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hi there,

ok so this year i stearted my second year of uni, but over the summer i got back into warhammer. oops the two dont blend well.
im broke but i want to keep myself busy as i have alot of spare time between work essays.

so ive been looking into how to do this hobby on the cheap. this will mean lots of scratch built tanks, casting and convertions as im thinking at this point tactical squads are going to me my main spend.

ok so lets begin ive picked out 4 units i want to make to start with.

-- master of the forge w/ conversion beam (as there is no model for it yet )
-- my captin
-- tactical squad
-- rhino tank


ok so i have been looking for ways to do this.. the first plan was to get men. at 20£ a box for tactical squads i wasnt tlooking to buy new. ebay became my salvation.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180433561456&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

i found this box full of bitz for 8£. the photo indicated it had enouhg legs and bitz to produce 3 men. when it got here today i found enough bitz for 7 men plus load spare for a convertion of a sterngaurd unit. well happy



so happy with this i started looking for more. it was soon after i found what i was looking for.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120494897407&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT

with these two purcahses i was sure i had enough to make a tactical squad.

the next thing on my list was a Hq. i choose the master of the forge.

heya,

so i orignally planned for one entry every 7 days. but things have been happening at uni that might make this alot harder, so ill be doing next weeks a bit early. plus so much has happened. the second box of bitz arrived.



even more full than the last one.

inside was enough bitz to make a whole terminator and arm all 8 marines from the last bitz box with power weapons or heavy weapons. so now i just need bodies to attach the arms to. however thats a project for another month.

ok so back to this months project. my aim for this week was to have all the models built and base coated,





with those well on the way i turned to planning next project on the list. i hinted towards a master of the forge, for those of you who care.

now i dont have the money to splash out on a tech marine. so i went to the drawing book, i wanted a unique model. here are the orignal layouts excuse the drawing im not that good.



now the idea was simple the rest was harder. the fluff that i had made for the chapter gave me some ideas where to go. the fluff made the chapter a big rival to the necrons. so i re pinned a normal set of space marine legs and green stuffed in the negative space. then using necron bits and a bit of green stuff made the chest and arms. my plan for a hood and a necron death mask failed when i couldnt get the green stuff out of the small mold i made with out bending it.

(to makde small green stuff molds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwzJkE2gKhA )

any way heres what my master of the forge is starting to look like.



sorry there are no WIP photos but photobucket is being a pain to load up. compared with the offical model which i had for a commision.



LAST BIT : conversion beam my plan was to pint the conversion beam to the techmarine in some way but the fluff for these bits of kit means they are more likely to me mounted like the the thundercannon.

this was the plan for the conversion beam :



as games workshop doesnt do cheap tracked veichals i went looking for cheaper bases models i could convert.

ramshackle games came to my aid. 5£ for this model

I am liking your master of the forge far more than I expected to given the bits used. Well done. I may have to look back at necrons for a mechanicum army I am ruminating upon.

models looking nice and great bits box!

good stuff so far mert. I can empathise with your situation; graduated from uni this year and lack of money + lust for toy soldiers = a right ball-ache. Doing it on the cheap is the way to go.

I definitely feel you man. Being a poor college kid + loving warhammer = needing to find clever ways to do things cheap! I'll definitely be following you here to get some money saving ideas!

Oh yeah, and I dig the techmarine.

You know, you should check out Wayland Games - I live in South Africa, and what with the recession and some bad clients Im really feeling every cent.

Wayland have the best prices and free shipping - and they are super friendly and knowledgeable.

I'm also feeling for you, hardly ever have money, and never have the time to do hobby from college work. Nice finds w/ the bits boxes. The techmarine is awsome, although it took two looks to get used to it, but smooth conversion. I'll keep watching for more money saving tips. Do you know any where for cheap plasticard, to make rhinos

It's tough keeping up the model making through college. I virtually gave up once I got there and have only picked up a reasonable amount of model making in the last year.

i think you can order plasticard from Evergreen direct - if you are in the states or uk (not sure).

I've used their products and they are great. Otherwise check out the nearest railway / train model shop - they usually have piles of the stuff for good prices!

yes to ironking, for plasticard is definatly cheapest at your local hobby store. though ive been looking into a DIY version. more on that next month

I am liking the MOTF!

heya, update time.

now i know alot of you like the master of the forge but his colours were bugging me so hes been base coated again. (any suggestion on how to paint him welcome)

so lets forge on. know you will have noticed from my first few posts that i am a fan of buying bitz boxes purely from the sense of they are a suprise to what you can find in them. HOWEVER do look at the photos and check the qaulity of the plastic your buying. for example if they have to much paint on you may spend hours stripping them, or they could be resin casts and dont have the detail your after.
exibit A --


this was found while looking for a cheap dreadnought, i didnt buy it though. no time to bother.

SO FIRST TIP : buy bits boxes and off cuts. but check the quality.

so ive choosen my colours and been working on the fluff for the chapter, new light blub in my moveable light makes every thing a bit brighter than i hoped for. the armour is intended to be a dark red that fades from red to black on each segment of the armour.
here are som progression shots.





and have sculpted some flames on the sholder pads as per some fluff i wrote out.






and what arrived in the post today gace me a huge smile
RTV silcon -- mold making chemicals
which will mean i can casting all my unique bits and cast my self some blank bodies and poses. so i wil be able to start work making the unique command elements.

Hi all,

very long time no post. im sorry bout that but im been fighting the last 2 months to pospone the closure of my uni campus. atm we have several small sites, their plans is to move us to one huge site. problem with that is im doing outdoor adventure skills and the new site is an hour and a half away.

so thats where ive been sorry.

well painting has been slow. finding faster ways to paint the same effect is hard. ill let the pics speak.












to give you up dates ive also been working on the master of the forge and on casts of some of the unique green stuff armour i intend to have through out the army.

I like your style, I too am a cheap-ass student, and get all of my 40k stuff used/2nd hand - there are some true bargains out there

Love your stuff. Very original.

The best way to get a cheap dread is the assault on black reach set plus you get one squad of tactical marines a squad of terminators and a captain for $65.

As a father of two little girls (and another kid on the way) I approve of this thread. I chose Orks so I scratch build everything I possibly can, then I look to Ebay for everything else.

I am currently playing around with creating a paper craft Dread. Not sure how it is going to turn out, but I will post when I eventually get around to actually making it. I had awesome results on my paper craft Killa Kan.

first of i am sorry for the thread necomancy but ive had this project on my list of things to finish off.



sooo let us finish and draw this to a sutiable end that wont leave people hanging on



so i was recently sent a PM asking was it really worth it buying bitz boxes..

honestly most of the time youll pay way too much and end up with a massive stack of bits that are completly useless because most bitz boxes are made up of parts someone somewhere doestn want or doesnt need and the likely hood is you wont need them either, its unlikly some one will by a £15 combat squad and only use the heads.


however at the same time its completely worth it, because of the main reason i buy bitz boxes, for the inspiration. to me one of the most enjoyable things to do with a new bits box is to sit down with my note pad and look for any parts that catch my eye. from this i work out a list of possible conversions or dioramha ideas. with this list usually attach a few sketches of what i think the idea will look like.

Most idea never get looked at again, some prove impossible others are part completed and boxed up to await the day when i work out that fatal flaw. however its nice on a bored sunday to waste 10mins flicking over all the ideas and be inspired to finish off that diorahma of the line / mob of orks that are too incompetent to shoot at a incoming spore mine and add in the irrate nob, started a year or so ago.

the other plus to buying parts is it gives the opertunity to make truely unique units, for example turning a broken pair of legs into a bionic sterngaurd. however as ive said before the vast majority of the bits will be caked in paint and unusable unless you remove the paint...


Next big tip : Strip old models

to those who have done this before it will seem obvious but there are those out there who will bitz boxes full of unused models because they are caked in paint. if there are those out there not understanding what im talking about ill try to re explain. the paints used on most models are water based and as such with the right bath the paint can be removed and reveail the model as you bought or built it.

when it comes to doing things cheap picking up old rubbish models from online that look like they took a swan dive into a paint tray is a far side cheaper than buying new, however you dont have to go online most friends have a spare model that can be traded for a bit of cash. there are loads of articles online about how to strip models but for those in the UK:

metal models can be stripped in Acetol free nail polish remover... boots price 1.35 £ a bottle. (note this will melt plastic so check each model before you strip them )

plastic models can be stripped in fairy power spray ... asda price £5 a bottle. ( note i cant find it in stores anymore so may no longer be produced)

( i have found artciles saying the old detol (brown) does well at removing paint from plastic)




it doesnt have to just be others models old minis that have seen better days or whole armies can be stripped and repainted and reused.. but only if your not completely attached to those cyrstal blue ultramarines you started painting all those years ago

(also at this point it worth noting that once the paint is removed bad glue lines on plstic models become really obvious so its worth have a bit of green stuff to cover these areas with a scultped ammo pouch.



so next big tip : green stuff learn to love it.

the point about learning to some basic skills with green stuff is an important one for a number of reasons first of all it makes increasing your army realativly cheap and if your good enough a bit of money.

seriously games workshop has so much money because its sculpters make such beatiful models we want to buy them, all the adverts for customising bits come from people who have scultped bits people want... if your really bold you can turn your hand to building new warmachines

so green stuff, it allows you to convert pen's into conversion beams and rocks into alters to sacrifice ... seriously good stuff




so i know its expensive at games workshop which is why i buy all my greenstuff from a ebay trader by the name of troll trader

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/TheTrollTrader

( btw he'll buy old minis you dont want off you ). however as with all green stuff use vaseline to stop your tools sticking to the green stuff.

another money saving tip i picked up a set of wax carving tools for £5 which are more than enough to scultp green stuff.

so final tip time : expect to take your time.

the eventual cost of doing warhammer on the cheap is the time is cost you. you could have a new bought army built and primed and base coated in the time it takes me to create a sqaud..

however an army done on the cheap is this army will stand as a testiment to your efforts in building it.


Thank you to all who took the time to read this through and i hope that some of you learnt something from me..