Elusive Basilisk bits. (Halp!)

[Calyptra]

A while back I acquired a big lot of second hand models, including a still-on-sprue Basilisk. An embarrassingly long time later I started assembling the thing, and discovered that it's missing the two bits which hold up the cannon (the instructions calls them "trunnions.")

 

I've searched ebay, without success.

 

While I don't really want to buy a whole new tank, if I did I could use the rest of it to build another Chimera or something, but I'm not even finding new Basilisks for sale.

 

At this point, I'm just checking ebay regularly in case the bits I need turn up in one of those big parts lots or something. It's a tedious and probably flawed plan, so I'm asking for advice.

 

The Hydra appears to have similarly shaped trunnions. Would they work? I don't know if they're remotely close in size.

 

Also, why is this kit so rare?

[librisrouge]

I don't think its rare, per se. I think its popular and great, so nobody is selling their's and all of the second hand bits are sold out now. I wish you luck, but sadly I have little advice.

[Major_Gilbear]

The Basilisk is still for sale, but from GW only, and you'll need to register for an alert if it's out of stock. It comes with the following three generations of sprues in the kit:

 

- Modern Chimera lower chassis and tracks

- Second release vehicle accessory kit, with hatches, weapons, 'dozer blade, and track covers

- First release (i.e., 2E40k) gun and rear platform

 

The Hydra/Wyvern kit will not work unfortunately.

 

Failing that, you could use plasticard to build an Armageddon-pattern housing, and that would hide virtually the whole of the rear part of the gun, obviating the need for the original trunnions. I'm almost certain Brother Chaplain Kage has such a build detailed in his WIP log over in the Forge.

[Calyptra]

Thanks for the responses.

 

I discovered the Armageddon variant when I thought, "I wonder if Forgeworld has something." The thing is, I love the look of the regular Basilisk and don't really care for the Armageddon one. Also, my Guard are Praetorians, so I don't think the Armageddon variant is a great fit for them.

 

I can keep watching for GW to restock the kit as well as watching ebay. In the meantime, it's not like I don't have other projects to work on. I think I'm going to use styrene or popsicle sticks to build a tiny table. So I can flip it.

[shandwen]

You honestly might be better off scraping the entire kit (eBay it off or whatever) as those bits will be impossible to find.

Also, on the HE website they prioritize which kits to produce off of the amount of "email me"s clicked. So get your friends to click that as well.

[Major_Gilbear]

I suppose an alternative is to keep the parts of the tank you have, and source a completely new gun. Something like Tamiya German Flak 88 in 1:35 scale might work well for you, and would certainly look a little bit less "modern" for your Praetorians.

 

Normally, 1:35 scale is massive for 40k (as a 1.8m/6' human equates to a 52mm high model), but for things like guns/weapons, 40k is hugely over-scaled. I therefore think that something like this would give you an excellent starting point, and I dare say you could re-sleeve the barrel with some plastic tube to make it even more "40k" if you want. Also, these sorts of kits are usually found in local model shops for very reasonable prices, so you should be able to take some Basilisk parts with you to the shop and check the scale yourself.

 

Other artillery pieces that might suit are the British QF 25-pounder Field Gun MkII, the French AMX Mk F3 155mm Self-Propelled Howitzer, or the US M110 Self-propelled Howitzer. (...In fairness, there's absolutely loads of options amongst historical model kits, so you're bound to find something that works well enough for you!) :)

 

I also found an example via Google Images to show you what such a kitbash between a Basilisk hull and a US M110 Self-propelled Howizter miniature might look like:

 

[iceman2160]

I have twelve basilisks in my IG army.  While I was building the final one, I lost the trunion for one side.    I ended up improvising a new trunion by using bits of sprue.  It doesn't looks too pretty, but it will hold the main gun in place.  Better than scrapping the whole kit in my mind.

Edited January 23, 2018 by iceman2160

[Calyptra]

Looking to historical models for bits is brilliant! I will try that. Thank you!