Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => VSF Adventures => Topic started by: Chairface on January 29, 2008, 03:38:58 AM
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This thing screams VSF:
(http://homepage.ntlworld.com/curtisfell/huntsmantank/instructions_front_800.jpg)
http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/
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Yes, but in any adventure you run it can't shoow up until the third act.
Seriously though the original concept model looked much less VSF.
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I must have one :D Thats a very nice model.
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That's just all kinds of awesome. Something to give those invading Martians a taste of their own medicine. :)
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I can see that being used as a not-Defiler in a few 40K chaos armies.
Very nice model. Reasonable price too. Impressive.
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It fantastic, and have you seen the price? 26EUR!
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Looks like a must have bargain to me :)
Johan
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Its a great fig and it is available with or without the turret so you can buy the base and then build or add an existing turret to match your game system
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Hey guys thanks for the really positive comments here. Brings a tear to an old dudes eye!
The model will be onsale from tomorow(friday 1st feb). We ship world wide! Yay!
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I think the spider without the turret looks to be the best VSF model. You can certainly count me in for one.
I also love the Isembard Kickass Brunel figure - this is the figure I have been waiting for to use as Sir Henry Bullshott.
Great range - but lets have some more VSF-styled figures.
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Just ordered a spider and 2 Brunel figures!
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Hey guys thanks for the really positive comments here. Brings a tear to an old dudes eye!
The model will be onsale from tomorow(friday 1st feb). We ship world wide! Yay!
Will you [or a stockist] be at Triples this year? Im a dedicated cheapskate & prefer to save on P&P if possible :lol:
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I think the spider without the turret looks to be the best VSF model. You can certainly count me in for one.
I also love the Isembard Kickass Brunel figure - this is the figure I have been waiting for to use as Sir Henry Bullshott.
Great range - but lets have some more VSF-styled figures.
Good choice! I'll be picking him up at some point too!
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Just placed an order for the spider without turret, Isembard Kickass Brunel and - of course - Trixie.
It's been ages since I bought anything I could use for Deadlands/Weird West and this tempted me back.
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Will you [or a stockist] be at Triples this year? Im a dedicated cheapskate & prefer to save on P&P if possible :lol:
Yes I hope to be. I just emailed the organiser for more info!
When I confirm it you can put an order thorugh and choose "walk in store" as the delivery method. If you make a note in the order or email me to remind me I will bring your model along to the show!
Anyway, the first orders went out today. Ive had load sof interest. Thanks to those whove bought the tank. PLEASE send me some images of what you do with it!
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Will you [or a stockist] be at Triples this year? Im a dedicated cheapskate & prefer to save on P&P if possible :lol:
Yes I hope to be. I just emailed the organiser for more info!
When I confirm it you can put an order thorugh and choose "walk in store" as the delivery method. If you make a note in the order or email me to remind me I will bring your model along to the show!
Anyway, the first orders went out today. Ive had load sof interest. Thanks to those whove bought the tank. PLEASE send me some images of what you do with it!
Great news! I'll definitely pre-order for the show, once confirmed.
Thanks very much :D
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My spider tank arrived yesterday. Unfortunately I was working away, so only got to open it this evening when I returned home.
My first impression was that this is a HUGE vehicle. The pictures on the website hadn't prepared me for the size of the thing. Its big, mean and nasty - this will be the perfect for my VSF Prussian army (I'm building the army it in the style of the Girl Genius comic, so at least one big spider walker is essential).
Intitial thoughts on the kit are as follows:
The kit is made of a brittle resin with some flash that will take a while to clean on all the parts. I noted several air bubble holes on the legs, but these should fill easily.
The parts were delivered in a corrugated card box. The only protection was a couple of bags filled with shredded paper. With the resin being brittle I found that one of the leg claws had snapped off, but it was a clean break so will be easily repaired. I will almost certainly base this vehicle to provide better protection of the legs in a wargames environment.
Note for Ramshackle Games - please give some thought to better packing of the parts for postal deliveries.
The kit comes with a good colour instructions sheet with photos of the completed vehicle. I did a quick 'dry fit' of the key parts and they all seem to fit together nicely.
I bought the turretless version (the turret option doesn't look VSF enough for my preferences). The weapons supplied with my spider were a choice of close assault mandibles or bolter type guns to be mounted on the sides of the 'head'. Because of the size of the model, if you are going to get a turretless version I would recommend up-arming it by replacing the mandibles/bolters with heavier guns or keeping the mandibles and adding some sort of VSF heavy weapon on the body/head.
Overall I think this kit looks to be good value for the price. I am looking forward to putting this kit together. My wife is away this weekend, so hopefully I will be able to complete the assembly.
I also got the Isembard Kickass Brunel figure. This is a very nicely sculpted figure based on the famous photo of the real Mr Brunel (the photo with the ship chains and the cigar). In his right hand the figure holds a huge rail gun, attached to a large generator on the ground (on which he is resting one foot). I will add carrying handles to the generator and may do some rework on the gun to look more VSF (note to self - find some suitable figures to act as Brunel's assistants/weapon porters). Weapon options for the figure's left hand are a flare gun or a large powered spanner.
Because of the heavy weapon carried by this figure it will not be suitable for as many game uses as I had hoped - e.g. Gothic Horror. Request to Ramshackle Games - PLEASE can we have a second version of this figure without the rail gun and generator - perhaps armed with a large spanner or similar tool and hand gun.
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Thanks for review Dave, very handy indeed. I was in two minds whether to buy one or not but I certainly will now.
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Thanks for review Dave, very handy indeed. I was in two minds whether to buy one or not but I certainly will now.
Agreed. The dastardly Prussians are going to be very well armed and extremely dangerous with three Spidertanks :wink:
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Agreed. The dastardly Prussians are going to be very well armed and extremely dangerous with three Spidertanks
Must give some thought to armaments this weekend - I had been thinking of a big electric weapon - possibly a magnetic-based weapon in honour of 19th century German mathematicians Gauss and Weber (early rail gun?). (I'm saving lighning-type guns for the Brits - Faraday Electrostatic Guns)
I think I will paint my spider in a dark grey, similar to my steam car. This will have to have some sort of heraldic device for the commander.
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Oh well, I suppose it just had to come, one has been ordered and now who gets it? British, Prussians or French!
Tally Ho!
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Agreed. The dastardly Prussians are going to be very well armed and extremely dangerous with three Spidertanks
Must give some thought to armaments this weekend - I had been thinking of a big electric weapon - possibly a magnetic-based weapon in honour of 19th century German mathematicians Gauss and Weber (early rail gun?). (I'm saving lighning-type guns for the Brits - Faraday Electrostatic Guns)
I think I will paint my spider in a dark grey, similar to my steam car. This will have to have some sort of heraldic device for the commander.
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If you decide to build a new super-weapon, please post some pics as I must admit to being stumped for ideas on this. The gun is fine for later "periods", but not really for my idea of VSF. I may try & dream up some sort of mega-flame-thrower, as I'm going to use mine for my resident Evil Genius's army & flame-throwers are particularly nasty [and unstable] weapons.
If its a good one, I will of course shamelessly copy your idea & refuse to acknowledge your genius :lol:
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Got mine as well. Got the exact same thing with packaging and the snapping of one of the pieces. Should be an easy fix, so I'm not too fussed. :)
Mine will be used for Weird West though.
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Hey thanks for the feedback Bullshott. I got some other complaints about the packaging too and am now packing them better! Sorry for the leg problem, I can send you a replacement leg if you want.
Anyway, I hope you put up some pictures of it when its done. I,d love to see it!
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8)
Hey thanks for the feedback Bullshott. I got some other complaints about the packaging too and am now packing them better! Sorry for the leg problem, I can send you a replacement leg if you want.
Thanks Ramshackle_Curtis, but it was a clean brreak so will be fine. I will probably base the whole tank to protect the legs.
Update on my tank so far:
The sides of the pieces where the resin was poured into the mould were unfinished on my tank (unlike some of the more established manufacturers such as Ironclad and GZG, who grind these flat). With the large pieces and complex construction involved you need to take time to sand these down to ensure flat surfaces. I used my Dremel rotary tool with a sanding accessory. This was by far the quickest way to obtain flat surfaces without risk of damage to the pieces (but it did creat a lot of resin dust, so consider wearing a mask if you do this).
Because of the number of large and heavy pieces I made sure that I let the glue on each section set fully before attempting to glue the next section. I used a good 2-part epoxy glue (Araldite) which, although it does not dry quickly, did ensure that any cavties in the mating surfaces were filled.
The only problem I had was that the two leg supports to be attached to the sides of the body were identical (rather than being left and right-handed pieces). It took some tome to re-work one of these to fit, followed by minor cocmetic rework on the other so that the two sections had a similar appearance. I will probably add some detailing to hide where I did the rework on these pieces.
Because I used a slow setting glue I ran out of time over the weekend and haven't had a chance to work on the tank this week. Next weekend I will use greenstuff to fill a few air bubble holes I noticed, together with various gaps left during assembly of the body section. I will also assemble and fit the legs. I will pin the ball joints on the legs into the body to give added strength.
After that I need to consider how I will arm the tank. I really like the mandibles on the sides of the head, but need to come up wuth a suitable gun or guns. I'm taken with the idea of a magnetic cannon, but will see what the finished tank looks like before making my final choice.
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The beast arrived this morning, all complete! What a beast and lovely detail, pity the driver will have to be shuit away for looking too Sci-Fi ish! I visualise some Victorian chaps beavering away over large leavers and dials etc.
Anyway think I will paint mine as Prussian, however as I believe a number are already entering the service of the Prussians, so mine will have been captured and fly a large Union Jack!
Tally Ho!
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The beast arrived this morning, all complete! What a beast and lovely detail, pity the driver will have to be shuit away for looking too Sci-Fi ish! I visualise some Victorian chaps beavering away over large leavers and dials etc.
Anyway think I will paint mine as Prussian, however as I believe a number are already entering the service of the Prussians, so mine will have been captured and fly a large Union Jack!
Tally Ho!
Pressed into the service of Her Majesty the Queen(Gaud Bless 'Er) Hurrah :)
Captured at the batte of Kew Bridge no doubt :mrgreen:
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The beast arrived this morning, all complete! What a beast and lovely detail, pity the driver will have to be shuit away for looking too Sci-Fi ish! I visualise some Victorian chaps beavering away over large leavers and dials etc.
Tally Ho!
Paroom Station makes some nice Masked Minion vehicle drivers who would look very appropriate. Eureka has airship crewmen pulling on levers, carrying spanners and fiddling with oil cans who could add to the effect. Their resin steamtank also comes with a pith helmeted driver who would go quite well. You can see him here (he's the painted one, not the unpainted tank):
http://cthulhumonkey.com/blog/index.php?page_id=10&album=1&gallery=3
He's a little out of focus, but it at least gives the idea.
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Eureka has airship crewmen pulling on levers, carrying spanners and fiddling with oil cans who could add to the effect. Their resin steamtank also comes with a pith helmeted driver who would go quite well.
The steam tank is actually manufactured for Eureka by Ground Zero Games (supplied by GZG without the driver). If anyone in UK or other parts of Europe wants to buy to this tank the best place place to go is direct to GZG, since Eurekas's distributor Fighting 15s do not stock the tank.
http://www.gtns.net/store1/commerce.cgi?product=VSF&exact_match=on&cart_id=3030192.24393
(http://www.gtns.co.uk/store1/html/images/vsf-01.jpg)
This reminds me that I must finish 3 of these on my painting table (for my Japanese Ashigaru steam charger squadron).
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:cry: :cry: :cry:
Got mine on Monday and can confirm it is a huge model and seems to be very nice but the REALLY BAD packaging cause a lot of breakage.
The legs are a puzzle cause all off them a broken and it is very hard to figure out what goes where cause the breaks are not clean anymore. One of the mandibles is beyond repair and lots of bits and pieces have broken off and all the parts have obviously banged against each other and caused a lot of little splinters that are impossible to fit into the original places. The breaks are not clean anymore because additional parts have broken off where the first break occurred. basically all of the parts have suffered some damage (well the big boiler seems ok) I know it was shipped half way round the globe to me here in Down Under, but that was known before and then it maybe has to be packed even better
So I must say that I am very disappointed :x , because a little better packaging would have caused much less trouble, cause I need to do a lot of glueing and puzzling...
(http://gallery.mac.com/antoniasweb/100129/BILD0160/web.jpg) :cry:
I am aware that 2 of the legs come in parts and these are not in the picture.
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:cry: :cry: :cry:
Got mine on Monday and can confirm it is a huge model and seems to be very nice but the REALLY BAD packaging cause a lot of breakage.
The legs are a puzzle cause all off them a broken and it is very hard to figure out what goes where cause the breaks are not clean anymore. One of the mandibles is beyond repair and lots of bits and pieces have broken off and all the parts have obviously banged against each other and caused a lot of little splinters that are impossible to fit into the original places. The breaks are not clean anymore because additional parts have broken off where the first break occurred.
So I must say that I am very disappointed, because a little better packaging would have caused much less trouble, cause I need to do a lot of glueing and puzzling...
Hey Darquebus _ A call to the seller should do the trick he has offered to replace broken parts already on this forum. Fingers crossed he sees this post :cry:
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yepp of cause, I am sure they'll be able to replace some parts. I already contacted them.
Just wanted to tell you guys on the forum about my experience so you can demand some better packaging.
And again...THE MODEL LOOKS FANTASTIC!!!!! GREAT COOL SPIDER TANK
a 1000 times better then the odd GW thing. Just unlucky that it didn't survive the trip round the globe.
PS we have real huntsmen spiders down here - but they are of course a little bigger than the model :lol:
http://www.amonline.net.au/factSheets/huntsman_spiders.htm
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Fortunately the only actual break on my huntsman was a clean break on one of the feet and thus easily repairable. However on closer inspection, a lot of the detail especially on the legs, has been affected by minor damage; either through breakages in the brittle resin or due to air bubbles just under the surface that only appeared when the thin surface layer was being cleaned-up. :(
I have now finshed the assembly of the body and am in the process of repairing damage to the legs. Unfortinately i have now run out of greenstuff doing the filling and repairs, so the project is currently on hold until I can buy some more from the Evil Empire shop.
On the positive side, this has created a gap in my plans, so I have been able to start my Prussian torpedo lancers ahead of schedule. :)
Don't get me wrong, this is still a very impressive beastie, but be prepared to spend a lot of time assembling it and repairing minor damage. I am definately going to base the completed model as a means of protecting it against damage during games and transit.
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On the positive side, this has created a gap in my plans, so I have been able to start my Prussian torpedo lancers ahead of schedule. :)
Looking forward to seeing these puppies :)
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Well thanks for the feedback.
I have had a few complaints about the packaging and have now sorted it out. Sorry for the dissapointment guys. This is the first piece of this complexity that Ive made and I just got the packaging wrong.
Send me an email by replying the the order confirmation and tell me which pieces are damaged and I will replace them for you.
I think I need to package spare legs in the set. More moulds will get made!
Ace to see your avatar Bullshot with IKB painted! Good job very neat.
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:) wow that was quick...I was offered the replacement parts within minutes :)
And with the packaging sorted out (even spare legs? WOW!) I can only say I am impressed!!!!!
Just to say it again...the model is really cool! Will post some pictures of the model in action (it will be added to my victorian colledtion) once it is painted.
Thanks to
Curtis for a very good and quick service! :) :) :)
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Ace to see your avatar Bullshot with IKB painted! Good job very neat
The painted figure is posted here:
http://forum.backofbeyond.de/viewtopic.php?t=4398
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:) :) :)
Just got the replacement legs for my huntsman...wow that was quick. just 5 days all around the world!
Very well packed! Nothing broken! Excellent!
I can recommend that!!!!
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That thing is excellent! Far more character than the GW model.
Good set of orderable bits, too. Thanks.
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I finally finished the filling and repair work on my spider tank last night, as well as scratch -building a turret and adding a new driver's position. Here are the WIP shots of a dry run assembly this evening (I will paint the body and legs separately before final assembly).
The figure gives an idea of the impressive size of this beast. You can also see the level of filling and repair work I had to do to get it to this stage.
(http://www.displacedminiatures.com/images/img.1205786933336.jpg)
(http://www.displacedminiatures.com/images/img.1205786791740.jpg)
I will probably replace the turret at some point. I also think this beast needs an additional weapon - perhaps a Gatling or light flamethrower mounted on the front of the 'head'.
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That's no tank.
It's a space station!
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Looks good, although I'm not sure about the pincers on the head. 8)
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Wow, it is certainly a huge beastie. I like the scratchbuilt turret. Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh :)
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Looks good, although I'm not sure about the pincers on the head.
The basic model comes with the option of pincers or remotely-operated guns to mount on the head. Since the guns look like GW bolters these were discarded straight into my bits box!
I actually like the pincers - they actualy look like they are designed to shear through metal and will be fun if an enemy vehicle gets too close! One note regarding the pincers - the blades are fairly thin and easy to break or shear off. I re-inforced them underneath with greenstuff.
If I hadn't fitted the pincers I would probably have replaced them with a pair of flamethrowers. I may still add one to the vehicle.
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Just to confirm what others have said:
I ordered some of the Huntsman parts to go on a VSF landship. Everything was nicely detailed and much bigger than I expected - the boiler for the Huntsman is massive! The resin parts are brittle though, and probably incredibly hard to convert without them shattering.
I also got the Brunel model - cartoony but really nice, very characterful - and they threw in a lady chained to a rock for free (I don't know why, but what the heck). It all came through the post quickly, although packaging could have been more solid.
What with GW packing up its bits service, Ramshackle's vehicle stuff looks very promising indeed. Good stuff!
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What with GW packing up its bits service, Ramshackle's vehicle stuff looks very promising indeed. Good stuff
Perhaps the likes of Ramshackle and Ironclad could help satisfy the need of VSF gamers in their quest to convert anything that doesn't move into some form of vehicle! A parts catalogue of suitable wheels, turrets, hatches, boilers, smokestacks, guns, etc would be great to help with conversions and scratch builds.
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Absolutely! I've only just discovered over companies to GW, and I'm quite impressed. I'll probably stay with GW for the basic marines and other firms for the bits to properly steampunkise them. My landship was scratch-built, and the Ramshackle parts have helped a lot.
Perhaps someone could produce sheets of rivets or something similar?
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Yes definately a market for bits and bobs to assist in turning some tedious horse drawn contraption into a conveyance or fighting machine of beauty and dense balck smoke!
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Yes definately a market for bits and bobs to assist in turning some tedious horse drawn contraption into a conveyance or fighting machine of beauty and dense balck smoke!
Hurrah, three cheers for the steam combustion engine :)
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The advantage of an Easter holiday with crap weather is that I can't do the outside jobs my wife had planned for me, so I have been able to make time to complete my spider tank. Its now completely painted and I'm about to glue the legs on. After that all I have to do is make a suitable base to protect the lmodel from damage.
Hopefully I will get a change to photograph the unbased spider tomorrow.
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The advantage of an Easter holiday with crap weather is that I can't do the outside jobs my wife had planned for me, so I have been able to make time to complete my spider tank. Its now completely painted and I'm about to glue the legs on. After that all I have to do is make a suitable base to protect the lmodel from damage.
Hopefully I will get a change to photograph the unbased spider tomorrow.
Three cheers for the wonderful British weather! :lol: :lol:
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As promissd, here is a shot of my assembled and painted spider tank 'Mephisto'. All I need to do now is to make a base for it to protect those oh-so-vulnerable legs and mandibles from damage.
Decals are from 1/72 and 1/35 scale WW1 A7V tank models and a sheet of 1/48 scale WW1 German aircraft crosses.
(http://www.displacedminiatures.com/images/img.1206278078755.jpg)
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Wow! That is one impressive model! :mrgreen:
You have really done it justice
All topped off with a suitably demonic name :mrgreen:
What are u planning to make the base out of?
It would have to be quite substantial for a huge model like that
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What are u planning to make the base out of?
I'm going to use a thin 10" round cake base and finish it with cobblestones (textured wallpaper) and rubble/urban ruins. Even the 10" base is too small, so some of the legs will be standing on pieces of rubble protruding over the base.
The advantage of cake bases is that they are already cut to shape and come with a layer of foil glued to the top, so the card does not absorb moisure from the glue.
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Now I see it in it's finished glory I think you were right about the pincers. 8)
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:love:
Amazing work on an amazing model Sir! My most sincere compliments.
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Simply splendiferous!!
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Very nice job, I love the conversion work. The Germanic theme works really well too. This is the first finished Huntsman that Ive seen published and its cool to see! Yay!
Sjust to say to Space Captain Toby, the lady I sent is Trixie, a promotional item we give away for free! http://www.ramshacklegames.co.uk/articles/trixiepaintingguide.html
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Top stuff Sir Henry, :D
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Very nicely done. 8)
The added turret definately works.
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Grand - and a nice colour scheme too :) :) :)
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That looks excellent. Painted in metal, it does indeed look like some insane creation of the Kaiser. Good stuff, especially with the turret.
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Ruthlessly efficient 8)
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Grand - and a nice colour scheme too
Painted in metal, it does indeed look like some insane creation of the Kaiser
Glad you guys like the finished model. I am using this paint scheme on all of my Prussian armour. It produces a nice 'campaign weary' effect over a basic panzer grey factory finish. It takes a long time to complete on such a large model, but I think its worth it.
Painting was as follows (all GW/Citadel colours):
1 - Undercoat - black
2 - Paint pistons, cables, feet and pincers - mixed Bolt Gun Metal and black
3 - Paint rest of the vehicle - mixed Codex Grey and black (slightly darker than 50:50 mix)
4 - Decals added at this stage
5 - Weathering dry brush over all surfaces::
5a - Snakebite Leather
5b - Bubonic Brown
5c - Fortress Grey
6 - Light touch up on turret name and artwork (Mephisto) with red and white as required.
7 - Dry brush on piston casings - mixed Bolt Gun Metal and black
8 - Final weathering dry brush over all surfaces - Bleached Bone
9 - Dry brush feet and pincers - mixed Bolt Gun Metal and black
10 - Piant piston rods - Chainmail
I have now finished texturing the base for the spider and am in the process of painting it.
The next project will be some very Germanic looking impervious suits to complete my Prussian armour....
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Ken Whitehurst has written a review of the tank for TGN
http://www.tabletopgamingnews.com/2008/04/07/13630