Custom power axes...

[skeletoro]

Hi guys and gals. This is a pretty simple question. I think my google-fu has failed me... I can't find much information on building your own power axes out of plasticard.

 

Does anyone know of such a guide? If not, anybody feel like giving me some tips?

 

I've already played with simply cutting an axe head out of a plasticard sheet to give some uniqueness to my wolf guard. It seems pretty straightforward. But if I leave it at that, I still have to supply a haft etc, and at that point it seems like I may as well construct the whole axe.

 

For the haft, I was thinking of using a plasticard rod, or alternatively a hollow one with brass wire running through it (to add strength and make for easy pinning to hands - and that way, I could even use a couple of different diameter rods to add small "ribs" to the haft, like many of the GW power axes have). Plasticard could be used to build up extra housing for the axe.

 

Then I could add cables, such as the ones from dragon forge designs.

The other product I've been ogling is http://www.masq-mini.com/aid-240-TubeTool-Set-New-transparent.html - it looks potentially very useful! If I'm making a lot of axes, it should work out cheaper than buying lots of pewter cables, and looks like it might be quite nice for adding textured grips to axes...?

 

So.. what do you think? Any tips? Can anybody recommend the masq-mini product in the link?

 

Cheers!

[Durus]

I did make some weapons from scratch in the past with the intention of casting them to use them with my IG. I also did a lot of conversions on my fantasy Orks. The old plastic models had some pretty ugly weapons.

 

I usually just changed the axe blade so I just cut out a blade from piece of scrap, marked a line for how far I wanted the edge to and just sanded the edges until I had the blade. Then I glued that to the weapon handle. Or in he case of the plastic Black Orks I just cut off pieces of axe blades here and there and glued then onto others, as the all had the same thickness, to bring a little variety into the unit.

You could use Thunderhammers as basis for your Wolf Guard conversions, so you just have to switch the head of the weapon.

 

If you want to build the whole axe I'd say plastic rods are worth a look as plastic to plastic will give you a better gluebond than plastic to brass.

 

If you want to use brass you could try to use milliput for the axeblade as it dries extremely hard and can be carved and sanded with sharp edges. There was a tutorial by Werner Klocke on the Freebooter site about this, but apparently it's down now. At least I can't find it anymore, I did however find a post that explains his method. Using that for an axeblade might be a little harder though as the area where the blade connects to the brass is much smaller, i.e. the blade might brake easier when working on it. So adding a rudimentary armature of thin wire might be worth looking into.

 

You could also use putty over plasticard or metal foil. Depending on what you are going for, if you want to add some more elaborate details without making the blade to thick.

 

Here's a conversion I did a few weeks ago. It started out as leftover greenstuff over a scrap of plasticard, but as I needed a second weapon for my "Chaos Marine", i just glued it onto a mace and added some other stuff to bring it together.

 

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/6538/khornegeneral.jpg

 

Imagine instead of a demonface some kind of wolf related imagery. It's pretty easy to do, too. It took me five minutes at most to sculpt the faces. The edge of the blade didn't turn out so great, I probably should have sanded it flat. But that's nothing a coat of paint can't fix.

 

 

 

There was a review for the Masq-Mini Tool here it's in german though, so I don't know if you'll be able to understand much if you need to put it through a translator. Bottom line was basically, that it is useful, but requires some practice to get decent results.

 

You could also have a look at the power cables here. I don't think cables are a absolutely necessary detail, but hey.

He also has a set of cable bundles listed under the vehicle parts on the conversion parts page. Most of them are probably too thick for a PA model, but the two thinner ones might work on a terminator.

 

There are also quite a lot of aftermarket weapons, if you don't have anything against using 3rd party parts in your models. Might be worth looking into if you haven't already.

[skeletoro]

Ah! Incredibly helpful info. Thanks much! I like the axe, a lot. I notice that you've made the surface of the axe blade slightly curved outwards using green stuff. What thickness plasticard did you use, and did the green stuff provide pretty much all the bevelled edge? Or did it just add a finishing touch? The axe blade I did so far was out of 1.0mm - maybe even 1.5mm! - plasticard, and I made the bevel using emery board. Worked well, but I'm open to other methods and your results look great.

 

I would like to be able to put runes on the axe so working with plasticard and green stuff together sounds really good. I'm thinking a press mould could work - I have some secret weapon brass etch and it looks thick enough to use as a press mould for tiny runes.

[skeletoro]

I have looked at aftermarket axes, but sadly there don't seem to be many of them that fit the aesthetic I'm going for...

 

The closest match seems to be various axes from warriors of chaos, but given how much I'd be converting them, it doesn't really seem worth it. And as far as I can tell looking at images, those axes don't have particularly detailed hafts (which counts in favour of the masq option which would allow me to use different styles and also make my own cables/fibre bundles)

[skeletoro]

I also really like the mace idea. I've just ordered a bunch of maxmini mechanical hammers, but think I might look into doing some mace ones like yours (it's a bit reminiscent of the justaerin terminator axes... but better, actually). The main aesthetic I want to draw from is viking - as this is for my wolf guard. I already did one a bit like this

 

...but without the sweet etching, of course. I'm not that awesome.

 

Basically I want to lift elements of actual historic - specifically norse/viking - styles and let the inform my designs. I've noticed that a lot of actual historical axes look quite different to what's become a staple in fantasy. Often, the axes heads are more long than tall - almost pick-like. E.g. the top two axes in the following image

[Durus]

Ah! Incredibly helpful info. Thanks much! I like the axe, a lot. I notice that you've made the surface of the axe blade slightly curved outwards using green stuff. What thickness plasticard did you use, and did the green stuff provide pretty much all the bevelled edge? Or did it just add a finishing touch? The axe blade I did so far was out of 1.0mm - maybe even 1.5mm! - plasticard, and I made the bevel using emery board. Worked well, but I'm open to other methods and your results look great.

 

I would like to be able to put runes on the axe so working with plasticard and green stuff together sounds really good. I'm thinking a press mould could work - I have some secret weapon brass etch and it looks thick enough to use as a press mould for tiny runes.

 

The one in the picture is made of some 1mm thickness scrap pieces. I also have some other thicknesses, that I could use. I'd say for anything over 2mm you can just file it to get a sharp edge.

 

You could also sculpt those runes. Just put a small amount of putty where you want the rune to be, form it, let it dry and file the top flat. That way you just have to get the shape and thickness of the lines right, before smoothing the top out again.

 

 

I have looked at aftermarket axes, but sadly there don't seem to be many of them that fit the aesthetic I'm going for...

 

The closest match seems to be various axes from warriors of chaos, but given how much I'd be converting them, it doesn't really seem worth it. And as far as I can tell looking at images, those axes don't have particularly detailed hafts (which counts in favour of the masq option which would allow me to use different styles and also make my own cables/fibre bundles)

 

Yeah, I just had a look at some sites and the only ones that look convincing to me were these, but they aren't particularly Space Wolves-like.

 

I also really like the mace idea. I've just ordered a bunch of maxmini mechanical hammers, but think I might look into doing some mace ones like yours (it's a bit reminiscent of the justaerin terminator axes... but better, actually). The main aesthetic I want to draw from is viking - as this is for my wolf guard. I already did one a bit like this

 

...but without the sweet etching, of course. I'm not that awesome.

 

Basically I want to lift elements of actual historic - specifically norse/viking - styles and let the inform my designs. I've noticed that a lot of actual historical axes look quite different to what's become a staple in fantasy. Often, the axes heads are more long than tall - almost pick-like. E.g. the top two axes in the following image

 

You could just use a dark wash to fake the etching on your minis. Just do the outline for the surface you want to "engrave" and fill it with swirly lines.

 

The PA axes should be big enough to carve the long shape out of them.