Small Stumble

Just when I thought I was crossing the finishing line, I stumbled when I was marking out where to drill the holes for the secondary guns. Doh!

What with other stuff in life, friends and family deaths, knocking me back, it wasn't until this weekend I had the urge to work on the model.

As you can see, thanks to Keith Falk, I've changed the tread castings out. 

I've reworked the nose, just waiting for it to harden properly before I file it to shape.

It looks a bit tatty, but you can see the extra bulk I added to enlarge the rear half of the casement ready for the secondary battery barrels.

Ho hum, despite all the hassle, I've really enjoyed working on this project. Below is a picture of my models pasted with the shots I have of the Martian Metal original.

The angle-dangle skews the shape of the original Ogre, but it's the best I've got.

Catch you all on the bounce. 

Final Stretch

Now that the body is symmetrical, see the post here, it was obvious where work was needed. The old joke about asking for directions to somewhere, and the reply being if I was going there, I wouldn't start from here, applies to this project.

Side-by-side comparison showing the missile casings to the rear that Keith graciously sent.

 

I still need to add the sloping casements for the the main guns, then add the secondary batteries, and the anti-personnel guns. Finally, to finish, I need to add the twin circular tanks/gubbins, and the two exhaust vents on the rear deck too.

Nose-to-nose shot of my original Grenadier Ogre and my Ral-Partha converted to represent the Martian Metals original Mark 5.

I estimate I've spent 60 hours the hours working on this conversion. Some of that time is down to not getting it right on the first attempt, and having to correct my mistakes.

Finishing Combine GEVs

 

Since I've been working on my Ogre Mark 5 conversion, these unfinished Combine GEVs sitting around getting dusty, finally come to my attention.

I had mostly finished painting them, but the silver enamel paint on the canopies ran when they were gloss varnished.

So, they need that tidied up. 

 

Given it has been nearly ten years since I put these aside, I'm pretty confident I can clean up the silver canopies, without the paint running gain, when I apply the final coat of mat varnish.

I've also got a whole bunch of Combine infantry that need there helmet visors painted silver to do too. So this year looks like I'm doing a bunch of Ogre/GEV miniatures, which makes for a nice change.

That's all for now, catch you on the bounce. 

Back in the Chop Shop

Not forgotten, just place aside, just a much needed change of pace. I needed a break from mixing epoxy putty, and filling it smooth, as yet another problem came to light.I started on refurbishing the missile pods, but this isn't working out as I wanted.

I'm going to have to fabricate parts instead. 

While you all wait, Keith Falk sent me a package of spare parts I need to complete my Vulcan, but also some Ogre 1 parts he had to spare too. 

What is really going to help bring the project to a successful conclusion is the Ogre 1 tower, which is substantially larger than the spare I had.

So, here's where I'm at.

That's all for now. May the fourth be with you.

Ogre Mk4 Reborn

Between working on my Ogre conversion, I've had an ultra rare prototype Ogre Mark 4, rejected by Steve Jackson Games that has been sitting, waiting to be finished. I began working on in April 2016, and thought I can do better than that.

So, I stripped it.Yes, this is me being distracted!

Reassembled, primed, and given a wash to bring out the panel lines.

I painted for about an hour a day during the week before and after Easter, which makes this a labour of love. So, here is the repaint.

 

The eagle eyed will notice the camo pattern is not exactly the same as the first version. 

The eagle eyed will notice the camo pattern is not exactly the same as the first version, but I think everyone will agree this looks sharp?

Or, at least I hope so. 

Currently, I'm in the groove painting so, finishing the MK5 conversion will happen when I've cleared my painting table.

Anyway, that's all for now, catch you on the bounce.

Chop Shop: One Step Back

So, here I am, still unable to drag this conversion across the finish line. Why? Because the front treads aren't symmetrical, as can seen here. And, as can be seen above the missile pods are like Goldilocks and the three bears (one too large, one too small, and one in the middle).

Bah, humbug! This drives me insane.

My inner ADHD OCD just brings me to a halt (PS: Not diagnosed with either, this is a throwaway comment, pay it no heed). 

And from the side the Mark 5 was starting to look the business with its bug-eyes too.

 

So, unable to square the offset asymmetrical nose, I pulled the right side bogie off.

Using a set-square, I glued the bogie back on. Making sure that it was in the right place, and parallel. Not as easy as it sounds, but nothing about this build has been easy.  

If, were starting again, I would check to make the model was square to begin with. Assuming stuff makes an ass out any decision you make.

I've add more epoxy putty to the front, as I noticed that the nose was skew-whiff from the front of the model not being square. It may not be perfect now, but it at least has more than a nodding acquaintance with the concept of symmetry.

And a shot from above.

 

Anyway, that's all for now. The work continues so, until next time. Take care.

Chop Shop: Ogre 1 One Step Closer

 

Above is the model from last time, given a trim, and to check I took the photo and mirrored each half to judge how close I was to my goal, then, I mirrored the picture again.

Below the pictures on the right show the difference between mirroring using the center line of the tower versus cutting from where the tower meets the front slope. 

 

This was when I noticed my tower was skew-whiff. I hacked away at the tower to make it symmetrical, or at least more or less symmetrical, checking my overall progress towards capturing the original Martian Metals Ogre

Below is a birds eye view showing Keith Falk's Martian Metals Ogre, versus my conversion. As can be seen, my facsimile is going to be a quarter of an inch shorter than the Martian Metals casting.

It is what it is.

At this point I thought it was time to add the bug eyes. Drilling out the holes, revealed why I had been struggling to make the main front glacis symmetrical.

The work continues in the never ending saga of adding and subtracting putty.  

 

And a side shot showing the difference in the tower profile.

 

That's all for now. Catch you on the bounce.

Chop Shop: Ogre 1 Conversion Symmetry

Symmetry is a thing. One that castings made from sculpts were more of a suggestion, rather than something strictly adhered to. My Ral Partha original Mk5 is mostly symmetrical.

Converting it into a facsimile (word of the week) of a Martian Metals Ogre questions what symmetry means when the originals were anything but symmetrical. So, I took a picture from the front, and then split and mirrored each side, which can be seen below.

As can be seen, I haven't quite got both sides the same. So there's more work ahead.

Catch you on the bounce. 

Chop Shop: Ogre 1 Conversion Ongoing

 

Above is where I am after cutting back the sculpting putty I applied last time. I realized I made a mistake judging the rake of the front glacis, which you can see below.

It left the model looking a bit of a mess.

I also had to realign the left hand rear track casting, because the body wasn't level. This was probably down to me when I assembled the  model not being careful enough when gluing the castings together.

This setback was a bit disheartening, and made me remember why I put the project aside ten years ago.

And below is the re-profiled front. As I now compare this with my pictures, I realize that I've missed the narrowing of the front glacis at the peak where it meets the base of the tower.

After the epoxy putty has hardened overnight I will adjust this tomorrow.

Chop Shop: Ogre 1 Conversion Progress

 

After fettling the previous day's application of Kneadite and Milliput. this time with more Milliput, and less blue in the Kneadite mix, this is where I've managed to get to.

You can see clearly see the difference in size between my early SJG model and my facsimile of Martian Metals Ogre. 

With the help of Keith Falk's pictures, I have captured both the shape and size of the original casting. Or at least as close as I can replicate, given the donor model I started with.

And a pic from above.

 

And finally, a three-quarters view for good measure, and I hope you've enjoyed this series of pictures. 

The finish still looks pretty rough, but besides the filing and sanding to buff out all the imperfections, I've still got to fabricate new cylindrical missile launchers.

So, there's still a bunch more to do. More in due course. 

Chop Shop: Ogre 1 Conversion WIP

I've been fortunate to have been sent some pictures by Keith Falk of his classic Martian Metals Version one Ogre, and furthermore, graced with calipers to show me the salient measurements. This made me reassess my progress, and consider what I wanted to do.

I drew up a side elevation drawing, and compared the measurements on my model to those of Keith's. Thus armed I mixed a some more Kneadite and Milliput to add to my model. Here's it is sitting on my workbench curing.

 

I'll let it harden overnight, and start work on it again tomorrow.

New Year: Ogre 1 Conversion Restarted

Note: I've retitled this post as I'm not making a Huscarl, but rather trying to capture the quirky charm of the original Martian Metals version 1 of the Ogre Mk 5. 

I abandoned this conversion about ten years ago. I wasn't happy with the shape of the nose, as it didn't replicate the iconic Martian Metals Mk5 Ogre. Over the recent break I played a couple of games of Ogre Objective 218.

Afterwards, I found myself invigorated to have another go at finishing my conversion/rebuild.

During the intervening ten years I have acquired a few more reference pictures, see above. I started by using my new Dremel accessory bits to carve away metal, which can be seen in the first picture. I also realized I'd misinterpreted how the track bogies were meant to sit, which I will correct during this build.

These pictures are a big help in capturing the Martian Metal's profile, though, symmetry was apparently merely a suggestion.

If you look closely at the other Ogres in my reference pictures, you can see that there are two distinctly different Martian Metals Mk 5 Ogres. This can be seen in the placement of the secondary batteries, and the shape of the missiles.

 

So, I mixed up some Kneadite and Milliput to fill in the two big holes I made. 

 Checking on the symmetry of my work I found I'd not done a great job on reshaping the casting either.

Even If I can't reshape the Ral Partha casting perfectly, I want to get as close as I can to making the model symmetrical. The next step was to rebuild the nose.

Now I'll let that harden overnight, and work on it again tomorrow. 

That's all for now. Happy New Year to everyone.

Catch you on the bounce. 

Combine & Pan Euro Laser Towers

A little over two years after Don Hawthorne kindly sent me these, I've finished assembling them, slapped on some paint, and I've now managed to take some pictures as proof of completion.

It's super nice to now have laser towers for both the North American Combine and Pan European Federation.

I still have a number of Ogre miniatures that need painting, but I've managed to acquire a Vulcan Ogre, which is missing some parts, for my Ogre/GEV collection/ plan of world domination to come to fruition.

Catch you all on the bounce.