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Oh, how I love these projects.  A bit spendier than usual, but hey, I enjoy them.  I've got a new workbench, a new spraybooth, time and I'm in a good mood.  For those who aren't familiar with my infatuation with these, I enjoy taking ahold of the worst possible pre-build stuff on E-bay at cheap prices, and just seeing what I can do with them.  Since they are already ruined, I just don't care if I screw it up, gives a great sense of freedom where you're not worried about ruining good new kits.

Last one I showed you guys was the Griffon rebuild, this time it's a Leman Russ exterminator.  Most likely I won't be using the turret on this one, instead the goal is to make a conversion to use with a ForgeWorld Conqueror turret.  And as a secondary goal, I'd like it to be reproducable easily so I can do a second one at some point.   And yes, I am aware that many folks don't like the Conqueror for their armored companies, but I really like the stats on it.  3 heavy bolters, two storm bolters, and the conqueror cannon.  Lots of dakka per round.

Anyways, here is today's victim, and now you know everything I do for now.  More updates when it arrives.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=017&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=270136272070&rd=1&rd=1

I can't wait!!!

Hans, man i think you have your work cut out for you especialy w/those tracks & bolters that look like they were dipped in house paint or something just as thick (maybe a bad pic) anyway i'll take any parts you don't want off your hands. good luck & looking forward to seeing the finished product.

I'm hoping it's just dipped/dripping with paint, as I can fix that problem. May also be melted too, but who knows. Either way, it's definitely going to be a challenge. Won't know until it shows up in the mail, but seeing how bad the problems really are, that's half the fun! If it's too rough, I can always make some terrain out of it. Either Nurgle infested, or Tyranid infested, something of that nature. No matter what, I've got some ideas.

-Hans

Worse comers to worse -- its always, I mean always, suitable as an Ork looted tank. Melted -- oops with that welder. Too much paint -- stupid grots....

Love me a salvage project. Bring it on and good luck!

- Salvage

Best way to get GW paint off of a mini is soak it in dettol liquid for about 8hrs, paint comes off without harming miniature although its a little messy

Can't wait to see how this turns out...

Arrived today, just before I went to work, so I got to tinker with it for a bit, but no time for photos yet. Maybe tomorrow.

It seems so far that the major issue is that it's seen a FEW heavy coats of different colored spraypaint. I don't think it's got any issues with melting, though I may be wrong on that. I've got the turret soaking in some Kleen Strip right now, and I'll know more in the morning.

-Hans

Well, here's what I'm dealing with so far. I'm pretty much sure at this point that it's thick paint. A LOT of thick paint. The whole thing has at the minimum 3 separate layers of paint. Bright green, black, then the darker green. I think there may be some light-gray primer in there as well. I've also found some areas that had red and a smurf blue on there as well.

I was able to get it all apart. I swear, I think the guy used paint to attach it all together mostly. There is some glue in there, but not very much in most parts. Mostly just the layers of paint holding it together. Now, almost all of it is soaking in some stripper, so we shall see.

Well on the plus side if paint is the only thing holding it together it'll be easy to deal wit, as in rebuild. But looks like you still got a bit of work ahead of you.

are you using Simple Green?

Nope, using Kleen Strip. I've also tried Simple Green, but this stuff is more effective and also bio-degradeable as well.

Hoping for more photos tomorrow. I had a firetruck rip my TV cable off my house yesterday, so no net access at home for a bit, can't upload anything today.

I'm actually a bit depressed at how well the paint is coming off and how little damage the plastic has taken so far. I had a REALLY cool idea for a diorama all figured out if the plastic was melted as the e-bay auction advertised. But noooooo.... it has to be just thick paint, doesn't it? How dare it be better than what I was promised! Now I have to go shopping again for a really bad imperial vehicle of some type. Though really, anything would do, as long as it's plastic, in bad shape, and cheap.

-Hans

I have an old, horribly painted demolisher I bought off eBay a year or so ago I could douse in gasoline and light up... after I take some pictures of Penitent engines "flaming it to death", I would be happy to sell it to you.
You know, if it would help your spirits...

LOL while I appreciate the enthusiasm to melt everything in a most awesome manner, I think that horribly painted and badly assembled is all that is really necessary. But let me get this one a bit further along first before I start looking toward the next one.

-Hans

Been taking a bit longer than expected to clean all the old paint off, since I have a couple other projects going right now. Sure looks different though, wasn't melted at all. Just really, really, really, really overpainted.

so far so good, atleast the paints come off. that pic with the heavy bolter made me feel sick,, so mucg paint eww

Ahhhh, now the fun part. Building stuff!

Originally I bought this one both because it was fairly cheap, but also because it came with the metal Heavy Bolter in the bow. Then I decided, I just don't like that look and went with something more like the ForgeWorld "Mars Pattern" conversion. I used some sheet styrene to extend the front of the hull into a more natural shape, and used a leftover Chimera style heavy bolter. I also closed up the open box behind the turret, and added some bedrolls from the newer style accessory sprue I had laying around.

Coming right along. Going to add some rivets and stuff?

Rivets? Why... yes I did! I tried to keep them along the lines of the GW style, to make the whole thing blend in and look like it was meant to be there.

This is also the turret I will be using. Bought it used, and had it painted up on a more normal Russ chassis with the bow lascannon. When I got it, it had a lot of extra stowage packs on it that I finally removed... which is why it has the bare spots. Since I have to paint the vehicle anyways, I can redo the turret at the same time.

I also had added the pintle storm bolter a while back. The crewman I made up some new arms from greenstuff to match up with the pintle gun. It was a tough call between the stubber or storm bolter, but I decided on the storm bolter in order to simplify the number of weapons on the vehicle and the slightly better AP hopefully will balance out against the one less shot per turn.

How did you do those rivets?

R.

I used rivets from a company called "Grandt Line", they are made for model railroad scales. Just a plastic rivet, on top of a small plastic shaft. Clip it off the sprue, drill a hole, insert and glue. Actually very simple to do.

-Hans

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=300131909439

LOL I'm just a glutton for punishment. Disaster remains of a Broadside.

How the hell does someone do that to their models? lol.

Capt K

I should send you some chaos marines this guy at my LGS has.

They have been heavily spraypainted by what I can only think is exterior all weather paint. Oh, and they're all bright gold. I offered to work on a group of berserkers and dunked them in Simple Green overnight. Nothing. Then I put them in Castrol Super Clean for a few hours, checking on them periodically. Nothing. I left them overnight. Nothing. I let those minis soak in CSC for 4 days straight, and the only noticable effect was to 'fade' the paint on a few minis. It also made some of the thickest paint kinda brittle, so I could scrape it away if I was really careful. Scrape with a knife or file, cuz the ole toothbrush had no effect.  Some of them had some severe chemical melting, so I just cut off the offending bits and replaced them.

He still has several more groups of marines and 2 rhinos painted like this.

I remember a long time ago, so long that I forget where I actually read it, on a Warhammer message board, someone really ripped into GW for the crappy ass plastic of their minis, because they'd just put together a box of space marines or something, sprayed on the primer, and then the figures melted.

I forget what it was he'd sprayed them with but the general reaction was, 'well what did you expect would happen if you put that on plastic?' Are there any paints out there that are turpentine based or something?

I know there is something a bit different in the GW plastic, and I have had issues with using some stuff that reacts rather nasty with it. I had a big problem with micro-weld one time, which I was using while Tamiya Exta-Thin was unavailable a couple years go.

And some primers can be very nasty to deal with, especially some of the self-etching primers. Lots of stuff out there with stuff like toulene and other plastic-nasties, need to be careful if you go shopping at Home Depot or the local hardware store for paint supplies. If you stick with products intended for model work, you're usually fine.

Well, now that I have it all in some matching base colors.... I think I'm pretty happy with it so far. It's a bit plain, so maybe I'll order up some of that nice Forge World brass, and put an aquilla or soemthing in there. But then again, the Forge World Alpha Pattern conversion is a bit on the plain side too. I like the stepped look this variation gives it.

Cleaned up the camo scheme a bit. Getting used to a new graphics editing program, haven't gotten the hang of the color balance here yet.
Too many thing on the bench that are finished building but need paint right now, slowing me down switching back and forth.

looking good. I have a basilisk that i won in an auction that was converted to chaos. Now that chaos can't have it. I need somebody who wants to convert it back to imperial guard. if you want to do a "pimp my tank" special with it. it would be yours to keep.