Vanquisher Barrel Conversion

A couple weeks ago, Col. Hessler asked if anyone knew a good way to extend the LR barrel. He's planning to build a Vanquisher. I had actually been playing with this idea for a bit, and finally got to the point I could share. While this particular project didn't involve a standard LR tube, I did have a FW Conqueror turret that needed a barrel extension. So that is what I'm using here. The LR tube is about the same diameter, so this should work with that as well. My limitation was it needed to be removable, so this barrel isn't permanently attached.

What I did was to find a hard plastic Bic style pen tube and took the ink and ball-point parts out. Next I held it to the end of the Conqueror tube and measured the length. I actually have a similar FW Vanquisher turret, so I used that length for reference. I then angled the end of the new barrel as seen in the top picture. After experimenting with various plastic parts, what I ended up using was a 1/4 inch copper coupling (50 cents at the local home improvement center). While the inner diameter is a tad large, the outer diamer is perfect. I found a soft plastic bushing to help fill in the gap, but Green Stuff would work fine here as well. I also had to fill in a bit to transition from coupler to barrel.

To build up the front of the barrel, I used some leftover metal tape I had from a home improvement project. This is very thin, very smooth stuff, which works good for this conversion. Thin strips of plastic card might work as well, but I was concerned with how well the glue would hold so went with the tape. I cut two lengths of different widths, using the wider width on the bottom. A bit of glue over where the tape ended to fill the gap, and there you have it.

Camera Procrastination?

So, it’s been a while since my last post, but I promise I haven’t been lounging about 40k-less. Like others before me, I suffered from camera issues. While I thought I had the camera figured out, I went through a batch of blurry and poorly lit pictures, and considered them unfit for print. Since my hobby time is sparse, I procrastinated on taking pictures because taking a long time setting up only to get bad pictures seemed like wasted time.

I figured out a space strictly for taking pictures would be a great solution. Unfortunately, every bit of space in the house is taken, so setting up a permanent home for taking pictures is not an option. I found another way to have dedicated space. The way is in the form of the long, short box I use to store my WIP minis. I think it's a keyboard box. Even covered with minis, it’s light weight and can be moved anywhere in the house, without fear of it caving in, or out. It also turns out it is the perfect length for taking pictures of minis. I put the mini on one end and the camera on the other. The only issue then becomes finding the right light. I have a low watt table lamp on my work desk, plus my hobby lamp, and I also use a portable, clip-on shop lamp. While the table and hobby lamps stay put, I can aim the shop lamp wherever I want to find the right light for taking pictures.

Now, what’s been taking the rest of my time can be seen in the photo below: Here, still WIP, are 32 guardsmen, two tanks and three motorcycles. The guardsmen are all recently built and primed, and I finally figured out the paint scheme to use on them, so they are my main focus for a while. Like the Russ on the right, the main colors are Adeptus Battlegrey and Dheneb Stone. While I like the color scheme on the far left, it doesn’t go with the tank scheme, so I’ll probably save it for a veteran squad later.

One of the Sergeants sports a lasgun, which I recently read is no longer accepted issue, so I may need to reconvert that one. No significant conversions on these. One Sergeant sports a unique CCW, made from a Catachan long knife and part of a straight pin (on each side). There are grooves on the long knife, which a straight pin, cut to lenghth, fits in quite nicely.

The tanks have been built/converted for a while, but I finally got around to painting the Russ on the right. It was my first large model in a while, and I’ve learned a thing or three about masking and paint coverage. I wasn’t impressed with the way the Dheneb Stone acted on the black primer, but the Adeptus Battlegrey went on very smoothly. It's still a WIP, with treads and accessories to be added, as well as some weathering. I'll write a short article on the Leman Russ Annihilator on the left and post it later.

You can hardly see them in the main picture, but there are three Rough Rider motorcycles too. They’ve also been done for a while, and I still need to add riders. I was having trouble figuring out how to do the handlebars, but believe I’ve solved that issue. I’m putting together the parts to convert two more motorcycles to fill out the squad, and will make a tutorial as a WIP.