On where the Dreadnought tutorial is

This is one of those times where I must apologize to my audience.  I had planned to do a tutorial on how to build a Space Marine Dreadnoughts, but for some reason every time I start it I feel no desire to continue.  It just isn't fun, and isn't that the point of blogging?

Instead, I've found myself making terrain pieces for my own 6' x 4' playing board.  It's something I've needed to do more of for quite a while now, and I'm actually enjoying doing it.

So here are the options as far as I can see it-

1. I can do a tutorial on the Dreadnought, dragging my feet the whole time until my entire audience throws up their hands in disgust.
2. Continue to build terrain, passing on tips here and there until I get my desire to scratch build the Dreadnought back
3. I can do a quick and easy tutorial I already know, such as the Blight Drones I built or a Landraider Mk 1
4. A tutorial on the current Land Raider design.

What would you all rather see?  I will put up a poll to get accurate feedback from you, but if you want something specific other than these options I'm more than happy to address them here.  Till next time, take care and keep building!

Scratch built dreadclaw painting progress 3

Well, another little update on the painting progress of the Dreadclaw.  Not a whole lot of detail added, but was able to solve the dark brown issue in the center of each of the walls by adding some window screen.  This gave enough texture to break up the piece a bit and remove some of the uniformity it had.

Hope to someday soon be able to drop this onto the battlefield!

Due to my recent illness, progress on the Dreadnought tutorial is moving slower than expected.  Scratch building supplies have also been strained to their maximum and have dwindled down to scraps, which makes building new projects tough to say the least (and really don't have the money for more).  Worry not, scratch build fans.  If I must I will begin scrounging the penny jars in the house to garner enough cash to resupply and begin this tutorial properly.

Till next time, take care and keep building.

Razor wire fields tutorial

This one is so cheap and easy, you probably have most of the supplies already.  When finished it will look something like this:

Materials:
Window screen (plastic roll)
Super glue
Small hobby dowel rods
Cardstock (1/16" thick)

Tools:
Hobby Knife
Cutting mat
Super Glue
Brown paint


Take your wooden dowel rod and cut two sections measuring roughly 1" long from the rod.  Do this for as many sets of razor wire you want in your field.  Cut a rectangle from the card stock to the size you wish the razor wire field to be.  Cut your field at a 45% angle to give the impression of the field raising along each side of the rectangle.

Now lay out your window screen.  Cut one strip the length you want your razor wire to be, which should reach from end to end on the field you cut.

Lay out your two wooden dowel pieces, gluing the edges of the screen pieces to the middle of each rod.  Glue one rod onto the corner of the field using the super glue.  When it hardens, twist the screen wire until it gives the impression the razor wire is twisted around.  Glue the other dowel rod into place, pulling the screen tight.  Do this at 1" intervals (remember, you want models to be able to fit in the field!).

Now that the field is basically set up, paint the field brown and highlight as appropriate.  Add static grass and other bits where appropriate and enjoy your new field piece.

Tomorrow I'll add an image of the rust effects added to the razor wire.

That's it for this week.  Next Monday is my 5 year anniversary being married to my wonderful wife, so there may not be a post if time doesn't permit.  If it does, however, be prepared for the first of the Dreadnought tutorial.  Until next time, thanks for reading and take care!

Scratch built dreadclaw painting progress 2

Welcome back everyone to another update on the Dreadclaw.  Over the weekend I was able to do a little painting on the scratch built model to bring out some of the definition.

I'm debating adding more rust to the center areas so they don't look so immune to the process.  As it stands now they sorta stick out.  Hopefully I'll be able to fix that soon.

Other changes that will be coming up will be some details made to the bottom of the Dreadclaw, painting the wires at the top, and adding Nurgle symbols to the appropriate places (as fits the theme of my current army).  Overall I like the look so far and will hopefully have a completed model on Friday.  Till then, take care!

Paint Progress- Dreadclaw

Welcome back to Scratchbuilt 40k.  I have a very short update on the painting progress on the Dreadclaw and thought I'd share with you gentle readers the paint holder I built just this morning.

First, the Dreadclaw:

As you can see, it has a very basic design so far.  From the primed dark green I used a light green and cream colored spray paint to dust the model and give the base coat some variety in color.  As I don't have an air brush I have to make due with the tools I have!

The trim is colored with a dark green which will eventually be highlighted appropriately  with lighter greens.  The splotches placed in random areas is the first coating of Sophisticated Finishes' Iron Metalic Surfacer, which will get another coat (as best I can) and then once dried covered in the Rust Antiquing Solution.  I'll be sure to take better pictures once the model is completed.

Speaking of paints, I've decided to use the spare wood in the garage to build myself a paint bottle station.  I find I'm always reaching for the wrong bottles have a general hard time finding the paints I wanted when they were strewn haphazardly (or willy-nilly, if you prefer) in cardboard boxes.

So ta-daa!  Scratch building isn't just for miniatures, it seems.

Though some of the wood is a little bent, I can fix that later if it becomes a problem.  For now, though, I think this will serve me better than the previous set up I was using.  If you would like to share your painting/hobby stations, the comments section would be a great place for the link as I'd love to see how everyone else is set up.

Finally, the poll which asks that question which every 40k player gets asked is coming along nicely.  Since I've only been able to cover 2 vehicles so far, it's no surprise to see Chaos Space Marine players are leading the pack.  Plans are in the works for a scratch built Dreadnought and Landraider (latest model) tutorial, after which I'm planning tutorials for players of the other armies. 

That's it for this update.  On Wednesday we'll see how the rust turned out.  Till then, take care!

Primed and ready to paint Dreadclaw

Ok, quick and easy post for all who are interested to see what the Dreadclaw looks like primed.  Still a long ways to go before it is finished, though.

 As you can see it has a long way to go before it is even close to finished.  The trim will be a dark green with highlights and the whole model will be covered in various areas with the rust effects featured in previous posts.

I'll update the blog with images as it comes along.  Till next time, take care!

Chaos Dreadclaw Tutorial 4

Welcome to the final installment of the Dreadclaw tutorial.  This one is a doozy, so lets get right on it!  When you finish this tutorial, the Dreadclaw will look something like this:

So on to the tutorial!


Materials:
Plasticard
Wire
Bic pen
Cardstock

Tools:
Hobby knife
Cutting mat
White glue
Hand drill with small copper tube

Last image from Dreadclaw Tutorial 3:

Using the template provided below, cut the plasticard to make 8 pieces of trim.  Using the white glue, position the trim pieces over the bottom areas.

Take a sheet of plasticard and place it on the bottom portion of the dreadclaw, tracing out the bottom shape.  Cut the piece out and cut a hole in the center the same size as the hole in the hatch.  Glue the hatch into place using the super glue.  Finally, glue the bottom piece into place so it looks like the image below.

Using a pen casing (preferably a soft plastic which resembles the plasticard), cut the tube to make 8 pieces which are 3/8" wide.

Using the piece cut from the center of the template on this page, super glue the tubes to the middle of each piece.

This is a good place to create a design to give your Dreadclaw some flair.  For mine, I cut each piece to look like this:

Glue these into the spaces opened from the template on this page.  Next cut 16 rectangle pieces which are 1/4" by 3/8".  In a circular pattern, glue them in a circular pattern around the hatch as it appears below:

Next cut 8 squares which measure 7/8" by 3/4".  These will be used to surround the top area as seen below.

After completing this part, use the bottom template to cut 4 pieces out of the plasticard and attach to the corners of the top area still exposed.

Use the super glue to put these into place.

Now, take the copper tube and sharpen  it.  Place the tube into the hand drill and secure it.  We will be able to use this tool to make our rivets from the plasticard (and there will be a lot of them!).

Place the rivets on the trim areas of the Dreadclaw.

Using the cardstock , cut a circle which is 1 3/4" wide.  Cut another 4 pieces of the pen casing, this time angle one side of each one.

Using your wire, braid together 3 strands roughly 12" long.  Cut this strand into 4 pieces.

Superglue the pen casings to oppose each other and angling the high point inward.  Arrange the wires in a pattern of your choosing.

Glue this piece to the top, inner area of the Dreadclaw as shown below.

Now sit back and admire your craftsmanship!  The nice thing about Chaos models is they lend well to added pieces, so if you have ideas for added bits, feel free.

Dreadclaw final tutorial post- Friday

Hello everyone!  Just wanted to give everyone the heads up on where the Dreadclaw project is and where the tutorial parts are.  Initially I had planned to have two tutorial posts up for this week.  However, I hit a groove and decided to complete the project instead of stop and write two little tutorial posts.  So, plan for Friday night to have a rather large tutorial post which completes this project.

The best part?  The dreadclaw will have a primed final image, so you'll have an idea on how it looks in a flat coloring.  I hope everyone is looking forward to the final tutorial!

Thanks to everyone for reading and good luck with your own projects!

Chaos Dreadclaw Tutorial 3

After you complete this update, the Dreadclaw you are building will start looking like this one.

Materials:
Plasticard

Tools:
Hot glue gun
Super glue
Hobby knife
Straight metal rular
Scotch tape

First thing we want to do at this point is cut 8 pieces using the following template out of the plasticard.

Attach each of the two straight side edges to each other using the Scotch Tape like below.

Bend at the center and attache these pieces to the bottom edge of the Dreadclaw.  Glue these into place after securely taping them into place.

Continue doing this until all 8 pieces have been attached.

NOTE:  The bottom of your Dreadclaw will look slightly different than this one.  Like all things, experimentation often leads to failure as well as success.  Rest assured, these edges will be lined up properly when using this tutorial!  Ahem, on to the next bit!

We can now attach those leg pieces we put aside earlier.  Use hot glue to get the legs in place at the bottom of the Dreadclaw and secure at the top using either the hot glue or a dab of super glue.

Using the following pattern, cut 8 pieces out of the plasticard and use the white glue to secure the trim piece firmly to the Dreadclaw walls.

Next we grab this template and cut out 8 pieces around the edges, only scoring the rest of the lines to allow for easy bending at those points.

Bend at the scored sections to make it look like the below image.  Tape the top triangle part and then hot glue the creases to keep it from coming apart.

These pieces can now be applied with the bottom edge lined directly against the Dreadclaw wall and the top of the triangle piece is centered on each flat wall.

Well, that is pretty much all for this week.  Thanks everyone for following along and good luck with your scratch builds!