Deco Rogue Trader

Rotational Thinking...

Thought I knew the techniques. Thought I knew how stuff was done. I am (again) wrong, as I have recently discovered opportunities in mechanically rotating molds to aid casting. It may work in some miniature applications, depending on the mold, and depending of course on casting material. Here's a video of some students having a bloody good time at building a quite handsome casting machine.



Thing is: I've done a bastard of a sculpt recently that is proven almost un-castable so far... this technique may help, maybe not, but it looks like it would be fun to try it out. Get the LEGO out...

The Sweet Taste of Total Failure

I've got two days to paint a very large classic Grenadier miniature, and it will not happen. A little tiny bit less than one year ago I pledged to complete the Grenadier Death Giant of the Undead Legion

But things get in the way when one is older than one used to be. In the olden times entire evenings could be spent on painting, as long as the hands were willing and the eyes could hold out, and the books-on-tape kept rolling, the sky was the limit.

But now there's barely an inch in between all the 'grown-up' stuff, the mortgage, the gutter cleaning, operating a business, raising children, etc.

When I thought about writing this entry to resolve the unresolved pledge from a year ago I was bitter about it and angry that I was never able to find time in a hectic timeline of responsibilities. But as I write this I realize all of these things are blessings, and there will be time enough eventually to tackle the big old skeleton.

I used the excuse of being tired frequently, and instead of breaking the paints out would fall asleep watching some classic Doctor Whos (mostly Jon Pertwee era) as it took less energy. Not a bad way to kill an evening or two.

I did manage to finish a sculpt (future post) and I fell back into the addiction of LEGO, and I found a few more oldie minis that will now be slated for restoration (Dark Horse Miniatures mutants).

Honestly, with all the garbage going on in the world, I cannot complain, and I'll get the big skeleton done, someday. It's been over 25 years so a little more time won't hurt.

Big up to all the great blogs that I've enjoyed during the year, all the great finds and the classic minis being painted, the magic world of miniature-make-believe really is in full gear. Have a healthy, safe, productive 2013.

A Good Shirt

Ha - this is a bloody good shirt, I may actually get one:

Fantasy Miniatures Dark T-Shirt Miniatures CRYPTO PICTURA DESIGNS

Ancient Paint

I thought I had thrown this stuff out years ago, but I found it: Old Ral Partha and AD&D paints. Neat little bottles, really garbage paint even when fresh (I remember).

The Citadel paints are still functional! This is the original Space Marine set. Some of the little opener tabs have been broken off from over-use. I still have the manual that came with the set. And the smell! I forced the top off one and the smell is a time machine - brings me right back to the olden times. Golden Oldies:

Metal Head: Home Brew Molding and Casting Video

I love this kind of stuff, just found this today but the vids been around for a while.

The Vault at Guedelon Castle

I love castles, and I'm ever so pleased that the construction of one is really occurring in France, old tools and styles. I have been familiar with the activity for a few years but they are really making cracking good progress. Found this neat little preview of a piece that covers the construction of a vault within the castle.

Old Project: Rogue Trader Plastic Marine Conversions

Here are some old Rogue Trader plastic marines (from the original Imperial Marines box) done over with alterations. I did these years ago, these are relics from the early nineties, but I'm still quite proud of how inventive these alterations are (mostly with weaponry). The execution is so immediate: not concerned too much with quality so much as being legible.

Here's a scratchbuilt AK-47, with strap, I can see the banana-clip is made from bolter magazines, aside from that I can't tell what the rest is made of.


Bolter with strap (paper cut into strip and painted) with wire tail-stock. I can see that this arm took a little persuasion to get into more forcible pose.


Uzi, all scratchbuilt. Textured handgrip is a piece of Sculpey that I rolled a gnurled X-Acto handle grip on to get the patterned texture.


Battle-Damage. Cut and melted away plastic pack, a soldering iron or glue-gun tip was probably involved, and the 'exposed' metal part came from a little box of cool watch parts I got from a craft store.


Two magazine duct-taped together. Note the painted on 'eyes' on the nose cone. I think I did some WWII style teeth as well on some of the cones-faces.


Then there's this guy: Skeletal robot tripod, from some Citadel skeleton parts, an Eldar arm and a chopped up chaos autocannon.

Embarrassing Old Project I: Diorama, Eldar and Hunter Slayers

Dirty laundry, the nasty old embarrassing projects from the past, badly painted minis and horrible conversions. Here's my confession for the week.

This was un-earthed while moving recently. A diorama of two Eldar meeting some Hunter Slayers in a space-hulkesque hallway. I don't know how old I was when this was made but I do claim responsibility, it's awful! But I can imagine having a lot of fun making it.

Golden oldies like these are informative as they help gauge the leaps in skill that we sometimes forget (or do not even sense).

The Eldar without helmet must have had a sword of some kind in that fist (long gone). Both have had Rogue Trader plastic marine shoulder pads added (why I don't know).

The Hunter Slayer on the wall has an Eldar arm replacing a shaved-off metal one (perhaps to pose it differently?). Here they come!!!

The Hunter Slayers came from a blister, old catalogs state they were designed by renowned Michael Perry. These guys I will yank out, strip and restore. The anarchy graffiti makes me think that Necromunda was more the setting in mind...

"Looks like somebody bagged one of Ripley's bad guys"
courtesy a hot glue-gun tip

The plates of styrene on the floor aren't even cut straight! It was as though I didn't know what a ruler was...
There's a hole drilled through the wood to accommodate an LED light (never put in).
And that is a cassette reel glued to the back wall.

"Cleanup on level 463-A"
A little Marine accessory on the wall there, and the vertical pipe next to the door: a piece of spaghetti.

Thanks for the memories: To be dismantled

A neat project would be to remake the thing, done all proper with details and all maxed out like something on Coolmini... or maybe I'll just take the trash out and go to sleep...

Anybody want the Eldar? I may have some additional plastic arms as well. Let me know.

Bolting a Large Mini to a Wooden Base

For the Grenadier Death Giant, I did not want the model to be permanently affixed to the wooden base I prepared, so I engineered a method of bolting it, so that it may be removed if need be.

The model itself has a hollow cavity on its cast base, so I had room to install two customized nuts. Slots were cut in with a hacksaw to give a gripping point to some wire anchors, as well as an encasement of resin that would surround them.

The placement of the nuts within the model's cast base came first, marks for the holes were then transcribed to the wooden base using a few measurements and tracing paper.

I realized that the whole figure tilted way too far back, so I started building up a rim of Green Stuff on one edge of the base to level him out.

To fit one of the nuts in properly some metal needed shaving off. A vice and a large file negotiated the deal.

A few bits of brass and some Green Stuff positioned the nuts in the hollow, and strong casting resin was poured in (foamed up a bit but was trimmed flush after curing) to permanently lock the nuts in position. Bolts feed through the bottom of the wooden base, into the nuts, and the connection is quite snug (being careful to not over-torque of course).

Fancy Footwork