18 replies to this topic

[Dourin]

Hey all,

a while back, back when the Organ gun/cannon set first came out, I bought a set and after having constructed the organ gun, I found myself with a spare cannon barrel. Using the empty sprues I turned the scrap into another cannon.

Now, with the Grudge Match event coming up (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you've been living under a rock for a few months or you haven't seen the nice subforum over at the Battleground) I found myself with not enough war machines. Having lots and lots of empty of halfempty sprues lying around, it would be a shame not to put them to use. Making all kinds of fences with them was one of the ideas (I might still come to that) but taking my inspiration from 5-6th edition war machines, before Dwarfs switched over to full metal bolt and stonethrowers, I put my sprues to use.

The progress so far...:




The example being:




The cannon:



One of the cannons I finished before:



For my stone thrower, I've ordered these wheels from Thomarillion. Check this guy out, excellent customer service. http://www.thomarill...p74hk3elrcj40h7

Also up and coming, the old edition bolt throwers. Even though they are less useful in this edition, the only material I use are sprues, so I might as well make some more.

Also, this would be an excellent way to get more use out of a Battalion box, using the sprues to get additional war machines.

Regards,

Dourin

Edited by Dourin, 27 November 2011 - 07:20 PM.

[Torendil Zharrgrund]

That's a great idea Dourin.

Those WM look really great, and GW tournaments/stores can't complain as they are actually made entirely out of GW parts!
I've always been annoyed with the extra barrels and bits from sets I couldn't use, but this seems like a good way to get some more out of them.

Thumbs up for posting this!



Torendil the Slayer

[theorox]

Looks solid actually, nice job!

Theo

Edited by theorox, 27 November 2011 - 07:28 PM.

[Vidpui]

Great use of the sprues! Love them

[Squergi]

That's a really nice cannon, looks actually just as cool as any real GW cannon! Well done saving money

[Wendersnaven]

This is incredibly helpful as I have an old stonethrower that is missing its fulcrum and a wheel. Thanks for postin! Have one on Alebelly's tab.

[kera foehunter]

the canon bace could work for a beer cart too

Edited by kera foehunter, 27 November 2011 - 09:36 PM.

[Oridur]

Very well done! Scratchbuilding and economy! Your cannon needs the clamps (trunions?) to hold it down though. Other wise they look great.

[Dourin]

Continuing on the cheap road: two turrets, first of a batch of five which will form the front rank of a new 5 by 2 thunderer unit.






Regards,

Dourin

[Alebelly_Cragfist]

Thanks for postin! Have one on Alebelly's tab.

?!

These look great. Are the frames literally cut and carved from the sprues too? If so, very nice! Love the lil turrets too btw, may pinch that idea at some point

[Dourin]

@Alebelly: Indeed they are. I did choose T-sections first that would make the sides of my stonethrower. Once the basic frame is made, I added the supports as well.

A small explanation: About the cannon frame: you start with an reversed base of 20 by 20. Glue two pieces of sprue with the smaller side to two opposed sides of the base and add in two little ones to the remaining sides. Glue two more bits of sprue on the sides with the smaller bits with the glue on the larger side. Carve/file out the spaces for the cannon supports here.

On the other side of the base, where the mini normally would go, glue two long pieces of sprue with the wider side to the base. Don't forget to glue a small crossbar at the end, this will be one of the pieces on which the entire cannon will rest.

Glue a larger crossbar over the two long pieces. Make sure it is long enough as the wheels will be attached to it so you need enough space to make sure the wheels dont touch the undercarriage of the cannon.

As a finishing touch, feel free to add some ancestor icons to the front of the cannon to spruce it up a bit.

Voila, that should get you the cannon as you see it now. All that is needed now is to attach the cannon from the cannon/organ gun box, perhaps mix in some of the little details from that set to further complete it.

As for the wheels, as you can see from the picture of the completed cannon, I used simple buttons on which I glued the small shields from the Thunderer/Quarreler box to serve as hubcaps and to hide the little holes in the middle.

There, I hope my explanation is sufficiently clear. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask.

[Eboric]

I love the idea of using scrap to make things, mine always look rubbish. However yours are good! : D

[Kegtapper]

This is inspired! I have a cannon barrel left over after building an organ gun, and I've been wanting to scratch build a cannon for some time. I also have a big box of sprues that I've been hoarding like a miserly dwarf for years with the thought that they could be good building material. Now I have a new project; thanks for sharing!

[Anvilborn]

love these, very nice work...one thing that i noticed was the layout for the legs u used on the gun turrets...consider that idea stolen, simple yet so effective!

and thanks for the link to Thomarillion

[Bolgain Bolgson]

Is there any progress in these projects?

[Dourin]

At the moment, I'm focusing on my painting log (see my sig ), what with the Grudgematch date getting closer. The turrets are however on my to do list to paint as they form part of my Thunderer unit and should be painted pretty soon.

At the moment I have a bit of a problem with the Stonethrower. Ideally I'd like to add some "metal clamps" like you see on the old metal model. Unfortunately my greenstuff skills are not good enough to do this. I've been thinking of using small cardboard strips to glue on as a base for putting the liquid greenstuff on. But at the moment, I'm focusing on painting my models. I should have another 10 quarrelers painted and posted pretty soon, together with three banners I also painted, including some work on my bsb. After 3 years or so, I'm finally 80-90% happy with how he looks.

The cannon scratchbuild is done and is only missing a paintjob.

@BlackThorn: Yeah basicly. I used tooth picks in a spokewheel layout and cut them off close to the edge of the shields. The rest of the toothpicks formed the legs. The wheels themselves I've ordered from Thomarillion, a pretty cool site with an excellent client service.

Edited by Dourin, 15 January 2012 - 09:17 PM.

[Drakkol]

Very nice idea! Always a good thing spare some money and use extra bits. Turrets are awsome.

[Vulcan]

By the by, what are the dimensions on the official Grudge Thrower? I really want to do one of these, but I don't know how big to make it...

[HEAD HUNTER STORE]

clever use of material.... al you need to do is MO some wheels.... this is STOLEN!

best,

D.