How often have you seen a pricey resin model that was poorly executed due to the inexperience of the modeler and thought, "Can this model be redeemed and brought to it's potential glory." Such was my first excursion into purchasing a cripple on the 'Net' and attempting to restore it to the beauty it so richly deserved.

Here is the unhappy victim as it was presented on Ebay some five years ago or so. I really overpaid for this model even though I got it for substantially less that the FW price.

Caveat Emperor,

Blackadder

This was my first experience with resin models and what surprised me the most was the heaviness of the material. The first order of business was to try to remove the loose and broken parts as there was some shipping damage on receipt. The model appeared to be cemented together with epoxy and Cyano-acetate glue.

Here is the Model as it was received:

Another thing I found out about resin models is in spite of the brittleness of the material it can take a surprising degree of prying with knives and chizels to disassemble the pieces and not shatter. After disassembling the entire model I scraped every last bit of paint and glue from the pieces. A regular kitchen paring knife I found was the best tool to do this and a #11 Exacto blade and a pin vise with micro bit drill for those hard to reach places

In about a week I had the model down to the bare resin.

Surely there was a faster way to strip the paint from the resin? +1 for the elbow grease!

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:Surely there was a faster way to strip the paint from the resin? +1 for the elbow grease!

Probably is but the job I had at the time gave me a lot of time sitting in metropolitan traffic and everytime I stopped I scraped a little more from the pieces I had with me. Talk about multi tasking

EB

The_Blackadder wrote:

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:Surely there was a faster way to strip the paint from the resin? +1 for the elbow grease!

Probably is but the job I had at the time gave me a lot of time sitting in metropolitan traffic and everytime I stopped I scraped a little more from the pieces I had with me. Talk about multi tasking

EB

Hahaha... You, sir, are a dedicated gamer.

Whats resin like with paint stripper? When using it on metal it turns superglue( Cyanoacrylate ) to jelly. Strips paint and removes glue , which is great unfortunatly turns plastic to mush too. But what about resin anyone know?

Rico wrote:

The_Blackadder wrote:

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:Surely there was a faster way to strip the paint from the resin? +1 for the elbow grease!

Probably is but the job I had at the time gave me a lot of time sitting in metropolitan traffic and everytime I stopped I scraped a little more from the pieces I had with me. Talk about multi tasking

EB

Hahaha... You, sir, are a dedicated gamer.

This belongs in the "You know you play too much 40k when...." thread!

yes it does. i admire your dedication, but putting the tank (pieces or otherwise) in a bucket of the correct paint stripper would have been much easier on the tank (knife = rents in resin, although i suppose "battle" damage too) and your hands. carrying a tank around must have drawn eyes and been a pain in the behind.

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:

Rico wrote:

The_Blackadder wrote:

FoxPhoenix135 wrote:Surely there was a faster way to strip the paint from the resin? +1 for the elbow grease!

Probably is but the job I had at the time gave me a lot of time sitting in metropolitan traffic and everytime I stopped I scraped a little more from the pieces I had with me. Talk about multi tasking

EB

Hahaha... You, sir, are a dedicated gamer.

This belongs in the "You know you play too much 40k when...." thread!

I should forbear responding to this as the answer may ban me from this forum but I've never played a session of 40k; I just like building the models. My son is the gamer and quite good at it so I hear .

EB

Oh, that's alright by me. I collect the models mostly to improve my painting skills. With yung'uns around, I have a lot of downtime when they are napping that I need a quiet hobby to fill.

lord marcus wrote:yes it does. i admire your dedication, but putting the tank (pieces or otherwise) in a bucket of the correct paint stripper would have been much easier on the tank (knife = rents in resin, although i suppose "battle" damage too) and your hands. carrying a tank around must have drawn eyes and been a pain in the behind.

Besides ending up with a pile of sticky goo I mighten have hit a bump and spilled the whole mess. I opted not to use stripper for reasons that seemed good to me. Of course I didn't carry the whole tank around in public just pieces and never outside of the car.

Garnering more than his fair share of strange looks anyhow,

Blackadder


Automatically Appended Next Post:

lord marcus wrote:yes it does. i admire your dedication, but putting the tank (pieces or otherwise) in a bucket of the correct paint stripper would have been much easier on the tank (knife = rents in resin, although i suppose "battle" damage too) and your hands. carrying a tank around must have drawn eyes and been a pain in the behind.

Resin is surprisingly resistant to scratches and has the added bonus of not holding paint very well A paring knife (my tool of choice) doesn't retain much of an edge and is ideal for chipping paint from resin without any detectible renting. You would be amazed how quickly you can remove a square inch of paint with my method.

I'd better post some of the primed images so I'm not branded a total cretin. I took extreme care not to damage the model anymore than it already was when received. I very much wanted to have as near a 'cherry' Lucius Baneblade as possible when finished. I found that Krylon grey sandable primer is ideal for a base coat. Thin, opaque and fast drying it is (was) the best paint on the market. The dirty little engineers and PR people got to listening to too many wouldbe female crafters and redesigned the nozzle so you can't get a decent spray pattern anymore. I have one can of it left and I'm saving it for my Warhound.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/226296.page

Blackadder

Well you could always save the nozzle and hopefully that will fit on the new cans of the stuff...

This really is a labour of love!

Brilliant project and it looks great re-primed.

I totally know what you mean about gaming, I too rarely play 40K anymore. Painting and modelling were always the big draws for me even when I worked for GW.

People always ask me in my Diorama blogs if the vehicles will ever be used for wargaming and often sound really disapointed when I say no

As for the driving and modeling, be careful! In the UK you get a ticket and penalty points on your licence for driving and using a cell phone, can't imagine what a policeman would say if they saw you building a model kit! Haha

I'm really enjoying this thread. I guess I love seeing the nitty-gritty of the project, stage by stage.

Can't wait to see the painting.

And then to watch it dry.

Good job on getting oit back down to basics.

Moving to tutorials

The_Blackadder wrote:The dirty little engineers and PR people got to listening to too many wouldbe female crafters and redesigned the nozzle so you can't get a decent spray pattern anymore.

Mind explaining both of your problems?

Lemmingspawn wrote:Well you could always save the nozzle and hopefully that will fit on the new cans of the stuff...

Unfortunately they've switched from the standard nozzle that's been around for fifty+ years to one that you can adjust the spray pattern from a horizontal spray to a vertical spray and it delivers too much paint in any case. The stem it totally different and not interchangeable. Pity because that is the basic paint for all my models.

Blackadder

Getting the treads and bogies to fit just right is the hardest part of building this model. I had to sand down the bogie bases and drive and steering bases to get the treads to make the curves properly.

The diameter of the wheels even the round ones vary by as much as a millimeter so judicious scrapping brought them to a reasonably homogenous size.

Just a few more shots of the sub assemblies.

The rear bogie wheel in the first shot is actually egg shaped which prompts the question: Does FW actually have quality control or do they just pack whatever pops out of the moulds???

My son was anxious to field this beast so I let him even though the decals and tirm, antennas, etc were not installed. After all I professed it was for him that I embarked on this project. That's my story and I sticking with it.

E.B.

I must admit it looked fine on a battle board.

Looks fantastic

Loricatus- you realize ya just necro'd a year old thread?

It is nice to see good models rescued though. The things people have done to good models never ceases to baffle me.

More =]

I would have thought that necromancy in the tutorial section would be a good thing, as it cycles the threads around; meaning that different tutorials surface.

But that's just me

S_P

Yep, like a P&M blog, tutorials should be fine to necro....

Now hang on - he sprayed the thing grey and fielded it??? There MUST be more to the story! I refuse to believe that this guy went to all the trouble of getting the paint off just to spray the thing GRAY.

Oh my gosh, please! Some updated pics!

I'd love to see an update on this too. I remember this one from awhile back.

The_Blackadder wrote: I found that Krylon grey sandable primer is ideal for a base coat. Thin, opaque and fast drying it is (was) the best paint on the market. The dirty little engineers and PR people got to listening to too many wouldbe female crafters and redesigned the nozzle so you can't get a decent spray pattern anymore. I have one can of it left and I'm saving it for my Warhound.

Did you ever find a replacement for your primer? I have found that Krylons Sandable autoprimer works very well and just might be the same produce as the old primer you were using.

PMed the OP. Hopefully some new shots will pop up in the thread.

Solorg wrote:Now hang on - he sprayed the thing grey and fielded it??? There MUST be more to the story! I refuse to believe that this guy went to all the trouble of getting the paint off just to spray the thing GRAY.

Oh my gosh, please! Some updated pics!

Yup, I sprayed it gray and fielded it. The reasons being:

A. Look at the majority of real tanks; they are predominantly monochrome in colour. For instance; I have never seen an Abrams tank painted anything but desert sand yellow. WWI Mark series British tanks were uniformly gray I guess relying on splattered mud and gore to provide the contrast. I WWII the Germans painted their tanks gray and The British painted theirs a forest green. The American Army painted their choppers early in the Vietnam war a solid semi-gloss dark green with the only embellishment being the unit insignia and vehicle number. They then went to a solid flat OD green with small black letters and numbers unrelieved by any contrasting colours at all I know because I had the job of designing and paint the company insignia on the chopper doors and the only colour I was allowed to use was black!

B. There is so much beautiful intricate detail on the Baneblade type tanks it is a pity to camouflage it and obscure the finer points.

C. Garish uses of colour offends my aesthetic sensibilities I don't think modern (future) armies would engage in such folderol.

D. Gray is a legitimate colour and I happen to like gray and black more so but even I wouldn't paint it just black.

The Gothic Blackadder

BTW Thanks for reviving this thread; more images coming.........

ooh! Images!

I've been so busy with my Warhound

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/630/226296.page

I've neglected my other projects but I found some images I took in 2007. These show the most recent additions to Arethusa namely the whip antennas made out of black Chine bristles from an old natural hair paint brush.

Yes I know, she's still gray, I suppose I should rust the exhaust guards and treads at least.

EB

I'm sure that gray is primer and I hope it has a really awesome paint job now...
Actually just read the OP's comments that I missed and he's totally right. That's why my Tallarn armor is all WWII German Akrika Mustard. Still on a big model like a bane blade I'd like to experiment a bit with two or three tone camo schemes like Afrika Mustard/Khaki/Almond. I plan to try that out on some miscellaneous toy tanks I have around

There's a lot of activity for a resuscitated thread.

My second ebay purchase was from England if I remember correctly and was billed as from a "Smoke free Home". Apparently there wasn't any spray painting allowed either as there was the barest minimum applied to the model and somehow the lascannons were lost. I'm not partial to the Mars pattern model but my son liked it so I got it for him on his birthday. Here kid, a broken down piece of junk I scored on ebay. Talk about cheap; gee thanks dad! Well at least it don't smell like cigarettes

EB

The_Blackadder wrote:gee thanks dad! Well at least it don't smell like cigarettes EB

Loved this bit. Btw how much did you get it for?

About a hundred and a quarter USD inc shipping if memory serves. Quite a lot considering subsequent purchases but less than I paid for the Lucius Baneblade. Now you can buy the resin models for under a hundred if you bid carefully. That's what the GW plastic version has done to the market. Damn!

The first order of business was to fabricate new Lascannons, fortunately I had the Lucius cannons to make moulds of for the turret. I also moulded the cannons themselves but they came out too crudely so I opted to fabricate them in brass. These came out so well that I copied the procedure when I upgraded my Armorcast Baneblade:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/226278.page

Blackadder

Looks quite effective

Oh man I saw missing lascannons and I was going to add a post that I have some from the plastic one you could use but you probably had this one for a bit and created your own.

sonofruss wrote:Oh man I saw missing lascannons and I was going to add a post that I have some from the plastic one you could use but you probably had this one for a bit and created your own.

Thanks, I appreciate the offer but the tank is long finished and the turrets came out okay. This model was in much better shape than the Lucius Pattern one but still needed to be disassembed and fine sanded to get the parts to fit right. Resin models cost too much to be rush assembled and are not for novices or impatient individuals. If you're in a hurry stick to plastic models.

EB

A quick coat of primer and some India ink for definition I particularly like the fuel stains on the aux fuel tanks and it was ready for the battle board. One day when I get around to it I'll do a paint job on it since I'm the one person who considers gray a color.

Blackadder

To me grey is a fine colour for a tank, I just don't think it should all be the same. Things like the tracks would probably be darker as they're bare metal. A little bit of variation in the greys and a darkening of the recesses (just with a little wash or something) will do so much to make the tank look less flat.

Compliments for your salvaging abilities by the way.

Yeah now that I found some powdered copper and aluminum I'll be adding to the definition of the treads. I didn't want to use paint as the application would be too homogeneous.

I'll be antiquing and metalizing the whole company 'ere long.

EB

Hi, I was directed to this thread as I have recent saved some 'cripples' from Ebay.

Firstly, an Eldar force consisting of metal 2nd Edition minis - required a week of stripping and polishing before being primed. Im still deciding on a paint scheme.

Secondly, a hard done by Shadowsword that I picked up for only $40 AUD. Only problem is the damned turrets are plastic glued in place and would need to be broken to fix. Unless anyone else knows how to unbond plastic glued joins???

Also, for comms antennae/aerials, if you hold a piece of unused sprue over a candle (approx 4-5cm above it) it softens and you can stretch it as required for length and then clip it and attach. Its somehting all armour modellers grow up knowing. Hope this helps.

AvatarForm wrote:Hi, I was directed to this thread as I have recent saved some 'cripples' from Ebay.

Firstly, an Eldar force consisting of metal 2nd Edition minis - required a week of stripping and polishing before being primed. Im still deciding on a paint scheme.

Secondly, a hard done by Shadowsword that I picked up for only $40 AUD. Only problem is the damned turrets are plastic glued in place and would need to be broken to fix. Unless anyone else knows how to unbond plastic glued joins???

Plastic glue on resin can be softened by soaking overnight in warm soapy water. Failing that you could do what I did on one of my Baneblades; cut the turret off at the race ring with a razor saw carefully mind you so as not to mar the surrounding material. Then glue a thin washer to the bottom of the turret. Drill and tap an 8-32 thread and insert an 8-32 (or metric equivalent). Drill and tap an 8-32 hole in the sponson and you will have a side turret that swivels.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/s/i/at/at2/2010/7/5/51e19f01f2775c5557a92d735c03377b_6825.jpg

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/downloadAttach/46168.page;jsessionid=619DE41BBD76137DC1858CDCD3940BB8

I shouldn't have to tell you to be sure the drill is held perfectly vertical when drilling the holes and be careful not to drill too deep into the turret and of course be sure to find center of both the turret and the sponson.

Also, for comms antennae/aerials, if you hold a piece of unused sprue over a candle (approx 4-5cm above it) it softens and you can stretch it as required for length and then clip it and attach. Its somehting all armour modellers grow up knowing. Hope this helps.

I use chine whiskers from a black natural hair paintbrush. They taper to a fine point, flexible, nigh on unbreakable, and finer than anything else I have found which is what you want for a whip antenna. Simple drill a fine hole and super glue in the whisker.

Awesome modeling man!

Solorg wrote:Now hang on - he sprayed the thing grey and fielded it??? There MUST be more to the story! I refuse to believe that this guy went to all the trouble of getting the paint off just to spray the thing GRAY.

Oh my gosh, please! Some updated pics!


I agree completely! It can't stop there!

Show us the happily-ever-after ending we're all looking for!

Am I the only one who thinks gray is a colour? I have many pictures of real tanks from different nations and many of them are solid gray in colour*. Granted there could and should be mud and dirt, footprints and rust, oil leaks and fuel stains etc. but I happen to like the colour gray especially for a tank.

The Mars pattern tank in question was minimally painted and I removed only the paint that was brushed on. My rational for leaving the tank painted in flat gray primer is when and if I see fit to add colour a fine coat of primer is a good base.

Besides how awesome does this battle group appear in the stark gray light of dawn:



*They're black and white images Blackadder.



Oh, Never mind,

EB

It's not that gray isn't a cool color. I personally really like the general look of your tanks. I just think you need to add a black wash to all the cracks (which would make the detail you said you like so much - which I also really like - much easier to see) and then some small little additions of colors (like to the lights and some highlights on the edges, and as you said some mud/footprints/etc)

There's found gold in GW's plasticizing the Baneblade series model.

I've just about doubled my superheavy collection in the past year now 12 and counting. The GW styrene superheavy has dropped the bottom out of the resin superheavy market and diehards are reaping the benefits. I can't rebuild them as fast as I win bids on them. The last one a Lucius Baneblade I got for $80 bucks $96 including shipping. I just have to scratch build a new turret. The two missing models my son has for refurbishing.

I'm reopening this thread to stimulate interest in derelict resin models.

Commenting so I can keep an eye on this thread.

Looks pretty darn good, you need to get a bunch of tank rider models or scratch rebuild them and put them on a tank for some flavour. I think that would be awesome personally and maybe an Ork being run over one of the treads.

Okay its bad to host a "how to" thread with a question; namely..................... How do you dissolve cyan-acetate glue on poorly assembled crap you purchase on ebay?

I would like to host a thread that obtains input from those that have succeeded in dissolving this glue that I have found demonstrates little more than the ability to cement fingers together albeit it seems that if you do want the bond to succeed just glue two incompatible units together.

My own personal experience is to rely on the strength of the molecular bond of the resin employed. Prying glued together pieces has stood me in good stead separating mis-aligned components, parts that were never intended to be conjoined.

Any anecdotal input would be of great benefit to all.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I've seen it as well but I'm more interested in rescuing poorly executed SuperHeavy's that were given as Xmas gifts to over-indulged rugrats who have no idea what is entailed in producing a well made resin model. Mummy and Daddy fork over big bucks to placate junior on the holiday and consider the money well spent because its an expensive gift and the hapless urchin can't complain because its what he asked for and it took a few minutes on line to complete a major portion of Xmas shopping; mission accomplished.

Come a few months later junior realizes he's in over his head (unlike a certain incumbent) as a resin model is so much more than glue part 12 to part 13. Then there's 300+ dollars gathering dust in a closet and let's dump it on ebay and cut our losses. Thats when its time to reap the benefits. You will note that all my models are only primed.

I will not commit to a paint scheme until I am ready to devote maximum attention to that endeavor.

Although I shall be hard pressed to auction twelve S.H.'s as a Heavy Tank Company.

I also refurb a lot of eBay finds.
This stuff is the best for cleaning Resin, Metal, & Plastic.

It eats paint glue and greenstuff.

An ultrasonic cleaner helps speed up the process.


I have a blog thread with more detail.
http://warfrog.blogspot.com/2011/08/saving-ebay-finds-part-2.html

Congrats on the eBay loot

Back from the dead

Tracks and Treads:

Okay, the big problem with the resin Baneblade (I'm going to call all these superheavies Baneblades because all the errors are endemic to the models in general) is with poor preparation of the components prior to assembly.

The image below is a fairly well assembled set of tracks but the hobbyist was in too much of a hurry to glue when he should have spent more time in prep...........

Note the yellow arrows point to excessive gaps between the components especially the bogies and the run around the drive and idler sprockets. On the top tread he got lucky and the mould discrepancy (measure your pieces against each other, you will find the same components varying millimeters in length against each other) covered the poor run around the front idler.

http://i.imgur.com/USJZL3Z.jpg


On the bottom tread he just lost it all together and the poor runs (Front Yellow Arrow)plus the excessive gaps resulted in dis-linked treads (Center Red Arrow) and a poorly rendered model.

Tomorrow: How to correct for this............

Repairing Tracks and Treads:

I used to use a Utility Knife to separate glued treads from the bogies but today I am trying a chisel.

What I am attempting to repair are the excessive gaps in the tread indicated by the arrows. The main cause of this is the floating tread run around the sprocket and idler. Also the second from the front bogie appears too high above the rest of the bogies. All these discrepancies cause the tracks to not connect properly and make for a less than acceptable finished model.


http://i.imgur.com/GP1rMli.jpg


Insert the blade between the track and the wheel and gently tap the chisel. there should be a gratifying 'tick' and the tread should come away from the bogie wheel. Repeat this on all the glued connections and the tread should come away from the wheels handily. Remember, "GENTLY!"


http://i.imgur.com/pnbODmD.jpg


Note that I am using a towel to cushion the blow so the resin doesn't shatter.

Whew! That was easy........... The chisel worked great.

I'd be wary of using a knife on resin, I hear the dust that can come up is highly carcinogenic

Absolutely beautiful job though. Baneblade is one of the few IG vehicles I actually like, great to see one resurrected from the dead like this

Ahhh, carcinogens!

Only in California.

I'd better post some of the primed images so I'm not branded a total cretin. I took extreme care not to damage the model anymore than it already was when received. I very much wanted to have as near a 'cherry' Lucius Baneblade as possible when finished. I found that Krylon gray sandable primer is ideal for a base coat. Thin, opaque and fast drying it is (was) the best paint on the market. The dirty little engineers and PR people got to listening to too many would be female crafters and redesigned the nozzle so you can't get a decent spray pattern anymore. I have one can of it left and I'm saving it for my Warhound.

http://i.imgur.com/c2vsVM1.jpg


Okay this is more than a "look what I did" thread so a bit of explanation is in order. There were a few broken details on the model if you look at the image in the reply above you will see the left tow lug was missing from the front bumper and I replaced it with a styrene lug, no biggy there. The wire conduit to the headlights was broken off so I twisted some 0.025" wire to replace it.

http://i.imgur.com/ju4F5oP.jpg


The Search light was broke and I drilled a 0.025 wire drill hole in both ends and internally splinted the stanchion.

http://i.imgur.com/re8w8Am.jpg

Camouflaged with Viscus Gunky Gunk:

Heres a poor specimen that I started on last week I soaked the entire tank on a bucket of simple green for a few days but the paint wouldn't budge. After soaking for a week I finally managed to clean down to the bare resin. Whatever glue the original owner used it resists even chisels and utility blades.

http://i.imgur.com/aIAlzoe.jpg



After cleaning the upper hull I remembered, "Hey, I gotta take pictures."

Everything was painted with a thick coat of spray enamel that defied even soaking in Simple Green.

http://i.imgur.com/JD9mBn7.jpg


Once I get done with this post I'm going to try prying the track blocks out of the hull.

This tank will pose an additional challenge in that the Main Turret is missing. No, that's a Leman Russ Mars Alpha Pattern Turret.

I also have to scratch a Lascannon barrel.

My hat off to you good sir, as much as I enjoy restoring ebay disasters I'm not sure I'd tackle that one. Good luck!

Well someone has to work the basket cases..............

Plastic Surgery:

Well resin surgery but you get the idea. I wondered why the treads were so butchered on this tank, after I cleaned most of the gunk off I found/realized the bogies were installed backwards so the treads wouldn't fit as moulded by Forge World. I cleaned most bogies to demonstrate how I remove stubborn glued on parts; a tried and true method that works well for me* and only require the tools you see in the image below:

http://i.imgur.com/Gy656E0.jpg


*Try this method first on something you don't care too much for and wear safety glasses (I had to add that last bit so yer mums don't write me nasty letters)

Find a likely space between the two pieces to be separated and insert your chisel.at an angle that will cause stress to the glue joint. Then a sharp rap with a light hammer (one should do it) and the bogie is separated.

http://i.imgur.com/s8WE4dz.jpg


Once you get the hang of it the bits are removed faster than I typed this sentence.

http://i.imgur.com/2f5a0EJ.jpg


Next the hard part, removing the tread block.................




Automatically Appended Next Post:
The Real Test:

The real test of this method is removing the tread block. The block rests on a thin ledge in the tread well and prying can easily tear the thin outer fender wall. I have already separated the inner edge from the block as that area of the hull is more durable and less likely to be seen if damage occurs from the surgery. It would be a good idea to practice your technique on the inner seam first.

http://i.imgur.com/nX4FaQ9.jpg


I am comfortable with my method so I'll demonstrate on the outer seam.

Insert your chisel between the block and the wall and tap the glue joint as far down as the chisel blade will allow. Fortunately my blade was just long enough to sever the joint before the blade bottomed out. BTW I recommend holding the handle but I am not doing so just for clarity in the picture.

http://i.imgur.com/M0hck9S.jpg


Continue along the seam until the entire edge is free.

One thing you can say about amateur builders; they sure use a lot of glue. A couple of strategic glue tacks would have been sufficient but this guy was 'fastening' for the ages.

http://i.imgur.com/oYVKCds.jpg


Alls well that ends well as they say so the removal was a success so now I can concentrate on removing the rest of the paint and rebuilding the missing and broken pieces.

http://i.imgur.com/EdeUByz.jpg


Thanks to all who made the solvent suggestions I appreciate the input.

Completely Stripped:

That title should provoke some interest...........

Now the model is completely stripped except for a few stubborn areas that require scraping with a knife. Of course the Alpha Turret will be consigned to the 'Bitz Box' possibly for secondary weaponry on a 'Storm Hammer' scratch built I've had on the back burner for more than ten years............. but thats for another time.

Anyway I have succeeded to remove much of the glued on pieces; sponsons, lights, flare-shooters, and spare bogies; all that remains is to scrap off the residual glue patches and it will be ready for prime.

http://i.imgur.com/2tXJmnl.jpg


Now its time to put the next victim in to soak......................

Boowhaaah-ha-ha!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Big Red Consigned to the Stripping Vat:

No not Laura Prepon but rather a basic Lucius Pattern Baneblade, complete this time and not that badly assembled except for the treads. The previous owner a minimalist to be sure painted his model in assuredly less than ten minutes and I'll bet none of his compatriots chided him for his monochromatic colour scheme but hey, Red is a colour and supposedly Gray is not.

Never the less its not in my nature to accept second best so a few weeks soaking in Simple Green should soften the paint and glue enough to allow disassembly.

http://i.imgur.com/UFwm1em.jpg


Goodness knows I have enough to keep me occupied rather than just waiting the requisite time for that eventuality..........

You're doing the Omnissiah's work son

Great to see these old wrecks up and running again.

Let's see the Warhound!! I read the bit where you stated saving the primer with the best nozzle for it, I would love to see helpful thread on that beast. I've had mine for years and I've avoided it like the plague for fear of botching it up. Plus the intimidation of painting it by hand, and having it look decent... The excuses could continue but I have to get back to work.

Great work on fixing these kits you've salvaged!

I got wise, I looked at your gallery photos and see a couple of Warhounds so I'm too late on my request.

 Kelly502 wrote:
Let's see the Warhound!! I read the bit where you stated saving the primer with the best nozzle for it, I would love to see helpful thread on that beast. I've had mine for years and I've avoided it like the plague for fear of botching it up. Plus the intimidation of painting it by hand, and having it look decent... The excuses could continue but I have to get back to work...................

My own thread which I started about five years ago this coming Sunday details the construction of my scratch built Warhound which is a fair copy of the FW Lucius Pattern. About 3/4 thru the thread I began painting innitially with Primer but subsequently with an airbrush which incidentally was my first incursion into airbrush usage. I think you may find the thread useful.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/226296.page

One recommendation is get yourself an Airbrush set up, for under a hundred dollars on Amazon you can set yourself up with a decent system or even better if you have access to a 'HOME DEPOT' they have on sale a HDX 3 gallon compressor which I have been using for a couple of months seems to work fine so far but the tank eliminates the 'On Demand' noisiness of the hobby compressors.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-3-Gal-Portable-Electric-Air-Compressor-with-13-Piece-Accessory-Kit-TAW-0412P-K1/203469412#

That and a 'Master' dual action gravity Air Brush will set you up still for under a hundred bucks.

For building instructions that cannot be beat I recommend Jabba's PDF Tutorial where he takes you step by step through the assembly of a genuine FW Lucius Warhound. An invaluable guide to the first time Resin model builder.

Link to his tutorial:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2670070/JGTBSv2

HTH and thanks for asking; answering questions, thats why I post.

Removing Paint From Derelicts:

I've come across some really tenacious paint on these to models obviously some brand of spray enamel. As the models are poorly assembled and the paint coat varying in thickness of application it is necessary to disassemble the tanks and strip the paint. Simple Green by itself made little progress on loosening the paint even after weeks of soaking other than turn the 'red' paint 'orange' so then I tried soaking for a week in mineral spirits which helped but still needed to be scrubbed with a wire brush where you run the risk of damaging the fine detail. Finally I tried warm dish washer detergent for a couple of days and that seemed to do the trick at least the paint came off with a light scrubbing.

http://i.imgur.com/6j5r276.jpg


So Simple Green for a week or so followed by a week in Mineral Spirits followed by a few days in Dish Washer detergent.

Interesting that the thinner the coat of spray paint the more difficult it is to remove.

Now to the building critique:

The orange Baneblade was fairly well assembled except for the treads and bogies so once the paint is removed from the hull a fine coat of gray primer is all that is required.

http://i.imgur.com/bt9Nf5C.jpg


Note the excessive gap on the far right of the photo tread under the front mud guard

Likewise the upper hull of the 'polar bear in a snowstorm camo'd' Mars Baneblade just needs the treads reassembled.

http://i.imgur.com/bniS33P.jpg


Note again the excessive gap in the tread on the right of the photo Sorry about the "Closeup".

Breaking Down the Mars Baneblade:

This tank isn't in too bad shape Most of the fine detail is intact but for some reason the hobbyist left off the carburetor covers and the spare bogies. I'll have to make those.

The big problem is as always removing the sponsons. They are very thin on the top flange and the bottom support mount flanges and these are intact so I want to keep them that way.

I begin by gently tapping the chisel between the top flange and the tread housing

http://i.imgur.com/4vbdkIu.jpg


This guy used a very hard and brittle epoxy and way too much. Better to file the inner surfaces smooth and when the fit is perfect attach the sponson with a drop or two of cyano-acetate cement.

This is an older model FW Baneblade cast before they upgraded the mould so there is a separate ladder instead of moulded in steps behind the sponson. I removed the ladder that gives me a good shot at the rear of the sponson.

http://i.imgur.com/2PJPBLv.jpg


A couple of gentle taps and the sponsons loose.

http://i.imgur.com/CIKUYkb.jpg


Note the barrels on the aft fender. These still have the very fine inner band flanges still completely intact. This delicate feature was changed when FW redid the mould and it is very rare to see them completely intact on both barrels.

I removed the treads and treadway blocks as demonstrated in an earlier post.

http://i.imgur.com/gNS4l1b.jpg


The parts are now ready for cleaning

Time to Stop Fooling Around:

time to get tough with this paint. I tried just about everything to remove the gunky pigment from these models but I do have one ace up my sleeve. Acetone.

Very little withstands being coated with a ketone based solvent but I hate to use it because it ruins any painted surface it come in contact with.

http://i.imgur.com/cOenxEo.jpg


After a light acid brushing with acetone the paint comes off with a bit of rubbing with a tooth brush.

http://i.imgur.com/W0jK0aJ.jpg


I could get that last bit of orange off but I don't think it will be necessary.

http://i.imgur.com/l8J3Pi1.jpg


I haven't yet applied it to the 'Polar Bear'; it's potent stuff and I don't like using it for too long of a period per day.

Forge World Concedes:

So here we have best evidence why FW got out of the Baneblade business.

Apparently their moulds worn out or distorted and rather than remake/retool their moulding process they just scrapped the Baneblade altogether conceding to GW the copyright to make styrene models and went to the greener pastures of a new line of superheavies; witness:

Here we have one of my latest acquisitions a Stormsword I believe without the bother of looking it up.

The model on the whole appears well made and was advertised on ebay as pro-painted. Well I myself had reservations on that claim but you can see that the modeler did put some good effort into the assembly and painting right down to hand-painting a skull icon on the fascia armour.

http://i.imgur.com/yj4jbLv.jpg


It is only when the model is flipped that we see gross errors in construction and this is a great example of the problem I stated in my previous post that the track block or the the length of the tread segments have been compromised.

Note the grievous discrepancy between the left and right track assemblies:

http://i.imgur.com/x3HaYjE.jpg


The right track is passing fair assembled but the left has 3 MM gaps on the flat road contact run.

This image shows it better; the foreground track with the gaping discontinuity of run and the background track passingly okay.

http://i.imgur.com/HunE9Hq.jpg


Note also that the front and rear of the hull floor plates are 5,0 to 6,0 MM too short compared to the upper hull length. The why of that will be touched on subsequently but right now the tracks are the object of this dissertation.

An Interesting Albeit Erroneous Solution:

When I see something like this it saddens me that the most obvious solution was not attempted and instead a much more involved and time wasting and ultimately unsatisfactory resolution was decided on. I offer the following not to belittle the would be modeler but to demonstrate where he could have saved himself a lot of grief and and now been in the possession of a fine resin OOP model instead of a fractional remunerative of the original cost.

Note the outrageous effort to make the parts fit by adding shims to the cutouts.
http://i.imgur.com/a7XQUW7.jpg


Note also no attempt was made to trim the rear of the track mud guards the casting fill tubes are still in evidence. The sponsons are protruding a half MM above the surrounding surface and the modeler is attempting to fill the gaps with white styrene and greenstuff.

http://i.imgur.com/BpaTKII.jpg


On the flip side we have a pristine Shadowsword completely untrimmed from the Forge World Skunk Works and the novice builder tried to eliminate the casting flaws by building up the model where the most obvious remedy would be to trim off the casting vents.

Using the chisel and a small persuader gently tap the seam to sever the adherent without further damaging the resin. It is not advisable to pry with the chisel or you may shatter the resin Just tap the blade into the seam working along the perimeter a bit at a time so the whole piece comes free by small degrees without putting too much stress on the material as would be the case were you to free each portion entirely before shifting the chisel.

http://i.imgur.com/tOgRd0Y.jpg


Here we find the cause of all this unfortunate modeler's dilemma:

The last three models I have found has these large protuberances on the rear edge of the hull and not one of the modelers attempted to dress them down to a uniform height even with the interior sloped incline.

http://i.imgur.com/AIRR3af.jpg


Please note that resin cuts as readily as cheese with the proper tools; in this case a standard Xacto 1/2 inch chisel and a hefty Utility knife with a new blade. and a small hammer.

There is never a need to build shims and mountains of green stuff when all that is needed is a bit of judicious trimming.



Automatically Appended Next Post:
Darn, no bump...........

Hate Crime?

In my previous post I tried to be as charitable as possible but further evidence reveals this to be nothing less than a hate crime.

The first order was to remove the excess moulding vent material so the engine compartment can be fitted properly.

http://i.imgur.com/F6wJmeR.jpg


This is simple by literally paring the excess off with my utility knife as I said resin carves as easily as cheese with the proper tool.

http://i.imgur.com/oiFSEHk.jpg


After literally a few minutes of whittling the offending protrusions are removed and it's time to address the front deck.

The initial inspection of this perplexed me because there was greenstuff everywhere even in places that should have been easily joined such as the front deck underside bumper seam........

http://i.imgur.com/lE6x4J4.jpg


A few minutes with the hammer and chisel (This 'Greenstuff' is tenacious stuff!) the deck is removed with no damage to the surrounding resin thankfully because the front bumper is one of the great features of the Baneblade genera.

http://i.imgur.com/Z77g6Q8.jpg


On to the sponsons.......................


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Perhaps a Chaos Shadowsword:

Okay so now the Sponsons, I've itching to see what to styrene plate 'Greenstuff' glued inside the left tread well was for.

Again with the chisel, I'll spare you the blow by blow tedium

http://i.imgur.com/leMuAGP.jpg


It turns out for some reason the perpetrator cut through the sponson wall and then decided to slap a patch on it for whatever reason because the sponson would have covered the indiscretion. BTW I will be upgrading the boarding ladders on all my Baneblades to the most recent FW iteration which definitely looks better than the stepladder attached behind the sponsons on the original.

http://i.imgur.com/YZ1eifR.jpg


once all the styrene and green putty was removed the damage didn't look too bad; as I said the sponson will cover most of the hole.

The sponsons also have sustained malpractice and I may try a little project I've had in the back of my mind since I first restored a Baneblade almost ten years ago namely rotating sponson turrets. That should be fun.

http://i.imgur.com/2U09mwJ.jpg


So last image everything is cleaned ready for prime, Not bad for an hour's work. So counting this one I have four Shadowswords; quite too many to my mind.

I'm very tempted to make this Shadowsword a Chaos version to complement my two Chaos Warhounds


http://i.imgur.com/F5hDADI.jpg



Automatically Appended Next Post:


Behold Arethusa my first Baneblade from page one in her current condition; not much changed from the labor of love I devoted to her almost a decade ago but this post isn't about resting on my rapidly spreading laurels but to demonstrate how to put your Baneblade together so it can be repaired, upgraded, refurbished and in this case provide a bench mark to remodel the tread problem current on the last production run of the lamented FW resin Superheavies.............

http://i.imgur.com/VTtp3S6.jpg


First and most important Arethusa's major components are not glued but screwed together for rapid dis-assembly.

The Sponson Las-cannons, Main Turret, secondary Turret twin Bolters and treads are held in place with screws. Max Weisman is anchored with a screw pedestal.

http://i.imgur.com/TJIfgLs.jpg


Note the tracks are removable with the unfastening of just one screw; this is the legacy of a lifetime of working with mechanical objects that through experience I know will ultimately fail and I planned accordingly.

http://i.imgur.com/LsRKarT.jpg


Everything I build has built in dis-assembly points to save me hours of grief and reconstruction time. Whether you choose to follow my manic behavior is up to you but you have been apprised of the consequences.

That said, let us begin to remedy the track length problem............

Tracks and Tread Links:

Below are listed the discrepancies I've found with the treads and tracks on the resin models and the first image deals with one builder's way to resolve the problem; he just added another track link.

Note that the top set of tracks indicated by the three red arrows point to the three standard links between the skull links..........

BTW note the link segments are pretty much the same between the older original model and the newer production model

http://i.imgur.com/e740W0B.jpg


and the lower set of tracks has an extra link between the skull links on one section.

Unfortunately FW does not sell these extra links anymore at least I couldn't find them on the FW site.

If you can find the links and the modification is satisfactory to you then your repair is easy; otherwise read on............

The next discrepancy I've found is the mount block thickness where the road wheels (bogies) mount on my original the road wheel bases mount 15.75 MM block thickness and the and the ones that fit the treads badly 16.30 MM block thickness. this means your tread must lose length negotiating the extra diameter.

In the image below the red arrows indicate that extra thickness between the track assemblies shown in the first photo.

http://i.imgur.com/NGgjLGx.jpg


The next image the arrows show the difference between the lengths of the tread assemblies, the thickness of the assemblies and the bad track run around the Drive and Idler wheels on the lower track assembly.

http://i.imgur.com/P4qxxtr.jpg


Finally the road wheel mount blocks themselves vary in length making you tread run too short for the wheel base.

http://i.imgur.com/dqNz3bv.jpg


Next we will address these issues with some simple remedies and a more complex remedy if former doesn't do the trick..........

A Gap I Can Live With:

Okay so the tread from the Red Lucius Baneblade had these huge 6 MM gaps in the tread run.

http://i.imgur.com/UFwm1em.jpg


I have repaired one by cutting the wheel mount block in four places with my scroll saw to shorten the block.

http://i.imgur.com/nUEgtW5.jpg


I made the cuts between the wheels that were separated the most so the spacing between the wheels is more homogeneous.

http://i.imgur.com/a9dKp0a.jpg


Since the alteration came out so well I feel I can endorse this method.

If you don't have a 'Scroll Saw' a 'Coping saw' will do as well or even a Hack saw will do in a pinch, the problem with a hack saw is the blade is thicker so you may not need as many cuts.

http://i.imgur.com/IIaitky.jpg


Someone asked me about getting the wheels lined up evenly so I came up with this idea; just a 6.3 MM styrene strip running down the channel between the road wheels and driver and idler wheels. HTH

Track Work Final Assembly:

First a recap, I already showed how I shortened the wheel mount block; the image below shows the cuts I made in the block with my scroll saw.

In all I made six cuts in one block and eight cuts in the other each cut being about 0,80 MM wide so one block was shortened 4.8 MM and the other 6,4 MM.

I also cut off the rails (Indicated by the red arrows that the bogie mount pads are glued to to further reduce the length of the track run.

http://i.imgur.com/SBzFJZ0.jpg


In the image below show more clearly the mount rails indicated by the up pointing arrows and the removed rails indicated by the down pointing arrows. Just to be clear I removed all 16 rails not just the two shown.

http://i.imgur.com/LI9cNok.jpg


Below are the assembled tracks ready to be primed. I'll answer any questions regarding any of the preceding I did not make clear.

http://i.imgur.com/nnzliIw.jpg


Below the Red Baneblade cleaned and primed with her refurbished tread assemblies. I will have to raise the hull about a millimeter to compensate for the removed bogie rails.

http://i.imgur.com/VI1Q4OC.jpg


And another view of the restored model which looks pretty good considering the wreck I started with. IMHO

http://i.imgur.com/AZGOqRT.jpg

AUX FUEL DRUM EVOLUTION:

Perhaps nothing on the Baneblade genera seez anachronism as much as the Aux Fuel Drums and Dual Exhausts. When I first saw the Baneblade years ago I wasn't sure I liked those huge drums attached to the rear fenders but ultimately they became indispensable as part of the archaic charm of the beasts. I always liked the four exhaust stacks arrangement on the Lucius and when it came time to scratch a Baneblade I copied the dual twin stack arrangement.

Probably no single item on the Baneblade has been modified over the years than the Aux Fuel Drums. You can pretty much determine the production run of the model by the bands around the drums.

In the image below the oldest are the yellow arrow (end bands) and the green (center bands) pair. These bands are the most fragile and brittle and it is almost impossible to get a model with intact bands even when shipped new from FW. Just handling the drum can crush the thin rim and on Most of the models I have I just removed the rest of the damaged flange rather than play around trying to replace them.

Next we have the whit and red arrow bands. This is the only complete rims I've seen, how they survived is a mystery but if you look at the outer band under the white arrow it is thicker so this is the second style banded drums. I have two sets of this version the other being the red/red arrows pair which have the center flanges broken off.

FW wised up and redesigned the bands so all the flanges were eliminated from the bands on the latest productions which is the most durable design albeit the least artistic. Blue arrows..........

http://i.imgur.com/N2NF8wq.jpg


Tyro modelers tend to ignore the casting vents especially on the Aux Drums so they are left on all the models I have renovated. Pictured here are most of the tools I use to remove the surplus casting vent material even though its not usually seen when the model is sitting on the board.

http://i.imgur.com/ilTNIol.jpg



A close up view of the excess resin and a few that I have cleaned up a bit

http://i.imgur.com/D3N6tj5.jpg


it's not really necessary to go crazy with the underside of the drums but they should at least have most of the surplus removed.

Saving the Sentinels Part 1:

I've had these little beauties lying about for years with broken hip shafts. Whilst inventorying my 'to do' list I find myself with the sudden impulse to repair the little darlings.

They've been indifferently repaired over the years but fall apart again with alarming rapidity whilst the glue build up around the joints become more and more unsightly.

The first order of business was to separate and categorize all the major components.

http://i.imgur.com/soMy8IK.jpg


There are two leg configurations; each Sentinel getting a compressed leg and an extended leg. Each type of leg can be either right or left.

First I cut off and drilled out the broken axles out of the legs; I start by drilling a centered pilot hole.

Next I drill out each leg to 1/8 inch (3,175 MM) as that is the closest diameter tube stock I have.

http://i.imgur.com/wwrbJII.jpg


Be careful not to drill through the axle end caps.

Next Post Please..............


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Can I get an append interrupter please?

Like this?

rigeld2 wrote:
Like this?

Yeah, thanks,...............

Stick around I'll need another.

Saving the Sentinels Part 2:

Next center drill the hip block with first a pilot hole (Center foreground of the image below) and then your 1/8 inch drill bit.

I drilled from both ends into the hip block but then drilled all the way through to align the shaft holes.....

http://i.imgur.com/yIdtqL4.jpg


On the right side of the photo above note the white styrene tube:

Insert your 1/8 inch styrene tube through the hip block so the axle protrudes far enough to engage the hip of the legs.

Now I don't want to repeat this repair so I am reinforcing the styrene tube with a 1,5 MM brass tube insert......

http://i.imgur.com/Rmi84kp.jpg


Below we see the three Sentinel bodies strung out on the brass reinforced styrene tubes ready to be cut to the proper length.

http://i.imgur.com/IgXOeqg.jpg


Below we see the three repaired hips; the left foreground legs not installed to show the reinforced shaft.

http://i.imgur.com/YoNsK2T.jpg


And finally the three derelicts assembled with new much stronger leg attachments.

http://i.imgur.com/eLTYGdq.jpg


Next, repairing the ball socket ankle joint........

(need the next one now?)

Yup, Thanks again. I love beating the system..............

Saving the Sentinels Part 3:

Since the ankle is so much thinner I went to a 3/32 inch (2,25 MM) styrene tube to reinforce the break. Again I will insert a brass rod to increase the strength of the joint.

http://i.imgur.com/xOzi0lx.jpg


drilling the hole in the ankle requires a bit of care as the short block is all you have to work with; drill too far and the shank strut will be weakened.

Insert the 3/32 styrene tube and the reinforcing wire into both the ball and the leg.

http://i.imgur.com/viRPai4.jpg


BTW I haven't glued anything yet as I want the option to pose the Sentinels on their respective bases before I do the finish gluing.

http://i.imgur.com/CqP41PP.jpg


So here we have the restored leg stronger than ever with hardly a hint of the damage sustained.

http://i.imgur.com/cuC77oj.jpg


And the reassembled model ready to be posed on its base.

http://i.imgur.com/RQIx4iW.jpg


Now I have to find the missing head lights............

Is there a reason you use the plastic tubing and the brass rod? Why not just use brass?

That's a good question.

Last night when I started in to repair these I used brass rod but the glue joint wasn't stable enough so I decided to use the styrene tube to cement the joint and the insert brass for strengthen and reinforce the the styrene sleeve.

Actually the brass I have isn't wire but hardened rod. I bought a one pound bag of assorted sized scrap steel, brass, and copper rod and tubes years ago. I think it cost about seven dollars at a hobby store. I use it a lot for these projects but haven't even put a dent in the stuff I still have left.

That's fair. Thanks!

I'll reopen this thread for my current readers:

My Baker's Dozen Of Super Heavies:

While I'm at it and feeling ambitious this might be an opportune time to finish off the derilicts I've acquired over the years.

All the tanks you see here were purchased on ebay over the past six years in various states of disrepair. I broke them down into their component parts cleaned and refurbished the parts and primed so they are ready for reassembly

http://i.imgur.com/idojgO4.jpg


Some of them need scratch built parts to complete them and one needs a turret; I'll make that into a recovery vehicle.

http://i.imgur.com/PU4Pajn.jpg


Now for a bit of a guessing game. Aside from the obvious Land Kreuzer one of these is entirely scratchbuilt except for a few bitz and one is a rebuilt Armorcast Baneblade built to look like a FW model; can you find them?

This is amazing. Thanks for all the details about how you went about refurbishing the resin (and taking it apart). I also love saving old beat up models, I now have a list of new tools to get my hands on to make the job easier. I'm also in the middle of a sentinel reclamation project, and you approach to the ankles is brilliant! I'll continue to keep an eye, and interrupt poste where I can :-)

Now paint them!

Painting Soon..............but first

Aligning the Bogies (Road Wheels)

Aligning the bogies after they are trimmed of moulding errors and plugs is easy if you use a strip of 6.3 MM (1/4 inch) styrene stripping Evergreen product #169 is what I am using here but any quarter inch styrene will do. I use the 2MM thick strips becasue they stand on edge hands free and they are less prone to distortion. Some of the center bogie grooves need moulding flash removed with an Xacto knife so the strip seats deep in the groove.

http://i.imgur.com/NFwMFOS.jpg


I also use the strip as a straight edge to keep the bogies at the same height so the tread touches the rounded wheel bottom for a neat looking track assembly seen here end on...........

http://i.imgur.com/NFZ8UZf.jpg


And here in profile.

http://i.imgur.com/Asc5ruD.jpg


Since the bases of the road wheels (bogies) are of different thicknesses it is advisable to dry assemble and number the wheels and their respective positions before gluing them in place and also gluing the two end wheels first, then the center, then the rest of the road wheels subsequently so the run true to the fenders of the track well. Flexing the center guide strip down aids in centering the drive wheel.

Next the front idler and the floating guide bogie.

I spent the better part of Thursday cutting and grinding the track blocks so the match in length within a millimeter. To achieve this it is sometimes necessary to cut the block laterally on the bogie landings with a razor saw and sand the cuts flush and glue the segments back together thereby making the track block shorter by a fraction of a millimeter. On the blocks below I cut one in three places and one in seven places to achieve blocks the right length.

http://i.imgur.com/CcQlV0C.jpg


The reason for this is the track lengths are pretty much standard but for some reason the blocks the bogies mount on vary by as much as five millimeters about 7/32 of an inch which coincidentally is just about a track link width. FW, the blighters, in their wisdom sold spare track links to the novice builders so they would have a full track run. Well that's fine if you can run down to Ye Olde local FW shoppe and purchase a few links but for those of us on the 'States' side of the pond, we're talking about a month to get the parts plus exorbitant shipping charges. So my fix is to adjust the length of the block.

That done it comes time to glue on the bogies which I pretty much covered last post and so that brings us to the present where I am attaching the treads to the road wheels. I start with the front lower segment that goes around the idler wheel. You must be sure the tracks follow the surface of the wheel tightly as you will have little room for error making this track run fit exactly. I use my Dremel cutter to burnish the inner surface of the tread segment to get the tightest fit possible as seen in the image below.

http://i.imgur.com/LBJgIhM.jpg


I glued it in place and while it dries I wrote this article; Martini time. Skoal

Restoring Tracks:

Restoring these tracks was quite a chore. The end of the mount block was melted off for some reason and the road wheels had broken mount pads and struts particularly on the idlers and drive sprockets plus the mount blocks were two different lengths. I restored the melted end with A-1 two part epoxy, cut,sanded and reglued the drive end of the block that was too long and pinned the broken idler strut with a piece of brass rod.

The results seen below is about as near perfect I can get considering the overall damage

http://i.imgur.com/3AV8VRI.jpg


The bottom of the tread run shows not much gap between the segments.................

http://i.imgur.com/g1mGdRX.jpg


and the longitudinal run is straight and true.

http://i.imgur.com/lJb6BqK.jpg


The front end which is the most visible seems about as good as you can get from a new kit. all the damage will be hidden from view by the track walls and covers.

http://i.imgur.com/lfro6on.jpg

Nice! Thats a lot of work though. Of course, I then went off to ebay to look for tanks in need of some tlc...LoL.

I am enjoying your posts and feel inspired. Great stuff.

 Cruentus wrote:
Nice! Thats a lot of work though. Of course, I then went off to ebay to look for tanks in need of some tlc...LoL.

I am enjoying your posts and feel inspired. Great stuff.

Thanks, there's a lot of Baneblades on ebay but almost all are plastic. I've never built a plastic one but someday I'll give it a go; it might be fun to retro fit it back to the resin styling just to see if it can be done.

Dessert:

I saved the last for dessert; as spanking brand new (At least to me) barely sullied Baneblade set of tracks that the hand of man has yet to set foot on.

But egad they're beige Sir!

Quite right they are so I believe this is a counterfeit Baneblade produced in Russia. Anyway I bought it on ebay and paid hard cash for it so although I don't approve of counterfeiting I'm not about to flush it down the loo.

Since this is new the Drive wheel sprockets are intact and when building a new model this is where you begin installing the treads. Making sure of the fit by assembling the treads dry and making the proper adjustments I glued the curved lower rear treads on first and allowed to dry employing rubber bands to keep the treads secure until the glue dries.

http://i.imgur.com/1v3DgTX.jpg


I then glued on the upper rear segment.

http://i.imgur.com/RMdEPZi.jpg

I've got some beige aeronautica imperialis fighters in forgeworld baggies, which I'm pretty sure are legit. But you're probably right about the baneblade. Still it will be interesting to see how it goes together.

I've got a reaver titan that I'm nervous about even starting, but this is getting me closer. Its nice to see someone working with the material, and know that the miscasts/goofs that I might make can be corrected with some forethought and work.

 Cruentus wrote:
I've got some beige aeronautica imperialis fighters in forgeworld baggies, which I'm pretty sure are legit. But you're probably right about the baneblade. Still it will be interesting to see how it goes together.

I've got a reaver titan that I'm nervous about even starting, but this is getting me closer. Its nice to see someone working with the material, and know that the miscasts/goofs that I might make can be corrected with some forethought and work.

The problem is when buying on ebay is you rarely (read 'never') get a certificate of authenticity printed by FW. The few models I purchased from FW had numbered certificates . If you play in sponsored tournaments do you have to carry all those documents to play your pieces? Personally I don't care, I've never played a game, I just like building the models so genuinity isn't an issue. BTW I hope to trot out my Reaver conversion later this month. I am making Lucius pattern alternative components so it can be swapped between Mars and Reaver patterns when it is finished. The are dozens of building tips you can use as I am making the model with screws and magnets so it can be disassembled..............

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/quote/90/8943668.page

Hope to see you there.

 The_Blackadder wrote:
If you play in sponsored tournaments do you have to carry all those documents to play your pieces?

No, and they don't even give them for most models anymore (just the titans IIRC). It was just a neat little fluff thing to go with the fluff about each tank having its unique serial number reported to Mars, along with all of its battles.

Thanks for the info; it shows how out of touch I am.

Tracks Complete:

Well, Mr smarty pants Blackadder, all that work and you still had to add an extra track link; fortunately I had quite a few spares.

http://i.imgur.com/cnCKNUf.jpg


With the tank hull applied the extension is barely noticeable but I'll know and will have to bear that shame. Oh well, at least it's not two as it was when I received it.

http://i.imgur.com/ZDi8DMU.jpg

A Coupla Pigs In a Poke:

My latest acquisition from Ebay.

https://i.imgur.com/1dfXbz8.jpg


A couple of badly assembled resin FW Superheavys; a Lucius Baneblade and a Stormsword.

https://i.imgur.com/LeY1ffO.jpg


These two are my 14th and 15th derelict Superheavy resin tanks I have acquired over the years since I made it my life's ambition to restore as many of these as possible to their full potential.

https://i.imgur.com/h2e2glD.jpg


I now have moved into a full company strength of Superheavy Baneblades and it's variants.

https://i.imgur.com/zu2rIjL.jpg


As Baneblades go these are not badly painted but little effort or knowledge went into the trimming or assembling; Gawd, even one set of tracks were installed backwards. But I have seen worse and I have no doubt I can disassemble these and repair them to their full potential glory.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Plastic Surgery 101:

Forgive me, I could not wait to get this done. those backwards treads were an abomination to my eye and the sooner removed the better

https://i.imgur.com/YUEdulY.jpg


The removal of the bottom tread run require a few minutes of gently tapping the Xacto chisel between the bogies and the treads.

https://i.imgur.com/hFTqvFX.jpg


The tread separated easily with a minimum of persuasion leaving one link securely glued to the next segment but we can live with that.

https://i.imgur.com/ogvAfEu.jpg


The next step was a bit harder as you are working blind and the glue might be too shall we say liberally applied to allow for a separation. I had ordered Super Glue remover just in case but that won't arrive for a couple of days. Working around the perimeter with the chisels I managed to loosen the majority of the bonds so I knew that removal was possible.

https://i.imgur.com/yDOxnin.jpg


So with about 20 minutes of labor and a bit of anxiety the deed was done and I can relax that both vehicles can be totally redeemable; Whew!

https://i.imgur.com/Cs3APzV.jpg