Queen Bee Knight -- Thank you! Please read the new post

[Herald of Ultramar]

Thanks! I think I'm going to switch the helmet back around.

 

Another thought... Why not make the pilot a woman? Lady Tibbetts has a nice ring to it...

 

I was planning for my first Freeblade pilot to be a woman, so I say go for it!

[Brother Paen]

I like the effort you are putting into this. Its cool to see people really looking into the Heraldry aspect. I know it doesn't have to be accurate but its nice to see that this model will inspire some nice paint schemes.   Hopefully ...

 

I do like the concept of a "Lady" as the pilot Queen Bee and a Household of Support Knights. 

 

cant wait to see more.

[ElectricPaladin]

Go with the lady pilot!

 

I like to insert ladies into 40k as much as possible. My terminator inquisitor is a lady - I don't need to worry about feminizing the sculpt, because terminator armor would obscure everything anyway.

 

Plus, wouldn't a rakish lady freeblade be awesome?

[Monstra Sumus]

I vote for the woman too, my inquisitor is a hard line, die hard militant of the Ordos Xenos who's fervor and dedication to the utter eradication of everything alien see's her allied with my army out of mutually assured destruction of the enemy. If they made power heels, she'd have some to stop Eldar faces in. 

[JeffTibbetts]

Big update coming with pics…

Went to the hobby store today and picked up some things:

I was having trouble sizing up the pistons, so I got a variety pack. They measured the sprues with some calipers, but the measurements were all over the place… Maybe they had them at an angle or they're just really non standard. They marked down the measurements on the sprues if anyone else would like them. Here are some pics.

And then I did some prep work. If I repose the hip, I will want the bolt to be angled correctly so I took a quick mold of the bolt.

And another of the toe, as I will probably be mixing them up a fair bit as well.

I actually did two sides of that, but the other isn't much to look at.

Here I am cutting up my $140 model. I strongly suggest holding the saw stable like this and sliding the leg bit up and down to maintain control. It's not a hard cut to make at all, though. Did both sides in just a couple of minutes.

Here you can see a couple little bits of sprue that I glued together to fit into the knee hole so I can add some support when I attach it again. Those will brace it from the inside, and I'll build up the rest with green stuff or plasticard.

That's all for today, probably. Enjoy.

[Xenith]

@Xenith, yeah, that's the idea. Do you remember where you saw one? I still need to get one. I know I can order online.

Yup, my old local FLGS stocks them on their website, I'm sure you can get the brand name and then find a US stockist, if not it's cheap and they probably ship to the US!

 

http://www.thetrolltrader.com/catalog/ttc_stencils/stencil_1/18093

 

Also, good start, I'm looking forward to seeing the finished pose!

[infyrana]

Interested to see what you do here, lovely clear pictures btw.

 

May I ask what and where you got the silicon looking mould stuff from please?  Been very interested in doing similar but seeing is understanding :)

[Disruptor_fe404]

I've been meaning to get a saw like that because of how useful I reckon it'd be... but, and this is fairly embarassing... what is it called? I keep trying to describe it and people just look at me funny.

 

Alternatively, can I just buy the saw blade that you're using and use it on a different hand/tension/jeweller's saw?

[Demus Ragnok]

I've been meaning to get a saw like that because of how useful I reckon it'd be... but, and this is fairly embarassing... what is it called? I keep trying to describe it and people just look at me funny.

 

Alternatively, can I just buy the saw blade that you're using and use it on a different hand/tension/jeweller's saw?

I think that may be what folks in wood working call a "coping" saw. I think.

[JeffTibbetts]

@Disruptor: Yeah, as Demus said it's a coping saw or a hack saw (but those are the big ones, really). I think a jeweler's saw is the same thing, actually. I got mine in an ancient GW modeling kit but I'm running out of blades for it. Used it more often in the days of metal minis, but sometimes it's perfect for the job. 

 

@infyrana: Thanks! That's just my iPhone 5s, believe it or not. Still the best phone camera I've ever seen…  I love the mold stuff. it's called Instant Mold. You can get it on big online shops and it's not expensive at all. Essential hobby tool for me. You place the stuff in really hot water for a few minutes till it's soft, push it on the bit, and it sets really quickly into a tough rubbery mold. It picks up detail so well that you even get the surface texture. Plus, it's completely reusable! My only gripe is that you can't use it with resin. Well, I've never tried but they say you shouldn't. Maybe I'll try it. I use it for greenstuff push molds, mostly. 

 

Thanks for the interest, folks. C&C are very welcome. 

[Nusquam]

Taking a mold of the hip bolt was very clever, kudos. Man I need to get a saw like that. I'm excited to see what the pose will be like.

[MasterBuilder]

This is fantastic, loving watching the progress here. The knight is something I've been excited about for a while.

 

It's very inspiring to see people here taking saws and doing rebuilds and new poses immediately!

 

Great work, subbed!

[JeffTibbetts]

When I was looking things over, I noticed something that may become a problem once I add the feet.

Notice where the side pistons connect? I drew a line to extrapolate the angle. The angle is to connect to a foot at a certain angle. I hadn't really thought about that guy. A little play here will be fine, but if I reposition the foot as drastically as I kind of want to, I'll have to change this bit up as well. I'm thinking that it will be really hard to cut around it, so it looks like I'm going to have to rebuild it too. I'll probably take a mold of this while I'm at it. Greenstuff isn't the best for harder bits like this, so I might have to order some Milliput or something. That'll set the timeline back a bit, but I intend to take my time on this beast and do it right. Count another strike against easy reposing of the legs, though.

EDIT: I gave the pilot a name. The Queen Bee will be helmed by none other than the notorious scoundrel, Lady (she insists) Aurelia Elise Tibbetts: battlefield philosopher, aesthete, dilettante and general layabout rake.

[JeffTibbetts]

Work on the legs has begun in earnest. I think this was a lot more work than I was expecting. Let's have a look, shall we?

Here you can see the sprue bits that will make up the new knee. This will be the primary hinge, and you can see it's pretty simple. I just glued a slab together, and then cut off the angles to give it the right core shape. Not much to it. Once I actually put them together, I'll be building it up with greenstuff so nobody will ever see this.

Here are some bits and pieces. You can see the start of the feet here. I used a chisel to make as clean a cut as I could of the ball joints at the bottom of the lower leg. I saved the cutoffs and attached them to the plates at the bottom to make sure there's as much plastic as possible on these joints. Greenstuff will of course fill the gaps. You can see I also popped the front and back pistons off the lower legs. It looks like, if wanted to fudge it, you could just reattach them most likely. I have some plastic piping in the right sides so I'll probably be remaking them entirely. I am changing it up so her right foot (our left when looking at her head on) will be forward, and her left behind. That's the opposite of the standard. I'm contrarian I guess, and it's making a LOT more work for me, honestly. Would it have looked just as good if I kept them closer to normal? Most likely, but it would also look more like everyone else's. :P

Here's a joined bit of lower leg. They're both at this stage. Haven't yet done much cleanup, because I prefer to let the glue cure and do both sides at once so I can get the seam. Notice the drilled out bits on the exhaust cap. I see one of those on every motor on the kit, and I actually thought it was a cool way to make an armored exhaust vent. The way I see it, the outside bit is armored cap and underneath is a plate with the exhaust holes on it. They join up so that only a small hole is exposed for each slit. I plan to do this for all of them and add a little soot around them to sell the idea. For the larger ones I might do more than one hole, but I like the minimal exposure on this.

I'm letting all the glue cure for now. I'll probably get some more hobby in on Wednesday.

Hit me up with any questions, peeps. C&C very much appreciated.

[BassWave]

About the nubs that the piston clips into. Why not just cut the nubs off using a sharp hobby knife and re glue them on the position you want?

[JeffTibbetts]

Yeah, I mean that's probably what'll happen but they're likely to get destroyed. I always like backup.

[SickSix]

Looking forward to seeing this finished. Ambitious work on the legs.

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks! If only I'd have known... Maybe my plog will convince some folks not to do this. ;)

[ElectricPaladin]

Thanks! If only I'd have known... Maybe my plog will convince some folks not to do this.

Too late - I'm already considering it for my next Knight!

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks! If only I'd have known... Maybe my plog will convince some folks not to do this.

Too late - I'm already considering it for my next Knight!

Well, go into it with clear eyes and a full heart, brother. Feel free to hit me up with any questions. I'm trying to document as much here as I can. Are there pics you want to see more of or anything before I get too far?

[helterskelter]

You are a brave, brave man! Hope it works dude!

[deathspectersgt7]

You can do it , But I will not even try it .

[ElectricPaladin]

Thanks! If only I'd have known... Maybe my plog will convince some folks not to do this.

Too late - I'm already considering it for my next Knight!

Well, go into it with clear eyes and a full heart, brother. Feel free to hit me up with any questions. I'm trying to document as much here as I can. Are there pics you want to see more of or anything before I get too far?

Nah, your pics are pretty clear. I'll PM you if I need any help, though.

[Rune_Priest_Rhapsody]

I have yet to begin my Knight, so I will be watching you here JeffTibbetts. Inspirational stuff, if not slightly crazed!! I cant wait to see what comes of this, as I had thought about repositioning my titan as well. I also bought plasticard and tubing in advance for the project!!

 

End of Line

[JeffTibbetts]

Thanks for the encouragement, folks. I honestly appreciate it. Hopefully I'm blazing a trail so you can decide if you want to take it, or stick with the easy route. Nusquam also did a much more reasonable repose if this is a little too rich for your blood. I really hope this works, or my girlfriend is going to kill me.