Well, all this talk about Genestealer limousines got me so excited about (finally) building one, I could not wait and just had to get cracking.
It's been a while since I've posted anything on the forum, but that does not mean I have been idle; I just couldn't be bothered to go back, set up, take pictures, crop/resize, upload and then write waffle about them. But I'll behave better again from now on, promise...
Right; the limo. It's been quite a few years since I scoured the toy stores for model cars, but I had high hopes of scoring just the right base for my conversion. Well, no...
I had no idea how difficult shopping for a simple toy car has become! I had been looking for a thirties car, preferably in 1/43, but those were impossible to find in 3 toystores and another 3 discount stores. What?
So I decided I could also settle for some fifties hod rod perhaps? I lowered my standards; plastic, die cast, wood, anything. But I could not even find a single, suitable Cars toy. Go figure!
On to the interwebs then. Same story basically; I could not find any of the sweet rides I had seen being used as a base for limo conversions. So, on a whim, I began searching for larger scales also, as some examples I had seen actually used 1/25 scale cars.
And then, by accident, I stumbled on this awesome German staff car:
I immediately knew that this one would be my project!
Searching on, for just the tiniest of moments, I was tempted to go with this crazy contraption here:
But in the end, I found it too crazy (and probably too expensive as well), even though it would fit in like one of the locals in a 40K environment.
No; I stayed true to my idea and set out to the local hobby shop to find my staff car. I knew by then that Revell did one in 1/35, and I had seen that particular box in the store, so I was confident that I could score my car and get cracking.
Wrong again.
They did not have it, and being the impatient git I am, I had no desire to wait for an Ebay purchase to be delivered or for the store to order one.
So, I looked for alternatives, and managed to find two possible candidates;
and
After much deliberation, I finally settled for the latter. It was the closest to my original idea (it being German), but also the lines of the vehicle 'spoke' to me a bit more.
Besides; I did not have enough money in the meter to dally any longer anyway...
When I got home, I put the box on my desk, as I knew I would not be faffing around with it anytime soon, since my 2 year old is pretty ill and demands constant attention/attendance. I even had to cancel my regular gaming night, as I prepped myself for another night of nursing duty.
But in came my wife, stating that her girl's night out was moved a day forward, so she would be taking care of the little one tonight and unexpectedly I was free to get cracking!
Which I obviously did with gusto.
I immediately decided that the most important feature of the staff car, the double rear axle, would have to be converted; it was just too cool and just what a limo needs, when driving around a chunky Patriarch.
So that was my first stop:
Basically, I sawed straight through the chassis (with attached wheel wells), added a length of plasticard and glued the end bit back into place. Braces underneath were used for extra stability and strength. Then the insides of the wheel wells were closed off by first using a bit of card to trace the exact shape required, then that was transferred to plasticard (x2) and glued into place.
The curved fender/wheel well was created by taking a piece of square tubing and cutting it in half, lengthwise. Then the corners were filed into curves to match those of the kit, and after much test fitting, they were glued into place. Then, after letting them dry for a bit, I filed/sanded both inserts completely flush with the original parts.
Then it was on to the grille, which just has to be imposing and intimidating. Only the basic shape is done for now, but hopefully you can already see where I'm going with this beast:
I intend to keep it very low to the ground, maybe one or two millimeter raised, but no more. Also, the cab will be closed, so walls and a roof need to be constructed. And trimming, rivets and much gothification need applying too.
That's all I have for now, but stay tuned for the next episode of Pimp my Hive!
17 September 2013, 03:38:28 PM