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Well, I'm back from a holiday in the States and have (almost) finished moving into a new apartment. The jetlag is providing me with a few hours of modeling time, since I should be sleeping but feel like I just drank a redbull.

I spent some time looking at bits and models for a second Medusa crewman. I have some ideas; we'll see where that goes.

I ended up working on the autocannons for one of the Hydra flak tanks that I want to build. I cleaned up the mold lines and switched the magazines for the left side cannons.

Next month (read=after I get my paycheck ) I'll pick up a Manticore to use for the base of the hydra.

Don't worry, the Commissar isn't dead. I just need some better light to work on sculpting (also the reason for the crappy pics). The astropath isn't dead either, incase anyone was missing him

Not a lot to comment on yet, but I'd love to hear any thoughts or ideas out there.

Thanks for looking,
Rawson

wellcome back mate! how did you do that amo switch? i need to know... the design of the autocannon is still one of the favorites of GW weaponry so far! and a hdry done this way would be a cool thing indeed...


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oh, and with all those flyers out there probably high in demand anyway^^

Sorry in advance for the terrible pics, I don't have my work lamp set up yet.

Viktor von Domm wrote:how did you do that amo switch? i need to know... the design of the autocannon is still one of the favorites of GW weaponry so far! and a hdry done this way would be a cool thing indeed...

I'm glad you like it! I'm excited to build it

It isn't so difficult, but you have to take your time to get the cut right. First you carefully cut off the part of the ammo drum that is sculpted to the AC flush with the top of the gun (see yellow line)
Then attach the drum that you removed from the gun to the normal AC HWT drum (the part that comes seperate from the gun. Remove the hand crank on the left side of the gun. Glue the now 3/4 ammo drum to the left side of the AC, and voila!


The finished product looks like this from the top!


This is what I worked on today: the artillery officer for the Medusa

I had a heck of a time picking out the right hands/arms to hold this baby

Lots of GSing left to do, but I'm pretty happy with him!

As always, CC most appreciated!

Thanks for looking,
Rawson

well... many thanks for that instanty provided step by step! i think that will come in hand soon enough...!!!

and where did you get that spy-glass from?

and i can feel your pain here... so many wielding something hands for right arms out there... but don´t we look for empty hands most of the time? it really is most troublesome!!!...and good looking mini there...will he be the "spotter" for the manticore/hydra tank? i think i need to nick that idea... tho for that purpose i still have an old dwarven telescope on a tripod... couldn´t find a pic tho...

Viktor von Domm wrote:well... many thanks for that instanty provided step by step! i think that will come in hand soon enough...!!!

My pleasure! Glad I can contribute something to the dakka community once in a while!

Viktor von Domm wrote:and where did you get that spy-glass from?

The new Empire Hurricanum/Whatever kit. It is a bit cut down from it's original size, as it was much too long and came with a monopod mounting.

that one?

looks very cool...now i need to see if it´s available as a bit...

Viktor von Domm wrote:that one?

looks very cool...now i need to see if it´s available as a bit...

Yes, that one. I removed the smaller top scope, and all of the mounting hardware on the bottom. I also cut out the comet section as the overall length of the telescope was too long, but I wanted the semi-curved lens appearance.

It is available as a bit (that's how I got it ). I can't remember the name of the company off the top of my head, but I can find it for you if you're interested.

i´ve found it at horde of bitz... and american bitz seller i feel good about... made a few buys at his store already... quick and not too pricey...

but... in the fullness of time that whole kit has lots speaking of making a bigger purchase ^^ on behalf of my SP army^^


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found these interesting too...

and look at the second item... it even has a fitting arm...:

http://hoardobits.com/cgi/hob/shop.pl?cat1=Bits&cat2=Warhammer&cat3=-Empire&cat4=&page=1&view=wh-05012012-50

http://hoardobits.com/cgi/hob/shop.pl?cat1=Bits&cat2=Warhammer&cat3=-Empire&cat4=&page=1&view=wh-05012012-43

http://hoardobits.com/cgi/hob/shop.pl?cat1=Bits&cat2=Warhammer&cat3=-Empire&cat4=&page=2&view=wh-05012012-15

the medusa officer looks cool so far rawson!

That's cool Rawson!

I started something similar, but sort of got stumped at the housing/body part of it, never finished it.

the housing part is most of the times what kills my ideas too... if you don´t get it right then it looks too fishy and i have to ripp it apart...

That is great! I'm going to have to have a try at that! I've been cutting up plasticard recently so I have plenty of smaller bitz that would work awesome fort that.

Artillery officer is looking nice Rawson, I'm impressed you've got that telescope to fit, not the easiest hand to put things in really. As the others here I'm looking forwards to seeing more of the commissar and astropath when you get some time and better lighting.

Rogue Wolves wrote:the medusa officer looks cool so far rawson!

dsteingass wrote:That's cool Rawson!

J-paint wrote:Artillery officer is looking nice Rawson, I'm impressed you've got that telescope to fit, not the easiest hand to put things in really. As the others here I'm looking forwards to seeing more of the commissar and astropath when you get some time and better lighting.

Thanks, guys!

dsteingass wrote:I started something similar, but sort of got stumped at the housing/body part of it, never finished it.

Thanks for the pics, Dave! Now I'm contemplating stealing your AC alignment Seems there's a crux to every cool project

Well, I'm back from a week of work in Sweden and have gotten paid in the mean time Here's what I got/did today:

The Manticore is such a beastly model! I love it! If I could find some extra Manticore front ends, I would redo all my Chimera chassis vehicles! (Ok, maybe I would just think about it... )

I'm still working on how to set up the ACs. One thing is for sure though: the barrels need to be lengthened.

You have your standard over-under (this version with mirrored ACs opposed to stacked)


Or I've been playing around with this concept: a more low slung, horizontal pattern.


Let me know if you guys have any grand ideas

Thanks for looking!
Rawson

the second version has a more gangsta style to it... i think for your straight as a ruler thinking vostroyans the standard version is more apropriate...

Nice twist to a normal lay out, originality makes your army unique

Now where is the commissar

Viktor von Domm wrote:the second version has a more gangsta style to it... i think for your straight as a ruler thinking vostroyans the standard version is more apropriate...

Fair enough. One vote for standard.

lone dirty dog wrote:Nice twist to a normal lay out, originality makes your army unique

So is that a vote for the "gangsta" version?

lone dirty dog wrote:Now where is the commissar

I know I know. I have project ADD... I'm sure he'll get done sooner rather than later...

Gangster all the way

It is he just looked so dam bad ass that he deserved a paint job to match

Your work is absolutely stunning. I love the Airborne troopers and your innovative Autogun conversions.
Also, Petr and his little background story was rather cool! ...In addition, Marbo is also, extremely cool!
I admire your GS work and your merging of both 40k and WHFB minifigures and bits ... and somehow, it works!

Keep it up my friend! I can't wait to see more!

I vote standard, it would be hard to get all the tracers to meet at the same point in the sky IMHO with the second configuration.

I agree that the standard configuration is more practical. I've fired a handgun "gangsta' before, and the movies you see it in are complete hoaxes.

Yep, they busted "gangsta" and "John Wu" shooting on Mythbusters too

saw that too!!! and it is totally bonkers... you wont even hit a big door..

lone dirty dog wrote:It is he just looked so dam bad ass that he deserved a paint job to match

Haha, thanks LDD! I promise I'll get some work done on him soon

Joshua Von Wolkestadt wrote:
Your work is absolutely stunning. I love the Airborne troopers and your innovative Autogun conversions.
Also, Petr and his little background story was rather cool! ...In addition, Marbo is also, extremely cool!
I admire your GS work and your merging of both 40k and WHFB minifigures and bits ... and somehow, it works!

Keep it up my friend! I can't wait to see more!

Wow! Thanks for your kind words! It seems that you have gone through a number of pages in a short period of time

dsteingass wrote:I vote standard, it would be hard to get all the tracers to meet at the same point in the sky IMHO with the second configuration.

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:I agree that the standard configuration is more practical. I've fired a handgun "gangsta' before, and the movies you see it in are complete hoaxes.

dsteingass wrote:Yep, they busted "gangsta" and "John Wu" shooting on Mythbusters too

Viktor von Domm wrote:saw that too!!! and it is totally bonkers... you wont even hit a big door..

I guess that settles it. I certainly hope the Hydra can hit a barn door

barn door... that´s what i meant^^

Viktor von Domm wrote:barn door... that´s what i meant^^

I figured, but I hadn't seen that episode and didn't want to assume

actually i was referring to one of my sergants in the army... he showed us once a hippfired gun... he couldn´t hit anything...

This is 40k nothing runs to the reality of which we exist in, it is a case of what looks cool don't you know that

Rawson looks like I loose this round then

Rawson wrote:
I'm still working on how to set up the ACs. One thing is for sure though: the barrels need to be lengthened.
....
Let me know if you guys have any grand ideas

Okay so I thought long and hard about how to make the hydra autocannons only using the stock autocannons. Here is a quick shot. There should be some more in my gallery or on my blog.



Its a very simple conversion. Pretty much all you do is level out the autocannons so that they can sit flush on top of one another. On the relevant side you will need to cut away the 'empty' ammo tube that is attached to the gun. Next grab a few of the ammo cases and glue them onto the sides as you did above. Repeat for another set, except this time glue the ammo cases to the other side of the autocannon. Greenstuff up any gaps and you have yourself two sets of hydra autocannons.

lone dirty dog wrote:This is 40k nothing runs to the reality of which we exist in, it is a case of what looks cool don't you know that

Rawson looks like I loose this round then

Keep your chin up, LDD

Thanks for sharing, Barksdale. That's pretty much what I had in mind

So I had a thought about how to make the Hydra a bit more Vostroyan-esque. What do you guys think about barrels like this?