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Good to see you back, Lamby.
Look forward to what you do with the centurions.

Dreadclaw69 wrote:It's alive!!!!

Great to see you back, looking forward to some great updates

Dr H wrote:Good to see you back, Lamby.
Look forward to what you do with the centurions.

Thanks guys - it's good to be back in the (new) Man-Cave!

Minor updates then...

WIP mech - torso attached, and a possible gun arm tacked together:


(I say 'possible' because I'm awaiting the arrival of some Dark Elder Hellion heavy weapon arms - my original plan was to have her holding a big gun in both hands.)

Also WIPped up the start of another possible femme fatale:


Thanks for looking!

Slowly moving along...

The Samurai gained some feet:


And some more junk in her trunk:


A little work on the Rogue Trader captain's webbing:


Clean-up on her jacket, and some under-pinning on her arm before the sleeves get sculpted:

(Still at a bit of a loss where to go with her other arm - cutlass, hook-hand, knife???)

Thanks for looking!

Really excellent work

I would have her inspecting her nails as she points the gun at some heretic

Damn they look good the feet blend really well and plenty of junk

As for RT Capt how about a traditional hand on hip pose ? maybe add the cutlass to her belt then.

I really like where you're going with the rogue trader captain. Might be cool to see her other arm resting on the hilt of a sheathed sword of some kind.

I agree with the notion of a resting hand on hilt.

Wow, thanks for all the suggestions!

SilverMK2 wrote:Really excellent work
I would have her inspecting her nails as she points the gun at some heretic

SilverMK2 - Thanks! I like that idea... she's a nonchalant killer...

lone dirty dog wrote:Damn they look good the feet blend really well and plenty of junk

As for RT Capt how about a traditional hand on hip pose ? maybe add the cutlass to her belt then.

LDD - Thanks!
- The RT Capt is going to have some sheathed weaponry, probably a cutlass and knife

xeno99 wrote:I really like where you're going with the rogue trader captain. Might be cool to see her other arm resting on the hilt of a sheathed sword of some kind.

deadmeat85 wrote:I agree with the notion of a resting hand on hilt.

xeno99, deadmeat85 - Thanks! I like the idea of the hand on hilt, but I've already done that pose with Inquisitor Kallatar and am looking for something different


Thanks again, more to follow!

How about on a vox paying half her attention on the scum she's blasting apart now and the rest on a deal for the items she's after.

 Llamahead wrote:
How about on a vox paying half her attention on the scum she's blasting apart now and the rest on a deal for the items she's after.

Llamahead - thanks for the suggestion!


Well, thanks to Tomas (Ammobunker) and MHVB (over on Warseer) the RT Captain is (possibly) going to be in a classic Commissar 'duelling' pose, with the left arm behind her back
However I didn't want to cover that cool pouch, and I also want her to be holding a weapon, probably a cutlass (if I can ever find or make a decent curved blade!)
So after a couple of frustrating nights where I basically ruined everything I tried to build, finally found a possible solution (of sorts) to that annoying left arm:





She may be a bit unbalanced with that rearward arm and enormous Sharpe Volley-Gun?

Astute viewers will also notice she's gained a head.

Tried a feathered cap...



Mmm... thoughts?

There's been progress of a kind on both Kallatar and the Samurai, however no pics tonight, so check back soon.

Cheers!

Lovin' the Hat. This is what I kinda see for the end result.

 deadmeat85 wrote:
Lovin' the Hat. This is what I kinda see for the end result.

deadmeat85 - Thanks!
- That image is pretty close to my original vision

Couldn't be bothered waiting 4 weeks for delivery of a $0.45 Empire cutlass from the US, so I trimmed down a giant High Elf sword, I think it was from the Dragon Princes?


Took some tube, diced off a bit and drilled it to make a basket hilt:


Added a small bead as a pommel - might replace it with a skull...


And here it is in hand (so to speak):



As promised yesterday - Samurai WIP:




So far she consists of:
- Dark Eldar Hellion feet
- Dark Eldar Mandrake skirt
- Dark Eldar Mandrake right arm
- Vampire Counts Coven Throne mistress torso
- Dark Elf Witch Elf head and hair
- Dark Eldar Wyches armoured left arm and knife
- Wood Elf Wildwood Rangers long blade
- Imperial Guard shoulder pad

Thanks for looking!

Good work, Lamby. Like the sword modification in particular.

Have a good Christmas.

 Dr H wrote:
Good work, Lamby. Like the sword modification in particular.

Have a good Christmas.

Dr H - Thanks!

Speaking of Christmas - Santa found me this gem:


After a week's worth of wet, muddy camping, finally back at the desk, with a bit of mechsuit work then...
Took a little watch cog:


Cut and drilled a hole through it:


Made another and glued them to this bit from the Centurion kit:


And in place, it looks like this:




Happy New Year all!

Cheers!

Working with parts from an Astra Militarum gun-holding arm, a Tau rail-rifle and various scrap, made some progress on the Mechsuit weaponry (ignore the temporary pin that runs through the whole thing):


Added a grip-guard from a brass watch arm:


And added tiny watch cogs to the mech legs hydraulics, basically the start of the steampunk-ification:


Concerning the Samurai:
- Had a few frustration days where everything I touched on her I ruined - broke off her Finecast arm, snapped a drill bit off inside one arm join, destroyed the sword I was making for her... so no pics of her tonight sorry :(

Thanks for looking!

Really like that guard on the gun.

Good work on the steampunk-ification.

Sad to hear about the samurai. We can rebuild her! Well, you can, it's a long way for some of us to pop over and help.

So much awesome!! TOO MUCH WIN!!!!

Dr H wrote:Really like that guard on the gun.

Good work on the steampunk-ification.

Sad to hear about the samurai. We can rebuild her! Well, you can, it's a long way for some of us to pop over and help.

Dr H - Thanks!
-That hand guard was so fiddly, but the end result looks good
- While the parts are REALLY TINY, I like the steampunk vibe this Ordo Xenos retinue is gaining

Sneshy wrote:So much awesome!! TOO MUCH WIN!!!!

Thanks!

So, after some major fails and much swearing in the man-cave, finally made some progress on a few things.

First, cut and diced some tubing to get these micro-sized goggles:


Added lenses:


Glued them into a molding tray (otherwise known as a Warhammer base):

- This is where I made a big mistake - too much glue meant the goggles aren't sitting flat...

But soldiered on and made the mold anyway:

- So the GS in now in the mold, we'll see what the outcome is tomorrow...

Made the business end of the Mechsuit chick's electro-plasmatic rail-gun:

- That Tau rail-gun part is just the donor part for sizing and shape

Then moved onto the rear bracket for the Mechsuit:


Punched some plastic rod through this watch cog:


Drilled the middle out to fit over the pin, made another one (no pics) and then added them to the bracket to get this:




Another series of disasters with the Samurai, basically I've made 5 attempts to build her katana - i keep ending up with bloody great choppers instead of an elegant blade...
However, I *may* have made a breakthrough which I'm really excited about - if successful I will document the process soon - so please standby...

Tiny, fiddly things is why we do this hobby. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Otherwise we would work in larger scales.

interested to see how the casts come out.
What are you using for the mould, by the way?

Rail rifle looks nice.

and good cog-work again.

 Dr H wrote:
Tiny, fiddly things is why we do this hobby. Well, one of the reasons anyway. Otherwise we would work in larger scales.

interested to see how the casts come out.
What are you using for the mould, by the way?

Rail rifle looks nice.

and good cog-work again.

Dr H - exactly!
- see below for the cast
- this is the cheap Japanese version of Insta Mold - just throw in boiling water, squish into your part, let cool for 10 minutes and ta-da, you've made a mold
- Thanks!


Goggle progress - sort of...

Peeled open the mold:


Sliced the cast off:
(Remember I said I'd made a mistake - well, you can see the effect here...)


Clean up with a blade brings us to this:


At which time I discover the second mistake I'd made - the goggles are too big in scale...


So, time to go smaller!


Drilled holes in card:


Fitted some jewellery beads:


Glued down the strap:


Made a box to hold it and sliced the strap away:


Glue in the beads and there's our part, ready for Insta Mold!



So in about 12 hours we'll see if how one worked out
Thanks for looking!!!

Slick precision as always. Loving all the developments.

Especially liking female samurai. That exo-suit is coming along nicely too.

Fingers crossed for the goggles!

12 hours later, we have this:


Mmmmm - not a good cast, the Insta-Mold can be a bit hit or miss with undercuts, I should've filled in the holes in the beads... maybe later...


So, after Brother Chaplain Kage (Bolter and Chainsword) directed me to Victoria Lamb's excellent goggle collection http://victoriaminiatures.highwire.com/product/gas-mask-and-goggles-sprue

While these are sweet, I really only need one pair... and reading the description says they're made of soft metal - which led me in this (final!) direction...

Cut some brass etch 'sprue' from this:


Cut a link of brass chain:


Together they became this:


Two of them, connected in the middle with more brass etch sprue, created this:


That's it! next time you see them they'll be on a completed Ordo Xenos member...

You are a mad man sir completely bonkers but have love your commitment how did they scale up by the way

 lone dirty dog wrote:
You are a mad man sir completely bonkers but have love your commitment how did they scale up by the way

Thank you, good sir - you discombobulate me with your most gracious comments

In answer to your most timely question...

Kallatar - goggle scale and fit test:




One more little '40k' addition to Kallatar and she will be ready for basing and - good grief! - paint!!!

Why thats is most Fantastic sir you have created a most gracious yet commanding sculpture .......... o crap I cant keep this up any longer

She Rocks great pose love the hand resting on the sword still looks great every time, and those goggles have turned out a treat top marks all round for converting and being environmentally friendly

 Lamby wrote:
- this is the cheap Japanese version of Insta Mold - just throw in boiling water, squish into your part, let cool for 10 minutes and ta-da, you've made a mold

I have that too, Oyumaru. Great stuff. Had you not been using it, I would have suggested it for this.

Shame about the casting issues...

But the new goggles work brilliantly. Good job, that man.

She's looking great.

lone dirty dog wrote:Why thats is most Fantastic sir you have created a most gracious yet commanding sculpture .......... o crap I cant keep this up any longer

She Rocks great pose love the hand resting on the sword still looks great every time, and those goggles have turned out a treat top marks all round for converting and being environmentally friendly

Thanks LDD

Dr H wrote:

 Lamby wrote:
- this is the cheap Japanese version of Insta Mold - just throw in boiling water, squish into your part, let cool for 10 minutes and ta-da, you've made a mold

I have that too, Oyumaru. Great stuff. Had you not been using it, I would have suggested it for this.

Shame about the casting issues...

But the new goggles work brilliantly. Good job, that man.

She's looking great.

Thanks Dr H!
- with the casting issues, it was my own fault, but the brass-link ones have come out ok, so in a way, it was a good thing!

And so I finally believe I have completed Inquisitor Kallatar.
She has been my most ambitious conversion to date, turning the Empire Engineer dude into this gun-toting bad-ass babe - sculpting the coat was a particular highlight for me.
There's some minor sanding to do and maybe a tiny additional detail here or there, but for now she is done.
So here's the last WIP of Kallatar:


And so - back to the Samurai...
Her woes continued, I broke another Finecast Mandrake arm, so I'm currently searching for a right arm replacement for her.
However, remember I mentioned a breakthrough with the katana?

Took a length from a large paperclip:


Scored the pin where the hilt/blade junction would be by using my rotary tool and a triangle bladed file as a lathe (no pics of this stage, sorry.)

Then heated it using a hot-knife, and belted it many times with a small ball peen hammer on my hobby vice (masquerading as an anvil) to get to this stage:


Lots of filing and sanding and filing and sanding and filing and sanding later, we have a katana and a wakazashi for our samurai:


Notes:
- Maybe a tad too much curve in the katana, but these are much more elegant blades than the plastic choppers previously made for her.
- Discovered after the smithing of these two that you don't really need to heat paperclips, you can flatten them pretty well cold
- Had so much fun belting these out I plan to make a few more - probably try a new cutlass for the RT Captain next...
- The hilts will be wrapped in synthetic cotton once inserted and glued into the drilled-out hands.
- Might also make guards for them from sheet brass if I can find a hole punch small enough

Thanks for looking!

Look forward to seeing her painted.

Good idea for the sword making. Why didn't I think of that before, I've even read a thing ages ago about making lock-picks like that. Will have to remember it and give it a go when I get around to more sword making.

 Dr H wrote:
Look forward to seeing her painted.

Good idea for the sword making. Why didn't I think of that before, I've even read a thing ages ago about making lock-picks like that. Will have to remember it and give it a go when I get around to more sword making.

Thanks Dr H!


Recently managed to snap the second Mandrake Finecast right arm for the samurai in two places.
In the process of trying to get it back into one piece two things occurred:
One - Discovered the Mandrake arm is at least 5mm shorter than the DE left arm, and
Two - 'Saw' a vision of a clockwork bionic...

But.. I'm currently not feeling it - not sure if it's the slightly weird bend, or the not-quite-at-the-elbow placement of the tiny cog...
Anyway - clockwork bionic WIP - the rough Blue-tac join would of course be glued and Greenstuffed...

So - to be, or not to be?






On a good note, I really like the look of the katana

Cheers!

Brilliant work. I'm loving the homemade sword - definitely something I'll have to take a stab at. Reminds me of something I saw a while back, where a fellow crafted miniature swords using a nail and a bit of brass wire: http://imgur.com/gallery/IfH41


As for the arm, I like the posture; depending on what you do with the left arm, the pose should balance out - the slightly odd bend shouldn't be noticeable. Not such a fan of the tiny cog on the point of the elbow, though. Possibly shift it 90 degrees around the arm, and put a matching one on the other side - so they look like the end-caps of an 'axle' running through the elbow joint?