Gun Emplacement Mk. II

[Rictus]

It has been a while since I have posted on Warseer but I decided to post up my latest project.

Many years ago I built a gun emplacement for my CRM. Overall I was happy with it though there was a lot I think that could have been better. My original plan was to have a battery of guns but the direction of me Militia changed and the gun emplacement got scrapped.




Cut to now and I had the itch again to build some guns (due to posting pictures of the original gun emplacement on my blog in fact) and I decided to give it a go again. I wanted to go with basically the same design but I wanted to be able to cast the pieces as doing the curved wall was very time consuming.

So I turned to 3D modelling & 3D printing to create some masters from which I could cast the parts.



The model above shows the finished design (I went through a few variations). The gun mounting plate would either have an Earthshaker or take a FW turret (i.e. a Hydra or Manticore turret).

I ordered the prints starting with the wall pieces, the top plates were left off the prints to be made separately:



Which when cast in plaster gave me these:



Due to having them printed at a low resolution and the basic material option the surface is rough, perfect for the concrete look I wanted.

The base pieces were then printed in a higher spec material:



The gun mounting plate was printed in the same material, however the detail didn’t come out that well:




On the right you can see the modifications I made, removing & covering up the original detail areas.

This week I cast up enough pieces and put together the first emplacement:

[Rictus]

After giving it a quick coat of grey it now looks like this:




Using a crappy Earthshaker I picked up off eBay and a FW Hydra turret I was able to do some test fits. The FW turret is a perfect fit which was a relief as I didn’t have the turret when I added the new detail to the plate so I couldn’t check (I should of waited before doing the mould but I was impatient).




This is the current position I am at with the emplacement.

I need to add the mounting plates to the top of the wall pieces, make a crank handle to fit into the round depression on the gun plate which the crew will use to turn the gun, a cover plate for the hole for mounting plates which will have a FW turret and also add more detail to personalise the entire thing and make it look more ‘lived in’, such as stowage, spare kit/tools, comms unit etc.


Until then please check out the blog for more pics of the emplacement and also for more work I have been doing using 3D modelling and printing.

[Erazmus_M_Wattle]

Colour me suitably impressed. I love it. have you considered selling it as a kit?

[tryanotherone]

Seconded.

I want one or two as well!!

[Ash]

I'll bite, Me want as well!

[DeathCat147]

I must share everyone else's sentiment''s and say that the emplacement looks great and i too would snap one up if they were for sale

[Rictus]

Cheers for the comments.

I have thought about selling emplacements (people on my blog asked the same question) but I am undecided at the moment. Due to the number of parts involved (10 for the walls, 15 for the base and the gun plate) it takes a long time to cast everything needed. I would have to do more moulds just to speed things up or i'd end up spending so long making each set i'd have to charge a fortune to make it worth it. Alternatively I could make people moulds allowing them to cast however many sets they wanted, it would be cheaper for them in the long run and still make it worth my time.

What would people prefer:

Option A - A set of cast pieces...or...
Option B - A set of moulds?

If demand is high enough I would do Option A, by making a few more moulds for myself I could knock out sets of the emplacements to sell on to people.


As well as the pieces showed earlier I also had another couple of prints done which I used on the gun emplacement.

I mentioned that the wall pieces would have mounting plates - these would hold lifting eyes for when the wall pieces were installed, although in the finished kits I wouldn't have the lifting eyes in place. I did a 3D model of the plates and had them printed in a material suited to detail, below is a picture of the printed master and a cast set:



Air bubbles are a bit of a pain with the plates, on average only 2-3 are useable from each set. Any crap ones are recycled into other casts.

The walls are meant to be reinforced concrete so naturally they needed rebar. I searched (and searched) for scale model rebar but could not find any, except some in Japan, so I went ahead and did a 3D model of that also. Again the pic below shows the printed master and some cast pieces.



Being harder than plaster I could cast the resin rebar into the wall pieces then add battle damage so the rebar shows through:



And a final shot of Militiaman Bob in place behind the wall:

[Rhaivaen]

Looks neat, dependent on price I will also be interested
And 5 stars added

[Colonel Jacka]

Rictus,

They look great I would be interested in a two as well! I have two Basilisks Guns that would look great in those.

[tryanotherone]

Option A for me but why not do both at the start and see what sells best?

[FraustyTheSnowman]

My heart actually sped up a little when I saw who's log this was...good to see your work again Rictus.

Pending price option B would be very interested to me.

[kadoan]

Cheer, that returns really well, super job.

[wilsonian]

Again, depending on the price I'd be interested in one

[Mannerheim]

Amazing work! I'm interested too depending on the price

[Rictus]

Right, I think there is enough demand to offer kits.

As such I will set about casting up a set of pieces (I need more anyway) to see how long it takes to do a complete set. Once I know that I can come up with a price. It won't be for a couple of days however as I need a second mould for the base plate piece first.

Until then cheers for the comments, much appreciated.

My heart actually sped up a little when I saw who's log this was...good to see your work again Rictus.

Nice to hear someone remembers me...! If you want to see what else I have been up to check out my blog at Recalcitrant Daze.

[Light of the Emperor]

I love seeing some of the older users return! Hi Rictus, good to see you.

Great emplacement thought it doesn't surprise me considering all your other plasticard madness. I like it a lot...Might need to get one for myself as well.

[Colonel Jacka]

Rictus,

Put me down for two then mate! Very keen.

[Rictus]

I love seeing some of the older users return! Hi Rictus, good to see you.

Great emplacement thought it doesn't surprise me considering all your other plasticard madness. I like it a lot...Might need to get one for myself as well.

Light! Haven't spoken to you in an age.

To be honest i'm never going to be returning fully to Warseer or any other forum, but the odd thing I will post such as the rare occasion I paint something or something which is a bit different - such as this gun emplacement. I am much more happy with the blog nowadays though it does mean I lose out on seeing some peoples work regularly due to not spending so much of my time going through the forums.

Col Jacka: Hopefully the price will be right for you! It won't be high though I need to make sure I don't end up committing a lot of my hobby time without making it worthwhile. By the weekend i'll have plumped for a figure.

[Colonel Jacka]

Col Jacka: Hopefully the price will be right for you! It won't be high though I need to make sure I don't end up committing a lot of my hobby time without making it worthwhile. By the weekend i'll have plumped for a figure.

Rictus,

I sure the price will be OK. I would like a couple as they will fit right in to the Urban and IG Base project I am gathering kits for. I have two spare Basilisks that will now have a home. I not short of Gunners (As they are short!) either now. LoL!

[arakis10191]

first of all this thread is awesome, I love this model. I too would love one option B for me, what sort of price are we looking at?