02/04/2015

Scale is not an issue

Finally! Following the suggestions I got at Lead Adventure Forum I found a crane that fits in my project! Hooray!

It comes from the railway miniature world, I had never before delved into these ranges and I must admit I got a pretty nice surprise:
 
OO Gauge crane by Dapol. Roughly 1/72 scale?

 
The issue here is the scale, of course. I could work with the lower part, but the cabin is way too small. I had to make the cabin bigger by using what I had at hand. In this case it was just an oooold kind of client card from GW (??)
 
Just made the cabin higher and gave it a new door accordingly
 
The manning of the crane was quite obvious to me, I needed a servitor. The not that obvious thing is what mini could I use. I made some archaeology within my boxes and found an ooold mini of a 1/48 plane pilot. Heavily damaged, but could work. I used a GW head (the one of the beheaded man, but cutting out the hair) and some bits and greenstuff:
 
The eyes and face expression made it ideal

Drooling over his wetpants. Kinda gross depiction of a servitor, but I believe it makes sense
 
 In the meantime I worked on the crane:
 
Yeah, lookin' dirty. Everything here looks dirty
 
I really wasn't in the mood of sculpting (or finding pieces) for all over the inside, but I thought it was needing something you could see from the outside. I chose the cheapest, simplest solution (of course I did!)... I just painted it on cardboard :D
 
Like you hadn't seen this trick in the movies
 
It totally works when the cabin is closed and you can only peek the inside from the window:
 
I had an accident with the glue on the transparent plastic, but it adds more dirt, so it's nice!

I also added a GW vehicle light, to make it look more Warhammer like
 
Then it's all a matter of rusting it all! I used some thread for the wire and... well, little else!
 
I finally didn't use the crane wheels. I should build a rail if I was to use them
 
Even as a fix set on the floor makes its part, so I'm OK with it:
 
Now this is finally a dock.
 Of course I can use more crates and stuff, but for the moment I declare myself satisfied with the pieces I have :). This is definitely looking like something...

12 comments:

  1. Wonderful stuff - I have a weakness for those dapple kits to be sure.

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    1. Thanks! This was quite a leap of faith, I didn't know what I was actually purchasing until I got it. It finally made more sense than anticipated! Phew!

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  2. That's another 10/10 from me here Suber. The servitor is just perfect and the crane is one of those elements that give so much depth to a board.
    Slow claps.

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    1. Wow, thank you! I really wanted a crane, I went nuts looking for one until I was directed to this model. It's perfect in size and style, so I'm pretty glad with it!

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  3. I like that filthy servitor, the soiling of himself is a nice touch....what high praise I give huh :D

    Is the the beginning of a whole dock backdrop?

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    1. :D Thank you! The crane covers my most urgent needings, as I already have some nice crates (though one can never have enough), a warehouse... BUt in fact I've been spotting some more stuff... ;)

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  4. As Asslessman says, 10/10. Great cabin conversion and great painting. Maybe I'd had added a bionic eye or something else to make the servitor more "servitor", but it's only a point of view. Great work!

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    1. Thank you! I thought of putting some more work on the servitor, but in fact it's not supposed to be seen at the first sight, only if you really get an eye into the cabin you'll be able to spot the mini, so it was a quick way of solving it out. Besides, the face expression was ideal for a servitor, his eyes lost and jaw dropped, I thought it fitted the task :)

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  5. Excellent! I love the dark green with all the dirt and rust stains. The servitor is a perfect addition :)

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    1. Thanks! Colour is always an issue with these things, I don't know where to add colour or if I'm overdoing the rust effects. I hope I reached a balance!

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  6. I am very impressed with the thought and work you put into the servitor. Well done Suber!

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    1. Thank you! It was nothing but a lucky encounter in my bits box. The rest was just making it fall into the grimdark atmosphere. It wasn't easy, given that the crane totally screams 'XX century Europe' and it wasn't possible to take that design apart and integrate it with the servitor in the WH40K world; but for the price I paid, I'm most satisfied :D

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