The Chaos is Subsiding...

Hi, All!

Wow! My second Blog in as many weeks! Who woulda thunk it?

Leggy bits with rivets an' that...

I am happy to report that things are starting to take shape Chez O'Truth. I have managed to do a bit of work on HMSW Gargantua, have sorted through most of my boxes of stuff, and was even able to get a game in with Scott Bowman and Notorious Greg last night - the first action Leadwood has seen in some time. A great time was had by all, even though Scott was basically massacred and Greg managed (as usual) to get just about every action card...

I've done two of these now. It's a bit tedious at times...

Anyway, for those of you who care, here's a closeup of me new foot. This is the front right foot of the walker and is intended to have its heel slightly raised from the ground, to give the model more of a sense of movement. A walker standing squarely on the ground with four flat feet might be ever so slightly more stable, but rather less interesting to look at.

It occurred to me that as the heel was raised, a little detail should be added to the sole - so I added some nice big, dangerous-looking studs.  Twenty of 'em. (oops! - I'll be sure to photograph them next time!) This amounts to 284 rivets for this leg - bringing the count so far to 2810!

As for the rest of the chaos... Here's a pic of Hobby Corner (my bedroom)! Somewhere in there are all my bits and pieces...

All the Best!

Proof of Life!

Hi, All!

She survived the move! And now for the continuation...

OK - I know I promised I'd blog more frequently... and then stopped again... but now I REALLY PROMISE I'll do more!

Actually, it's been a busy time of late, what with moving house and conferences in Auckland etc, etc. But now that work has settled down and (most of) my life is no longer in cardboard boxes, it's time to get hobbyising again! Huzzah!

See!? I am working again! I am!

Just to prove it, here are some pics of leg-type bits for HMSW Gargantua, all laid out on me nice big dining table this very eve! Soon the smell of glue will fill the air and I shall be giggliing insanely as I count rivets!

A pile of feety bits! What a lovely sight!

So enough waffle from me! Bring on the solvents!

Leg bits! And look! Rivets! Yay for rivets! I've missed 'em! Ahahahahahaha!

All the Best!

A little bit of naval gazing...

Hi, All!

Roger the Cabin Boy employs the age-old stealth technique of shouting a lot...

Well, paint me blue and call me Susan! It's been two months since my last post! TWO MONTHS!

I could go on and on about work commitments, kids, and secret missions to obscure hotels with dusky foreign maidens, but you wouldn't be interested in that...

Anyway, here I am. Sorry for the delay.

Commander Smythe-Smythe-Harrington-Smythely. He tends to do a lot of pointing.

After such a long break from counting rivets, I have allowed myself to slip slowly back into the hobby with some nice, simple painting. And I have to report that despite complaints from Lieutenant Boddington and his army-types, I have decreed that HMSW Gargantua will be filled with a load of salty seamen as soon as possible.

So here they are.

See...?

These fine fellows (from Copplestone Castings) have been coloured using my usual ink techniques. And I think you'll agree, they've come out rather well. Granted, the blue may not be very dark, but I like 'em. And as far as wargaming goes (and other things too, for that matter): If it ain't pretty, I ain't playin' with it!

On the good ship Gargantua...

Captain Birdseye at the helm. Or at least, where the helm will eventually be...

And that's about that for now. I promise to get back into regular blogging and the continuing development of HMSW Gargantua. Watch this space, chaps and chapesses!

All the Best!

Some Fancy Footwork...

Hi, All!

Hop to it, Lieutenant Boddington!

Being a single father, one has to set aside meaningless trivialities from time to time. There is laundry to be done, a day job, cooking, washing the car, making the bed, feeding the cat (and the kids!) and the list goes on and on. Sometimes it can be hard to prioritise.

Consequently, I have managed to do quite a lot on HMSW Gargantua in the last few days!

First up: Her chinny-chin-chin.

When I last posted, I was still working on rivets, etc. on the underside of the head. Now, 87 rivets and some paint later, it's looking pretty solid!

Top Left: Detailing nears completion. Top Right and Bottom Left: Green Stuff finishes the piston surrounds. Bottom Right: The finished paint-job.

But the bulk of the work recently has been in finishing that first leg. I.E.; the feet had to be designed, built, painted...

Top: Caster with and without wheel. Bottom: Bits of cogs and plastic complete the basic shape. I also filled the hollow caster with clay to make it heavy. This will help balance the model.

After a couple of test designs I wasn't happy with (many thanks to my son, Anthony, for pointing out the not-good-enough factors) I finally hit on an idea that suited.

I found some old plastic casters in my bits box. With the wheels pulled out, they were a perfect fit - a really good start to a mechanical foot.

Left: Foot and unpainted lower-leg. Right: Green Stuff and 90 rivets finish the structure.

After a bit of plasticy-greenstuffy-rivetty-clayey stuff and nonsense, the first foot came out all right!

The finished and painted foot.

I'll let you be the judge...

The foot in place. Finally, the ham-string piston was added (Right)

Only three more legs to go!

For those who are keeping count, the first leg has 174 rivets and the foot has 90. That's 264 per leg! This means that on completion of the remaining three legs, I will have added a further 792 rivets... Hmmm. Wish I hadn't just worked that out!

Foot, Piston, hoses, etc on the whole model. She's surprisingly sturdy!

Anyway, my total rivet count now stands at 2,526. Any predictions for the final figure? The end is getting close!

Intimidation shot! Scared yet?

All The Best!

A Bit More Leg Work

Hi, All.

Well, it finally happened. I was sitting in my room, looking at the walker, with no intention of working on it tonight, when I suddenly thought to myself, "I know! I'll glue the first leg on!"

Of course, this was not as simple a matter as it might sound... And so began a few hours' work...

The main 'thigh' piston takes shape. The inner cylinder is temporarilyleft unglued so that I can adjust it to fit the pose of the leg.

I had already mostly made the first leg (the others are presently cunningly disguised as a pile of assorted components) but now came the time to build the pistons and associated parts to drive the legs. This, I admit, was something I had been putting off.

The 'thigh' piston loosely dropped into place on two of the three leg parts.

I am hoping that HMSW Gargantua will be free-standing, with no need for a base or supports, other than her own legs. With the spindly design of the legs, I had my doubts.

Thigh piece and driving piston in place.

In order to make the join as strong as I could, one part of the thigh was pinned and glued in place, along with its driving piston, before the rest of the leg was attached to it.

Left: round plates and rivets are added. Right: feed valves and pipes in place (as yet unpainted.)

I also added a couple of plates on which to mount feed valves for the legs. These incorporated the only rivets of the evening - a paltry 12! And little ones at that! Nevertheless, that brings the rivet-count to 2,349!

Then the leg pieces, pistons, et al, were joined together... Much breath was held...

Left: underbelly and drive piston. Right: knee and thigh piston.

Of course, there is still work to do just to finish this one leg, but it's getting near beddy-bye time.

Scale-shot. Sergeant Tetley, anticipating a bumpy ride...

So there you go: So far, so good. Hope you're enjoying this somewhat time-consuming project!

More soon...

All The Best!