Hybrid Bike and Sidecar Complete!

Well its took me long enough but I've finally completed my Hybrid Bike and Sidecar (I would post links but there are far too many of them).

I'm pleased with the results as it has taken me a while to finish (I originally started planning it a few years ago). The model itself (using the most up to date rules) is only worth about 20-30 points so its got quite a high points to time invested ratio. Unfortunately I can't field it until I finish the rest of his squad (which might take a while due to my painting backlog).

And here's the shots:

Not sure if you can see them in the photos but I've attempted lighting effects on the bike's spotlight and some scorching on the exhaust.

Hope you like it.

Sidecar - Driver Complete

I've just finished the driver for the bike to go attached with the sidecar. He's pretty much just a Catachan that has had a decent amount of Greenstuff work done.

Unfortunately my Bronzed Flesh paint that I had been using to paint skin for the past 15 years had dried out when I went to use it this morning so I had to go and get a replacement (Ratskin Flesh) along with some of the new Citadel paints.

Here's some shots of the rider on a bike (obviously I'm still painting the bike).

I also did a little tidying yesterday and realised just how much stuff I have to paint which means I need to do a lot of work to get my backlog down. This means that I might have to push anything that will require sculpting / conversion work to the back of my list so things like the other bikers and the Patriarch throne. It doesn't mean the Cult is on hold though as there's plenty of that to do which doesn't require too much work.

Sidecar - Complete

Well I've just finished my sidecar (but not the bike or the rider) and thought it deserved an update.

However, I've not started painting the bike yet though I've almost finished modelling the rider (I just have the sleeves to do).

I've got a little bored with painting Shadow Grey at the moment so I'm also working on a Space Marine Captain (painted red) to mix things up a little.

Sidecar Construction Complete

Part 2
Part 1

After waiting for the greenstuff to cure, I got round to finishing the construction of the bike and sidecar (the rider still has a lot of work to go).

The final steps I made also meant that I didn't have to modify the Hybrid passenger so I just put his arms back on.

To do some work on the sidecar (and for later painting) I needed to detach it from the main body so the shape may be a little crooked (I've just placed it together to get a rough idea of things).

And here's the pictures:

I decided to use one of my resin wheels instead of the plastic Space Marine wheel to match the rest of the bike (and also use some of them up). I did some greenstuff work to make the hub cap and improve the tread.

I used another wheel for a spare tyre doing similar greenstuff work to the other wheel I added. I also wanted to have some method of attaching the wheel (other than just having it glued on) to make it look more realistic. I initially tried modelling a strap but that didn't work well so I used some stiff wire to build a bracket.

I trimmed down the cockpit and added a greenstuff cushion to finish off the sidecar.

The next stage is to give it all an undercoat to check that all my surfaces are smooth and that there are no marks with the greenstuff. As the rider is detachable, I can work on him at a later date.

Sidecar Update 2

Part 1

I got my first delivery of Sentinel Searchlights yesterday but didn't have much time to work on the Sidecar last night.

Here's what I managed to do last night / this morning, unfortunately I didn't even have time to take the photos from my proper camera so my phone will have to do.

Its not much, just basically finishing the handlebars and adding the light. I've also added one of my spare wheels to the back to make a little stowage.

The bike itself is pretty much finished, its just the sidecar I need to focus on now, cleaning up the underside and making the 'cockpit' look less like I'm just sticking someone in there - thoughts have included sculpting a robe for my Hybrid, sculpting a 'blanket' to keep the water out or adding seat lining (like cushions). I'm also going to work on adding some stowage to it to make it look less 'efficient'.

Sidecar Update

I've done some more work on my sidecar but as I now am likely to be waiting on parts and doing some more planning, it might be a few more days before I make any more major progress on it.

Since the last update, I've done a little work on the driver, trimming his torso and a little greenstuff work to make him look better (haven't under took the major stage on de-Catachaning him yet though).

I've also started on the bike's handlebars by adding the central part and speedometer that I made from a cocktail stick, the meter from the Cadian comm-link and some more greenstuff and just need to tidy it up a bit more:

I'm in a minor dilemma though as to how to do the handle bars in regards to lining it up with the driver's arms - should I make the arms fit the bars or the bars fit the arms? I also need to decide on how to make them. At the moment I'm thinking of just using another cocktail stick or maybe some thick garden wire.

One of the main components that I've ordered for this and the other bikes is the Imperial Guard Sentinel searchlight (a smaller version of the ones found on the tanks). I had a spare one waiting to be fixed to my sentinel and just tried placing it where the lamps would be on a bike and felt it fitted perfectly. I had to order these parts (as I needed 6) from two separate bits dealers. I've never dealt with dealers before so hopefully everything goes smoothly.

I also stripped the paint off the old metal sentinel's cockpit for use as the sidecar and added the wheel attachment from the attack bike to its side. I think it looks pretty good though I am a little concerned whether it is a little too wide:

My other concern too is that as the sidecar is pretty much all metal, the thin fixture holding it to the bike might snap pretty easily do to the weight (I've applied some greenstuff to it to hopefully strengthen the bond).

As you can also see I've had to take the arms off the Hybrid rider to make him fit in the sidecar too. I'm ever so slightly tempted to try and sculpt another passenger, this time with the old fashioned goggles you used to see people wearing when in a sidecar...

Hybrid Sidecar

So I've put my Patriarch's throne on the back burner for now to focus on the bike and sidecar for this chap.

Basically its a trimmed down Space Marine Scout Bike with the wheels I received in the mail this week and the sidecar will be made from a combination of bits from the Space Marine Attack Bike and the 2nd Edition Imperial Guard Sentinel (the one with the Assault Cannon).

Its very WIP at the moment and as you may be able to see, the wheels are a little too big (and wide) for the Scout Bike so I've had to do quite a bit of greenstuff work - when I go to do the rest of the Bikers, I think I'll just bite the bullet and buy the proper wheels for the bikes.

The rider needs a lot of work doing too as at the moment he looks far too much like a Catachan. Hopefully I'll be able to do a little greenstuff magic on him to look more like a biker.

So here's the shots, hope you like:

I Got Mail!

So after a week away from work I received a few parcels today containing the following:

First up is the crashed ship from (I think) the 40k 4th edition starter set:

This will make a good piece of scenery for the cult (the Patriarch had to get to the planet somehow).

Next up is the model that is supposed to pilot the ship:

After a good soak in Dettol and a bit of conversion work, this chap will make a good Hybrid.

I also received the wheels I ordered for my bikers (here's the link to where I ordered them from):

 These wheels are about the same size as the Space Marine bike wheels though unfortunately they're one sided so I'm going to have to do some greenstuff work to make them work with my bikes.

Attempting to Scult a Hybrid - Completed and Painted!

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

I've finally finished my sculpting and painting of my Hybrid for a sidecar and I'm pretty impressed with the results.

Here's an example of what I was aiming for:

Here's my results:

I only needed to do his upper half as he'll be sitting in a sidecar (which I'm still to make), though should I wish to give him legs, I'm pretty sure some Catachan or maybe even Cadian legs would work with minimal conversions.

I decided to give him a bolt pistol and power sword, giving him one Hybrid arm and one Catachan arm.

His bolt pistol is from an old plastic Ork (the ones that came in the 2nd edition 40k boxed set) and the power sword was a Catachan sword with the 'saw teeth' filled in and some wire glued into the groove for the power line.

I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to do for the sidecar but I've got too much on my plate to worry about that at the moment.

Attempting to Sculpt a Hybrid

So I've been a little busy recently working late and on some Imperial stuff so I haven't had much time to work on the Cult.

However, I've decided to make a start on my Hybrid in sidecar project, beginning with the Hybrid passenger. The passenger will just be the upper body of a Hybrid poking out of the sidecar wielding some sort of weapon (as opposed to manning a heavy weapon like the Space Marine attack bike). The easiest options available to me were to simply use the upper body of an existing Hybrid model but I decided against this as the metal ones are tougher to work with and, as they are about £7 - £8 a model, the project could get quite expensive if I messed things up. The other option would be to use a plastic Hybrid but they are all Second Generation Hybrids in my force and a more 'primitive' Hybrid in a sidecar wouldn't seem right to me.

Instead I decided to take a bit of a leap and build one using plastic Catachan parts and heavy greenstuff and milliput sculpting and, as I'd only really used greenstuff and milliput for small parts or gap filling previously, this would be my biggest sculpting project to date.

At present, I've only really started on the torso (waiting for the greenstuff to harden at the moment) but its not looking too bad for a start.

Using a metal Hybrid as a base, I decided that the first thing to work on was the 'ribbing' that can be shown beneath the armour plates which I made by filing down the abdomen of a Catachan torso and then covering with greenstuff and rolling the rear of my knife around. Its not perfect but I plan on tidying it up as it dries and most of it will be covered up.

The armour plates will probably be made using milliput (as it holds an edge better) and the arms will  be a collection of Catachan and plastic Hybrids.