40kaddict Towers - the first board is in.

Full disclosure - I am not a 'handy man'. There si stuff I can do - painting and decorating, small amounts of woodwork and gardening etc. I can wire a plug but most other electrics terrify me but boarding out the shed fits within my capabilities and was cheaper than getting the shed people to do it. Of course I may live to regret that decision, particularly as the cost to insulate the shed is about £150 now and will still rise. So here's some of my materials, I picked up the Earthwool off Gumtree. I'd been searching on Google for paving slabs, to see if I could add that extra foot at the back and this advert for loft insulation came up. £5 a roll, for 150mm thick Earthwool. Now I was looking at specific 50mm stuff from Wickes but it was going to cost around £130 to insulate the shed. So this was a bargain. The only problem was the fact it's three times the thickness of my cavity and clearly the size of the rolls and how they'd fit in my Micra. Anyway, I managed to put 4 in the car, leaving one behind. The fact is I probably only need three rolls to complete the insulatios so its was lucky I didn't get the final one. As you can see I've cut one of the rolls down. I needed a strip about 53cm wide to sit between the ceiling joists so went at it with a saw. You can see it's a pretty tidy cut, surprisingly. The roll is actually perforated, so you can split it into three but the perforations would have been no use in this instance as it's too narrow.

This is the first plasterboard up. All of my boards were 1800mm x 900mm [6' x 3'] because most of the panels were no bigger than this. The 8' x 4's are cheaper in the long run but more importantly heavier and although the cutting is going to be roughly the same lugging these things about, with my back, meant the smaller ones were more convenient. I'd measured the entire internal surface area, did a little illustration and plotted boards on each surface so I new how many to order. I opted for 9.5mm on the ceiling [12.5mm on the wall] as it's lighter and there is a gap between those fascia board on the cross beam of the apex that I hoped to slot the board into. The hoep was the slot would give me some support while I tried to screw the board in place.

I measured repeatedly and cut the board exactly, using a stanley knife to cut through. Which resulted in a board that just wouldn't fit. It was too snug and even with shaving the fascia board I just couldn't slot it into the gap at the apex. What was worse is that every time I lifted it up I was convinced the plaster was going to fold up and break. I must have had this thing over my head about 20 times and I hadn't even put the insulation in place! One edge did break apart on the left luckily as I had to shave down the sides by about 15mm I removed the worst of it. When it finally slotted into place I could go back to the insulation problem. I'd cut a piece 180cm long to go behind that apex support beam but there was no way I could push 90cm of a rapidly expanding insulation wool [it's compressed in the shrink wrap, hence why I thought I;d get it in the 50mm cavity] through that gap. In the end I cut it in half and tucked one end behind the beam, but there was no way to secure the other end and it kept falling down. Additionally those perforations in the wool came into play and the 50cm wide piece became 35 and 15 wides strips. The end solution was to get out my staple gun and tack it in places.

 Even pushing as hard as possible the 8mm staples struggled to get through the wool but I managed it and the remaining wool was still quite fluffy and it was clear I'd have no problems containing it behind the board, so stapled up the two remaining pieces. With everything in place I got my eldest to use an old flat headed sponge mop to support one end while I supported the rest and tried to screw into one of the cross beams. I think I got luck in my second attempt and the board held, which made putting the remaining screws in much easier as I didn't have to take all the weight. I probably went overboard on screws but the last thing I want is this dropping on my head. I missed the beams a few times, not sure how to remedy that but it'll be easier in the future as I now know what I'm doing, just hope that the luck I had in the board staying solid thorugh all this fuss doesn't fail me when I'll have less faffing to do next time. I may well put a few less screws in though and then get some flat D shaped beading to then postion above those screws and intersperse some more so it's more secure overall, rather than trust the countersunk heads to the plasterboard...

Throughout all this I was weraing a Tyvek suit, to keep the glass fibres away, a filter mask and some protective glases [couldn't find my goggles] even so I kept taking the mask off and the glasses because they got steamed up. Because of that I'm now coughing repeatedly thanks to gettign the fibres in the back of my throat so if you try anything like this with this material DO NOT take away the mask, EVER! Also the Tyvek suit gets really hot, so I took my 'work' jumper off.

I do absolutely all my 'construction' work in this thing but given it's heritage andreturn to my interest in it's origin I kind of regret it's covered in paint splatter, expanded foam and silicone sealant from 15 years of DIY.

I'm hoping my next attempt will secure two more ceiling panels, this took about 90 minutes to do and I'd had enough by then. It's exhausting holding these boards above your head but this is the most difficult bit and once the side walls go on they should help support it at the edges too, making it impossible to fall down. Overall it was a frustrating but ultimately rewarding first attempt. It's not pretty but the board didn't break, the insulation fit and thereore I was vindicated in going with the cheaper Gumtree gamble and I now know better how to attempt the remaing three quartes of the roof.

40kaddict Towers - the man cave has arrived!

If you're a member of the 40kaddict facebook group  [and you can it's free] you'll already have seen this but I thought I'd share my soon to be new hobby home:

 

This was the garden before, we just had the new fence line put in, it blew down about 5 years ago and we were never in a position to replace it. When they took out the old concrete panel bases I actually dragged them back out of the skip to create my new border edgings. Did my back in in the process but it was worth it and when I get the bark chippings in too it'll look a lot better.

 

The gardener also laid the base for the shed.

We actually asked him to come back to extend it right to the back of the old dog pen, you'll see why in the later pics.

The shed came as prefab sections so it was installed within 1.5-2 hours.

Unfortunately progress was hampered by the installers stepping on a bees nest in the borders. They buzzed around a lot, very grumpy but no one was stung.

As you can see the shed could benefit with the 10" at the back of the dog pen, it's quite close to our washing line and imposing in size, setting it back a bit, even just such a short distance is worth it. Meanwhile the old tabletop is trying to contain the bees, who were rehomed the following day by a trained professional.

Some bees failed to return to the hive in time so we did end up with a dozen dead ones scattered about the garden, still better than no hive at all. Overall the shed is great, the only real issue is the door, it doesn't have a proper lock inside. I'm going to form a frame on it so it can be double skinned and hopefully seal some warmth back in, currently it's the weak spot. I may well add a curtain over the door for added draught exclusion.

This is inside, as you can see solidsheds is exactly what you get, diagonal bracing, roof support and toughened glass windows. I've 4 rolls of loft insulation I got off gumtree for £5 each to keep it snug. I'm going to try and pack the 150mm material into 50mm cavities. I'm sure this stuff works better fluffed up but it's not really an option and £20 all in instead of £130 for the correct depth well it was a no brainer.

Unfortunately the other materials have ballooned in cost, plasterboard was my cheapest option. They arrive today, that cost £90 instead of the £56 I estimated thanks to cost of delivery and stupid VAT. Even the screws, and extra bits of wood to join them too added another £40 to the total. We've still got electrics to sort out too but we're getting there.

Once it's boarded I'll paint it and move my hobby stuff out which will require re-decorating the vacant space as a dining room. So we'll just have to see how much hobby I get in as this hobby season comes to a close. In the midst of all this my car failed it's MOT so I had a few fraught days looking for another one and somehow ended up with this cool, but ridiculously boy-racerish Fiesta, certainly not the old Micra I had or the newer Micra I was looking for...

Imperial Knight - Cerastus in manufactorum pt 1

So I obviously left this hanging, indeed that's a Cerastus torso on the left, for a Lancer. My mate Ben donated it for one reason or another and so I've been working in tandem on this with the Errant/Paladin, although actually it's been ticking away for a good few months. In part this was because I lost a piece and had been holding out on the off chance it would resurface. Luckily it did, so I wasn't forced to use a hollowed out 25mm base as the waist joint. 

I also utilised some more parts donated by PeteB's absent Space Wolves to make the base a little more interesting. I added ripped up mounting board to make it less flat. I also smoothed in some left over Milliput to try and hide the Space Wolf runes. I want it to look more like an underground pipeline than a buried Fenrisian super gun.

I then used Valejo Red Oxide paste to cover over the mounting board. In truth this was overkill, I probably could have gotten away with PVA and sand or even tile adhesive [I think I still have some about] but it was to hand and I hardly use it so why not?

I saw this pose on one of the Forgeworld open day pictures and thought it looked really cool. I suppose with the Lancer you would normally emphasise it's speed but this thing is braced, squatting low, with it's shield raised ready to receive some unG.O.D.ly monstrosity before it Shock Lances it into submission. It's sacrificing height too, because who doesn't want to show off how much taller this is compared with a Paladin. However, quite often when it's upright at full tilt, it looks a little gangly and daft - like a baby giraffe so I think this is a better choice of pose, it's different at the very least [even if it's a copy ;) ].

Once I'd played around with achieving the pose unglued I worked on the feet, given the slope I had to raise the right foot which gave it a bit more dynamism.

Obviously pinning is an absolute necessity for a model like this. The ankle ball joints came with sprue/vents attached so I could use them as natural pins, just drill out the socket in the foot to accommodate. Then I drilled and dry fit pins in the knees and also the waist. Then I was able to move things around to get the pose right. I made marks in places so I could see where things lined up. Then I super-glued the waist, this made the legs behave like a marionette. I glued the foot sockets and once dry I removed the pins from the knees, separated everything, glued and then rejoined the knees and pins. Or pins and knees...? It was only once everything was dry and solid did I realise my mistake... the pistons from the bottom of the groin have to reach the inside of the thigh..

Luckily I was able to shave the ball joints down sufficient to allow the piston [once extended with lollipop stick rods] to join directly to each mounting socket in a straight line.

I also failed to take into account the cabling, this required a bath in boiling water so I could reposition the cables. I also forgot that a second dunk doesn't allow more pliability it just reminds the cable what it's original shape was and reforms that.

I did snap one of the thinner cables in the process as it was such an extreme reshape, but some super glue gel has repaired the break.

There was a whole lot of progress in one night and without having all the armament options as the Errant/Paladin progress will be much swifter on this so it's become my focus for the last few nights.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 

Avro Vulcan says - "SIGN THIS"!

Given the title of my most elusive but exciting fluff creation I really hope you can sign a petition to ensure the Avro Vulcan continues to fly in our skies, the link is here:

And this is the awesomeness, how does it stay in the sky?

I actually walk past the original home of Avro most nights when I leave work. So if you can sign the petition please do.

Imperial Knight - in manufactorum pt 2

This looks like progress has been swift, but in actual fact this has been 'in manufactorum' for a few weeks now because I've been flitting between projects. The magnetising doesn't help progress but it does add benefits down the line so I'm persevering. As you can see the Knight will be sporting Dark Angel chapter symbols, not Imperium or AdMech. I know this isn't strictly correct but I've seen plenty of other Dark Angel or Space Wolf aligned Knights, not that that inspired me. My inspiration comes from the fluff. This is an Imperial Knight owned by the 'Order' and was used on Caliban to help supress the bigger monsters that roamed the forests. How it ended up on Ferron Proxima is another story but I think the Dark Angel fluff pretty much allows, nay encourages the use of Knights

The magnets have worked on the missile launcher pretty well, the autocannons are also doen. I'm ganetisinge the launcher to do both  missiles but if I'm honest I probably will never use the anti-infantry option and as the positioning of the sprue [not shown] inside was a little too far forward I may well just glue the cover on instead and save the hassle and magnets.

I finally got the throne supported, but snapped one of the hand controllers in the process. I'll paint this separately and then glue in place.

Here's my test pose, that's a mangled old Termagant with no head or weapon so I'll have the Knight squashing it flat, it fits perfectly between it's toes so I have to do it. Hopefully I can put the other foot on some slate but I don't have a piece to fit it whole so it'll require some tweaking of the foot so it stands right.

I also attached another Dark Angel icon to it's ion shield. I threw on some liquid green stuff to try and blend the icon to the shield and add a bit of texture, this shield is awfully smooth. It probably won't be noticable when it's done but I'm happier with it.

It's funny how big the Warden carapace is to the Cerastus.

Yeah, that's right.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |

PeteB's Harlequins

As I sit here awaiting the delivery of my 40k man-cave and bemoaning a lost ['errant'] piece of an Imperial Knight I thought I'd share some of PeteB's Harlquins. I'm not sure how many time's Pete's put faith in these clowns but it's nice to see the old skool metal ones which I had myself way back when.

It's interesting how the choice to continue a theme from the rest of the Craftworld actually makes them all look like they've been plucked from a B&W movie. Anyway, he's got just a little to say about them...

Not sure about the name for the masque, but due to the cold conditions I thought the Masque of the Shrivelled Weenie?

I've also included a pic of Fuegan, who I will be using as a fire dragon exarch, mainly as he has to be the most over compensating elf I have ever seen!!

Imperial Knight - in manufactorum

And here's the beginnings of the Google AdSense funded Imperial Knight. Now, as you can see there's a Space Marine in here and Knights don't pilot them but I have some really good fluff in my head about why this is the case and one day I'll be able to put it down on the blog, alongside some cool fluffy images and you will find out about the Shards of Caliban and their impact on Ferron Proxima. It'll also feed into the background behind the Mechanicum Knight order that resides here too, and there involvement with the Ferron Titan Legion.

Now I had to do some serious cutting and shaving of his kneepads, legs and waste so this old plastic marine is a shadow of his former self, and you should see him now he's got the shoulder pads in place he looks like a mushroom! Anyway, the throne manages to fit in with easy so I'll paint that separately, I know I should fit out the cockpit but I don't think you'll be able to see half of it once the carapace is on so I'm going to leave it as is and just paint the interior pretty vague. The marine should be black but I'm not sure that'll stand out in the dark confines so I may paint him Bonewhite as if he took the Deathwing reason - white being the colour of the dead and painting themselves as dead men, might fit with the pilots choice to inter himself in this machine. It doesn't quite fit as this guy is Heresy old [hence the reason to go black] but his armour isn't quite Heresy legit so I can do whatever the hell I want.

Followed Alex's tutorial on making the legs and body detachable although I may not have shaved down as much of the little stump as I should have, it rotates a little too freely now, I'll probably add some spots of glue in places to try and thicken it up to add some more friction.

I'll have to look closely at his magnetising tips as I'm at that stage now and keep looking at inferior guides. It's not helped by my choice of magnets, I've some 4.5x3mm and 5.5x3mm magnetix magnets that are super strong. Then I have some tiny 3x1mm magnets that aren't very strong so I'm struggling a bit with the process.

I also wanted to have a slightly dynamic pose and chop the legs a bit but I've got enough obstacles to progress at the moment I really don't want to slow things down.

Parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |