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FREI PANZERBy (Blue) Peter BarnardI have a bit of a reputation for being a cheapskate when it comes to buying miniatures, yet I also have a large armoured contingent for Warhammer 40,000 and some AK47 armoured cars that no-one makes. How have I achieved this? The noble art of scratch building. And for what it is worth I am going to share a little of my learning with you all. Before you begin you should get some good tools. Very sharp craft knives are essential, as is a suitable surface for cutting on - not the dining room table. For cutting straight lines a steel ruler is also a must as plastic and wood rulers can deteriorate quickly. PVA glue and super glue are also useful. I have made all my tanks from cereal packet card. It is essentially free, easy to work with and will bend. However it can warp and is vulnerable to impact. If you want more sturdy tanks you can get huge sheets of backing board from Jarrolds and craft shops quite cheaply. Balsa wood and foamcard are also an option. For the latter materials you will need to account for thickness when deciding on dimensions of parts. The first stage is research. You have at least two options here. First option is taking a tape measure to a friend's tanks and making notes of size and shape. This is how I made my first Rhino APCs. Second option, mainly for moderns/WW2, is getting books from the library with pictures and vital statistics. Jane's Fighting Vehicles and The Directory of the World's Weapons are recommended. Make some sketches with notes on lengths. If you have graph paper you can us it to get those tricky lengths, and to see what angles and proportions look right for details you have no information on. NOTE FOR WARHAMMER 40,000 ORK PLAYERS: Ork meks build vehicles by looking at a vehicle then going of and copying it. For the scrappy look, forget scale drawing and just start building. If you plan to make more than one, it helps to simplify the design. For example, the Rhino in Warhammer 40,000 is basically a box with slopes at front and back (similar to the American M113) and a boxy section on top of the rear. Everything else is just decoration. Tracks and wheels are fiddly, so the best option is to get them from existing model kits. Describing scratch-building tracks is a long affair. See me in person for a full explanation. If there is enough response I might write a follow up. If you are building with backing board you now just need to draw and cut out all the sections, and glue them together. For cereal card, designing a net and working out where the tabs go is a must. Expect a few blunders until you get the design right. Making the basic structure is now just a case of cutting out your bits and assembling them. Remember to use a sharp pencil, a sharper knife and a good ruler. And be careful not to cut the tabs off! If you are using a strange body shape, interior supporting struts will help retain the shape. Once the glue on the basic structure has dried you can start with the details. Hatches, doors and panels are easy to make from card. You can also use any leftovers from model tanks kits, spare weapons, excess space marine helmets etc. Car body filler mesh is great for vents and engine covers. An A4 sheet should be under a quid from car shops. Florists wire is also handy for banner poles or bending with pliers into handles and rails. Again, under a quid should get you about 10 foot-long sticks. If you want to scratch build weapon barrels, this is the trick. Take a long strip of paper and dab some glue along the length. Roll it around a cocktail stick then remove the stick before it dries. PVA is better here. When it dries hard you can add ammo feeds, sights and other bits and bobs. This technique can also be used to make flared barrel ends for tank guns. When you are decorating your vehicles, the more little details you add, the more realistic the finished result will look. However even a basic job with a striking paint job looks pretty good on the table, and from a distance could even be mistaken from the real thing! If you want to see some home made tanks, and discuss ideas, see me at the club. If demand warrants it I may even make some detailed Rhino plans for the magazine. Let me know.
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