Rebuilding Angmar

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Rare Earth Magnet Conversions

"Rare Earth" Magnets are great for units that can have multiple weapon configurations, like Tau Battlesuits, Space Marine Dreadnoughts, and Tyranid Hive Tyrants.

I ordered my magnets from AmazingMagnets.com, however there are many different vendors with similar products.

I ordered the smallest disk magnets that they had:
D040A 0.125" Diameter x 0.040" Thickness
NdFeB Disc Magnet, Grade N40, Ni Plated with Matte finish
Axially Magnetized

A pack of 85 + Shipping cost me $12 (USD). I ordered them on a Friday and they arrived the following Monday! Excellent turn around time! They also included a free sample pack of various sized and shaped magnets that I have yet to do anything with.

CAUTION: The magnets are very small and very strong, so patience is required when working with them. (If you line up the polarity incorrectly, they WILL shoot across the room and poke someone's eye out!)

So far, I have used them in the arm sockets of a Dreadnought, for the standard weapons and chin mounted Assault Cannon on a Land Speeder, for interchangeable Sidecars for my Attack Bikes, and the most difficult of all, for all of the weapons on a 3rd Ed. metal Carnifex.


Now onto the project. I'll use my Dark Angels Dreadnought as the basic example, as it is the most straight forward conversion.

The supplies that you will need for this conversion are:
* Space Marine Dreadnought
* 0.125" x 0.04" Disk Magnets - See above
* Metal Hobby Knife
* Glue - I prefer QuickTite Super Glue Gel.
* Metal File/ Sanding Stick - You never know when you might need one.
* Dremmel Rotary Tool - An excellent drill for this type of hobby.
* 0.125" Drill Bit
* 0.125" Cutting/Grinding Bit - This tool comes standard with many Dremmel kits and can also be purchased seperately at most hardware stores.





To install a pair of magnets to create a removable joint or weapon mount:

1. Begin with the larger of the two connecting components, in this case, the body of the Dreadnought. Drill out a shallow hole the same width and depth as the magnet, 0.125" diameter x 0.040" depth, into the most secure and central point at which the second component will contact. In this case, the hole will be drilled directly into the end of the "arm peg".




2. Use the 0.125" grinding tool to flatten the bottom of the hole. Now you should have a hole with the exact dimensions of the magnet.

3. Use a sharpie, or other marker, to note the polarity of the magnet before you move on to the next step. I simply choose one side to be the marked side and mark all of the magnets accordingly. Mismatched magnets are not good!

4. Attaching the magnet. To manouver the magnet, pick it up with the back (unsharpened) side of the blade of your hobby knife near the point. The magnet will easily stick to this flat surface and you can use the knife to hold the magnet in place while the glue dries.

4a. For holes in plastic, you may simply need to press the magnet into place. In my experience, the friction of the plastic against the sides of the magnet can be enough to securely hold it in place. You might want to glue it anyway, I did for the extra security.

4b. For holes in metal and those holes which do not offer a tight grip, use a spot of super glue to hold the magnet in place. LET THE GLUE DRY BEFORE ALLOWING ANY OTHER MAGNETS INTO ITS VICINITY!!! These magnets are so strong, that if the glue bond is not properly set, the magnet will flip over in its hole and fly across the table toward your other magnets/hobby knife.

CAUTION: Another important point is that if you are gluing one magnet in close proximity to another, you MUST hold the magnet in place until the glue has formed a strong bond. Otherwise, the magnet may fly over to the other one and end up glued to it, or flip over in its own hole in an attempt to line up its polarity with the other one!

5. You are half done. Now repeat these steps with the other components (the weapons) that you want to affix to the first component (the body). For the Dreadnaught, you can simply drill a hole in the exact center of the "peg hole" or, if you don't mind the extra separation it will create, you can glue the second magnet directly inside of the "peg hole" itself.

A single pair of these magnets are the perfect strength for holding the plastic/resin arms to my Dreadnought, however they are a little weak when it comes to the heavy metal arms. The heavier arms don't fall off, but they do droop a little when agitated.


Additional Projects:

LANDSPEEDER:
For the Landspeeder's metal assault cannon, I used two sets of magnets (to support the hanging weight) , spaced about 0.25" apart (right where the pegs on the cannon are).

1. I drilled 2 magnet holes into the chin of the speeder spaced 0.25" apart. The walls of the speeder are thinner than the magnets, so I had to use a thin film of super glue around the inner edge of the hole to fasten the magnets in place. Friction may have worked here as well, but the piece was going to be hanging and I did not want to take the chance, not to mention the fact that the magnets could have been pushed through and lost in the interior of the speeder (expensive rattle).

2. Since the cannon itself is small, I did not drill holes into it. Instead, I simply cut off and filed down the mounting pegs and glued two magnets in their place. Remember my warning about gluing magnets in close proximity!




ATTACK BIKE:
To create interchangeable Attack Bike Sidecars, I had to use three pairs of magnets due to the weight.

1. Similar to the Assault Cannon in the previous example, the Sidecar mounting flange is thin and I did not want to drill holes in it. Instead I simply glued three magnets to its surface.

2. Take care when drilling holes in the underside of the Bike itself, the Bike is hollow and many of its components are thin. See: LANDSPEEDER step one.

3. After attaching all of the magnets, you can then attach a standard bike base to the bike if you want, just make sure you leave enough clearance to switch out the sidecars (0.04" for the exposed magnet in addition to the thickness of the sidecar mounting flange)!






I'll post instructions for the more difficult Carnifex conversion as soon as I get a chance to photo it.


Oh, and when you're all done, don't forget the most important step:



Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Dark Angels

Here are pics from my current Warhammer 40k project, Dark Angels.
I apologize if the images seem a little fuzzy, I have an old digital camera and no tripod.


Here you can see the vehicles that have yet to be painted, along with the Tactical Squads and Deathwing Terminators.
One lonesome Missile Marine stands in the front left corner, awaiting a squad to adopt him.
So sad.



The completed units you see here are:
2 8-man Las/Plas Tac Squads
2 8-man PC/Flamer Tac Squads
1 5-man 2-AC (or 2-ML) Deathwing Term Sqd
1 7-man 2-T.Hmr 5-L.Claw Deathwing Term Assault Sqd
2 6-man 1-Meltagun 1-P.Fist Ravenwing Bike Sqds w/ HB Attack Bikes

**** Tactical Marines ****


Here is a close-up of my Deathwing Veteran Sgts. I gave them each an auspex scanning device mostly for theme purposes. It should help them in their search for the Fallen Dark Angels.


Here is a close-up of a Lascannon + Plasma Gun Tactical squad.


Here is one of the Plasma Cannon + Flamer squads. I tried to include plasma weaponry when possible. Dark Angels are supposed to have an affinity for it (this will hopefully be emphasized in the 4th edition codex).


Close-up of a Plasma Cannon Marine. I'm very pleased with the way the "glowing plasma cell" turned out. Also notice the heat-damage toward the end of the weapon.

**** Ravenwing Bikes ****


Here are my Ravenwing Bikes mid-way through completion (they began life as Black Templars). You can see that I made their weapon casings DA Green to tie them into the rest of the army. In the front is my Bike-mounted Chaplain, you'll see more of him in a bit.


Here is a completed Ravenwing Bike Squad.


Here is a close-up of the Ravenwing Vet Sgt equipped with a Power Fist and Bolt Pistol. Due to the new Bike rules, you can take two weapons as you no longer need one hand to drive the bike. I call it the "Look Ma! No Hands!" rule. I still modeled him steering the bike, with the Bolt Pistol in its holster, as otherwise it looks fairly dumb.
Note: The one item still missing is a horizontal banner flying out behind him. That is a work-in-progress that I will soon post instructions for (once I figure out how to do it).


Here is a completed Ravenwing Attack Bike.


Here is the other Attack Bike. Note the small "rare earth" disk magnets on the connector of the second Sidecar. Both Attack Bikes employ these handy little things, making the sidecars completely interchangeable (or totally removable in case I need another ordinary Bike).
But more on magnet conversions later...


Here is my incomplete Chaplain. I actually used a standing Chaplain body, but cut and bent it to fit the bike. I have recently finished painting this guy and will post the final pics as soon as I finish the rest of my HQ models.


The trophy racks on the back of the bike are from one of the Chaos Terminator Special Characters. Similar to the Vet Sgt, the Chaplain has a holstered Bolt Pistol, positioned for easy access, and a banner pole in the back.

**** Deathwing Terminators ****


Deathwing Terminator Assault Squad, you do not want to meet these guys in a dark alley.


Slightly fuzzy close-up. I might add another color to the trim on the Storm Shield, I haven't decided yet.


Stupid camera auto-focused on the guy in the background.
Again, I made the Terminator gun casings DA Green to tie them in with the standard troops.


Larry, Curly, and Moe.
Here are the yet to be completed Deathwing HQ:
Master with Lightning Claws
Master with Sword of Secrets (I used the Emperor's Champion sword)
Librarian with Force Axe
They almost look like weathered statues, don't they?


And that's it for now. More pics will follow as soon as the models are ready.

Winter Solstice

Happy Winter Solstice everyone!

Ah, the original winter holiday celebrating the turning of the year and the journey to spring. Devoid of modern religio-hypocrisy and general ignorant churched-up-ed-ness, the ancients had it right.

Why do religites have to screw up everything, twisting and perverting things they don't understand into a web of lies and deceit masked by an extremely narrow view of "true morality" and the invention of non-supernatural supernaturals?

Not that I have a strong opinion on the matter.....

Here is a good site for the science and history behind the Winter Solstice.

Celebrate as you see fit!


And to appease the religites, Happy Christmachanukwanzakah.




Oh, and if I don't post again before the end of the year:

Remember the 29th of December, USA.
200 Native Americans died on that day due to your irrational fears.
200 Native Americans died due to your prejudice, and ignorance.
200 Native Americans died due to your greed.
200 Native Americans died due to your desire to control the land.
200 Native Americans died while peacefully surrendering to your military.
200 Native Americans died while practicing their own religious freedom, which you claim is so important.
Remember Wounded Knee.


I laugh at the modern definition of civilized.
And then I cry.

Friday, December 16, 2005

If only the XBox was as cool as its commercial...

http://feelingtea.com/decode/google/play.php?vid=35176

Enjoy!

Monday, December 12, 2005

Wings of Faith Conversion

I did this conversion a while ago, before Codex: Witch Hunters was released. At the time there was no 'Living Saint' figure or rules. I wanted an angelic type leader for my Seraphim-heavy sisters list, so this is what I came up with.


The components:
1. I began with the Twin Bolt Pistol Seraphim model (part 9947010801004) that has the more dramatic pose.

The above picture is copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2005,
variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world.
Used without permission. No challenge to its status intended.
All Rights Reserved to its owner.


2. I used the wings from a Skalathrix Vulture Demon from the Reaper Miniatures: Dark Haven Legends line (part 02532). I saw someone use this figure once as a Tzeentch Daemon Prince and it stuck in my head.
(Yea, so now my conversion is not GT legal. So what. I like the way it looks...)

The above picture is copyright 2001 - 2006 Reaper Miniatures, Inc.
Used without permission. No challenge to its status intended.

All Rights Reserved to its owner.


3. I gave her an Axe of Retribution (Blessed weapon) by replacing the pistol in her right hand with a WH fantasy Dwarf Lord Axe (part 9947020507801).

The above picture is copyright Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2005,
variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world.
Used without permission. No challenge to its status intended.
All Rights Reserved to its owner.


The process:
1. Attaching the wings was a little tricky:
a. First I drilled out a small indentation in the base of the wings (the wings are a single piece) that would fit over the bump that her jump pack would usually attach to.

b. Next I drilled out a hole in both the wings and the bump in order to pin the wings on. I use simple paper clips for my pins, they are cheap and easy to manipluate.

c. I then superglued the wings in place.

d. Unfortunately, there is now an odd gap under and around the base of the wings where they connect to the back of the body. To fix this I filled the gap with 'Green Stuff' and molded it into place, smoothing it to make the transition between wings and body seamless.

2. Replacing the Pistol with the Axe:
a. I first filed down the 'Hands' molded onto the axe. Then I cut the handle of the axe in half at the point where the Seraphim will be holding it.

b. I then cut the pistol out of the Seraphims hand and filed down the top and bottom of the had where the axe will be attached.

c. Next, I drilled pin holes into the two halves of the axe and one entirely through the hand.

d. Finally, I pinned the two halves of the axe to the hand by threading a pin all the way through the hand.

3. At this point you could add an Inferno Pistol to her other hand. Instructions can be found in my Inferno Pistol Conversion article. Eventually, I'll get around to replacing the bolt pistol on mine with one.

4. The addition of the wings (which are metal) makes the figure extremely top-heavy. To fix this I glued a washer to the bottom of the base. She will still fall over if somebody flicks her in the face, but she is much more stable than before.



5. The result is a magnificent angelic visage leading my Seraphim to war.




The only problems that I see when using her are her slight inconsistencies with the equipment given to the new Living Saint entry and the fact that, if used as a VSS or HQ instead of a 'Spirit', her wing mutation would not really go over too well with the higher-ups within the Ecclisiarchy.

Then again, the Inquisition uses Cyber-Skulls and Cherub-Constructs, so why not?

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Inferno Pistol Conversion

This is a cheap and easy way to convert a Seraphim's hand flamers into inferno pistols.

CHEAP - you don't have to buy any additional pieces to do this conversion.

EASY - the only tools required are your standard pin-vise drill, hobby knife, metal/wire clippers, and a file. NO GLUE REQUIRED!!!


1. Take your standard Seraphim with hand flamers.




2. Clip the pointy tip off of her flamers' nozzles
(the part that would actually eject and ignite the fuel).



3. There may be a ridge of metal left over on the end of the barrel from the clipping process, cut/file this off so that the barrel has a smooth flat end.

4. Drill a hole in the (now flat) end of the barrel for a more realistic feel. (I do this with all my guns)


Now the barrel should look like a mini melta gun's, which is what an Inferno Pistol is after all.


5. Carefully clip the fuel canister off of each gun. Be careful to not damage the fingers on the hand, as they will be more visible now.

6. Carefully clean out the new recess on the underside of the gun, removing any ridges left by the clipping process.



7. Now you have a seraphim with two distinct Inferno Pistols that both look great and look like what an Inferno Pistol should (i.e. Mini-Melta).





There are also plastic hand flamers available that you can convert for your HQ if needed. These look almost exactly the same as the metal Seraphim ones, however, I'm not sure what sprue they come with (maybe Marines or Imperial Guard) .



Here is a Heroine with an Inferno Pistol. I had a couple extra Flamer Seraphim, so I simply converted one of their Hand Flamers and chopped it off. I then pinned it into the Heroines hand. Simple as pie.



I hope I've encourage some of you Heretics out there to Convert!
If not, prepare to meet your maker. Suffer not the Witch to live!


It was a joke, get it? Converting heretics, converting witch hunter miniatures, get it?
Come ON! ANYBODY?!!?!?!?

Wow, tough blog....

The Busters become the Bustees

From the Onion:
SAN FRANCISCO—MythBusters hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, who dared challenge the sacred explanations of the order of the universe, were destroyed by Zeus Monday. "I soared ascending to the ethereal sky, and by merest nod massed a fearsome storm, and with mine lightnings struck down the naysayers Adam and Jamie," Zeus said in a press conference called to warn all doubters of his thunderous might. The MythBusters producers have issued a statement apologizing to the entire Olympian community and declared that, from now on, the program will focus only on myths unrelated to the Greek, Egyptian, or Norse pantheons.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Here kitty kitty....

Doll-y girl,
Doll-y girl,
I ate your chips!




Above are Hop Hop and Chompers (their tribal names) snugglin' by the fire. Notice how Chomps flops on her back and sluttily reveals her chest!





All three are fascinated by the fireplace. Here is one of the Dollies enjoying the show.





Ah Ha! The perfect blackmail picture!
He won't admit it when he's awake, but Thomas secretly loves to snuggle with Ms. Chomps-alot.

Well, now you've met the kids.
Officially, they are Raven, Wren, & Thomas.

In reality, they are Chompers, Hop Hop, & Tomba-lomba Kitty-pants.
Or, Umm Miss, Umm Miss, and THOMAS!!!

Merry December!

Check this out, its cool -> http://www.yumlum.com/galleries/paper_art/paper_art.htm

I got out of the Minnesota trip!! Thank Flying Spaghetti Monster for the flu/strep!

I will be posting Warhammer 40k pics soon, so stay tuned!