Eldar Jetbike Custom Build, Part 2

Welcome back to SB40k.  Today I continue to document the project I began chronicling on Sunday, Eldar Jetbike Custom Build Part 1.  Today I'll be working on the upper half of the bike a bit more.

So after using part of the GW Eldar Jetbike front piece, I realized it was still too low for my standing models to be hidden/protected properly and it would need a raised area for the computer to sit.  To do this I took another Jetbike front piece and trimmed it to angle upward.  I also decided to add the back portion to help support my later green stuff efforts to build the side and rear walls.

To do this I took another Jetbike front piece and trimmed it to angle upward.  I also decided to add the back portion to help support my later green stuff efforts to build the side and rear walls.

At this point I began adding the green stuff, starting at the front and adding the sides of the vehicle.  I also used the putty to fill the area where the computer panel will later be placed.

Here we see a placement of a Warlock into the jetbike to ensure the size is appropriate.  I've also tested the other Warlock models to ensure they can stand in the round cockpit without problems later.  At this point I'm concerned it looks way too much like a shoe.  Beware my giant skimming footwear and their riders.

Here we can see the walls have been thickened and less of a round thin wall look is where I have decided to go design-wise.

Taking a break from adding to the upper portion of the vehicle, I've begun working on the underside.  Definition will be added at a later point, along with thrusters and weapons.

Here we have a look at the vehicle stacked together along with a Warlock inside.  I like how the vehicle is shaping up so far and I'm hoping as the project goes on I can do something interesting to help Eldar it up a bit.

Well, that's where I'm at right now.  I'm hoping to have another update this week where the computer panel is completed and the underside has some added details.

I hope you're enjoying the process so far and let me know what you would do differently.

Eldar Jetbike Custom Build Part 1

Welcome back everyone to SB40k.  Today I share with you the first step of my journey to create a Jetbike size vehicle for my Eldar army.

I've begun by tracing the actual Eldar Jetbike model from long ago (I have a penchant for older models) and cutting out a piece which represents half of the model.  The reason for doing this is to make sure the left and right side of the model are identical.

Below we can see a comparison of the Eldar Jetbike and the piece which I have cut out of the plastic.

I then took the piece above and copied it by using two sided scotch tape and attaching it to another piece of plastic and cutting it out.  Below you see the results.

Of course it was after making some extra layers and attaching them I realized the test model I was using was sitting too high, making for an awkward looking model.  I began to cut a hole out of the piece to ensure any of the models I plan to have 'ride' the vehicle would be able to stand lengthwise or side to side.  This was a bit frustrating, but patience would pay off.

With the circle cut out, I decided to save some time and use the nose piece of a Jetbike to build up the front area (and save some time/money).  As you can see, the vehicle is shaping up to be a little bigger than the original at this point.

Well, that's where I am at this point in time.  I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here and I hope you are too.  Till next time, happy building!

Time to solve my Eldar Jetbike problem

Welcome back to my little corner of the miniature hobby world.  Today I'll be talking about my process for coming up with new scratchbuild ideas and how I try to minimize the monetary input required.

Since completing the Juggernaut the other day I looked upon my hobby shelf and thought it might be fun to return to my Eldar for a while.  For those who are new to the blog, this is what they look like.

Now, I've never been a big fan of the bases and felt they didn't work as well as they should.  I've since moved on to some great bases which fit the flavor of the army better.

Same models, crappier picture quality, but the bases are much nicer.  I'll take proper images of this later in the week, I promise.

This led me to something I've always wanted to do, and that's to put my slew of warlocks on jetbikes.  I love jetbikes and always wanted to have more than the three I currently have.  Unfortunately, price is a DEFINITE barrier for me.

So what's a poor wargamer to do?  Well, if you have a site called Scratchbuilt 40k, you better try to make some Jetbikes!

To start, I gathered up one of the few Jetbikes I have.  No matter what it looks like in the end, it's important to me to get the size close to the original model.  This prevents complaints about your custom model and helps keep things accurate for games.

I then traced the model on a piece of paper and cut out my silhouette template.  This will serve as my reference for potential builds later on.

Next I examined the Warlocks and the Farseer which I have on hand.  Each of these models are really, really old.  How old?  They're metal, if that's any indication.  They are not able to sit in the seat of the model no matter how much I try to modify them, so the Jetbike will need to be a standing delivery vehicle.

This brings me to where I'm at now.  The list of requirements I've gathered are now-

1. Riders must be able to stand in the jetbike
2. Jetbike must be easy to duplicate.  Since I'll need 20+, being fast and easy to put together is very important.
3. Materials must be cheap
4. Must still look Eldar inspired.  Now, it doesn't have to be perfect as they'll be the only vehicles I play to run, but I want smooth curves to fit in with the Wraithguard aesthetic.

There you go, my checklist which will need to be applied to the design I create.  Check back next update to see my progress (which I'll document successes and failures) and give me suggestions.  Till next time, happy hobbying all!

Finished Juggernaut, First Attempt At OSL

Hey all, welcome back to SB40k!  I don't know what has been motivating me to paint as much as I have the last week or so, but it's nice to have something to show!

I'm thinking the model itself is finished.  Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out and I'm not sure I could have done much better without spending a ridiculous amount of time on it.

I don't know how I feel about the base, really.  It will definitely fit well with the army, but it does appear a bit bland.  I may try to add something to it yet but we'll see.

Anyways, that's the finished Juggernaut I'll be using as a Herald of Khorne to lead the kill bots to battle.  Let me know what you think :)

Juggernaut minus the Herald progress

Hey scratch builders!  Sort of a short post here on the progress of the Juggernaut of Khorne as I don't know how busy I'm going to be in the next few months and I'd like to update more often.

So what do we have?  The Herald of Khorne which will be leading my Flesh Hounds (which aren't flesh hound models but killer robots).

I still feel as though the red parts need something to make them 'pop'.  I mostly like the gold bits though some of it could use some better blending.  The horn... I dunno, I was thinking of doing the same thing I did on the front shoulder pads.  We shall see!

Horrors and bloodcrushers oh my

Welcome back to SB40k!  There hasn't been a lot going on here at SB40k and I'll get into that in a bit, but for now I'll go into what I've been doing and supply some pictures of what I'm working on now.

What I love about my Daemon army is there are a lot of options available to me in regards to modeling potential, especially since I'm not actually painting official models for the most part and am building my army from scratch.  However, this isn't to say there aren't bits from the official range which don't fit in perfectly.  Case in point, the Bloodcrusher model (sans bloodletter).

My Khorne portion of the army is represented by killer robots.  Flesh Hounds you can see here flanking the bloodcrusher.  To represent that he's 'leading' the unit, I decided to make his paint scheme match the Flesh Hounds of the unit.  He's obviously not finished yet, but it shouldn't bee to much longer before I have him painted up and ready.

Additionally, I've been snazzing up my Pink Horrors, the brains with tentacles portion of my army.  Unfortunately, I don't think it will translate well into images just yet as I've mostly made them glossy and covered in the 'blood' which is surrounding the models.  I'm pleased with the results and hope to have good pictures to share at the next update.

I contemplated a 'what the heck GW' game rant, but does anyone really want to read that?  No, of course not.  So instead I'll leave you with something which gives me hope- Over on Whiskey & 40k, Mike Brandt's fantastic blog, he's been working hard to find a way to build missions which help to bring into line the unbalanced armies without stooping to banning or changing how armies are built or work.  I think this is a great solution to the current problems and have a lot of hope to having fantastic missions which can be great fun for everyone, not just the guy with a 2++ Screamerstar list or a monster Taudar list.

Seriously, give Mike and the other tourney players some love and let them know what you think of the ideas.  It's our game, our community, and if GW doesn't want to fix it and create balance in their game , it's really up to us.  I don't know about the rest of you, but I've put too much time, money, and effort into my armies to allow bad rules writing to ruin my fun!