to discuss the yellow resin with people, but I'd prefer it if you send me a PM.


AIRSHIP ALERT!!!

The first of the 42nd's three blimps has just entered the dry dock. Scheduled completion estimated tomorrow afternoon. Stay tuned for updates...

[majorspeirs]

WIP shot of the first Zeppelin.

Disregard the yellow bands, they are just holding it in place till the glue dries. The construction is essentially soft drink bottles with florists wire and plastic fins. Tomorrow I will be covering these in a canvass-like material and extending the fins.




Tonight however I’m going to get a start on the gondolas, which I am a still a little unclear on how to tackle...

[3ff3ct]

I love it already ;D I think a plasticard 'box' glued underneath would work well. Stick lots of rivets on and a couple of gun ports for heavy bolters/lascannons and the jobs a good one

[optimat]

Not my flavour of guard but a really really impressive army and there is no doubt you're doing it justice. MOAR PICS

[kobracommander]

THAT ZEPPLIN IS RIDICULOUS!!! and I mean that in a good way

[majorspeirs]

Slowly making progress.

Just put the canvas on the balloon – I used a sock instead of the material I had intended, though I’m not 100% sure if I made the right choice. I still need to build proper fins for the back as well.

The gondola is a lego frame with plasticard “rendering”. I’ve almost finished the basic layer, but none of the detailing has been done. There is to be a ridiculous amount of edging and of rivets around the outside of each of the panels. I have blue-tac-ed the engines and lascannons in place for appearances, but I’m still waiting on the doors to arrive.











This is largely an experimental process, which is why I’m doing only one blimp for now (i.e. I can do the other two completely differently if need be).

Hopefully this time tomorrow I’ll be a lot closer to finishing.

[teku18]

You used a sock to cover the blimp didn't you. Really neat idea going with the zeppelin. I actually think the gondola looks pretty good. Wasn't sure how well it would go over compared to the size of the lascannons, but everything looks to fit well together. Can't wait to see this painted up.

[3ff3ct]

Is the lego still in there? If so, why not take it out? I imagine it might cause issues with the blimp staying on the stand....

That looks much cooler than I imagined it, and using a sock was a genius idea!

[3ff3ct]

Jun 29, 2012 6:45:36 GMT -5 majorspeirs said:

Also, is this guy sat around eating a sandwich? I can't really make it out.... ;D

[Dazza22]

I think he's sitting there wondering how he's going to get his sandwich through his gas mask.

"I'm hungry. Hmmm... dammit!"

[majorspeirs]

@ 3ff3ct, I left the Lego in because I was concerned about the strength of the model. In hindsight it didn’t need to have such a solid frame. This is why I’m building one blimp now and the other two once this is done – this one is a trial run. The gondola is heavier than I expected, but not so much so that it will cause stability issues (it isn’t a solid lump of lego - the lego frame itself is hollow).

Also the guy is sitting with a set of binoculars. Even though he has a gas mask on I’m tempted to try and convert it to a sandwich now ;D


The gondola is progressing nicely – I have finished the edging and the riveting around all of the panels. There is a grand total of 530 rivets on the gondola (+/- 2), which have been ridiculously time consuming (the prospect of two more blimps horrifies me):




I bought six doors from Zinge Industries for the gondolas. These were rather expensive but look awesome. I’m not sure whether to put them on with the frame or without – what do you think? (the guns, engines and doors are all blue-tac-ed)




Here are a few shots of everything together:









Just to note, the sock on the blimp looks MUCH better in real life than in the photos - the texture of the material and the large area of black is playing funny-buggers with my camera. This (bad) photo kind of shows how the ribbing is showing through:


I’ve still got a bit to – a rough list includes: magnetise lascannons, attach engines and doors, build proper fins on the balloon, add portholes on the panels either side of the front panel, and minor miscellaneous detailing.

[teku18]

That is looking great.

[kheltahn]

There are no words, but 'more please!'