The Greatcoat Mystery pt. 3

Just a quick update here. I finally finished my first test figure. I plopped a West Wind head on it and I am very satisfied...

Tell me what you think. I am back to the workstation to continue on with the rest of the squad.

The war goes on,
Hessler

The Greatcoat Mystery pt. 2

I worked through my apprehension this week concerning this foil/greatcoat project and decided to approach it from a different perspective. Instead of looking from an artistic point of view I have instead gone with the scientific approach.

First, the material in question...

After doing some preliminary measurements, I "deconstructed" the shape I needed and made a template from plasticard...

This allowed me a fair measure of consistent results...

For those who are thinking this material is too flimsy, allow me to demonstrate. Below is a piece to be used as a greatcoat, just like the ones shown above. It easily stands up to the weight of the figure. It is designed not to tear if dropped.

Before doing anything else with the metal, I trimmed down the legs. I start with the pockets and then move on to the bottom part of the tunic. NOTE: Please be careful when doing this kind of trimming. Most of you don't have my huge hands but it can still be dangerous when working with a sharp hobby knife. The result looks something like this...

After consulting some images I have gleaned off the internet, I tried my hand at some bends and curls and came up with this...

All in all, not too bad I think. I don't know if I want to get any deeper into the detailing for fear of getting frustrated again. I have been known to obsess over small details. Here is a comparison to everyone's new favorite greatcoat from the Cadian command kit...

The Cadian command piece does, in fact, stand a few mm taller than the standard Cadian trooper. Still, I think I am definitely on the right track. My biggest concern now is how to go about securing the coat to the legs. Superglue is about the only thing I can think of and it can get messy sometimes.

Any ideas out there? Let me know.

The war goes on,
Hessler

The Greatcoat Mystery

Here are a few hobby realities that I deal with every day...

1. I have no sculpting skills or patience to gain any
2. My giant hands make fine detail work a challenge, at best.
3. I am too poor to purchase Forge World models.

In light of these facts I have, nevertheless, found myself wanting to have some troops with greatcoats. In fact, almost every 40K related forum out there has at least 1 "plastic greatcoats" rumor thread, so I know I am not alone. In my constant search for some cost-effective alternative, I came upon an idea the other day that I was finally able to bring to life.

I went to my local hobby/craft store(here, it's Hobby Lobby) and purchased a 12" x 30" roll of soft aluminum.

After some persistent tinkering this afternoon, I believe I have achieved a result that will allow me my greatcoats, on a budget. Here is a picture of what I came up with...

I do realize there needs to be some fine tuning. This product is used in floral treatments and in embossing so it is very workable. My next step is to try and add some folds and details.

Please leave me your reactions and input and tell me if you have come up with a similar idea that you where happy with. I'm interested in what you readers think of the result and the potential.

The war goes on,
Hessler

Tiger Russ

Here is some progress I am making on the second of my Tiger Russ MBTs. It still relies heavily on the Tamiya 1/48 Tiger 1 model but I have incorporated more of the Leman Russ turret this time to achieve, what I think, is a better result. Pics to follow...

Above is a pic of the first tank I did, provided to show the difference in the battle cannons.

I have built the LR turret directly into the structure of the Tiger model. I covered the gaps with plasticard and extended the cannon. To the immediate side of the cannon is the co-axle heavy bolter. I still need to do a little patching around the HB.

This shows the detail of the bottom of the turret housing. You can see how the GW turret fits into the other turret. I used thin shims of cardboard to stabilize it in the rear.

Below are some more comparison pictures of the Leman Russ and the Tiger Russ. While I can't say the GW design is bad, it definitely doesn't suit my tastes. I guess I just want to be able to have some variety.

That's it for now, C&C is welcomed.

The war goes on,
Hessler

We Have A Winner

I have finally made some strides in the war of the heavy tank. After some preliminary mods to a 1/35 Merkava tank kit, I have found the design I am looking for. The main design element that ties it in with GW super heavies is its dimensions. It has a nice wide chassis and is relatively short in its height. Some pics...

I have mounted two heavy stubbers to the turret. They are from the GW Stormlord kit and are mounted on swing arms that I scrounged from a Valkyrie. An additional heavy stubber has been mounted on the co-axle of the turret. Rules wise, I may consult the VDR on this one.

I'm still in the building stages on this one but I couldn't help myself and decided to post a few pics anyways. Work continues on my next to Tiger Russ variants and I am hoping to post an update for those this weekend.

The war goes on,
Hessler

Heavy Tanks

My lack of posts recently hasn't resulted in less tinkering...

This will be the first of a few different heavy tanks that I am putting together. The FW Macharius & Maclador are both superb but are far beyond my spending limit for a single model. In order to stretch my dollar and my modeling enjoyment I am continuing to turn to the world of plastic scale models.

This first experiment is with a Tamiya 1/35 King Tiger. It fits in with the "Tiger Russes" I already have and gives a nice middle ground between a standard MBT and a Baneblade. Here's the visuals...

Close-up showing armor plate detail

Shows twin-linked heavy stubber

Shown for a relative scale

And more scale...

Progress on the turret, crew, and heavy bolters

Yeah, a twin-linked battle cannon...

It might be hard to believe, but I am not entirely happy with the way this has turned out. In comparison to the GW Super Heavies, it is all-around taller and bulkier...a rather unfortunate dose of 40K reality. In order to maintain some sense of continuity in the feel and look of my tanks, I may have to go with something modern.

Does anyone else wish that GW would come up with something else in the way of tank design, especially in light of the newer super heavies and the lastest FW designs?

More to come...

C&C is always appreciated.

The war goes on,
Hessler

Death From Above

I finally have had a chance to get some pictures taken of my Sentinel Copters. Without further ado, here they be...

These 3 have been armed with 2 Lascannons and 1 Multi-Laser. If I ever get around to doing another 3, I will even it out and end up with 3 of each weapon type. The idea there is being able to field both anti-armor and anti-infantry.

This last pic shows the differences in they way I approached building these the second time around. The first model is on the right, the final design is on the left. The main difference here is that I decided to keep more of the original engine and rotor structure from the Deff Kopta. This allows for a quicker build time and what I think is a little sleeker look.

I really enjoyed putting these together and I think this may be the first seed of a future airborne army, complete with Valkyrie/Vendetta copters and drop troops...maybe an airborne Heavy Support option...???...hmmm...

Anyways, thanks for checking these out and be sure to leave me any comments/reactions/ideas you may have.

The war goes on,
Hessler