Blackadder's FW Chaos Warhound Build

Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Prognosis Positive:


Well sandblasting did the trick but it is indeed disappointing that such extreme measures have to be exercised on a model costing close to $600 BUCKS! Were I not in the possession of a basic sandblaster and compressor I would have been thoroughly shagged and I know of many who having purchased expensive FW models who have put off rushing into building them for years after purchase until building skills improve.


Now to be fair I did not contact FW for replacement parts, I don't know what the time limit on their responsibility would be but I am sure it doesn't extend to over two years. I have a feeling that they would not be amenable to replacing over half the components anyway so 'caveat emptor' prevailed and I relied on impromptu modeling abilities to remedy this situation.


Thanks to all who made suggestions on remedying this and now as I apply the first coat of primer (make that REapply the first coat of primer) I make a mental note of how not to be put in this situation in the future.
 
Meph

Meph

Cat-herder Extraordinaire
Two years might be stretching it, but I've been in contact with FW once or twice concerning a broken- or even a missing piece. They were always quick and generous to send out a replacement part on their cost. Good lads.
I think it's just the guy taking the casts out of the molds that has two marmalade jars as spectacles.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Meph said:
Two years might be stretching it, but I've been in contact with FW once or twice concerning a broken- or even a missing piece. They were always quick and generous to send out a replacement part on their cost. Good lads.
I think it's just the guy taking the casts out of the molds that has two marmalade jars as spectacles.
Click to expand...

Hell if I lived in Belgium that's like 200 miles away from FW, not even a day trip, I'd just pop over and knock on their door..... Ha!
 
R

roninjr

New member
Sorry I'm so late to this thread but I cast copies of rare out of production models when I feel the need to and I've run up against this foe as well. My only solution was to place the piece outside under direct sunlight for the day and puff all ok afterwards. I think it's caused by a tiny inconsistency in the resin itself. Again, sorry for being so late. I do enjoy staying up with your creations, they're wonderful.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
roninjr said:
Sorry I'm so late to this thread but I cast copies of rare out of production models when I feel the need to and I've run up against this foe as well. My only solution was to place the piece outside under direct sunlight for the day and puff all ok afterwards. I think it's caused by a tiny inconsistency in the resin itself. Again, sorry for being so late. I do enjoy staying up with your creations, they're wonderful.
Click to expand...

Ouch! Now he tells me. Well that's a great solution, too bad I have no way to test it but I'm a bit skeptical considering this. Most of the FW resins I have dealt with whilst hard and brittle still can be pared with a sufficiently sharp modeling knife. This stuff is as hard and as brittle as glass and smoother than waxed glass in point of fact that is what it feels like; waxed glass. Even under 90 psi of sandblasting the stuff resists abrasion. Initially I was reluctant to apply full stream sand under that pressure for fear of eroding the fine detail i hit it with short bursts of 70 psi sand; didn't even touch it. In the end I was hitting it with ten to fifteen seconds of full pressure and even then it was resistant. I never saw anything like it. That kind of abrasion can cloud a mirror.
 
Meph

Meph

Cat-herder Extraordinaire
In that case, it might still be worth to contact Forgeworld. I just remembered that the time a model of mine had a piece missing, I hadn't touched it in over a year before discovering it. I contacted them anyway and got a replacement part.
Especially if you bought the model directly from their site, you have an account, and your order is still registered by number.

As you said, it's a 600$ model, and by my experience they have a good after sales service (probably because they're relatively small scale).
Send a mail, give a good description, maybe attach some photos. Have a go at it, you've got absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain.
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Too late my dear Meph,

I hope I have resolved the issue............ but if the paint peels off again I'll give it a try.

Fabrica Redux:

Now that that little item of paint adherence has been allayed we can resume the fabrication of the model's joining surfaces.

http://i.imgur.com/oEdab3c.jpg
oEdab3cl.jpg


I'm going to use magnets again to attach the various major components since it worked so well with the other Chaos Warhound built previously on this thread.

I'll try to document the steps better this time because I know now that the process will work whereas before I was trodding unknown territory.
 
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Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Magnets Instead of Pins:

As you may well know the Blackadder is never satisfied with his work so he has to make allowances for his mania by assembling his models so they can be made better at some future date.


And so discovered Rare Earth Magnets which are tailor made to accommodate his compulsive disorder.


The below image shows the pencil marks and scale used to precisely position the magnets on the after hull component to the Void Generator housings.


I used the rear hull angles to demarcate where I would position the center of the magnet and for convenience the width of the scale for the second center coordinate.


After drilling and gluing in the hull magnets I positioned the rear hull on the Generator housing and traced the rear hull angles onto the housing(s).


Then using my scale again (See image foreground housing) and allowing for pencil point width I marked the housing magnet center position.


http://i.imgur.com/cVnnWzf.jpg

cVnnWzfl.jpg




I then center cut a tiny pin hole with my #11 xacto tip (foreground housing) and drilled a pilot hole as in the housing upper left in the image below.



http://i.imgur.com/xy3uqao.jpg

xy3uqaol.jpg




It's important to be extremely precise in the placement of the magnets because the magnets are self centering with each other and if they are off the fit of the components will be loose when the model is assembled.


It's also important to make sure the magnets are flush with the surrounding surfaces and not tilted in their sockets I'll show how I do that in the next installment..........


http://i.imgur.com/hKXwO63.jpg

hKXwO63l.jpg




Note if you will that in spite of the manhandling of the components the paint is firmly staying in place; Whew! at least that problem was solved....
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Insidious ForgeWorld:

These models are not for the beginner. I noticed this on the first model as well; there is a small aligning block moulded into the lower corner of the Generator housing (indicated by the arrow I scratched in the paint on the left housing.


This small block is supposed to help align the housing with the aft hull component. Well it's in the wrong place or it's just too big and has to be trimmed down or the housings will not seat squarely on the hull floor or the back wall depending how you glue the parts together so conceivably you can have one generator angled up and one down and not notice it until you try to install the carapace and whoops it won't fit!


or it rocks!


http://i.imgur.com/C4PLSqg.jpg

C4PLSqgl.jpg
[/URL]



So either cut the block off or trim it down so the generators fit evenly and at the same angle.


I'll show you what I mean once my epoxy dries.............
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Insidious ForgeWorld Part Two:

Now that the glue is dry I can demonstrate what I meant in the above post:


For the point of illustration let's pretend the Generator housing is not held on with magnets but instead you are trying to affix it to the hull with glue. In the image below I have purposely put the housing as it would appear were the corner block NOT trimmed down. Note the gap under the side wall utility box that should be resting on the hull floor. If you rock the housing forward so the box rests on the floor then the box in the upper corner separates from the back wall. You can have one or the other but not both because that moulded in block is positioned wrong.


http://i.imgur.com/mzvLCrJ.jpg

mzvLCrJl.jpg



So after you trim or remove the block both utility boxes contact the hull floor and back wall as they were intended and the housing is installed correctly i.e. as the FW designer had intended.


The proof of this is shown below where the completed housing assembly seen from beneath shows the bases of the hull and both housings are flush with each other behind the waist pivot well.
http://i.imgur.com/05lxjRi.jpg

05lxjRil.jpg




A minor discrepancy but I'll bet there are Warhounds assembled with those gaps apparent all because of a lack of FW quality control; I mean cleaning flash and vents and flattening mating surfaces I can understand but redesigning castings should not be required on a $600 dollar model for crissake!

 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
The Best of All Possible Worlds:


So in my above rants I pointed out quality control issues in FW castings but in truth these are beautifully designed and executed models, a bit pricey but then; It's only money and what else would you do with it;


Give it to the Government?


The "best of all Worlds" title of this piece refers to the employment of magnets rather than glue to hold your Wahound together. The beauty of this is it allows you to view the wealth of internal detail in this model and also allows detailed interior painting after the model is assembled or in the case described above repair/alterations of mistakes made in the callowness of youthful exuberance i.e. "I gotta get this built for the big tournament this weekend."


Anyway below is the full hull/housing/carapace assembly in one piece; stable yet held together only with magnets.


http://i.imgur.com/tD7cFfN.jpg
tD7cFfNl.jpg



First removing the carapace, almost everyone today employs magnets to affix the carapace to the hull so that's no biggy............


http://i.imgur.com/yDMe4bR.jpg
yDMe4bRl.jpg



Note; the center bulkhead has not been installed properly as I want that removable for painting and subsequent interior view when the model is completed (Blackadder, do you ever complete a model?)


In the image below, shows the twin Generator housings held on only with magnets granting easy access to the aft bulkhead and hull.


http://i.imgur.com/fcppojM.jpg
fcppojMl.jpg



(Yeah I know the gap is under the right utility box in this image because I was using this photo for the demo 'reply'.)


Finally the hull completely disassembled and can be reassembled with equal facility thanks to the super strong properties of the rare earth magnets.


http://i.imgur.com/JxS1UkE.jpg
JxS1UkEl.jpg



Next; Pinning the front to rear hull sections..............



 
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wargamesculptor

wargamesculptor

New member
Very nice BA, what size magnets are you using and does it make a large difference in the magnetic field varying the size by a couple of millimeters ?
 
Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
I would not allow the magnets to be off center by more than a millimeter because they self center on each other. They are so strong that it might make for a loose fitting part............depending on the location. With the generator housings once the model is completely built they have to slide into place so it's not that critical but try to be as exact as possible anyway.

A Bee Without a Sting


Of course it's all well and good to advocate using magnets but unless the procedure is defined it's just so much verbal flatus. Not being a politician I'll attempt to back up my proposal with a procedural method.


First of all you're going to need some sort of drill. Now here in the USA you can get a decent 1/2 inch variable speed drill for about $20 bucks. If you can afford a $600 dollar model surely you can afford an electric drill. I believe a man without tools is like a bee without a sting (Hence the Title :D). Next you're going to need a set of drill bits. These are also pretty cheap because we're not drilling sheet metal here we're drilling plastic so now you're out maybe $30 bucks but the tools are reusable and with care will probably last a lifetime.


Next you will need rare earth magnets. I buy mine on ebay or locally at Home Depot or Lowes, Where they can be obtained in Europe & Etc I cannot say but I'm sure they can be sourced on the Internet.


For glue I use 5 or 7 minute epoxy also available at Home Depot &Etc.


To mount the Generator housings I used 12 MM X 3 MM disc shaped magnets one in each housing and one in each side of the aft hull component. Now it's important to observe the polarity of the magnets because if you get it wrong the part will shoot across the workbench instead of locking in place; I mark my polarity with a felt marker so I can tell at a glance which side is which. Call me a nitpicker but I keep the north/south polarity consistent across the two generators and the hull so the magnets are not repelling each other over the millenia.


Okay so now we're ready to drill the hole to receive the magnet; drill the hole with a bit just slightly larger than the size of the magnet. Now here in the US that's 31/64ths inch but a 1/2 inch will do. In the rest of the World that's about 12,5 MM or 13 MM if you have a cheap drill set. You can get away with drill the hole 3 MM deep ideally but not less as you don't want the magnet to protrude above the surface of the resin. So mix enough resin to coat the sides of the hole and fill the bottem of the cup and install the magnet making sure to observe the polarity remember. Now we want the magnet to be even with the surface of the surrounding surface and also to be dead on level i.e.not tilted so wipe off the excess epoxy and take a thin piece of steel or a fender washer and cover the magnet; don't worry about the washer getting glued to the piece, we'll address that later after the epoxy dries.

 
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Blackadder

Blackadder

Active member
Thanks for the reply,

The problem I have with these large resin models is I can't decide on a pose I really want to commit to therefore I pin every thing I can in order to forestall that decision. I do not see this model having the full range of motion that my scratch Warhound has due to the static nature of the pistons and cylinders needing to be cut to fit the final stance position. The pose I am leaning towards is this one:


http://i.imgur.com/Yeju1O9.jpg
Yeju1O9l.jpg
 
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