Huck's Hopefully Helpful Hints: 1998 |
I got one from my compatriot Joe Sleboda this month folks:
Smoke Launchers are a great way to protect vehicles on that one turn when they really need help surviving. The rules for them say you have to place some cotton wool around the vehicle to indicate the effect. Well, I don't have cotton wool, but since my wife is a quilter I do have quilt batting! You can get batting at Jo-Ann Fabrics or anywhere else that sells fabric and craft supplies.
To make smoke launchers take a piece of sheet styrene and
place your tank
Next, measure the circumference of the oval. Cut a piece of batting this long and about 1.5 - 2 times the height of the vehicle. Glue this batting, on edge, along the circumference of the oval. Super glue works well, but you might try PVA (Elmer's) glue. Elmer's will work especially well if you intend to decorate the oval shape with rubble/sand.
Once this batting is glued in place you should have a tall oval of batting. Pull and tear the batting into wisp like forms. Arc the edges together to form a dome of sorts. You now have a handy smoke launcher marker to place over the top of your vehicle that will hold shape as you use it from game to game.
For extra effect, lightly mist the batting with grey primer in short burst. Be careful not to use too much - you are trying to add depth to the smoke, not make it look like the tank is on fire! To stiffen the batting, spray a healthy dose of matt sealer.
Joe Sleboda
Games Workshop USA Customer Service
Many folks are wanting to paint up units of the Black Templars, the chapter shown on the box cover of the new 40K edition. For those who want to, but are put off by the thought of painting up all those black Iron Crosses, try the Bretonnian Knight Decal Sheet #6 - it comes with 6 black Iron Crosses that are perfect for shoulder pads. Bretonnian Knight Decal Sheet #7 also has one of them, in a larger style - great for banners and vehicles.
Another tip for those painting the new trees from the the 40K game - leave all the leaves & branches on the sprues! Clean & prime the bits while still on the sprue, then paint them as normal. Once dry, matte seal them, then carefully trim them away from the sprues. Touch up the tips where they joined the sprue, then assemble as normal. Another thing to try is using the Epic 40K Titan bases (large circular disks) as bases for the trees - this way you can mount several in one clump.
This month we have a cool conversion idea!
TechPriest Conversion
by Ragnar (Thomas Setzer)
To make a Graviton Gun, get an Ork Bolta Sprue (102732) and get a Dark Reaper Missile Launcher (010401608). Take the melta gun from the Ork Bolta Sprue, cut off the front tip, then cut the front end off the Dark Reaper Missile Launcher (just the rounded, pointed end, including the little bracket), glue the front end of the Dark Reaper Missile Launcher to the back half of the Ork melta gun, and you now have an impressive Graviton Gun. You can make a good Tech Priest by taking a Dark Angel Standard Bearer Body (010102401), cut off the Banner Pole, and replace it with a power axe from the Chaos Space Marine Close Combat Weapon Sprue 1 (102813a), then remove the Eagle from his chest, leaving the neck chain, and replace it with a thin slice of a small spur gear of some type (the ones used on slot car / model railroad motors work great!), choose an appropriate Space Marine arm from the Character Arm (Bolter) Sprue (102533) for his left arm to hold the Graviton Gun, glue it on in a nice action pose, add the shoulder pad, and glue the Graviton Gun to the arm. Fasten a Servo Arm Backpack (010107503) to him. Now just paint him as a Tech Priest, which is black armour with red robes (I use dark Blood Red to keep a dark, gothic look to him, remember to use dark brown for darkening red, not black).
Note: All numbers in parentheses are GW Mail Order part numbers from the 1998 Citadel Annual. You can order just the parts you need by using these numbers.
For those who have never made conversions, there are guidelines at The Realm of Inisfail
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Cavern/2741/index.html
The parts used in this conversion are:
Dark Angel Standard Bearer Body 010102401
Servo-Arm Backpack 010107503
Character Arm (Bolter) Sprue 102533
Plastic Ork Bolta Sprue 102732
Dark Reaper Missile Launcher 010401608
Chaos Space Marine Close Combat Weapon Sprue 1 102813a
Total cost of parts: $11.50 US
Tom Ragnar
Thanks Tom! Got any cool tips you'd like to share with your fellow gamers? Send 'em in for next month's newsletter!
Here's some hints from one of da Roolzboyz!:
"Okay, this one is for all of you out there that have ever spent hours painting 1 figure, couldn't figure out why the darn thing just does not look right, got frustrated, & have thrown said model across your room. It really comes down to colors & color coordination. There have been times in my many years of painting when this has happened to me (well maybe not the throwing thing). Anyway, when starting a project, there must be a plan, maybe not an elaborate plan, but a plan nonetheless.
"The idea was derived from the Bretonnian book with the
simple line drawings of the horses' cloth barding where you could plot out your heraldry
& color schemes. Taking from that just draw out a crude 2 Dimensional shape & form
of the miniature (front & back) that you are going to be working on. After that use
some colored pencils to color & shade in the drawing to get a pattern down before you
start painting your mini. (I wish I would have thought of this last night when I was
painting that furry little Ungor!)"
- Blair Kakacek
Thanks Blair! And here's a neat idea for shields from Fredrik
Hegrin:
"Well. I found a nice (and very easy) way to make shields.. Go down to a store that
sells buttons (for clothes) and rummage around for awhile.. Maybe you'll come up with
something like these.."
Thanks to both guys here. Keep 'em coming!
I (Tim) have one myself, on an un-related note. When sending us email, please make sure that your return address is valid! It's very frustrating for us to write out an answer, only to find that the email address doesn't work, or the account is set to not accept email. Please, if you're not sure if your return address is correct, send yourself an email & then answer back to it. Also, please add in your address at the end of your email as well if you can - that way we're sure to have an address if all else fails. We do reply to _all_ email we get (it might take a few days, but we will reply!). If for some reason you never hear back from us, it's almost certainly due to a bad address. Thanks to everyone for writing BTW - we do love hearing from you all!
Reader tips from Don Effinger this month:
Here's an easier way to transport those Epic stands:
Take those thin refrig magnets and cut them to fit the base size. Most of the magnets are
quite thin so it won't be too bad. Glue to bottom of base. Carry all the bases in a metal
tool box (minus the tools of course!) and the stands NEVER move around while carrying.
Here's another one for regular figs:
Buy those pistol cases WITH the foam that it comes with and then also purchase the three
layer job from GW [the pre-cut foam with slots for regular man-sized 28mm figs - Tim]. Use
the original foam for special figs like smaller vehicles or steggies, etc., and use the 99
slot foam for the rank and file. I bought a metal tool kit/case from Home Depot for about
$18.00 and put the original foam in that once I ripped out all the guts from the kit. It
is larger then the pistol case (by a little) and now you have two nice cases that will
hold just about any 40k or WFB army intact! Plus there will be room in the tool case to
hold data cards along with dice, counters, tape, measures, pencils, etc..
Don
deffinger@hotmail.com
Here's one for those of you who run games at conventions: You know how usually you're playing on a hotel provided table, with the standard white tablecloth draped over it, and how it keeps getting caught on things & getting pulled about, thus distupting things & knocking over figs? Here's a way to stop that from happening:
Take several of the very large Binder Clips (about 2" size) to fasten down the cloth to the table edges. I always carried around a dozen of them with me to conventions as an Outrider, and found them invaluable in keeping the tablecloths tight on the table.
Here's a cool tip for carrying Epic figures too:
I just started playing epic and i found a great way to
transport the guys. Take the styrofoam piece you get with box sets thats about 6 in by 4
in. It has one big section and two little sections
Jon Peletis
khorne@megsinet.net
00000000
Hints this month from two players! First from Shannon Tracy:
Modelling A Removable Dozer Blade on your Vehicles:
Sometimes you find in a game you may or may not wish to use the Dozer Blade. Some people glue it on, and just say whether they are using it or not, but that doesn't look good for proper rep, especially if the piece is there, and you aren't using it.se, however, this can lead to confusion at times. To make a removable dozer blade is to mount a metal plate on the bottom of the vehicle, and glue magnetic strips to the mounting bars on the Dozer Blade itself. Doing that, you have a Dozer Blade you can put on and off, as you see fit. This will also allow you to put dozer blades on other vehicles that normally do not come with them, such as the rhino. Just mount a metal plate under all your vehicles and use the dozer blades where necessary. You CAN paint over the metal plate, though be careful to not paint too heavily over it. Do not paint over the magnetic strips. Don't worry... you shouldn't see them anyway.
Also... if you like that bit of realism in your games... model one or two dozer blades as "Destroyed"... and swap them for the good ones when the dozer blade is ruined, as per the card.
Shannon Tracy, Outrider
FoxDraco@aol.com
Grand Tournament Wild Man Dave Handy offers some new ideas too:
"Besides Kevin Stringer's ideas, I've found a great use for those Empty blisters...
Windows! Nothing makes a ruin look more realistic than windows (or shattered bits of windows) in the frames." -Dave "Squig-Brain" Handy
Kevin Stringer, our Outrider from Chicago, has some neat ideas this month:
I've got a couple of uses for your empty blister packs that might be of use to the general public.
1. They're great for covering the slotta bases when the models are turned sideways or any other time there is slotta exposed. It's quicker & easier than putty or other fillers. Just cut to shape with scissors & super-glue it down. As you're going to be flocking over it anyway, the shape doesn't have to be exact...
2. For top- or front-heavy troopers (usually standard bearers) cut a small strip of the blister and glue it to the bottom of the rear sides of the base. The troopers on either side (or just one side) stand on the flat, clear tab and keep the fig from tipping. Some of the more exacting modelers will want to notch the base of the fig that will always be next to the problem-child for a perfect fit.
- Thanks Kevin! Got any cool tips you'd like to share with your fellow gamers? Send 'em in for next month's newsletter! BTW: We're awaiting an article from the UK Studio on sculpting fur or hair onto figures, so keep an eye peeled for that in an upcoming issue.
I'm a great fan of painting models in parts, then assembling them after painting (initial painting at the very least) is done. Wooden dowels (thin wooden cylinders) come in very useful here! I always have a stock of various thicknesses about. For example, terminator arms have a joint socket that fits perfectly in a length of dowel (just use white glue to hold them in place, if the fit isn't tight enough). This let's you get to all the body & inside of the arms easily. I have an old pen/pencil desk set that holds all the sticks upright, but any tall & thin cup will do. Once done, just glue in place like normal! I use these wooden sticks for lots of other items like Scarabs, weapon bits, backpacks, heads, & dreadnought arms.
Here's a neat idea for your Gorkamorka vehicles (and unfortunately I deleted the author's name - please email me if this is your idea, so I can credit you next month!)
re: hopefully helpful hints
As I'm sure a lot of people do, I prefer to buy spare copies of Gorkamorka and then convert the heck out of the stuff that comes with it. I found that a barrel from the game itself tilted on its side and attached to the gun mount of a Trakk makes a great scorcher when kustomized with flamer-tips from my bit box (probably out of spare Chimera parts) and a periscope made by bending a spare grabrail from a Rhino. I also made a Rokkit Trakk from a combination of parts, with missiles left over from various Chimeras and what not. The 2 missiles I have in "ready" position sit atop two back light strips from Rhinos glued on edge on an upside-down battering ram piece with the teeth cut off. The whole contraption sits precariously on (a) a 'eavy shoota mount with (b) a hk missile mount on top and (c) some other junk so that the gunner (who sits behind the missiles on a perch I built) can fire his radar-homing setup (built from searchlight, missile box, and antenna parts, with a heavy bolter firing grip) and there's still room for some ladz underneath. Pretty hard to long time. I may just keep buying Gorkamorka sets..... Oh yeah, I make my own Spannerz by cutting down weapons to look like screwdrivers or wrenches, or giving them gas cans to hold, or pieces of tread....
Subject: Gorkamorka Q and Tips
TWO MODELLING TIPS:
Use a pin-vice drill to put a bullet hole into your vehicle for each penetrating damage it has taken.
Use the Gorkamorka transfers (dags, skuls, lightning) to put a victory mark on your trukk for each battle you win. **Glenn in Richmond, Virginia ^^^GRIMSKUL^^^
Thanks Glen! Got any cool tips you'd like to share with your fellow gamers? Send them in for next month's newsletter!