Captain MAGpie's Conversion Corner: Impulsor

Captain MAGpie's "Modular" Impulsor

Games Workshop Impulsor Addons

The Impulsor. Right, so with this guy, I challenged myself. I wanted to make modular options without actually altering the base-kit in any way.

Cause, just gluing stuff shut is too easy! That's why.

Well, no, that's not the only reason. I just had too many damned ideas when I was working on it, so it just kinda evolved into what you are about to see.

So, the Impulsor.

"A troop transport that can't carry troops, a reconnaissance vehicle that's too conspicuous to do reconnaissance, a quasi-tank that has less armour than a snow-blower, but carries enough ammo to take out half of D.C."

Jokes aside, this kit was a pleasure to work with. It has a really cool shape and the parts fit very well. I can see that GW will come up with some upgrades. I'm keen to see how it will compare to the variants I came up with at this point.

So lets see em Cap!

The tutorial

1) What you will need for: the template (Both variant below)

The Template (below)
Cardboard
Printer (Or a ruler and a lot of time)
Fine-Point marker

Back door can open with this variant.

Back door needs to be glued shut with the variant.

I recommend printing the template on cardboard, scaling it so that the yellow reference block is 25mm (1 inch) when printed out, then cutting the shapes out with a pair of scissors and transferring the shapes to your plasticard with a fine-point marker.

Cut all the blue sections from 1mm Plasticard. The orangey sections are 1.5mm, and the red sections are from 2mm.

Additionally, print and cut a test version from paper first, and make a paper-craft version just to test for scaling. There is some very exact cutting in this build, so making a fitting or printer scaling mistake will be frustrating.

What you will need for the build

1 x Games Workshop Primaris Impulsor
1mm flat Styrene Plasticard Sheet
1.5mm flat Styrene Plasticard Sheet
2mm flat Styrene Plasticard Sheet
Putty such as Green Stuff or Milliput (Optional, but I advise using this. So much easier to hide bloopers)
A VERY sharp hobby knife AND/OR a scribing tool (recommended)
A fine-point marker
Metal Ruler
Glue (I'll level with you. Use an extra thin solvent type glue here. It just makes life so much simpler. I use Tamiya Extra Thin, and believe me, you will have a hard time convincing me to use anything else. I almost feel that I should be wearing welding goggles when I use this stuff with ABS/Styrene.)
Sharp Cutters
Files and sanding paper (Fine)
Patience and a first aid kit

Step 1 - Template

Print the template onto cardboard and cut it out with scissors or a knife.

Step 2 - Transfer and cut

Transfer the shapes to your plasticard using a fine-point marker, and cut them out using a knife. This is probably the hardest part of this build and requires the most attention.

The build, once cut, is fairly simple. So once everything is cut, the hard part is over!

Step 3 - Build the Tank.

You can go ahead and build the whole tank as per the instruction, with only one exception. DO NOT glue the roof-plat in position. Also, I would recommend not gluing the commander or driver copula's in place. I am still figuring that part out mind you. Prolly just have a variant with the hatch doors flush with the roof.

Step 4 - Follow the Steps

All 3 builds follow the same basic steps:

Cut out the pieces
File until all the pieces fit snug
Decide on the roof plate and cut if you need to
Glue the sides to the roof
Decide if you want an opening door or one thats glued shut
Make the rear based on your choice
Glue the roof and rear together
File everything nice and clean, and fill any holes with putty
Paint

Step 5 - Cut the Roof

Right, so cut out the roof. This is different for the 3 designs, especially the lowered back.

For the "higher" roofs, its pretty easy. Draw the shape, cut the shape.

Draw the shape.

Cutta the shape.

Now for the lower or sunken roof, its a bit more complex.

Cut all the various pieces, and figure out what you will use for support structures. You will see in a minute. I have corner or L-beams, so I used that. You may need to make something if you only have flat card.

The small bits at the very rear I supported with a flat piece and a thin 1.5mm rod. This was the exact height I needed. Now, you cant see it clearly on the picture, but I have to file grooves in where the rivets are on the Impulsor. Also, I used 1mm because I did not have 1.5, and raised the roof to the right thickness with 0.5mm spacers.

Now the next complication. Because this roof sits INSIDE the cab, it would fall into the back with just a shake. I needed an extra support beam for that, so I used an I-Beam shape that I raised to the right height with another 1.5mm rod.

Sit down Roof. And be quiet.

Of course, now clean up all those lines!

5.1) Make your own plate

I ran out of the roof plate thingies that the turrets fit into... so I made one.

First, get a nice little square. I used 2mm card.

Draw a circle on it. 23mm diameter.

Cut the hole. So I did this by drilling all holes all around the edge, and then just cutting it with a knife. Then the file work began...

And it did go on for some time...

Cut some random pieces out of it.

Make another piece, a little wider, use 1mm card. This is to raise to overall height to 3mm, which is what you need for some of the FW turrets. You could, alternatively just cut a hole into the roof, but I wanted a piece to install a magnet in.

And finally glue it on. If you have spare rhino roof plates, just cut it to the right size.

5.2) Use a Rhino plate... permanently

For this version, I glued the rhino roof plate onto the module. I did this because I wanted it as close to the front as possible.

It started with getting the rhino plate to the right thickness. I used fairly course sanding paper for this to speed it up.

Now I just glued it onto the new roof module where I wanted it. Simple.

5.3) Cut a roof plate hole, for even MORE modular fun

So this last option gives you even more modular fun, but is a bit more work. And as it implies, draw the plate shape where you want it, cut it out, and add strips on the bottom to prevent the plate from falling through :D

Step 6 - File and make sure everything fits

Cut too big, file smaller. Its a bit more complicated to add, then it is to simply file away. So rather cut slightly bigger.

Test fit until it fits just right.

Step 7 - Cut sides

Get the sides cut and glue to the roof. Not this does NOT apply to the sunken or low plate.

It's ok if they are too long, you can cut that. Too short is a problem.

Step 8 - Fit the back

RIGHT, again you can now mix and match, all the options are interchangeable. What you need to decide though, is if you want the door to open or not. With the sunken roof, don't bother. The support beam that sits on the seat obstructs all visibility, so just glue it shut straight up. The other 2 options, your choice.

Now, the door wont just stay in there, so make sure you add pieces of card in front and below the door to make sure its stays in place.

At this point, you can measure it against the Impulsors shape and make sure it matches the corners etc.

Step 9 - Glue together

Just about ready for the last bit. Glue the part together and do the finishing. some more filing here.You will see here I used an extra strip to increase the contact area the back and top has. Its moot. I was not thinking about it at the time, but it makes no difference. Did make a nice line in the finished build though, so I was ok with it.