mAdmech

Captain MAGpie's Angry Marines!

The mAdmech!

A Rage Fuelled size 16 (UK) stompa!

A Games Workshop Angry Marines Conversion

So I saw this kit... 

...and I immediately went, thats a Catapult fuselage! At LAST!

I wont lie, I love BattleTech... and any other mech thingies. Just... giant robots man... how can you go wrong with that?

And of course, I had to make (another)one :D

The tutorial

First, the legs

Ok, so you have 2 options. 4 if you conciser both variants. Your options are, make em from Styrene, or 3D print them.

The tutorial to make them yourself from plasticard:

• Captain MAGpie's "Crazy-Hawk" Stormhawk Walker

3D files if you want to print them:

• 3D Print Files by Daeowar
• 3D Print Files by Myself

1) What you will need for: the build

2) Parts

So the basic parts I used in this kit-bash are the following:

• 1 x Archaeopter kit from Games Workshop (Love this thing!)
• Spare parts a Stormhawk Interceptor kit from Games Workshop kit. Its only a tiny bit to fill a gap. Can be anything suitable. Oh, and 2 pieces for armour on the las-cannons. Again, you can use anything suitable.
• a Pair of legs. Now you can use my template to make your own, 3D print em, or get some from say Armiger Warglaives. A few options out there. Go mad.
• 2 x Las-cannons. I used Spare Land Raider cannons.
• Rocket pods. Can by from a Whirlwind or the Space Marine Air Defence Missile Launcher from ForgeWorld, or any suitable system.
• 0.5mm flat Styrene Platsticard 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
• 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... (just trust me -_- )
• Insanity. Critical ingredient.

3) Right, so lets get into it

So ok, lets be honest with each other here, this was a VERY simple conversion. The most difficult part is the legs. I used a bit of both from my tutorial and 3D printed parts. 

Step 1 - Fuselage

Started the build by removing the tail from the fuselage. Careful cutting did it, but I still slipped and had to file and fill some holes. THIS ISN'T A PROBLEM GUYS! Best part of scratchbuilding is that you can literally fix anything. DON'T BE AFRAID! 

Step 2: Cockpit

Next, the cockpit. 

So fitting a marine into a normy seat... no, not going to work. So for this to work you either need to modify the marine or the chair. I choose the more difficult option and modified the chair...

In retrospect, just filing the marines back flat would have saved me a lot of cutting. HOWEVER, that being said, if I did that, I would not have discovered the GW is using a softer grade of plastic, that is simply AWESOME to work with.

THANK YOU Games Workshop!

So, the Seat:

Really was just a matter of cutting, filling, fitting, repeat.

Uggghh... Repeat

FFS! Repeat!

Ok, good.

AND STAY DOWN!

PANIC! Oh hell, the arms may be to wide. Check canopy.

Grins at my genius.

Yes... this went just as planned...

Before proceeding, I wanted to paint this thing up. It did not look like it would be an easy thing to paint once assembled.

Step 3 - Greeblies and other holes

I decided to use the wing... supports? to fill the gap on the hull where the wings.. well, go. But, they did remind me of something...

I can see gun-pods in your future...

OH OH OH! I CAN SEE THE FUTURE!

Carefully free them from the oppressive sprue.

Fill the hole with a ton of putty.

Drill holes.

Attached guns..

I SAW THIS COMING! I'm a fortune teller baby!

After celebrating my new found powers, I attached the pods to the fuselage. Next I moved on to the holes where the landing gear would go on the original model. They were to low IMO for arms, so I abandoned the Timberwolf / Mad Cat look in favour of the Catapult look.

Dono what I am talking about: Google Battletech.

I decided to go with Las Cannons from a landraider kit for this. The size was pretty good and it has loads of details.

I did not want it flush with the body, so I cut a 5mm piece of 5mm Styrene tube to off-set the cannons.

SEE! Look how rough this is. I zoomed in supper close to show you guys. It really does not matter at this point. Get the idea done, and then sand down with supper fine sanding sponges and you are golden. 

DON'T BE scared to screw up. Just try, and gut, and file and fill. 

Ok, next, Guns

Decided to keep the rear guns as well, but was left with holes to fill where the tail was removed. Upper part was a simple bit of styrene. 0.5mm.

There was putty involved as well.

Lower bit I went with a thinker piece of armour for a stormtallon, and filed the surfaces flat to accommodate it.

And now I present to you, the mAdmech Assault Walker!

As always, hope you enjoyed and have fun!
Captain MAGpie,
Styrene Addict