Olgerth Istaarn
15th Dec 06, 7:28 AM
This is now a completed tutorial. Please put into Tutorial section.
The goal of my endeavour is to build a magnetized, reconfigurable Tactical Space Marine Sergeant that would look good and have an easily swappable set of arms.
1. Picking out the bits.
- Head:
Since flesh is a pain in the butt to paint, and I personally find the idea of sergeants sticking their bald heads out amidst enemy fire silly, I went with a helmeted head. For the "command unit" feeling, I had a tossup between the helmet with a small antenna on it and a helmet with a targeter. In the end, I went with a targeter helmet since the Tactical Sarge will probably need the extra equipment to direct his squad's fire properly.
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/sm_sgtupgrade
- Body:
After building two sergeants using the MK8 torso with a high collar, I decided that I was unhappy with it. The high collar made it look as if the sergeant's head was smashed into his shoulders by an overhead blow; I disliked the vent on the chest; and the loincloths never quite stuck to the belt properly resulting in awkward positioning and glue spots.
Instead, I chose a Company Champion torso front, because it came with a pre-sculpted loincloth, an attractive chest shield and belt area, and a good-looking cutaway collar.
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/sm_command/champtorso
- Legs:
Not much to talk about here; for my current sarge I chose a pair without kneepads.
- Backpack and banner:
A good sarge should rock a squad banner, even if he isn't a veteran. For the current sarge, I used the standard-issue skull-topped banner from the tactical squad box; any future ones though will carry this one:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/update/bnner
It looks much more detailed and impressive to me.
To affix the banner to the backpack, I chose to file down the pole's into a sharp tip, and drill a shallow hole in the backpack's top with the largest drill bit that comes with the GW drill set. This way, the banner fit in more securely, eliminating a messy "connection point" that appears if the banner is glued directly on top of the backpack.
- Weapons:
The sarge would carry the following arsenal:
* A left-handed powerfist
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/sm_command/pfist
I chose the unclenched powerfist because the clenched one is held in an awkward up-in-the-air position and exposes too much underarm, which would look bad with a magnetized setup.
To go with it, I used a Terminator Honours shoulder pad:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/cruxsp
* A left-handed chainsword
No mystery here. Used a plain shoulder pad.
* A left-handed Pointy Finger of Doom
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/sm_command/pfinger
Plain shoulder pad here, too.
* A right-handed Bolt Pistol arm.
Again no mystery. Used a "tabard" shoulder pad for it:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/tabbardsp
* A right-handed standard-issue Bolter firing arm with a Bolter.
This requires some filing and cutting to make sure that the bolter points straight forward (instead of tilting to the side). Again, used a tabard shoulder pad.
- Accessories:
All my models have something on both their hips. For the right hip, I chose the bolt pistol holster:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/bpholsters
Since the sarge will usually hold a weapon in his hand, I cut away the pistol grip in the holster and filed away the trigger area.
For the left hip, I chose standard frag grenades that come in the tactical box set.
I should point out that the pouches and grenades that come on the Scout Accessory sprue are often infinitely preferable to the ones that come with the tactical squads, as they are sculpted better.
2. Picking out the Magnets.
I initially tried using 1/16x1/32 disk magnets (the really tiny ones). Unfortunately, as strong as they were, they still made for some seriously loose joints, and the arms would fall off if bumped or touched carelessly.
So instead, I went with 1/8x1/32 disk magnets.
http://www.amazingmagnets.com/ProductImages/d032a_large.jpg
They are a little smaller than the mini's shoulder joint area and still pretty thin. They quite strong and also dirt-cheap. The downside here is that they do require a much bigger hole in the mini and more carving, so it's easier to mess something up. But they stick together like crazy!
3. Tools of the trade
To assemble this, I used:
- Exacto knife with a normal precision blade
- GW pin wise with the standard drill bit set
- Green Stuff
4. Assembling the Body
- I assembled the body as normal, then used the largest GW drill bit to drill holes in both shoulder contact surfaces.
- I then inserted the tip of the knife into the holes, and widened them in gentle circular motion. Care should be taken not to separate the body halves while doing this.
- Finally, I stuffed the holes with Green Stuff and inserted the magnets, so they were flush with the contact surfaces. This is the result:
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8366/frontnoarmswe0.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frontnoarmswe0.jpg) http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9186/backnoarmsoz3.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=backnoarmsoz3.jpg) http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8880/leftnoarmsut0.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=leftnoarmsut0.jpg) http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5690/rightnoarmsoz9.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rightnoarmsoz9.jpg)
5. Assembling the Accessories
The tricky part about assembling the sarge's arms is to make them fit as seamlessly as possible when they are attached to the model, because you don't want the "added ugly factor" of magnets sticking out of the joints.
- To begin, I used the large GW drill bit to drill a hole in the shoulder area of each appendage.
- I then carved the shoulder area of each appendage until there was just enough of it left to glue it to the shoulder pad.
- I then glued on the shoulder pad.
- Then I filled the inside of the shoulder pad (which was quite spacious now because I carved away most of the shoulder area of the appendage) with Green Stuff and pressed the magnet into it.
Here are: the bolt pistol, the bolter, the chainsword, the powerfist and the pointy finger of doom after magnets were inserted into them.
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/9918/armsmagnetseg6.th.jpg (http://img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=armsmagnetseg6.jpg)http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/791/armsrd2.th.jpg (http://img130.imageshack.us/my.php?image=armsrd2.jpg)
- Finally, I mounted the appendage on the sergeant's body and pressed it to the body until the green stuff molded around the body's shoulder. It's important to leave the appendage be until the green stuff solidifies (otherwise, when you try to pull it away from the body, the magnet will probably remain stuck to the body's magnet)
- Once the green stuff dried, I separated the body from the appendage (may require some effort, be careful), and used the knife to trim away any excess green stuff from the appendage's shoulder area.
After all appendages were done (took a couple days actually) I used the knife to clean away any green stuff that got stuck to the body.
6. The final result
Here are the pictures of the sarge with various arm configurations. He's ready to be painted.
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/4135/powerfistil6.th.jpg (http://img296.imageshack.us/my.php?image=powerfistil6.jpg) http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/7818/boltpistolaf5.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boltpistolaf5.jpg) http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/2030/frontchainswordnf3.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frontchainswordnf3.jpg) http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3653/fingerbk8.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fingerbk8.jpg) http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1484/boltereo6.th.jpg (http://img49.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boltereo6.jpg)
I hope this tutorial helps someone!
The goal of my endeavour is to build a magnetized, reconfigurable Tactical Space Marine Sergeant that would look good and have an easily swappable set of arms.
1. Picking out the bits.
- Head:
Since flesh is a pain in the butt to paint, and I personally find the idea of sergeants sticking their bald heads out amidst enemy fire silly, I went with a helmeted head. For the "command unit" feeling, I had a tossup between the helmet with a small antenna on it and a helmet with a targeter. In the end, I went with a targeter helmet since the Tactical Sarge will probably need the extra equipment to direct his squad's fire properly.
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/sm_sgtupgrade
- Body:
After building two sergeants using the MK8 torso with a high collar, I decided that I was unhappy with it. The high collar made it look as if the sergeant's head was smashed into his shoulders by an overhead blow; I disliked the vent on the chest; and the loincloths never quite stuck to the belt properly resulting in awkward positioning and glue spots.
Instead, I chose a Company Champion torso front, because it came with a pre-sculpted loincloth, an attractive chest shield and belt area, and a good-looking cutaway collar.
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/sm_command/champtorso
- Legs:
Not much to talk about here; for my current sarge I chose a pair without kneepads.
- Backpack and banner:
A good sarge should rock a squad banner, even if he isn't a veteran. For the current sarge, I used the standard-issue skull-topped banner from the tactical squad box; any future ones though will carry this one:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/update/bnner
It looks much more detailed and impressive to me.
To affix the banner to the backpack, I chose to file down the pole's into a sharp tip, and drill a shallow hole in the backpack's top with the largest drill bit that comes with the GW drill set. This way, the banner fit in more securely, eliminating a messy "connection point" that appears if the banner is glued directly on top of the backpack.
- Weapons:
The sarge would carry the following arsenal:
* A left-handed powerfist
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/sm_command/pfist
I chose the unclenched powerfist because the clenched one is held in an awkward up-in-the-air position and exposes too much underarm, which would look bad with a magnetized setup.
To go with it, I used a Terminator Honours shoulder pad:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/cruxsp
* A left-handed chainsword
No mystery here. Used a plain shoulder pad.
* A left-handed Pointy Finger of Doom
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/sm_command/pfinger
Plain shoulder pad here, too.
* A right-handed Bolt Pistol arm.
Again no mystery. Used a "tabard" shoulder pad for it:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/tabbardsp
* A right-handed standard-issue Bolter firing arm with a Bolter.
This requires some filing and cutting to make sure that the bolter points straight forward (instead of tilting to the side). Again, used a tabard shoulder pad.
- Accessories:
All my models have something on both their hips. For the right hip, I chose the bolt pistol holster:
http://static.zoovy.com/img/battlewagonbits/-/products/bpholsters
Since the sarge will usually hold a weapon in his hand, I cut away the pistol grip in the holster and filed away the trigger area.
For the left hip, I chose standard frag grenades that come in the tactical box set.
I should point out that the pouches and grenades that come on the Scout Accessory sprue are often infinitely preferable to the ones that come with the tactical squads, as they are sculpted better.
2. Picking out the Magnets.
I initially tried using 1/16x1/32 disk magnets (the really tiny ones). Unfortunately, as strong as they were, they still made for some seriously loose joints, and the arms would fall off if bumped or touched carelessly.
So instead, I went with 1/8x1/32 disk magnets.
http://www.amazingmagnets.com/ProductImages/d032a_large.jpg
They are a little smaller than the mini's shoulder joint area and still pretty thin. They quite strong and also dirt-cheap. The downside here is that they do require a much bigger hole in the mini and more carving, so it's easier to mess something up. But they stick together like crazy!
3. Tools of the trade
To assemble this, I used:
- Exacto knife with a normal precision blade
- GW pin wise with the standard drill bit set
- Green Stuff
4. Assembling the Body
- I assembled the body as normal, then used the largest GW drill bit to drill holes in both shoulder contact surfaces.
- I then inserted the tip of the knife into the holes, and widened them in gentle circular motion. Care should be taken not to separate the body halves while doing this.
- Finally, I stuffed the holes with Green Stuff and inserted the magnets, so they were flush with the contact surfaces. This is the result:
http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/8366/frontnoarmswe0.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frontnoarmswe0.jpg) http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/9186/backnoarmsoz3.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=backnoarmsoz3.jpg) http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/8880/leftnoarmsut0.th.jpg (http://img164.imageshack.us/my.php?image=leftnoarmsut0.jpg) http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/5690/rightnoarmsoz9.th.jpg (http://img110.imageshack.us/my.php?image=rightnoarmsoz9.jpg)
5. Assembling the Accessories
The tricky part about assembling the sarge's arms is to make them fit as seamlessly as possible when they are attached to the model, because you don't want the "added ugly factor" of magnets sticking out of the joints.
- To begin, I used the large GW drill bit to drill a hole in the shoulder area of each appendage.
- I then carved the shoulder area of each appendage until there was just enough of it left to glue it to the shoulder pad.
- I then glued on the shoulder pad.
- Then I filled the inside of the shoulder pad (which was quite spacious now because I carved away most of the shoulder area of the appendage) with Green Stuff and pressed the magnet into it.
Here are: the bolt pistol, the bolter, the chainsword, the powerfist and the pointy finger of doom after magnets were inserted into them.
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/9918/armsmagnetseg6.th.jpg (http://img127.imageshack.us/my.php?image=armsmagnetseg6.jpg)http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/791/armsrd2.th.jpg (http://img130.imageshack.us/my.php?image=armsrd2.jpg)
- Finally, I mounted the appendage on the sergeant's body and pressed it to the body until the green stuff molded around the body's shoulder. It's important to leave the appendage be until the green stuff solidifies (otherwise, when you try to pull it away from the body, the magnet will probably remain stuck to the body's magnet)
- Once the green stuff dried, I separated the body from the appendage (may require some effort, be careful), and used the knife to trim away any excess green stuff from the appendage's shoulder area.
After all appendages were done (took a couple days actually) I used the knife to clean away any green stuff that got stuck to the body.
6. The final result
Here are the pictures of the sarge with various arm configurations. He's ready to be painted.
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/4135/powerfistil6.th.jpg (http://img296.imageshack.us/my.php?image=powerfistil6.jpg) http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/7818/boltpistolaf5.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boltpistolaf5.jpg) http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/2030/frontchainswordnf3.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=frontchainswordnf3.jpg) http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/3653/fingerbk8.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=fingerbk8.jpg) http://img49.imageshack.us/img49/1484/boltereo6.th.jpg (http://img49.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boltereo6.jpg)
I hope this tutorial helps someone!