And this then would be the second
project. I have planned out my first 1500pts and would like to hit that before
branching off and adding to the Army…that said I couldn’t resist leaving this
lying around any longer and got cracking.
The first stage saw me make sure I
had all the bits and that there were no poorly formed parts, or anything
broken. Then came the tedious but
essential job of stripping the parts from the casting blocks, sanding them all
down, finishing with a wash in hot soapy water to remove any excess release
agent from the construction process back in the factory. The water must not be too hot or you
will deform the parts – if you can put your hands in the water comfortably then
the temperature is not too hot for the resin.
This stage was a real pain as it took
ages and wasn’t much fun. The
release agent was particularly thick and difficult to get off on this kit. It must all come off otherwise the
under coat will pool and not stick to the resin correctly, messing the whole
model up before you get anywhere.
If the parts are shiny in the light and not a dull matt grey, then there
is still release agent on it – more scrubbing required…
When construction started I could see
that the hardship with the release agent wasn’t all for nothing and the thing
started to come together nicely.
There were some large gaps in the hull that I filled with Vallejo
Plastic putty (sanded down to make it smooth the next day) but I had no issues
with the tracks unlike a lot of other people who have had massive issues with
the Spartan and Fell Blade.
A few parts had to be bent straight –
to do this you need some very hot water and coarse hands! Failing that use tongs or tweezers to lift the parts in and out of the hot
water. After a few seconds the
parts will soften allowing you to bend them into line. Run these under the cold tap once you
are happy you have your part in the right shape and they should stay
corrected. The biggest part I had
to do this on was the Pulsar on the Eldar Scorpion – it just took a bit longer
to heat up but the technique works well.
Don’t be too forceful however – parts will snap.
My weathering process involves
covering the track with Sandy Paste before priming to ensure the mud fits
seamlessly with the weathering process later on (see the Rhino blog). This was stippled on using an old
brush. The kit was undercoated with
Vallejo Grey Primer. Pre shading
and pre highlights were completed with VMA Black and White. The engine exhausts were painted with
VMA Armor Brown ready for black pigments later on. Roll on tomorrow and the main colours.
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