Ahoy-hoy.
So it's another one of these. This week, I'm going to look at an adaption of the Assault Cannon tutorial; most of the things I build are made using the same skills, only adjusted for different purposes.
Today, I will be showing you how to create an Autocannon ammunition drum, in the style of the current Imperial Guard Heavy Weapon Team/Hydra. Depending on the size of the styrene rod you decide to use for this scratchbuild, you can make ammo drums for anything from a bolter to a mega-gatler.
The Things You Will Need:
Styrene rod: in two sizes – one thinner, to be the bullets/shells; the other thicker. You'll see why.
Styrene strip: should be roughly one third as thick as the size of the ammo drum you're going to make.
Plasticard: should be thin.
Superglue.
Poly cement.
Let's get it on!
How To Build An Autocannon Ammo Drum
Start by measuring the length you want your shells to be:
…and cut them using the 'press – roll – crack' method from earlier tutorials.
This should give you some shells. You may need more than this –if so, just make them as you go. You next need to take your thicker rod. I'm making a vehicle-sized ammo drum here, so I'm using a hollow thick rod. If you want to make infantry-sized ammo drums, you should use thinner, or solid ones. The key is that the thicker rod should be about 1.5 to 2 times thicker than the 'shell' rod.
Once you've got your thicker rod, simply measure and 'press-roll-crack'.
Then, just as in the Assault Cannon tutorial, use poly cement to glue the shells to the central 'core'
Make sure you use poly cement so you can readjust shells to be in-line with one another. Also, you may notice that some of your shells are longer or shorter than each other. This isn't a huge issue. Simply wait until the glue has set and use the 'press down' blade technique to cut a clean, straight edge as shown here (with the usual caveat of USE BOTH HANDS! This picture simply shows the angle of the blade you need to use!):
As always, BoLS forums only let me post 10 pics at a time – more of this tutorial when I get a reply!