December is a tiring time for me. I
work in a supermarket. Which had carols on non-stop. If you're not
exhausted from the customers, your brain is being minced by hearing
one of the three or so versions of "Rudolf the Red-nosed
Reindeer" for the dozenth time. That day. So, having built up a
sufficient buffer on blog articles, I decided to something a bit more
long form. Something I could take my time with, and hopefully be able
to photograph when there was some half-decent light. So, with the
terrain special done, it was the time to apply those lessons to
something I'd previously attempted. Another Gunwagon. And, because I'm pleased with it, I've bumped it schedule :)
The purpose of this exercise was to A) perfect my tank tread technique, and to B) further explore medium weight chipboard as a modelling material. As you may recall, I'd had some pleasing success with casting tank treads during my Battlewagon project. These were however limited by the fact that the segments did not interlink, so I wanted to attempt that this time. On a lazy Sunday, some painstaking trial & error produced three interlocking prototypes, which were then cast in a two part mould. I opted to make these with Milliput due to its durability and cost metrics, as while Das Clay would be cheaper, I wasn't convinced that it would be durable enough for the size I wanted. Its more of a terrain material. The results are pleasing, if unavoidably imprecise due to technical limitations. There is only so much you can do with a two part Ori Maru mould, and so a lot of filling and filing was needed. The aforementioned prototypes were based off nanoblocks for overall size, with zip ties and plastic rod for the links, and chipboard for the main body. As I can't reliably cut straight, using things like that as templates is vital. One word of warning though, chipboard tends to absorb water from a hot mould.
With the tracks under mass production, I then started thing about the chassis. My main inspiration was old school self-propelled guns, like the Stug, although the Leman Russ Battletank also came through. The centre was based on a cardboard box, but then built up with flat packers and a bit of a construction toy for the front. Flatpackers are slightly angled on the edges, so I leant into that to prevent it being too blocky. The track mounts were a little more involved. I decided to skip making wheels and bogies for a more imperial style, making four roughly trapezoidal panels spaced with off-brand lego, and then stuffed with EVA foam as a filler. There was more trial and error than I would have liked, with the addition of cogwheels demanding a rethink of the back end. Once this was finalised, I then started layering panels on the body in a haphazard fashion. These were of various materials, from chipboard, to foam sheeting, to Das Clay and intended to suggest both a ramshackle construction and ramshackle repairs. The amount of rivets required proved to be excessive.
The weapons were similarly scratch built, mainly from scrap plastic like old lids and such. The main event, aka the big gun, was largely made from spray bottle parts attached in sequence. I was a bit rough in "salvaging" these, which is why the plastic is marked, but it adds to the theme. The big shootas with similarly sourced from things like pumps, pens and water pistols. All are different, suggesting a variety of calibres, and helped break up the profile. This is where the Leman Russ influence comes in, as I was able to create crude sponsons with ease. Painting followed a prolonged period of riveting, spraypainting, and correcting bits that had come off or otherwise become evident during the spraypainting. I stuck with my usual “rust bucket with bright blue” style, although I find it basically impossible to be consistent in my method, I always tweak it. Here I built up the blue with three different shades via stippling, washed it brown, and then sponged on the lightest blue again. The metals where my usual mix of store brought and cheap craft supplies, over a brown undercoat. To cover a few sins, and the limitations of the moulding process, I made some homebrew texture paint for mud, and drybrushed it a bit for the dry spots. I probably over did it.
Overall, I’m quite happy with how this turned out. Tank tracks were for a long time the most difficult thing for me to kitbash or make from scratch, and I’ve now got a functional means of doing that. Its not necessarily ideal, mind you, but its good enough for Orks. The chipboard meanwhile has been thoroughly tested, and I can see myself using it in no-end of future scratchbuilds. The only question is, what next?
Work-in-progress Pics
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