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While I work on scrounging up the right parts to make my Big Mek a proper Shokk Attack Gun, I've decided to work on my warphead, Wurrzag. I want to get him done so I can use my new-found will to paint on him, and while the model itself is mostly done being converted, the remainder of the work required lies in his base, where the electronics that power his lights will be stored.

I worked on a base previously, but I was never really happy with it - bondo over foam made one hell of a mess, and the base it was all mounted on gave me little to no room to work with for hiding things like batteries underneath. With that in mind, I set out to make Wurrzag a new base, atop the lid of an old container.





It's basically just thick styrene cut in a circle, then cut with a jeweller's saw so I had 'pieces' that I then roughed up with a knife. Glue them at odd angles, and you have the cracked earth base I was going for, with much sharper and defined edges than the old base had.



Here's Wurrzag floatin' above his base. I'm going to be trying OSL on this so that it's like a bright green lava - waaagh energy erupting from the cracks in the earth caused by the floating warphead.

I'll work more on it in a bit.

This is sweet.

That looks cool ein. How many hours would you say it takes for one of your regular projects to finish?

For the grot retaining chain holders, I know it's a bit late for a suggestion, but what about having them all bunched up in the middle, and using the chain idea still, but with a more direct line for the model to put stress on? You could elevated Wurzzag a bit and lift a few of the grots off as if his power is greater than the restraint the grots can anchor to the ground.

Seriously that is just some fantastic work man. Keep the pictures coming I cannot wait to see the finished product.

VermGho5t wrote:That looks cool ein. How many hours would you say it takes for one of your regular projects to finish?

For the grot retaining chain holders, I know it's a bit late for a suggestion, but what about having them all bunched up in the middle, and using the chain idea still, but with a more direct line for the model to put stress on? You could elevated Wurzzag a bit and lift a few of the grots off as if his power is greater than the restraint the grots can anchor to the ground.

I did have something like this in mind, sort've - that big shiny cord going out of his back is the main support 'rope' which will be trailing to the ground behind him (and pinned through the base to act as the main thing holding him up), and I was going to put either a grot dangling midway up the rope in the air, or a charred skeletal hand holding the loose end (as though the minder got himself fried. )

The rest of the grot retainers will just be night gobbo fanatics with their wrecking balls removed and the loose chain ends attached to points on Wurrzag to hold him down.

Unfortunately, I've just uncovered the horrible downside to picking up a project after not working on it for a while - missing pieces. The fanatics I previously purchased to anchor Wurrzag seem to know the hardship they're in for, and are currently in hiding, despite my best efforts at turning my work area upside-down. I'm going to have to go buy some more of the little blighters before this project's through, I think, unless I can find someone with some extras.

Again, it might be a bit late for chains, but I'm wondering if these http://www.reapermini.com/Miniatures/spiked%20chain/latest/03076_G might work for what you're doing. They are metal and enough of them might support the model; maybe a combination of chains and wires, sheer orky loota-style... "Grab whatcha can boyz, da warp'edz goin' gonzo!"

for chains on my stuff I use the chain linked necklesses you can get them at hobby lobby for almost nothing or somethimes you can get them in the mail.

So I managed to obtain the fanatics I needed, and I've been working on propping Wurrzag up in the air.







I've managed to hide one set of the wires - the ones for his eyes - by coiling them around the rope hanging from his back and down into the base. I thought I could do the same with the other set of wires required for his staff's LED, but they're proving to be a bit tougher to disguise. I thought if I threaded them into the chains the fanatic is holding, they'd look fine, but they're a bit... obvious.

I want the wires to be clearly exposed on the staff, and I'm fine with them being visible around his wrist area, since a lot of the art shows that Warpheads tend to cover themselves in whatever they can find to help channel the energy. The main issue I'm having is the transition from wrist to base via the fanatic. The wires are clearly showing, and I'm afraid that it looks like a bit of a cop-out. I'm looking for ideas at this point as to what might be done to disguise them a little better.

A few notes:

The main, supporting wire going out of his back will be better disguised. I'm going to put a big round spherical weight at the end of that rope to hide where it goes through the base, to make it look like they attached a ball-and-chain kind of thing to him for extra restraint.

I probably should have tried winding the arm wires down and around the rope on his back, as well, but at the time I thought I could hide them well enough via the supporting fanatic, and at this point it's too late to wind them around it because the underside of the base where those back wires go is plugged shut with glue and the likes.

I think I'll have one more fanatic hanging off his other side, but too many will clutter it.

Didn't Reaper put out a blister back of pewter chains? Those might work if you can find a pack or two.

Awesome, awesome thread. Very good indeed.

*edit*Never mind, I see that I'm late to the game with that bit of advice. But that's ok, because it gives me another chance to say how much this kicks ass.

It kicks muchly.

Change the fanatic chain into a rope, similar to your trailing rope.

V42nd has a good idea.

If you prefer the chain, however, your answer seems simple to me.

Use a lot more wire.

What do I mean? I mean you need more wire:

Have pieces coming off of the staff, shooting out in farious directions.
Have wire trailing down the chains on EVERY fanatic. Use more wire on the fanatics than you have already.
Make the wire more lookes fit and jagged.

When you paint it, paint the wire to look like bolts of elextricity shooting everywhere from his focus point... the staff.


Eric

Dude I'd add in a another gobbo or 2 to mimic Privateer press' Harbinger model for the Menoth faction =D

Awesome stuff...I wish I could do orks like you do!

Thanks,
Chappy P!

I think I'm liking the way he looks, but there's a few things that need refining, tweaking, and cleanup.











The main supporting wire now has a weight at the end of it, and there's a second fanatic hauling the warphead back down to earth, as well as a 'ball and chain' hanging from his waist for a bit of extra weight. The staff-arm wires were redone a bit, wrapped around eachother to hopefully look like rope and just strung along the chain as though there for extra support. The only thing I am having a problem with right now is that visually, the front seems kind've open and empty. I'm considering maybe getting thin flying bases or some other relatively invisible support, crumbling some cork, and suspending rocks 'floating' in the air maybe an inch to half an inch off the ground on the base, to make it look like there's a whole lot of power going on.

Another thought I've been entertaining is to have that non-staff hand clutching something like a fetish. I have a squig foot I've been saving for a while from when I removed its legs and replaced them with tires... He could have a lucky squig's foot charm in the other hand?

Just ideas, anyway. What do you guys think?

I like his off hand as it is...empty! I like the overall feel to the model as it stands, not too much, not to little...it just seems well balanced at this point to me at least.

If you could pull off some invisible support, then I think the floating rock idea would...well uh, you know...it'd rock (sorry could advoid the pun =D)

Thanks,
Chappy P!


PS: When you go to paint him up, maybe do some sort of Object source lighting in the empty hand as his power is flowing from both his eyes, staff and hand? Just a thought?

*edited for the post script!

I don't think you should add the floating rocks... It would distract from the model.
I think he's good as is. If you add the fetish, it won't hurt... but I like him the way he is.


Eric

how did you keep the wires from interefearing with the plastic/metal? I'm thinking of doing a similar type project with marines where the wires run down and through their body. but i'm worried about them shorting on the model.

eidt: I know its a bit late now but
http://privateerpress.com/WARMACHINE/gallery/miniature_pages/previews/harbinger_preview.html not o nly ar there chains but the robes flowing down around her for support. flouting rocks might look cool (even lava lamp type effect from the lava) could be very cool. this you could also use as a trick to help support him. make some styra foam rocks have a grot holding onto one (not crushing him but picking him up) and run the wire from the rocks down through them , the grot, and into the base to give you a nice balance point.

Thinking to myself that his base was a bit too tall, I grabbed my dremel and a cutting wheel and took a stab at carving it down to be slightly less thick. In doing so, however, I realized that I had made a bit of a mistake! I have coin-cell batteries which are basically the same dimensions as a quarter, and battery holders that fit them that I intended on concealing on the underside of the base. Unfortunately, I had cut too much of the base's height down to adequately fit the entire battery holder.

After a bit of swearing and contemplation, I hacked the battery cell holder itself apart and took the metal contacts out, resolving to build the battery enclosure into the underside of the base.

An hour later, I have this ugly little gem to show for my efforts:



Like all of my electronics work, it's pretty terrifyingly ugly, but damn if it doesn't still work. The gray stuff is a two-part epoxy called 'mighty putty', which can be obtained here. I would seriously suggest that anyone who does converting on a large scale grab some of that stuff. It mixes up easily, dries in under five minutes, and creates rock-hard holds. I used some of it on my old Stompa project as a structural support, and I have no doubt in it's strength. In this particular instance, I used it to hold the contacts stable on the underside of the base and to stick some of the extra wire down. There's a tiny switch stuck to the underside that you'll be able to see, as well, anchored by the putty. I put the switch on the underside for one simple reason: back when I did my old Guntrukk project, in the days of yore, I implemented the switch that turned the lights on and off on the exterior of the model, hidden inside a 'rocket'. The problem this led to was that every time I tried to transport it, the switch would get toggled, and subsequently run the batteries and LEDs down to nothing. What this suggested to me was that any time you work with electronics on a model, you want the switch to be recessed or tucked away somewhere that it can't accidentally be switched, hence its placement underneath the base.

When all the wiring is said and done... it lives!







The staff is noticeably dimmer than the eye LEDs largely because it's a different type of LED - the one lighting the eyes is a Surface Mount LED, which is a tiny square that projects the light in a decent arc, whereas the one that I was able to fit into the staff was your standard rounded-top LED, which projects light forward in a cone. The cone of light in the staff, however, is pointing upwards, meaning the light coming out of the eyes and mouth is mostly reflected off of other surfaces inside that skull first.

Despite that, it's only a tiny detail, and I think it looks fine. Certainly too late to change it now.

Anyway, the model's roughly 85-90% done, and needs a couple extra tweaks and additions. I'm very happy with how he looks currently, though - I got over the fact that the staff wiring was fairly obvious going down the chain by convincing myself that I'll make it look like rope come paint-time.

That's... amazing. It looks really has bags of character and is a great conversion even with the electronics.

Phazer

I was sold on mighty putty the minute Billy Mays started talking, but I could never bring myself to order it. Now that you've endorsed it, I must have some!

This really makes me want to drill holes in my cups just so I can instantly seal them with mighty putty. MIGHTY PUTTY!!!!

I figured I'd put a little decorative thing up on the front of the base, and after a bit of head-scratching I decided it'd be part of a marine. I hollowed out a power armor helmet, cut away a bit of one side, stuck a skull inside, and viola, instant zzap-fried marine. It'll be fun to paint the skull inside a nice charred color just to sell the point.



Now, the only thing really holding me back from priming him at this point is one area on his back that keeps troubling me. I am referring specifically to the big coil of chains on his back. On the stock model, these are points for the grots with chains to anchor onto, but I've obviously forgone using them with this conversion as the night goblins fit the weirdboy style a lot better.



I've been thinking about what to do with this area for a while now. I figure if I leave it as-is and paint it as just a coil of chains on his back that doesn't do anything, it'd be a bit silly.

Since they're chains, it would make sense that they're still used as a part of what would help anchor Wurrzag down. I found myself a length of miniature chain that would work, and then got to thinking - what would it anchor to? A big wrecking-ball type thing is already there, so that wouldn't really work. I considered maybe anchoring him to a metallic plate with one of those upside-down U's sticking out of it in the ground on either side, but that didn't seem to make sense to me from a gameplay perspective; something about the idea of a model that's 'anchored down' in place like that, yet walks around the table during a game is weird.

Instead, I have this little idea, which I thought I'd pitch at you guys and see what you thought. Instead of anchors or weights, I was going to wrap the ends of the chains around choppas that have been stuck into the earth to help ground the warphead.

I did a little doodle to help visualize it.



The way I see it, they could pull them out of the ground when he's on the move, and when he starts to get lit up with Waaagh the grots can stake him in to help channel the energy. It would also probably help explain why the earth beneath him is upheaving - they're acting as a conduit.

What do you guys think? This worth doing? I can't think of many other things to do with this awkward roll of chain on his back.

I really like the weapon and chain idea I say go for it. The only down side I see to it is it may clutter the model up too much =/, but you could just have dangling chains just haning there looking like he broke free of two more goblins trying to holp him back that might be kind of cool too. Thats just me though, Looks great keep up the great work!!!

The chains that come with the weirdboy have the grot's hands molded onto them already; they're meant to be glued onto the minderz at the wrists. I suppose I could cut them down and leave them hanging there and put a bone sticking out of the wrists of the hands as though they got blown to pieces and the hand is still hanging from the chain? I do understand the 'too cluttered' comment, though.

I really like the idea of the hand still gripping the chain that would be a pretty unique effect.

jamsessionein wrote:The chains that come with the weirdboy have the grot's hands molded onto them already; they're meant to be glued onto the minderz at the wrists. I suppose I could cut them down and leave them hanging there and put a bone sticking out of the wrists of the hands as though they got blown to pieces and the hand is still hanging from the chain? I do understand the 'too cluttered' comment, though.

My first choice is to leave it as-is.

I prefer the option above, however, over the choppas. Those minderz are going to have their hands full with what they are holding on to. They won't be able to take the time to manage the choppas, too.


Eric

So Wurrzag is, as far as I can see, done.

I went ahead and added two chains coming out of his back, but not ones that stake down into the ground. Instead, I left them both dangling in the air. One of them has a charred grot hand and forearm hanging from it, still gripping tight onto the chain. I sculpted the extra forearm with a bone sticking out of it just so I can make sure it's obviously intended to be a missing limb.

The other shorter chain has a bell I salvaged off of the original warphead staff's chain.





They're small details, and thus sort've hard to make out in the photos, but there you go.

I think it's time to prime and paint.

Now, there's just one thing I need help with from you guys. I want the base to glow, but that's obviously not going to happen via the use of LEDs, so I've decided upon trying to paint OSL with this to some tiny degree. I want to paint a bright green light glowing out from the depths of the cracks in the base, and maybe include some light green ambiance on the grots and Wurrzag's lower half. Thing is, I really have no idea how to do this, so I would appreciate help! I've seen a couple tutorials for OSL previously, but I'm not so sure I know what I'm doing.

I'm more concerned about the order things have to be painted in than anything. For example, I'm priming the piece white. After that, should the first thing I work on be the bright green in the recesses, or should I paint the whole thing up first and do OSL afterwards? Can you achieve an OSL effect with bright green by just making thin washes of something like Scorpion Green and repeatedly applying it to a particular area? Give me a hand here.

I really like the chain effect with the hand it worked out great. As for the OSl questions sorry I am still very new to this so I don;t have a clue

not sure if its too late, but I would try to add feet to the gretchin, they are the only things that don't look like you paid much attention to, just kinda stuck them on...

looks awesome, and really well done. It amazes me with the amount of "engineering" that has to be done to pull these things off.

Wow! First off I have to say you are a great inspiration Ein. I have been reading all your projects and am well impressed your really spuring me on to get my models done. Can I ask where you get all your leds and wires from.

What wires do you use when making well wires for guns etc on your models? As im using some but its really hard to bend and work with, its a right pain!

maybe have some trophies hanging from the back, the rest of the marine maybe?

you continue to produce top notch work and inspire people. keep it up!