Sunday 14 December 2014

152 - Valkyrie Ramp Gun Conversion: Part 2

I kind of went off track while doing my little tutorial, and instead posted a review about the very nice Tablescapes by Secret Weapon Miniatures. Well, I'm back on track (kind of) and have managed to complete the second part of the review. Read on for more....

In case you missed it, Part 1 can be found here. At the end of Part 1, I'd just finished drilling some holes in order to get the support column to fit. For this next step you will need the gun arm (thing - as seen above) and a sharp hobby knife or razor saw.

What you are going to do is very carefully remove the end piece by cutting through the area highlighted on the above photo. This area is recessed, so get as close to the edge as you can. Once you have cut through, remove the stubby excess by either cutting it off with the saw or using your knife.

You will be left with the arm and the gun mount itself, as show above. Use a file or some sand paper to smooth of the edges of both pieces. This will help give a nice fit when you come to glue them back together.

Grab your support column and do a quick test fit to make sure you are happy with how the gun arm is going to fit on. If you are going to put two guns in the back of the Valkyrie, like I am, you will want to make sure that the guns swing out the same. Once you are pleased with the fit, glue the two pieces together.

So you've drilled out a hole in the base of the Valkyrie which means one end of the support column will fit. But now you need something that will hold the top in place. Well luckily the original mounting piece will do the job. There is a space on the side of the troop compartment where this piece will fit easily. This is at the right height for it to hold the column in place and still allow movement. I would advise you check this before gluing just to be safe.

I used a lot of glue here as the piece doesn't have contact all the way round. Green stuff might be a better alternative though.

Now you can pop the column into the base hole and then add the side with the top bracket on. The column should move freely. Grab the gun mount and glue it to the end of the arm. I (accidentally) put a bit of a tilt on mine which works quite nicely as it appears as if the gun is being pointed down the ramp.

I had only glued one side on to my Valk, so I was able to take this picture. Getting the other side to line up will be trickier as that has the roof attached. It may be easier to glue both sides on before attempting this conversion, but that will make painting harder.

One optional thing is to enlarge the hole on the gun mount. If you are going to use the heavy bolters that are included in the kit, you won't have to do this. But the weapons I got from Anvil Industry have a larger mounting pin. All that was needed was a drill bit that was the same diameter as the pin and I widened out the mounting hole.

Another cool little thing, the gun arm can swing round and reach out the door as well.

Thanks for reading and I hope this tutorial has been helpful.

Comments and suggestions are welcomed as always.

3 comments:

Zzzzzz said...

Excellent. The fact that it swings all the way 'round to poke out of the side door is a double win.

greggles said...

Agree. This is insanely epic and an awesome guide/conversion!

Cadian 127th said...

Cheers for the comments guys.

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