Ork Racer Part2

This entry is all about the building of the racers themselves.As was mentioned in the previous entry, I  used two spare tank turrets from Trumpeter kits for the bodies of the vehicles, but they needed a good deal of modification before use by Orks. The one on the right is unchanged except for a layer of kit armour, while that on the left has been drilled, hollowed  and fitted out with a rough cockpit and a much larger gun.

All grey parts are original kit, while white is the colour of sheet styrene. The shape of the cockpit is neither here nor there at this stage, as the actual driver will determine the final look of this aspect of the build.

One overriding factor governs these types of build and that is, "leave no surface untouched". I really wanted to see a big bulging differential hump on these buggies, so it had to be made. Apart from the wheels this would be a cast item (Ike's brief). Here we see the black plastic master, the pink silicon mould and the final casting. At this point the second cast has not been removed.

 

Each vehicle needed a ventral structure to complete its chassis and they were made with simple boxed forms from styrene. This plastic sheet is the perfect modelling material in that it is made in various thicknesses, can be cut by scoring and snapping, glues using a solvent or super glue and takes paint well, either acrylic or enamel. On the left you can see a piece of Evergreen styrene L beam which has been used to reinforce the edges of the box. Evergreen makes such extrusions in many useful shapes including tubes, rods, U forms, I beams, flats and sheets.

 

Now the fun starts, cluttering up the surfaces with whatever you can think of. Here I can see electronic items, lead solder, kit parts, that resin diff, lead sheet, a cut styrene Ork symbol and many, many rivets cut from styrene rod.

Each vehicle represents a similar buggy type but owned by two different Ork clans. This being the case they have to be individually outfitted. On the right is a high rider of the Blood Axe clan while the other is a low rider of the Bad Moons.

 

 I always detail the undersides even though they may be invisible once the final placement is made.

 





Here can be see the cast hemispheres used as hubs for the low rider's wheels. They had to ground to fit the space but really they weren't planned at all. I had originally decided to have a differential hump, but found that there really wasn't enough room and so they became these groovy wheel supports. The fuel tanks were tubes cut and fitted with circles made with a cheap punch kit.

 

 

This is the Bad Moons low rider almost complete before painting. There is a bit of work to be done on the upper surface  when the driver makes his entrance. I am particularly pleased with the exhausts and the use of some great stainless steel swarf (curled debris from lathe work). This was used as hydraulic lines feeding the complex front ends. 

 

And here is the Blood Axe high rider complete with already red painted missiles. As cast parts are cream in colour, you can see that I have used a previously made  fuel drum on this buggy which gives it a different look from the other.

Both together and awaiting their drivers and a paint job.

Ork Racer Part 1

These are the drawings I did of the model I was going to make as a thank you to my friend Ike. He helped me to overcome my problems with the blog and I felt the best I could do in return would be to make him a special model using cast resin pieces. The vehicle was to be an Ork racer made from the turret of a KV-1 Russian
tank mounted on the most outrageous knobby wheels. This entry is about the process of making these wheels.





 

Above are two drawings which set out the look of the wheel, with its extravagant tread pattern and in the lower one, how it was to be made and its size.Thick plastic sheet was to be laminated after the correct sized holes were drilled.  

 

 

These photos show part of the drilling,milling and finishing of the central holes. I have no simple way of making a clean hole above a certain size, so an enlarging procedure must be used employing grinding and sanding.

 

The holes are done, now comes the gluing under the weight shown to laminate them before  they are rounded into their final circular form.

 

Well they look like wheels with at least two levels of depth and a central axle hole. Note how they conform to the plans. I'm amazed sometimes how things actually go to plan. Good for me.

I used thick solder to make the tread pattern and super glue to fill the undercuts that are formed by laying a circular section on to a flat. You can also see the use of epoxy to help with the larger gaps.

Here we see the casting process from the initial mould box to a view of the two parts of the mould, to the first cast wheel still with its pour plug in place. The final pic shows all the wheels cast, their moulds and the master in front. Behind are the tank turrets which are the subject of the next entry.