Wednesday 21 May 2014

439 - A First Foray into 15mm Conversion (Work-in-Progress)

Hullo!

As I was finishing off my universal carrier-esque 40K centaur artillery tractor last weekend, I took the time to attack something I'd been waiting on - adding drivers and bren guns to my inaugural 11AD Carrier Platoon.
Driver-wise, I bought the figures from Peter Pig: they're absolutely excellent minis [see previous post and link here], but a wee bit too big for the comically tiny confines of Battlefront's universal carrier cabs, so I had to cut them down drastically. Quite laboriously too, for I have no decent tools! One's done and painted, a second (sporting his service cap, for a change) is almost done but unpainted, and a third is yet to be attempted.

Gun-wise, a pack off eight 15mm bren guns costs only a quid from MJ Figures (UK) [link] ad the little models are absolute corkers! The only trouble with them is that the bipod is a solid triangle [meh], and the bipod had snapped off a couple of them, although this is not too surprising and in no way a problem.

From my research, I have decided to mount the extra brens in three different ways:
1) Propped up in the passenger compartment. Realistically, I've had to put it in a slightly unrealistic place (over what I believe is the engine vent?) rather than sideways on behind the driver, simply because the models are not fine enough at 15mm, but I'm happy...not least because I hit upon using a staple to provide thin enough legs for the bipod:
Note that the driver seems to have fallen asleep...
2) On an AA mount. The upright is - of course - just a bit of paperclip, but I reckon it looks alright. At the moment, this one has the driver in the service cap. Hmmm. We'll see if I like him enough to stay.
3) Finally, the last carrier will have its bren clamped to the inside of the starboard hull. Easy.
I'll let you know when these are finished - I just needed to acknowledge to myself that I have actually managed something!

Cheers,

- D.

6 comments:

  1. They look good. I really like the bren in the passenger compartment. It looks good and it will be durable for gameplay.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, mate! Sorry for the delayed reply.

      Delete
  2. I particularly like the tripod'd one very much.

    Are you planning on sticking in any other crew members in these carriers aside from drivers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks - attaching the staple was...emotional.

      No plans for crew. Life is too short, and these were just me capitalising on a freebie anyway!

      Delete
  3. Nice one Drax - that scale though is teeny tiny.

    The mods you made are effective for that scale I think.

    The AA mount is the one I like the best.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Appreciate it - thanks, Muppet!

      It's been a long time since I've had to use tweezers this much!

      Delete

Thanks for taking the time to comment!