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Hello I wanted to ask for your opinions on who would be the best to go to for a well priced solid construction and basecoating of a reaver titan; preferrably in canada to cut down on shipping? I've seen stuff like blue table painting but asking 400 for just construction is beyond my range.

Thanks

First; I'm not interested so this is just advice:

If you want it assembled properly, I'd say it's close to 30 hours minimum in cleanup, prep, and assembly. I'd be charging the best part of £200 just for assembly, but I wouldn't be doing it without charging for the paintwork. Also, in order to base coat it, it needs to be built in subassemblies (with some plan of how those will fit together when ready).

So in terms of money, suck it up; it's a big and complex kit. Expect to pay as such.

This said - be wary of anyone offering bids that work out under 30 hours of minimum wage, and look into previous work done by anyone who bids - ensure folks have a track record they apparently want to keep.

BTP had a recent fiasko with a big commission. Their work seems to be hit and miss; your call if you would want to send a kit that expensive their way.

And as winterdyne said (listen to this man! Then listen again. After you're done with listening, just do it again.), 400 - what? €? Can $? for assembly of such a huge and complicated kit is not "much".
While the price tag is intimidating (as is the price tag for the Reaver) it is a huge load of work to assemble and paint this guy. Don't expect to get it done cheaply.

(first up; I'm not interested in doing the build either.)

If I had spend that amount of money on buying the model, I think I would want to spend all the time needed to assemble it. Assembly can also be a fun part as it gives me a really good idea on what details there are and gives me plenty of time to figure out what color to give them. Secondly If you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself. That way you know what the quality is on the build.

And if you really don't want to do the assembly and priming, don't you have a friend or some one at your local gaming club who can do a good job and is willingly to do it for you for a reasonable price?

hmm I see your point and I do have some experience with FW (brass scorpion) I'm thinking i should bite the bullet and build it, my only concern is how the hell would I pin such a monster? my largest pin is 1.8mm and i feel it is woefully inadequate for the job... any experience with large scale pins and magnetizing the thing?

Depends on the pose you're going for.

I used 3mm steel rod for major joints (hips) in the titan I did, had to go buy an appropriate drill bit to use it.

This said, I was aiming to use the steel core to support the majority of the titan's weight.

You should be fine using multiple pins on major joints.

Use milliput to hide pinning holes where needed - it surfaces better than any other putty I know of.

For suspended ball joints (arms), it's a good idea to put multiple pins inward (toward the centre of the ball). Weight then locks these into position and you can leave them long while you're building / painting and only cut them to the right length for final assembly. Look closely here:



The weapons are held on by gravity. Removing the pins allows the weapons to be painted separately. Cut them to just short enough when you're ready and push them into place with a cocktail stick or whatever. Then force in some epoxy adhesive before gluing the shoulder caps on (or fixing whatever holes you put in to do the pinning.

Did you use a power drill? 3mm seems to be a good standard im wondering if I can use a pin vice for it since I have the most experience with it?

Also anyone have a guide on magbetizing the arms and possibly the waist? Or would pins be more structurally stable in the long run?

You won't get a 3mm bit in a pin vice.
I used an electric drill with a slow speed setting and manually restrained the chuck. If you're being mad like I was and coring out the entirity of a leg you'll need a good eye for lines. Slow and careful is the order of the day, as is putting in proper pilot holes to a reasonable depth.

I've seen arms and waist magnetised in a 'standard' sort of build (using large neodymium magnets).
Unless you have the old sillicone cables (or recast the provided resin ones in sillicon) you won't be able to mount the cables well and magnetise.

You'd probably have to saw off a good chunk of the ball to fit a magnet pair in; and bore out the socket. Even then, unless your weapons are pretty square on gravity could well twist them on the magnet; the warhound ones are heavy and (as below) the reaver ones will weigh more.

The total weight of the upper body and weapons is also not insignifiant (even on the warhound; the reaver will be significantly more). Be aware of this.

Personally I'd just pin the crap out of it, and move the model in one piece.

Edit: I'm talking from Warhound experience - I've not built a reaver. I don't think that ever came with sillicone cables.

winterdyne wrote:
You won't get a 3mm bit in a pin vice.

I have a pin vice that can take a 3mm bit. No idea where I got it, but they do exist.

I stand corrected. Still, hard going using that big a bit by hand. Power tools for the win.