Dust Warfare: Axis Heavy Walker conversion

Is an experimental Heavy Laser Walker being tested by Axis forces? Allied intelligence speculates that if this walker is fielded it will be designated Schwer Panzer Kampflaurer VI-LX and take the name "KonigsWotan". An unofficial nickname is "Languste".

First pics of my converted Heavy Laser Walker, using the Axis Heavy Walker and the weapons from the Axis Laser bunker. When I posted pics of the test model (bottom of this post) on a Dust Tactics group in Facebook, people suggested it needed something behind the main hull, to give it 'weight'. I cut into the rear of the hull and added the larger round base from the laser bunker, with a Lego radar dish underneath and some plastic piping inside to make it look like some sort of particle accelerator. The rest of the walker is a pretty straightforward mix of parts from the two main sets. The silver pipes are also Lego, pinned in place with bits of paperclip. There are still gaps where I cut into the hull but with the weapons in place they aren't very noticeable, so I just left them. A good paintjob should hide any sins!

First test model (held together with Blu-Tak), with the Laser Cannon attached to the ammo hopper piece from the "KönigsLuther" walker. I thought this looked more solid and warlike.

Second test model, also held together with Blu-Tak. This has the laser cannon mounted on the parts from the Laser Bunker set. I thought this looked meaner and more agile but it needed something at the back, like a power generator to balance it.

WH40K - Ork Flying Gun Thing

You don't have to buy an entire GW model kit to get the good bits. There are lots of bits sellers on the net, who will sell you separate parts from those kits. Obviously interesting parts like weapons and wheels sell more quickly (and are more expensive) because people who build conversions and dioramas want more of those bits. Random pieces of vehicle hull might languish on a retailer's shelf and be a bit cheaper. That's good if you want to build some WH40K terrain to represent a 'burned out' vehicle hull.

I had a few bits left over from the Ork Bommer kit, and a "Super Gatler" from the Ork Stompa, bought from a Bits seller for inclusion in some conversion or other. (Possibly the as-yet-unbuilt STOMP-E which remains in pieces in the bits box.) I also had a couple of Tau Devilfish engines, from the kit which eventually became my first Ork Fighta.

All this has been combined with a Tau Piranha model to produce an Ork Flying Gun Thing. I'll come up with a name for it, or take any suggestions...

(As I was building it I realised I could avoid using all the wings, engines and weapons from the Piranha. These in turn could be added to a Battlesuit to make a super-flying Battlesuit! It's the Mekboy DNA in me, I swear...)

The brass bits are from a packet of brass... bits... which I bought at a hobby store. I can think of lots of uses for those. 

Although in real life this model is completely glued together, in the game I like to think that the engines swivel for a very crude VTOL effect. The 'feet' underneath it become landing gear, of a sort. More skilled modellers than I could actually make that work. Check out Work In Progress for some amazing conversions.

The 'face' on the nose is made from a Warhammer Fantasy Black Orc shield, and the 'anchor' part of the dragging chain mechanism from the original Dakkajet.

VRROOOMMMMM! FREEAAAAOOOOWWWWWMMMMM!
Dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka dakka!

WH40K: Ork Dakkajet Needs More Dakka!

I bought the new Ork Bommer kit, and decided to build to my fancy, rather than a specific choice from the game rules. It will pretty much be a 'Dakkajet' but with lots of extra weapons and 'gubbins'. It's a great kit, by the way, and I recommend it to anyone who plays Orks or wants a clanky looking, steampunk sort of fighterplane model kit. Put simply, it needed more dakka!

Gatling Good! These photos are from www.hlj.com and show model kits for sale there.
You should buy some!

I also wanted to make use of the Gatling Gun, made by Kotobukiya for Gundam and similar Mecha type models. It's a brilliant bit of model making, about 14cm long when completed, and it's clockwork, so the barrels rotate! It could be used on a 'giant killer robot' or futuristic tank model, or a science fiction themed 1:6 figure could also carry it. I found the Gatling Gun on Hobbylink Japan's website. (Good value and excellent range of kits, from science fiction and real world themes.)

It took a bit of sawing and fiddling about, but I jammed it into the fuselage of the Ork plane. I also put some aluminium tube over the windup bit of the clockwork, extending through the body of the plane and out the exhaust, with a cog and some more metal bits on the other end. That was so I could wind up the gun and make Dakka! Dakka! Dakka! Dakka! noises during a game. Unfortunately bits of plastic dust and glue have gotten inside the mechanism and made it a bit unreliable. That's a lesson learned - clockwork, glue and fumble-fingers don't go together.

WH40K: Puppetswar Big Gun

Big Momma gun add-on kit from Puppetswar.eu

Another conversion/add on for a Warhammer 40,000 vehicle model, this time from Puppetswar. They are another Polish creator of resin miniatures and accessories. These Poles certainly know how to make a nice wargaming product!

All aboard the Warbus!

I really like their Ork style Warbus, but I plumped for the Big Momma cannon, because I had a spare Rhino in the stash, and the Mekboss in me likes really big guns.

The main piece is a single mould of the big gun and front/top armour, which can be glued straight on to the top of the Rhino kit. (You need both sides, all the floor pieces, the top piece, the rear hatch and the tracks from the original kit. You will also need a hatch, the headlights and any accessory pieces such as badges that you want to add.)

There is also a rear piece with fans moulded on it - this goes directly over the rear door of the Rhino. There is a dozer blade (very large), an ammunition crane, and four ammunition pieces.

In the pictures you can see some brass bits and bobs which I added, partly to hide some gaps, and partly just for decoration. I also used brass tube to extend the crane. I just wanted to strengthen the crane pieces and decided to make it taller.

I realised that, unlike the Vindicator, which this resembles (but much bigger gun - some sort of envy, perhaps?) there is no driver hatch or vision slits. So I added a couple of pieces from the bits box to represent sensors for the driver, who presumably is watching a screen to steer this thing. I also put a spare eagle on top of the gun, for martial decoration.

That dozer blade is huge.

Puppetswar sells it and a similar piece separately as the 'War Plows'. It it would be a wonderful cow catcher for the armoured train I am going to build (one day).

WH40K: Maxmini Siege Guns - mostly painted

Here are the Siege Guns with most of the painting done.

I usually paint track pieces separately. I put them on double sided tape on a bit of board. I spray with Citadel Black and then Tamiya or Mr Colour Gunmetal. 

The vehicles are undercoated in Citadel Black, then Tamiya Light Sand. The tracks get glued on, then I go over them with paint markers for weathering. Silver paint marker for wear and tear, and various mud and dust colours for dirt. It's not precise, and it won't win any modelling prizes, but it's good enough for the table top. 

When I was building these kits, I accidentally dropped one of the guns, breaking the resin in a couple of places. Luckily I found a couple of the small fragments and glued them back on. Superglue (cyanoacrylate) adheres to resin very quickly, which is tricky if you are trying to adjust the placement of pieces on a model, but it is a very strong bond. Once painted, the join is hardly visible. I couldn't be bothered repairing the handle on the breech, because I expected it would just break off again during game play. 

WH40K: Maxmini Siege Guns

Maxmini are a Polish company making good quality resin figures, weapons and parts for conversions, for fantasy and science fiction wargames. Coincidentally, some of their parts fit neatly to Games Workshop's line of Warhammer 40,000 toy soldiers and models.

Their Siege Guns really caught my eye. They would be lovely substitutes for Medusa self propelled guns, but with your opponent's permission they could also be substituted for Colossus or Bombard mortars.

Picture of assembled Siege Gun with sandbag scenery, from the Maxmini website.

There is a nice review of the gun, showing the components, at the Bell Of Lost Souls website.

The guns and other bits are nicely moulded. There was a little flash, but hardly any airbubbles. When mine were delivered, they were missing the little wheeled ammunition loaders, but the guys at Maxmini were very apologetic and immediately sent replacements. Thanks guys, great work!

The guns are about the size of the GW Basilisk pieces, with much shorter barrels.

The models come with sandbag emplacements (three pieces of resin) which have been temporarily placed in the Terrain bits box. I assembled the guns and superglued them into the Chimera chassis, with a few extra bits such as ammo boxes, backpacks and communicator parts from the bits box.

This is what they look like attached to GW Chimera models:

(Apologies for the mobile phone photos; the next ones will be better. Promise!)