Surely there are some other folks on this board who enjoy rescuing models. I'm not a professional painter, but I really get a kick out of saving busted-up models. Givin' the little metal guys a new lease on life. Let's see some show-n-tell for those kits or minis you've rescued from the depths of a 12-year old's paintjob, or a simple eBay "pro painted" mess.
Let's see some before and after pics. Also, feel free to post stuff you've just picked up - and check back in later when you've finished it up!
Maugan Ra
And the rescued version:
One of the minis I feared painting the most...the dreaded Avatar!
And the rescued version:
I just received these guys - they're in a tub of Super Clean right now...
I have done one ebay rescue project.
A friend picked up a set of Terminators for cheap and passed them on to me to do up and sell through his ebay shop.
Sadly, he chose poorly. These were plastic cement jobs and required a saw...
Perfect! That's exactly what I'd like to see more of! I'd also think this could make a very cool Monthly painting challenge for some month --- purchase an abused kit off eBay or at a charity shop and "rescue" it. Nice work!
I just bought a case full of "rescue" minis for about $60, including a metal Captain, Apothecary, Standard Bearer, and Techmarine, a couple of Tactical Squads, a Land Speeder, a Land Raider, and some Terminators. Should make an interesting project getting them all fixed up considering how badly off they are (lots of very thick paint and random decals everywhere). May not get around to it soon, but I hope to repurpose them as Blood Ravens. The models date from 3rd edition I think judging from the rulebook I got with the lot.
Here's another. One of the best minis GW has ever put out, the classic Chaplain in Terminator Armour --- I was going to do a Space Wolf styled force, but later gave up on it and sold this fella off.
I've got a few to put up, but I'll start with this Land Raider. I painted it a few times as a kid in the early 90s, then decided it needed battle damage so took a hammer to the track and a 'meltagun' match to the side. Stupid child-me! This is how it looked for about 20 years.
So I stripped it.
Then tried to fix the damage. I was happy to leave the hole in the door, but I wanted the track fixing so I could actually use it in games.
Then finally got it painted up in my homebrew Stark Crusader colours.
Yeah, I've rescued a few poor, abused things I've bought for cheap online.
Last thing I saved were these Scarabs. The multiple, thick layers of paint were easy enough to strip, and the bases could cleaned off reasonably, but I'm amazed by the amount of superglue some use for attaching a Scarab to it's little stand... Managed to get them to look ok though.
Recently fixed this guy as well - have to love how you can give these old metal models a new life.
Oguhmek wrote: Yeah, I've rescued a few poor, abused things I've bought for cheap online.
Last thing I saved were these Scarabs. The multiple, thick layers of paint were easy enough to strip, and the bases could cleaned off reasonably, but I'm amazed by the amount of superglue some use for attaching a Scarab to it's little stand... Managed to get them to look ok though.
Spoiler:
Recently fixed this guy as well - have to love how you can give these old metal models a new life.
Spoiler:
Good save
It appears I was often guilty of over-using glue as a child, but I've learnt. Don't know what I was thinking!
Good work everyone. You guys are a lot more patient with someone else's poorly painted models than I would be. I like everything to be fresh and new so that all of the big mistakes are my own
I think that's more of a difference between plastics and metals. Metals are almost all one or two pieces - if it's not bent or broken, under that paint is a brand new miniature. Plastics don't tend to strip quite as well, and the person before you may have been terrible at assembling multi-part plastics.
This, for example is the Avatar after simply stripping it with Super Clean in an ultrasonic bath:
Spoiler:
Personally I don't buy used plastics - as they can be FAR worse (melted to pieces with glue, poorly assembled etc.). Plastics also don't snap free like superglue does when exposed to stripping. Super-glued components just pop off and can be cleaned. If it's metal, I'll gladly pay 25-30% of the cost of the mini new for a used one I can clean up --- not to mention for the metals I collect (my entire Eldar army for the most part) they simply aren't in print anymore.
Good call. I haven't worked with a metal miniature since at least as far back as 5th edition - but they certainly do stand up to abuse much better than plastic ones do.
Oh, I do have another one. I'd forgotten this chap started as a badly painted blob.
As he was a single Tau firewarrior there was not much point just re-painting him, so I converted him to an Ethereal.
The base model stayed the same, I just added to it and re-painted him.
I think 'rescuing' minis is an admirable way to bolster one's collections. (btw, do you like dogs, cats, etc? I highly recommend rescuing from shelters!)
Some Orks, before (brace yourself):
After:
Some baseless, rotor-less Deffkoptas:
After (sorry for image quality ):
I've since rescued numerous other Orks since these photos have been taken, but I lack before photos and current photos, unfortunately. There are a number of Boyz, Nobz, and Stormboyz not pictured here.
Nice! I'm surprised you were able to get all that Humbrol enamel off --- I find enamel to be a real pain to clean.
Here's another rescue - again, one of the best miniatures GW ever produced --- the 2nd ed. Techmarine. Beautiful figure, gets all of the "point" across without being the size of a friggin' dreadnought.
Dr H wrote: I use Humbrol enamels on all my models.
I've had no problems removing it with Brake fluid (look for Dot 3, but Dot 4 also works).
Can't tell if you're serious. Brake fluid's pretty bad for the environment (i.e. you can't just pour it down the sink/drain). But I have tried it before. Leave a plastic mini in it long enough and it'll start to melt the plastic. All the detail just gets really softened.
But I use BioStrip and it seems to work fine on enamels.
Whittlesey40k wrote: ...Can't tell if you're serious. Brake fluid's pretty bad for the environment (i.e. you can't just pour it down the sink/drain). But I have tried it before. Leave a plastic mini in it long enough and it'll start to melt the plastic. All the detail just gets really softened.
But I use BioStrip and it seems to work fine on enamels.
Yeah, serious.
Yes, don't pour it down the sink. Dispose of responsibly.
And use gloves to protect your hands; it'll dry them out in a bad way (hygroscopic).
It depends on the type of brake fluid, hence specifying Dot 3/4. I've left plastic in that overnight with no problems (and not needed longer).
Dot 5 is the stuff you do not want to use. It's a different mixture of chemicals and will dissolve plastic.
You want the Polyethylene glycol (PEG) based fluids.
Not easier to use, but may be cheaper.
Just an option.
Whittlesey40k wrote: ...Can't tell if you're serious. Brake fluid's pretty bad for the environment (i.e. you can't just pour it down the sink/drain). But I have tried it before. Leave a plastic mini in it long enough and it'll start to melt the plastic. All the detail just gets really softened.
But I use BioStrip and it seems to work fine on enamels.
Yeah, serious.
Yes, don't pour it down the sink. Dispose of responsibly.
And use gloves to protect your hands; it'll dry them out in a bad way (hygroscopic).
It depends on the type of brake fluid, hence specifying Dot 3/4. I've left plastic in that overnight with no problems (and not needed longer).
Dot 5 is the stuff you do not want to use. It's a different mixture of chemicals and will dissolve plastic.
You want the Polyethylene glycol (PEG) based fluids.
Not easier to use, but may be cheaper.
Just an option.
I completely agree with the Doc.
No need to dispose of it as such, i have a jam jar of brake fluid (dot 3) that has been on the go happily stripping plastic and metal for at least 10 years, it doesn't seem to care if its dirty, just let it soak for a couple of days depending on paint thickness. I personally have had no problems with plastic melt, but I've not tried everything or resin for that matter.
I let the models drip in a funnel back into the jar, then remove any remaining small traces with hot water and washing up liquid.
You should never pour any oil of any kind down the drain, most council tips in the UK recycle oils.
Big H wrote: I personally have had no problems with plastic melt, but I've not tried everything or resin for that matter.
Yeah, you do need to leave it in there for ages, probably weeks. It's only happened when I've forgotten about it. I've not used brake fluid in years now though.
Big H wrote: I personally have had no problems with plastic melt, but I've not tried everything or resin for that matter.
Yeah, you do need to leave it in there for ages, probably weeks. It's only happened when I've forgotten about it. I've not used brake fluid in years now though.
Weeks might be bad !
Works like a charm on metals tho. To be fair i'm pretty lucky in that i have a large workshop and several tractors, lorries and vans, so a jam jar of Dot 3 brake fluid is neither here nor there. YMMV
I've rescued plenty of eBay tragedies over the years but I don't tend to take pics of them first. My gran used to pick up odd miniatures at car boot sales for me and post them over back in the 90s and I got a taste for it early on.
I should hunt out some things to rescue just to join the fun here.
I love this thread, subbing for sure.
I have a few Ebay rescues myself, but nothing documented and to be fair I'm not a great painter (base colors only most of the time, with washes on some, speed is important on most models except for leaders and specialists) so I dunno if any of my models would count as "rescued" compared to what I see here.
Bummer, now I am starting to regret not taking pictures of my rescued old Leman Russ Exterminator. When I got it roughly half the fittings had been replaced with cardboard (?) and some weird soft plastic rod. The upper tracks where missing and had cardboard glued over them as "armour", as was the engine hatch.
Several hours and a lot of plasticard and bits later and it looks servicable with not a scrap of card remaining.
Hey this is a great thread! Rescues have been some of the most rewarding painting experiences I've had with the hobby so far, hope to have a lot more under my belt soon. Here are some of my rescues:
Gotta love when you're stripping something that looked like it was dipped in a pot of Blood Red and you find that it was likely dipped in a pot of Emerald Green first.
Screwed up a couple of 6mm planes late one night so they had to be rescued,along with a handful of bits from the past that i ruined,
So they all went in the pot this morning and after a half hour of scrubbing they are back to new and ready for turning into "something"
Sadly didn't get the direct off ebay pic before these guys went in the drink, but this is sorta close.
So the worse was really the plastic one, tbh. It was a horrid painted red, painted over some other colour, over a dreadful amount of primer. Also, whoever put it together left the tabs on from cutting it off the sprue, not simply moldlines. I couldn't even see them originally under all the paint. Got those taken care off, fixed a few bits (add some plasticard to make smoke stacks). The metal ones are were in much better shape overall. I put the middle one you see here in the simple green again to take off the rest of the black.
here they are undercoated with their main colour and waiting to dry.
in 2009 I picked up AoBR for youngest (then aged 9, he just joined the army.. where does the time go?), and picked myself up a copy because why not? Not having played 40k since 1st edition...
Anyway the marines are horrible and I'm not finding them because I'll cry, however the orks..
Warlord ended up like this in late 2009
No wonder he looks angry, dry brushed skin and I remember being proud of the loin cloth.
Anyway, moving on, restarted orks for 7th edition (briefly, before I saw the book and gave up), That warbles was #1 to be reworked, ended up thus
and looking generally a lot better for it. will admit to one slightly cheat though, just re-primed and repainted without stripping the old paint *looks at feet in shame*
The rest of the AoBR orks have been done to the same scheme but don't have any "before" pics on them.
Have done a few eBay salvage jobs, loving the thread, will have to do some "before" pics next time
Cheers . I actually didn't strip it at all, the paint wasn't thick, just looks that way as it had no shading or highlighting. I just sprayed it black and carried on from there.
theCrowe wrote: Gotta love when you're stripping something that looked like it was dipped in a pot of Blood Red and you find that it was likely dipped in a pot of Emerald Green first.
Oh the before pic is of the squig's rear end. I'd already scrubbed his teeth clean with the brush before I remembered to take a pic. But you can see the green left in the isopropanol from what I'd thought was a big red blob.
Got these in a trade, an old Rhino with a razorback hatched glued on and primed black, and a Vindicator with some popped panels and missing headlights primed red. They were greasy to the touch (not sure of ebay origin)
The paint stripping was impressive. The vindicator's red never fully came off and the rhino was black on top of grey on top of yellow/red. The yellow and red would also not fully come off.
Holy moly! That's on another level. Seriously slick air-brush work. Do you paint gangsters cars for a living or something?
"Jut hit it with a little pinstriping and cover up those bullet holes, oh and the blood, yo."
I really enjoy rehabbing I had a chance to fold them into my current army project and ended up having a good time with them, regardless of the amount of scrubbing needed.
I love buying old metal guys off EBay and stripping them. Not painted yet but I think I have about six metal 2nd ed land speeders that are going to make a fun squadron to throw down at the lgs.
I've got four eBay purchases en route. Been too busy painting "new" (read: boring) Chaos Space Marines. Happy to get back to some proper Eldar metal. Will post stuff when it shows up.
Ah, I'd forgotten this thread. Found this poor decapitated assassin in a job lot of old metal Necromunda figs. This pic is after his first dettol bath, he's currently having round 2, god knows what he was painted with! Looking forward to getting started on the rebuild.
Elbows wrote: An Eversor with a random chopped off Vindicare head...and no hands. He must have pissed someone off.
Certainly has ... The body had a Van Saar head stuck on, which I've reunited with its original (headless) body. I reckon he'll be a Vindicare holding the rifle down in his right hand with the Exitus pistol raised in his left. Should be fun!
Apollinaire wrote: Ah, I'd forgotten this thread. Found this poor decapitated assassin in a job lot of old metal Necromunda figs. This pic is after his first dettol bath, he's currently having round 2, god knows what he was painted with! Looking forward to getting started on the rebuild.
I did an arm replace on an Eversor. I used an Eldar Guardian arm:
You know that's just typical Necromunda for you. I have a couple of such Franken-minis languishing out in the garage. Funnily enough one is a Vindicare Assisin with a Van Saar head and a couple of weapon swaps. The other is a harlequin with Jakara spyrer parts. Young me was a little knife-happy.
I acquired a couple of used Leman Russ and using various bits including older Rogue Trader metal i started my Imperial Guard Tank Company; before and after:
Yessir! A world mostly uninhabitable, covered in ice and snow and a desolate wasteland that produces much of the Imperium's "THC sticks", an alternative to "LHO sticks"
The Nobz who was built from some damaged and missing parts like the Power Claw ends...which have been replaced by some old Vehicle sprue Dozerblade parts.
So Tread Heads I started updating the vehicles with a severely damaged Chimera I received in trade that was going to be a static terrain piece as the turret was glued to the body and lots of parts were missing. I started adding some parts, but then broke the frame and that let me even the tracks and make the model level and stable and it no longer looked like a warped Chimera so I decided to save the tank and refurbish it.
If you look carefully you will see bubbled areas of the hull and joins from excessive plastic cement, but after painting it looks like a older and rather rusted transport.
Fantastic work everyone! I love when people save old models... would love to see someone save some of those ugly arse 2nd Ed Tyranids and make them look less terrible lol
Nice vulture. I'd love to get my hands on one of those.
The 2nd ed Nids? There's little hope for those. LoL Those warriors... That screamer killer was great though.
Rescuing old misused models is probably the second largest part of the hobby for me. Nothing more satisfying. I just dropped some vibrant yellow thickly painted bloodletters into the stripper. Its going to be a two-parter. Some had to go back in for another day or so.
In 2nd ed. you had the Carnifex/Screamer Killer which was okay --- I bet with a modern paintjob someone could make it really shine. I actually prefer the 2nd ed. Tyrant the best of the ones they've done (far less ALIENS looking).
The Genestealers were more or less the same, despite being older. The Hormagaunts looked cool but were absolutely miserable to base/game with. Termagants more or less looked the same. The warriors were hold overs from the initial models and were quite bad.
They were followed by the...nice(?) intermediat ones. I bet with a few arm swaps, head swaps and some nice painting even the worst Tyranids models could be made worthwhile.
Captain Brown wrote: So Tread Heads I started updating the vehicles with a severely damaged Chimera I received in trade that was going to be a static terrain piece as the turret was glued to the body and lots of parts were missing. I started adding some parts, but then broke the frame and that let me even the tracks and make the model level and stable and it no longer looked like a warped Chimera so I decided to save the tank and refurbish it.
CB
I love this... "I broke it so badly while trying to fix the horrible mess that it was easier for me to make it properly"
And an excellent job it is too. Thanks for sharing.
Captain Brown wrote: So Tread Heads I started updating the vehicles with a severely damaged Chimera I received in trade that was going to be a static terrain piece as the turret was glued to the body and lots of parts were missing. I started adding some parts, but then broke the frame and that let me even the tracks and make the model level and stable and it no longer looked like a warped Chimera so I decided to save the tank and refurbish it.
CB
I love this... "I broke it so badly while trying to fix the horrible mess that it was easier for me to make it properly"
And an excellent job it is too. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, although the turret will never move again (due to the amount of plastic cement used by the previous owner).
Here is another rescue, although I did not take a photo before the bath in Simple Green.
The Warboss when stripped of the partial paint job it arrived in.
Because there were a lack of left arms with the Fire Warriors I did things like the one I added the binoculars to, taking spare bits to make models as there was a limited number of left arms and when on was really glued to slag I wanted no model left behind.
ahh...so many lovely rescue jobs here!...I always love seeing a poor beaten-up old model being brought back to life
...wish I'd spotted this thread much earlier, I'd say at least half the stuff I've painted has been some form of ebay-rescue
anyway, I've just got done with a full rework of this chaos land raider I found on ebay a few weeks ago...granted, in a way, it does look a little worse off now than it did when I got it, but that's by design!
Crowe, nice save! Arguably one of the oldest "Space Elf" models back when they were just more or less mercenaries - before the Eldar were a real thing. Great save.
Thanks man. I couldn't believe the layers of paint and the flash and mould-lines still on this fella underneath it all. The mould-line was a big nasty step too! Took some serious filing and fixing!
And the arm was broken off before. The paint was just so thick you couldn't see the join! Anyway, always glad to resurrect a classic. I've also got some GorkaMorka metals ready for an overhaul.
I have gathered quite the quantity of old metal Eldar in my quest to do a Biel-Tan army with no finecast. Unfortunately I haven't taken any 'before' photos before they got thrown into acetone, but I'll put some 'after' ones up once the rescues are complete.
Here is a Forge World Wave Serpent (from the first flight). Striped and repainted after being purchased on eBay.
In fact it was two eBay purchases, one for the tank (which was dark green) and had some strange metal bike parts for weapons. Another for the Shuriken Cannons in the turret which were damaged and required new pins.
The hard to see Shuriken Cannon on the hull was a regular one converted to hang below the bridge between the two sides, it is magnetized like the turret.
Nice work. I haven't touched a brush or model in a month, but I just received some terminators for a project we're doing locally...and of course I went old metals, a bunch of nasty ones from eBay. Should be posting them over the next week or so.
Heh. I used to have that librarian, until I lost/someone stole my case of ancient stuff. I got it when I was about 12 when GW released the metallic paint set. It was definitely enough to.make your eyes bleed even without the warp powers
I've got a little box of older metal 40k and Fantasy models I grabbed at some yard sale for a few bucks. I want to rescue them, but the problem is- they all seem to have corrosion on them. What's the best way to get this off?
Adeptus Doritos wrote: I've got a little box of older metal 40k and Fantasy models I grabbed at some yard sale for a few bucks. I want to rescue them, but the problem is- they all seem to have corrosion on them. What's the best way to get this off?
what do you mean by corrosion?...like splotchy whitish stuff?...I've had that on a lot of old metals, honestly I just cleaned up the mouldlines and flash, and primed and painted them as normal...it didn't seem to have any effect...maybe give them a seeing to with an old toothbrush and some warm soapy water if you want to be on the safe side though
Yeah, if they're genuinely corroded you're talking about lead-rot...and that's impossible to fix (and can spread, so ditch them). I've seen a lot of lead-rot horror stories. However, if they're post what...1992-1993(?) they shouldn't be lead, and thus would be unlikely to have any kind of corrosion.
Spoiler:
Generally powdery grey looking. That sucker is done, from what I've read - perhaps I'm wrong though. Worth looking into.
Elbows wrote: Yeah, if they're genuinely corroded you're talking about lead-rot...and that's impossible to fix (and can spread, so ditch them). I've seen a lot of lead-rot horror stories. However, if they're post what...1992-1993(?) they shouldn't be lead, and thus would be unlikely to have any kind of corrosion.
Spoiler:
Generally powdery grey looking. That sucker is done, from what I've read - perhaps I'm wrong though. Worth looking into.
eesh...hadn't heard of that before actually...looks nasty
Here is a second Forge World Wave Serpent (from the first flight). Striped and repainted after being purchased on eBay (it was originally some sort of Green and Black).
Again this model has a converted Shuriken Cannon on the hull as this model did not have that option due to it's age.
Hey, that's pretty much what my Terminator Captain looked like when I picked him up. Great mini! Had to have him for my Ravens.
Really looking forward to seeing your work on both of these.
Spoiler:
Mine turned out like this
Not a great picture, I know.
Captain Brown: great work on those grav tanks- takes a lot of time and effort to finish one of those suckers let alone two. Fair play for getting them done and bringing them up to such a nice standard. Excellent result there.
Cool thread, I recently bought 6 Bretonnian grail Knights and a Pegasus Knight. The Pegasus Knight has been difficult and he was plastic cemented to the saddle. Will post pics soon but it's turned out well.
Here is the third Forge World Wave Serpent (from the first flight). Repainted after a good scrub of simple green.
This model was even more of a mixture than the previous two...the Falcon portion of the model was mine and when I decided to convert it the original paint scheme had to be updated. Then I got back and jewels in a trade on WarSeer. Then an eBay purchase of the turret and the forward bridge section (which were painted in a red scheme).
Again this model has a converted Shuriken Cannon on the hull as this model did not have that option due to it's age.
i dont typically take before pictures but i did for these guys
some of the shoulders and arms were too heaily damaged and replaced, but i love what i did to thier heads..
Gotta love the old quintessential plugga -bolter marines. Never felt a space marine army was quite complete without at least a handful of those fellas.
I was just thinking about it; this would be a great monthly painting challenge for the board. Just a basic "buy the worst thing you can find on eBay and save it" challenge.
Elbows wrote: I was just thinking about it; this would be a great monthly painting challenge for the board. Just a basic "buy the worst thing you can find on eBay and save it" challenge.
Elbows wrote: I was just thinking about it; this would be a great monthly painting challenge for the board. Just a basic "buy the worst thing you can find on eBay and save it" challenge.
that actually does sound really cool!
although "buy the worst thing you can find on ebay"...oh boy, there's some real doozies on there...I've seen things that would probably take at least the full month just to strip
Well, I really meant "a previously painted or assembled" model, but...you know what I mean! Honestly it could just be a model you've already painted but have stripped down to repaint, etc.
Polonius wrote: I finally have some good before and after shots of a classic Armorcast Baneblade.
That is a wonderful rescue! Was it originally one of these?
No, it’s a shadow sword kit from the very early 90s, back when armorcast had the license. The image you posted is the forgeworld kit, which was much more detailed (and valuable)
Wonderful stuff. I'm still perusing eBay for the occasional metal to buy and re-do...need to find some. I actually paint less now when I'm not rescuing something!
I'm just sad that my Eldar army is so large, I don't need to buy more miniatures at the moment. I'll start looking for Warhammer Fantasy stuff to do for a dungeon crawl or something!
Well haven't finished the base yet (such as it is) but here's another rescue for the shelter.
Picked them up in this sad old state.
And stripped them off.
Not too bad of a job, I've seen much worse. A case of neglect more than over enthusiasm.
So I got to cleaning and assembling and painting and...
Pretty happy with this fella. Nice mini with plenty of character, can't go wrong really. That other guy though... What is that they say about polishing a turd?
I haven't got pics of my rescue job just yet, but, I do have picks of a rescue job I'm attempting right now. I'm currently stripping most of my Blood Ravens for repainting. Here's what my "Marneus Calgar" looked like initially
Attempted save with drybrush and wash
Restored pics incoming - currnetly on my painting table for the Dakka monthly comp.
And while, out of shame, I deleted the existing pics of my Honour Guard, you can see them in the background of Calgar. Here's what they look like now
mcmattila wrote: Finally I get to contribute something on this thread!
This is an old Warzone 1st ed. Capitol model that I've had since early 2000s. It was originally painted by a friend of my brother's.
I cleaned it up, built a base and primed the figure last October, and now finally got to painting it. Finished model:
If you want to read a bit more about the model and painting it, pop over to my P&M thread or my blog.
This guy is great. In fairness to your friend it wasn't the worst painted before but you brought it up a level. Several levels! I can't get over that guys butt bulge though! Too many centralized squats
Tikay: I know those feels...nothing better than a non-primed paint job which just slides right off.
Deadshot: I can't wait to see what you do with Marneus ---- if you're going to bother (I don't know if you're upgrading to the new model etc.) The new saved guard fellas are superb...and Marneus should join them!
I haven't done a bunch lately - mainly because my armies are so large I'm runniing out of excuses to buy metal minis and add them in...still haven't looked into fantasy stuff which I need to do!
I felt like I had posted this but didn't see it:
eBay:
Rescued:
eBay:
Rescued: (poorly in this case...)
And I have this fella on the way:
To be similarly converted into a Dark Apostle for my Renegades. Also working on another set of Warp Spiders....
This guy is great. In fairness to your friend it wasn't the worst painted before but you brought it up a level. Several levels! I can't get over that guys butt bulge though! Too many centralized squats
Thank you very much! That's not his butt though, as Argive said, it's his helmet, styled very much like a football helmet. If it were a butt bulge, I think a trip to a doctor would be in order
Finally finished those Warp Spiders...and I'm not a fan. Just didn't have a good colour concept and just pushed through without thinking it over. I'll use them, but I'm...unimpressed with the palette.
They look okay. I would highlight main armor edges into lighter color - like Ivory, brighten the helmets and use dark brown instead of light brown for bases to make models look more striking.
This an eBay recovered hull and some resin parts, supplemented with some plastic and resin parts I cooked up to replace the missing parts and restore the tank to something close to her original configuration.
Purchased in 2002 (based on this photo information)
Rebuilt from the component parts up. Including replacing or rebuilding missing parts. Including using a current Wave Serpent plastic kit to replace the troop compartment (the one it came with was badly melted and missing the rear ramp completely), going through bits to replace the secondary weapons, casting my own jewels, a FW purchase on a second turret and weapon, and some trading on WarSeer and Dakka.
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Starcannons and shuriken cannon
Scatter Lasers and shuriken catapults
Scatter Lasers and shuriken catapults
Scatter Lasers and shuriken catapults
Scatter Lasers and shuriken cannon
Scatter Lasers and shuriken cannon
For those wondering the pilot is fully painted, but the previous owner did get some sealant on the canopy, giving one side a frosted look.
Found these three sad rejects in an old bits box from yesteryear. No feet, no weapons, orcs barely alive. So I've wired them onto some new bases and re-armed them with some likely weapons. The one with no arms at all is getting a crossbow. I'll keep yous posted as I get busy rescuing these to at least tabletop usable standard.
This is the crossbow addition which I'll be greenstuffing into orkishness.
I'm almost curious how they ended up that way...aren't they the original Hero Quest orcs? Who hacked them up?
I've not done any rescues lately because I'm more or less done with 40K, but perhaps I should start perusing eBay for old Reaper metals to rescue...hmmm...
Man, this thread cheers me up so much. I recently dug out a bunch of my 90s era 40K stuff and brought it to Germany with me, so sometime this year I hope to be adding to this thread!
The great thing about metal minis is that you can use MUCH stronger stripping agents. Stuff that would turn plastic or resin minis into goo at the bottom of the jar doesn't even touch metal. Stuff like turpentine and acetone will take care of that paint no matter what it is.
Just... use them in a well-ventilated area away from open flame, okay?
Elbows wrote: I'm almost curious how they ended up that way...aren't they the original Hero Quest orcs? Who hacked them up?
I've not done any rescues lately because I'm more or less done with 40K, but perhaps I should start perusing eBay for old Reaper metals to rescue...hmmm...
They are. Evidently 14 year old me had a better use for their weapons and apparently no use at all for heroquest orcs. 36 year old me is discovering HeroQuest for the first time however am giving these fellas a welcome return to the board.
I'm also reviving some old metals for hero characters.
Here we have a couple of Ral Partha knights and a Marauder elf. All with replacement bits box plastic parts as required.
Yeah pretty sure those were lacquers of some kind. The spiders stripped down near mint. Asurmen was a bit less sucessful, still some hues left but the thickness is gone. Certainly workable. That thinner stuff is great! Recomend wearing a respirator.. pretty sure i got a bit high lol. An old oral b electric toothbrush was an excellent experiment! Although it did start to melt in my hands. This stuffs strong
Here's the two old Ral Partha metals done after decades in the bits bin. Gone for some kind of a Dragon Knight and a Unicorn Rainbow Warrior. Not a great picture but then they're not really so great paint jobs either.
So here they are along with another Heroquest Orc I found that apparently hasn't seen quite the same abuse. He had both his feet and is holding what looks like a plastic Necromunda Goliath blade. Not the finest of repair jobs or paint jobs but they're all restored to usable condition and I kept the daft colour coded tunics so we can refer to them by colour in games.
Oh, I've forgotten to add a couple of my rescue-jobs here! Both of them are saved from my teenage-self
First up, a rather straightforward repaint of Lt. Varras from Battle for Macragge. I stripped the model of old paint, cleaned the moldlines and gave him proper basing.
The old guy can be seen here (along with some Tyranids):
And the repainted one here:
Next up, an Ork boy. He was a bit more involved, as he was a victim of an ambitious conversion which didn't quite end up as cool as I had envisioned. I rebuilt him into a stock shoota boy, giving him new arms (the same type as the originals, though) and the shoota. Everything else is from the original, including the sight.
The original conversion:
Rebuilt and primed (the Chaos Marine on the right is another rescue job, but more on him when I eventually paint him):
And the painted boy (front and back):
If you want to read some more words / see more pictures about Lt. Varras or the Ork, pop over to my P&M thread.
Inspiring and very impressive thread. Got to admit that my enthusiasm for rescuing minis tailed off - I'd open the post, look at all the caked primer and plastic glue, and bits glued on at weird angles, feel my face fall, put them back in the jiffy bag, and kinda forget about them.
That's plastics though. I've got some rehomed metals but, again, I'd have to go open some dusty boxes.
I've just finished stripping about 2Kg of metal space marine models from a collection I found on ebay, which had basically been dipped in red or purple paint! I will post pictures up once I've got them all laid out ready for rebuilding!
Hahahaha literally my entire collection besides my GK, one Assault Captain and his unassembled squad and maybe my Karskin/Storm Troopers I've just finished need "rescuing" if this is your standard of what needs rescuing.
Although admittedly I have just stripped literally all my metal IG models because they were painted in 1995's colours and techniques (when I used any technique).
I hope I can anywhere near as good as you have, this is amazing.
I love this thread! I should be having a number of ebay rescue jobs arriving today or tomorrow and wish I could join in. Unfortunately, my best attempts at "rescuing" them would probably be in need of rescuing themselves. x'D I have novice skills and very limited paints right now since I just came back to my minis from a 5-7 year college break. Not that I had a great selection before. Some 60 or so Citadel paints and I had only just discovered washes and dry brushing.
OK, here was two Sisters of Battle with standard models that I picked up on eBay. Found out when they arrived that one had it's standard cut a bit short...but that was not a problem as I planned to change the standards to Imagifiers anyway. Had to make a resin copy of one of the backpacks as well as one was missing that part.
If anyone wants the banner let me know, I save it and it will still sticky enough to secure to a banner pole.
So, first time posting ITT, as I don't usually like posting WIP stuff but I bought an el cheapo weaponless Land Raider on eBay for the sole purpose of rescuing it. So here we go.
The Land Raider as I got it. No weapons, and some construction errors, such as one of the sponsons being put on upside down and some of the tracks being put on the wrong side. I'd only find out both of these when I was in too deep a bit so I'd need to just go with it. Time to sacrifice it to Grandfather Nurgle!
Spoiler:
Pre paint after all of the conversion work and kitbashing weapons.
....
And the end result!
More pics below in the spoiler.
Spoiler:
Shotzi Blackheart says "Eat my tank!", Snotzi Blackheart's tank eats you!
Nice pink paint job on those. And I'm tickled that you left the three head conversion in place. Manys an eBay restoration its would've shaken his head tutted sympathetically at the poor fella and applied the exacto knife. It's very a stupid but fun conversion. And a good paint job adds credibility.
Nice pink paint job on those. And I'm tickled that you left the three head conversion in place. Manys an eBay restoration its would've shaken his head tutted sympathetically at the poor fella and applied the exacto knife. It's very a stupid but fun conversion. And a good paint job adds credibility.
Thanks mate! Yeah, I looked at him, thought of the challenge involved and thought sod it, I like him how he is
Ive had this 1990 Ral Partha lizard guy in my collection for a (long) while and am entirely responsible for the state of him.
Typically, in my youth I had a quick hand with a knife and a keen sense what would make a mini "even better" and as a result this guy has seen multiple conversions and tabletop roles in Heroquest, Necromunda, Mordheim etc and now here he was, sad and armless.
So, needing a lizard for Burrows and Badgers I decided it was time to give him some arms and fix him up.
I should've stripped him first but I was genuinely scared his tail or head or ankles would fall off.
So he got some goblin archer arms, a quiver of arrows, a greenstuff coat and a sheathed knife to become a lizard ranger.
Sorry, ignore the turtle, I forgot I didn't have a shot of the finished lizard on his own.
Pretty happy with the result though it's something in line with the trajectory of this guy's conversion history following me into whatever game he'll fit. Hopefully for this 30 year old mini its his the last one.
I bought this grubby grot bomb on E-bay ages ago with the intent to use it as part of a larger project (that I never started). I pulled it out of the pile of shame recently to serve as my entry to the latest round of the Dakkadakka Painting Challenge.
So...do you guys get these rescue jobs at great prices? And on eBay? Because my eBay experience is that someone's fethed up minis tend to go for a high enough percentage of retail that it's easier just starting with a new mini.
Just seems like a seller's dream these days. I could probably get someone to pay cash for my pocket lint, LOL.
gorgon wrote: So...do you guys get these rescue jobs at great prices? And on eBay? Because my eBay experience is that someone's fethed up minis tend to go for a high enough percentage of retail that it's easier just starting with a new mini.
Just seems like a seller's dream these days. I could probably get someone to pay cash for my pocket lint, LOL.
Gorgon,
I often look for incomplete lots. So for example the Eldar Support Weapons had no crew and an incomplete group of weapon options...so they were less than buying a complete set.
The Wraithguard also were cheaper as they do not have the bases or the options that current plastic Wraithguard have, so they are cheaper as well.
I also pick up damaged models and repair them.
Yes, there are a lot of ridiculous prices being asked, but there are deals to be had.
If it is an auction, I only bid once and do not care if someone wants to pay more and I do not win the item...someone else will offer it for sale shortly.
You can cherry pick deals, but it takes a ton of patience these days. You used to be able to snag good deals, but the competition is stiffer and prices keep going up.
Even facebook groups and marketplace are getting spendy. The last place to score great deals are swap meets and local trading groups.
I find Isopropyl Alcohol works well and will do plastic too.
Helps I work at a place I can get it for free.
I also find eBay has largely lost the bulk bargain lots that once were common. But ever now and then a gem comes along. Often with a “pro” paint job to boot.
gorgon wrote: So...do you guys get these rescue jobs at great prices? And on eBay? Because my eBay experience is that someone's fethed up minis tend to go for a high enough percentage of retail that it's easier just starting with a new mini.
Just seems like a seller's dream these days. I could probably get someone to pay cash for my pocket lint, LOL.
Searching eBay via Fatfingers.com usually yields a trove of stuff.
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Archer wrote: I find Isopropyl Alcohol works well and will do plastic too.
Helps I work at a place I can get it for free.
I also find eBay has largely lost the bulk bargain lots that once were common. But ever now and then a gem comes along. Often with a “pro” paint job to boot.
My new best thing to use is the stuff on sale at Untothebreachhobbies. Cleans plastic safely like nothing else I've used.
My new best thing to use is the stuff on sale at Untothebreachhobbies. Cleans plastic safely like nothing else I've used.
Got any way to get that state side without more than doubling the cost with shipping? I can't speak for anyone else, but if I'm buying ~$35 worth of product, I'm not paying ~$45 to have it shipped.
He looks the part, Cap. Though the original metal Dire Avengers Exarch is an all time classic and I’d be loath to replace him on the tabletop even for the sake of WYSIWYG. This guy is looking great though, I’d be tempted. Especially if I had put the work into getting him fixed up like this. Top job!
Not sure if this counts but I recently ‘rescued’ this fella from a decades long stint in my junk box. No weapons or base. Just a horribly wooden pose.
So I Chopped him to bits!
And reassembled him anew with a new weapon.
And with a considerable helping of the magic greenstuff.
And finally a long awaited paint job.
Then a. Bit more of a proper rescue; I decided to give these two old scaven a new lease of life in the world of Burrows & Badgers.
One was damaged and got fitted for a new crossbow before they liberally plastered in putty.
And paint for the final transformation into a new world.
I have a whole starter-set-worth of those plastic Lizardmen and Skinks. I have never really wanted to do anything with them, but your sweet conversion makes me want to pull them out of their box and see what I can do with them.
Damn! I honestly had to go back and forth between the before and after several times to recognize that it was even in the after picture. Admittedly, I was looking for a model dual wielding pistols and couldn't figure out why you said it needed new weapons.
You mad the model awesome and playable, but I do think the dual pistol weapons was a very cool conversion in it's own right. I imagine you would have been able to make it display worthy if you had a spare mercenary backpack to put on him instead.
On that note, if you ever find yourself in need of a some old Necromunda part like that, you can check with me. I recently picked up an old bits lot that included quite a lot of the old metal Necromunda backpacks and at least one Heavy Stubber, iirc. I have no idea which go to what gang without returning to the helpful folks in my identification help thread though. For now, I can only identify things as being from Necromunda or Gorkamorka due to their unique themes and the gangs by their clothing/style.
Hey Josh, teenage You was way better than teenage me! Not to mention today’s Josh, sheesh, that’s a seriously smart paint job. Nice upgrade for an old classic.
CB, your flamer heavy is fantastic. Great job as always. Great save too, that fella was really caked.
Sargent Silver, you need to send me a photo of your old metal Necromunda stuff and I would be happy to identify them.
...
Cheers,
CB
I think most have been identified already by other helpful dakka users, but here's my identification help thread in case you see anything that isn't or something you need for a project: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/90/788116.page Most of the bitz there are up for sale or trade since I don't have any specific use for it myself.
I managed to repurpose some monopose Saurus into some Genestealer/Tarrelian hybrids. Also used the extra Abberrant torso to make a Primaris Hypermorph, there is also an old Necromunda Goliath model posing as a dynamite wielding Neophyte.
Captain Brown pointed me in this direction with my current project; rescuing a Space Marine Attack bike;
That one will take a while so here’s one I made earlier, though sadly I didn’t get a pic of their previous Space Wolf coating (as slapped on by my brother 20+ years ago
Before
After
There’s more pics here if anyone hasn’t seen them before. At some point they should be joined by this horde of RTB01 Marines who are in a sorry state;
I think 10 have already had their dettol bath and a further 10 are in there at the moment… I should probably get them out at some point!
Another project I have is to finish my High Elves, including some rescues;
Those 2 can be found somewhere amongst this lot;
I’m a dead slow painter, so these last 2 projects will be slow burners.
Thanks for the tip off Captain, it’s a great thread!
An old friend of mine has followed me and got back into 40k after...decades....away.
He bought these old battered Tau, sprayed all sorts of crazy and many weapons missing or incorrect unit weapons etc.
I offered to paint them up and fix them to be legal etc....quite a task and a lot of detail was already lost...but they look decent I think. Hes now got something like 2.6k of painted Tau (he picked the colour scheme).
Those tau look great! I think the tau range might be some of the most forgiving plastics for rescuing. It's a lot of flat panels, and even brand new models almost need panel lining. It might be a big tougher to line the panels of a rescue, but it still pops, and the under carriages of the suits can be gummed up with dark grey/dark brown/black.
Just because I love this thread and want to keep it alive I’ve got a quick rescue to show.
Got this fella in a junker job lot and as I have zero old Chaos Warrios I thought he’d be useful enough in the odd game of hero-quest or whatever. So he got dunked.
And PAINTED!
Not the greatest paint job but he’s improved at least. Bit of a vintage quartered look from the colourful old days before chaos got all dark and gothy. Keep those rescues coming folks, that’s how we roll round here.
Yeah I didn’t have a proper big square for him (and you wouldn’t use a round one on one of these surely!) so I just kept the small square he was on but I always hated the diagonal slot so I just square him off with mega overhang. He’ll smite anyone who insults the size of his base though so watch out!
Yeah, a round base would be wrong, and I wouldn’t dare risk being smote by a warrior of chaos!! Here he is in his purple armour with his BattleMasters mates;
By my reckoning he was from the first Warhammer Quest or Talisman, or was he just in the Chaos Warriors box? I think I got him in a White Dwarf back in the day.
Never to miss an opportunity to add to the rescue shelter here was a marine that I fixed up for the March painting challenge.
He’s a 30k legionnaire who needed a new leg so I had a think about some of technology that might have been lost over the years. The kind of thing you just don’t see in Space Marine armies these days.
Ladies and gents I give you, an all new range of magnetised space marine prosthetics I call.
Iron Within, Iron without (a point)
Everyone’s seen the ubiquitous oversized Power Fist but did you know there used to be The Power Boot!
And this side just to show my freehand attempt at an Iron Warriors icon.
But that’s not all! Oh no. The lost files of the admech have also furnished us with this prototype pattern Chain Foot!
Capable cutting a swathe through the enemy as you advance.
But what of the standing defender?
The Omnisiah says one less leg is but an opportunity for one more BOLTER!
You only need one leg to Stand and Fire!
But just one more pic for a laugh. (This one comes from the mind of my ten year old son)
And then there’s that little known gene-enhanced ability the power fart. Armour variants to allow for this to be deployed were later exploited by tyranids and the development of this deadly ability was abandoned.
Parp!
So when I finished all my unpainted models, my gaming group conspired to give me any old metal Eldar harlequins from Rogue Trader. A few were in rough shape (missing weapons and even arms in a few cases) and needed striping as they all had likely come from eBay at some point.
You can see the most damaged ones in the bottom row.
KidCthulhu wrote: Does it count if you rescue your own older models?
You know, if you are willing to share the paintings of your younger and earlier days...I do not see why not. However, this is not my tread (it was created by Elbows), I have just responded with work on my recoveries. It would help the thread, as it does slide into dormancy every so often.