Double Axe - where?

[Jon Potter]

Hate to tell you, but GW is always late with backorders and special orders, in my experience, and a good 50% of the time they send the wrong items!

Oh sure! NOW you tell me!

But anyway, I did receive the GW axe bits that I had chosen, so that's not an issue. I guess I just have to hope that they send the correct mini.

 

[The Madhatter]

According to customer service it's Games Workshop's most popular mini of the year. Who knew?

I was looking at that mini for a PC of mine, it's nice. It looks as if you've done a great job picking the parts for your first conversion! Good luck!

 

[slorak]

Well, I'd certainly appreciate any pointers you'd care to share. My understanding of the conversion process is that it should go something like this:

1) clean and prep the pieces (removing any flash, etc.)
2) snip the axes below the head and the staff at the approrpiate places
3) file the surfaces
4) drill pin holes in the axe heads and the staff using my little hand drill (Admittedly, this is the part that I'm the most nervous about. Drilling lengthwise into that staff seems daunting.)
5) snip a paper clip to make the proper-sized pins
6) test for fit and make any needed corrections to the pins/holes
7) use a little superglue (or JB Weld, as another thread suggested) to hold the pieces together
8) let dry overnight and proceed as I would with a normal out-of-the-box mini*

Clearly this is a simplification, but am I on the right track? Would you do things differently?

*Yes, I did take a look at the GW website and realize that the mini itself comes in two pieces, but I'm less worried about pinning the arms on the torso than I am about converting that staff.

Rather than trying to drill into the staff area you migh consider clipping it completely off and and use 1/8 brass rod that you can get from just about any model railrod/hobby store. Drill holes into each axe head and through the hand or area of the model you want to mount the axe in general and run the brass rodd through and attach the axe blade to each side. Any messy areas can be touched up with some green stuff (kneadatite).

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

-Mike

 

[Jon Potter]

Well, I started to do a little preliminary work on the axes - mainly to test how feasible drilling into the staff was likely to be. So I grabbed the axes and cleaned them of flash (there was a lot more on these GW bits than there was on the Reaper mini I painted previosuly). Then I snipped a tiny bit off one axe handle at the haft end, tapped a little pilot hole, and grabbed my brand new pin vise. Drilling it was darned near impoossible and I quit before I'd made any sizeable dent in the axe handle.

Now it should be noted that, as my initial post mentions, I am new to the mini-painting game (and I'm sort of thinking about cursing my friend for making me discover that I enjoy it) and so I don't have many of the tools that you all probably employ on a regular basis.

For instance, I don't have the etching stylus that Drachenherz mentioned using to make his pilot hole. I made mine with a sharp nail and a hammer. It worked well enough, but I think I must be missing something with the drilling, because that wasn't working well at all. Do I need a vise or something to hold the mini in place while I drill it? Should I have bought some kind of power tool rather than the hand drill that I picked up?

Here's the list of supplies that I purchased to take my second step on the road of mini-madness:

pin vise and bits for same
Games Workshop's starter paint set and another half-dozen misc. paints
two brushes (one standard size, one for detail work)
Superglue and JB Weld
a bag of flock for the base
some fine gauge wire for use in pinning
spray varnish

What I think I still need to pick up:

black spray primer
file

I was mildly discouraged by my first hesitant attempt at drilling, but I am determined to make this work. So what am I doing wrong? Am I just not using enough force? I'm trying to break myself of the "If it doesn't fit, push harder" mentality with this project, so I may very well be erring on the side of caution with the application of elbow grease.

Again, help is appreciated.

 

[The Madhatter]

Weird, usually the white metal bits aren't what you would call hard. The only thing that I can think of, and I'm not trying to be a smarty pants, it that you could be turning the drill the wrong way. Otherwise, just keep turning and don't press too hard, if you break the bit it'll turn into a jagged finger piercing silver spike.

 

[slorak]

Well, I started to do a little preliminary work on the axes - mainly to test how feasible drilling into the staff was likely to be. So I grabbed the axes and cleaned them of flash (there was a lot more on these GW bits than there was on the Reaper mini I painted previosuly). Then I snipped a tiny bit off one axe handle at the haft end, tapped a little pilot hole, and grabbed my brand new pin vise. Drilling it was darned near impoossible and I quit before I'd made any sizeable dent in the axe handle.

Like I mentioned before it would be quite a bit easier to just get rid of the handle altogether and drill into both axe blades and insert a 1/16 brass rod as the haft. Drilling into the staff portion is doable but very difficult. As a beginner I would definitely go this route.

I would also make sure that your pin vise came with 1/16 drill bits or at least 1/8th anything larger is probably too large!

Believe me there is no end to the things you will want to aquire. A vise is a must if you plan on doing a lot of conversion work (make sure it has rubber grips so you don't mangle any figures) that way you can secure the figure and make drilling easier. Another thing that has been a godsend to me is a dremel with a flex shaft attachment.

GW sand is always good to have (I personally like the mix of sizes in the sand for variety). I would also recommend static grass - it looks better than regular flock.

Good paint brushes are everything. I know the Windsor and Newton Series 7's are expensive but they are worth it. I have had mine for almost 2 years and they are still going strong. A bad brush or a synthetic will warp and give you nothing but grief - and in the long run will end up costing you more than a couple good brushes. Size 1 should be a good brush to use for just about anything. The other sizes that I find very useful are a size 0 and a 000 for small detail work. Also a good flat synthetic brush (maybe 2 of different sizes) would be good for general base drybrushing.

I have a few basing articles and such up on my site and I usually try to be as descriptive as possible about what I am doing. Best piece of advise I could give you is don't be afraid to try something. I look back to my first models and look at where I am now and I have definitely come a long way. That is pretty much most of everyones story. The internet is definitely a great place to go for advise!

Another thing to note - GW paints have a horrible reputation for drying up real quick. I know they recently changed their lid design but I don't know if that problem has been fixed. I used to use GW paints a long time ago and didn't really have much of a problem with them - but if you are looking long term into this hobby you might want to invest in either Vallejo or Reaper paints. I swear by the Vallejo Game Color (Model color is great too) which mimics the GW paint line. I have not Used the Reaper pro paint but hear it is really good too.

Hope that helps more.

Cheers,

-Mike

 

[Jon Potter]

Weird, usually the white metal bits aren't what you would call hard.

Well, as I said, it's fully possible that I'm just being too delicate with it. I've broken enough things over the years by applying too much pressure, that I went into this being very concerned about doing the same here.

I'm sure I'm turning the drill the proper direction, so if slow and steady is the name of the game I'll just give it another try. Of course, I was going to do that anyway.

Like I mentioned before it would be quite a bit easier to just get rid of the handle altogether and drill into both axe blades and insert a 1/16 brass rod as the haft.

I'm beginning to think you may be right. I'm not sure my hobby store carries brass rods, but it's worth a look-see. But even so, I'll still have to drill the axe heads and the mini's hand to insert the rod, correct? Granted, that seems a whole lot easire than drilling down the length of that staff.

I would also make sure that your pin vise came with 1/16 drill bits or at least 1/8th anything larger is probably too large!

Here's a kicker for you: the GW drill bits have nowhere on them that I can find any indication of the sizes. The set included several bits ranging from one the size of a thread on up. But no obvious indication of what they each are.

Believe me there is no end to the things you will want to aquire.

I'm finding that out. [Shakes fist at Warhammer 40K friend.] He's like a drug-pusher: the first one's free, then see who comes back. He let me use his workbench and tools to paint my first mini until I found out that I liked it.

A vise is a must if you plan on doing a lot of conversion work

Well, I'm going to say that my continued work in the conversion business is dependent on how this first one turns out, so I'll hold off on the vise for now. But out oif curiosity where did you buy such a vise? Is that something you picked up at Lowes or Home Depot or is it a hobby store item as well?

Best piece of advise I could give you is don't be afraid to try something.

That's at least partly why I was trying to work on the axes at least: so that I didn't just leave everything sit. I find that the longer I put off a project the more daunting it seems in my head and the less likely I am to want to pick it up or to enjoy it once I do. Since I'm determined to see this through to the end, I want it to be a fun and rewarding experience.

The internet is definitely a great place to go for advise!

I'm finding that out too. I've gotten loads of great ideas from this thread alone.

GW paints have a horrible reputation for drying up real quick. I know they recently changed their lid design but I don't know if that problem has been fixed.

I believe it has. My friend mentioned the same problem to me when we were painting at his house. He had some pots with the new lid and some with the old and I must say the new design is a vast improvement. But even with the older dried paints, he would just add a little water, shake it up for half a minute and the paint would be reconstituted. I'm not sure what that did for the color/quality of the paint, but it worked well-enough for our use-at-the-gaming table minis.

Thanks again, and if you think of any other pointers, please let me know.

 

[slorak]

Best way I can think of to tell drill bit size that small would be to find the brass rods I was talking about. I get mine at a local model railroad/hobby store. Usually if you hold the drill bit up to the rod and they match in width that is the size of the drillbit.

It will definitely be easier to drill into the axe head.

I got my vise from amazon. It is a dremel vise with a swivel base to adjust the angle. I can't tell you how handy it has been. It would also make drilling into the axe head that much easier and it will hold it nice and steady letting you spend all your effort on guiding the drill.

I have hundreds of unpainted miniatures myself. I used to paint just for games (dnd and such) and I eventually got more into just enjoying the painting aspect. It is relaxing to me. Now it seams I paint more for others than myself - though I am growing a couple 40k and fantasy armies - at a very slow rate.

If you have any more questions or concerns please don't hesitate to let me know.

Cheers,

-Mike

 

[The Madhatter]

I've seen small, circular, metal guages at model railroad supply stores that are just for micro drill bits. If they have model trains, they more than likely have a good selection of brass rod too. Get your calculator out, since I'm pretty sure brass rod are measured in metric and your bits are standard. A quick word of advice, the GW tools are good quality, but they add a percentage to the price. You can get the identical thing from X-acto or squadron and pay a couple bucks less.

 

[slorak]

The brass rod I use is 1/16th inch. At my local hobby store it comes in a 3 pack for about $.65.

Cheers,

-Mike