Alessander
07-18-2014, 08:34 PM
I picked up a Vampire Raider from eBay early this year, and finally got around to basing it.
The hollow crew compartment made putting a centerline dowel a bad idea.
I happen to work at an award business, and they have plenty of steel rods that are used for trophies.
So I drilled two 3/8" holes into the fuselage so they border the crew cabin, into the thickest part of the wall (incidently right where the balance point is). I tapped (threaded) the holes, then screwed in two 11" long thread-tipped steel rods.
On the base (a pine clock back from a hobby store, since round plaques are not in fashion any more in the award industry without special ordering from a vendor) I counter sunk two steel ferrules into the bottom of the base, and screwed in the rods. I then epoxied the countersunk ferrules for good measure.
I originally wanted the rods to unscrew for easy transport but figured it wasn't a feasible idea - didn't want to wear the threads in the vampire.
It's solid as a rock. No wobble or give at all. Despite the height, the center of gravity is very low so there's no risk of accidental tippage. In hindsignt I should have used longer rods, so they could soar over the armorcast Revenant titans without the wings hitting them. Can't wait to get my airbrush so I can start painting these!
(I didn't paint the yellow revenant, it came from eBay looking like Ronald McDonald).
I've been basing all of my Eldar on mirroed acrylic bases with the Eldar rune for that unit laser-engraved into the rear of the mirror (see pics of my recent Tournament army for BGT in Omaha). I'll have to tear apart the Vampire Base to add a mirrored base later on the down the line, so I can add the longer rods then.
The hollow crew compartment made putting a centerline dowel a bad idea.
I happen to work at an award business, and they have plenty of steel rods that are used for trophies.
So I drilled two 3/8" holes into the fuselage so they border the crew cabin, into the thickest part of the wall (incidently right where the balance point is). I tapped (threaded) the holes, then screwed in two 11" long thread-tipped steel rods.
On the base (a pine clock back from a hobby store, since round plaques are not in fashion any more in the award industry without special ordering from a vendor) I counter sunk two steel ferrules into the bottom of the base, and screwed in the rods. I then epoxied the countersunk ferrules for good measure.
I originally wanted the rods to unscrew for easy transport but figured it wasn't a feasible idea - didn't want to wear the threads in the vampire.
It's solid as a rock. No wobble or give at all. Despite the height, the center of gravity is very low so there's no risk of accidental tippage. In hindsignt I should have used longer rods, so they could soar over the armorcast Revenant titans without the wings hitting them. Can't wait to get my airbrush so I can start painting these!
(I didn't paint the yellow revenant, it came from eBay looking like Ronald McDonald).
I've been basing all of my Eldar on mirroed acrylic bases with the Eldar rune for that unit laser-engraved into the rear of the mirror (see pics of my recent Tournament army for BGT in Omaha). I'll have to tear apart the Vampire Base to add a mirrored base later on the down the line, so I can add the longer rods then.