Refurbishing Empire Cannons - Budget Wargaming

Around twelve months ago I picked up a couple of Empire Great Cannons off of Ebay for around £5.00 including the postage. At the current time of writing a brand new Empire kit will set you back £15.50 so quite a saving on new retail but they were far from 'as new' condition. I cleaned the figures using Detol, the disinfectant removes the paint without damaging the plastic underneath. Stripping them back to the original grey. I then sprayed the cannons in plate mail silver from the Army Painter range of primers.

After the clean up process the crew looked like this. You'll notice some missing heads but the figures are mainly intact with minor repairs required.

I then cut two pieces of 3mm acrylic to the same size as a chariot. These will be the bases for the cannons and crew.

The two bases were covered in my 'washed building sand' mix with a focus of larger bits at the one end to resemble boulders. These components are held in place with PVA glue.

I then spent some time experimenting with different positions of the figures to tell a narrative when in place.

Spare heads form other Empire kits were used as replacements. You will also notice the rolled up blankets placed upon the cannon to hide a missing bracket.

Paper clips can also be used to add a unique appearance to figures but giving them hooks.

 

The two cannons side by side showing similar but different basing. I have painted them in the red and white colours to match the rest of my Empire force.

The base is earth with a light grey dry brush to pick out the stones and grains of sand. The grass is tufts glued into place using super glue gel. This glue also holds the cannon and figures in place. Only when posting this photo did I realise that I had not painted the flame on the end of the firers stick!

Close ups show a perfectly acceptable models. (I do need to tidy the models but wanted to take photos for the blog, spot the white paint on the ramrod!)

By comparing this photo with the above you will notice the rolled up blankets from the pistoleers kit used to hid the missing bracket of the cannon. A lot easier than crafting another bracket from scratch and aids in the narrative of the figures. 

 Yes the blond does have the head from the demigryph kit. The line down the side of the gun barrel in near invisible when not under the macro lens and flash lighting of the camera.

All in all it would be hard to tell that these are reconditioned rather than new. I feel that the skin tones are still too dark at the moment, as with some of the leather work, still nothing five minutes of highlighting would not cure. In total a saving of around £26, bargain. 

I think in the future I may set myself a challenge of building a 'bargain' army where I recondition a whole army for a minimal cost to see if it can be done. Not for a while though as I've still got loads of Empire to paint before I get sidetracked. 

Emperor Karl Franz - Empire General Supreme!

At 555 point Karl Franz on Death Claw doesn't come cheep. If you upgrade his Reikland Runfang to Ghal Maraz that will cost you a further 30 points. However as Generals go he arguably the best. At first I was reluctant to have him in my fast response themed army at the quarter of the cost of a 2500 point army. I am sure that he will become a 'cannonball magnet' but for the occasion game he's great fun.

The base for this model is the same size as a chariot. (50mm x 100mm) This will give you an indication of the size of the overall model.

I followed the colour scheme in the book as close as my limited talent would allow me. The wings I gave a sand coloured base coat with layers of brown wash. The large outer feathers also had a coat of black wash to give a contrast. Through out I used citadel washes on this figure.

The front breast plate of deathclaw is packed with embossed detail. I am a little disappointed with the gap in the plating and my hopes that it would be covered in the paintwork were not realised. In time I will come back to the model to patch this up.

A side view shows the transition on the model between the 'tiger' and the 'bird'.

I still think that Karl's face needs some work to make it more realistic.

Air Brush Spraying Booth - Studio Gets an Update

I have been thinking for a while of upgrading the ventilation in the man cave to remove the unwanted paint spray from the airbrush. Up to now I've used a filtered solder fume extractor and an open door but during the winter months it can be chilly. I wanted a system that totally remove the unwanted air from the mancave and at the same time not be fixed in one location tying up vital 'real estate' on my desk.

In order to do this I used a 35litre tub, a shower ventilation fan, a tumble dryer hose, and an exterior vent plate. If you want to see how read on!

35 litre tub £4.99

Vent cover £2.99

Tumble dryer hose £2.99 (this one came with a jubilee clip)

Extractor fan, often used for ventilating in door kitchens and bathrooms to remove unwanted fumes. £19.99

First I marked out the fan size hole that I would need in the back of the plastic tub.

 I found it move effective to use my 'dremel drill' to remove the unwanted plastic.

I then found out a cable left over from an electrical appliance and removed the unit plug off of the end. This provided me with a ready made power lead. [PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A BLOG OF HOW I DID THIS NOT AN INSTRUCTION LIST FOR YOU TO DO THE SAME. PLEASE ONLY MESS WITH MAINS POWER IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING!]

Once I had removed the rubber sleeving from the wire it looked like this. 

 The automatic bathroom fan comes on when the light switch is turned on. To simulate this I used a small connecting piece of wire.

You can see in the above picture the small wire connected between the mains power and the light switch input. 

I then popped the two front covers on.

I then marked four bolt holes and fixed the fan to the tub.

This is the pane of glass that I removed (yes broken by my son during his football training in the garden!)

I cut out the piece of 5mm HIPS, I could have used acrylic but I had this to hand. I then used the same technique to remove the circle as I did on the tub.

This picture shows the four bolts holding the fan vent in place. 

An outside view of the fan vent.

The fan vent is great at keeping outside the rain, closing automatically with gravity when the fan is not on.

Plastic with vent in place.

An air hose is connected between the plastic plate and the tub using a jubilee clip. This allows for the tub to me moved around the desk.

 In place ready for airbrushing on the desk.

Not many of the things that I airbrush will be as big as a hell brute but I thought I would show him in there to give an indication of the size.

I am hoping that this £30 rig will help to look after my lungs and when the tub looks a little worn it will only cost the price to a new tub to carry on. 

Hope this has been of some use, Ade

Empire Demigryph Knights - Painting Tutorial Tease

After a busy five days at work I decided to sit down and chill out by making a painting tutorial for the new empire demigryph knights. The painting tutorial series 'painting for us mere mortals' is aimed at novices or those with a low skill set to help them improve. So far it has been relatively popular and over time I anticipate building up a good range of model tutorials. I would add add this point that I do not view myself as an especially good painter but I am a teacher and enjoy passing on things that I have picked up or that I have been shown.

The new empire demigryph knights are monsterous cavalry and are comparable with the mournfang cavalry of the Ogre Kingdoms army in Warhammer Fantasy. Looking at the stats they seem slightly harder hitting than mournfang but more brittle on defence. 

The kit is supplied in boxes of three and these have full command. Eventually I intend to field up to two units of four. I don't think the second ranks are effective with these as only the rider gets to attack from the second rank and with these it is the demigryph who you are paying the points for.

A close up of the model shows that, even with a basic paint job, the models look great. There are some reigns that I have yet to fit.

Empire Steam Tank - Painting Tutorial Tease

I have just completed a painting tutorial for the Empire Steam Tank and thought that I would share the finished photos before the tutorial release later this week.

I am not going to give away too many secrets here, you will have to watch the vid for that ;) but I used a graphics pen to do the text. This tip was given to me by Matt Perks (ubique-matt.blogspot.com) and has saved me tip and stress when doing text. I still feel I can improve in this area but that will come with practice.

The steam tank captain does look more like Santa than a hardened veteran but I like the idea of a professor fighting with his inventions than a sword and shield. As a side point you can build the steam tank engineer with a more grizzled look with the ample head and arm configurations provided in the kit.

Every steam engine should have a red section on the valve, and of course the needle should be kept on the danger line at all times!