Thorssoli's Vacformed Warhammer 40k Space Marines

[thorssoli]

Spar? Pshaw. I've got bigger plans for this rig...

No real progress on the armor today. We got tired of staring at giant armor forming bucks this afternoon, so we decided to take a break and make these other giant forming bucks:


For the Emperor! Or at least the Emperor's lumberjacks:


Here's the first tooth sculpted out for the chain:


I made a quick box mold and poured in some silicone before calling it a night. Tomorrow I'll crank out a few casts and prep them for gang molding so I can make a dozen or so teeth at a time. I'll also be turning down a decent hilt and putting together some interesting detail parts to add to the body.

Hopefully I'll have a presentable finished piece by the end of the weekend.

Stay tuned...

 

[thorn696]

Awesome work on that Blade.

 

[NightWolf98]

So many trees, so little time... Lol

 

[Dreadnaught]

Just out of curiousity, how are you planning to articulate the hands? Are you going to go with a more flexible version of those kids' toys where they pull on a handle and the fingers of the hand close?

 

[thorssoli]

For the most part, I'm not planning on articulating the hands. The plan is to build them so they're grasping weapons and have them fixed in place.

For the ones that will be articulated, you're pretty much right. The palms and each knuckle of the fingers will be rotocast. All of the parts will be rigged together with a rigid spline running down each finger so it will relax into an open position. There will be a control cable running down each articulated finger so that when the wearer pulls on it, the finger curls. I haven't worked out how to attach the controls to the wearer's hand, but it won't be all that difficult.

Here's how the hands look right now:


I'm not entirely happy with the second knuckle of the ring finger. I also still have to sculpt masters for all of the fingertips and finish detailing the palms. Those should all come together pretty quickly.

Yesterday I made the first dozen teeth for the chainsword:


Here's how they'll fit into the blade:


Today I'll be cleaning them up a bit and making a gang mold so I can cast them a dozen at a time. It looks like a static version of the chainsword will need at least 20 teeth and if I make one with a working chain it'll take at least 45.

Stay tuned for more progress on that.

 

[Unity]

This is just plain awesome man !

 

[thorssoli]

Thanks. It's getting bigger!

The other day I stacked up 15 casts of the tooth, cleaned them up a bit, and made a box so I could gang mold them:


I also went ahead and prototyped the missing bits for the hilt:


Here's a shot of the first castings installed in the first pull:


The night before last I sat down and cranked out a quick sculpt for the pommel detail:


I haven't cast a copy of the pommel, but that didn't stop me from taking pictures with the rest of it all put together:




I also poured the mold for the detail that will go in the tip and tie together the open end there.

Today I'll cast the pommel and start painting up a couple of pulls.

Back on the subject of the armor, all that still needs doing is a refining of the shoulder plate, splitting and reinforcing the thighs, and sculpting out the flexible parts for the waist, hips, knees, and elbows.

Stay tuned...

 

[vshore100]

Now THAT'S a sword!

 

[Combust]

"Leg of lamb anyone? Yes? Allow me...." <BBZZZZZZZAHHAHKAKKKCKCKKCKCKCKK>

Love it!

 

[thorssoli]

 

[BLACKULA727]

Everything is looking sharp man. Definitely looking forward to the paint up.

 

[Kyre]

You know what they say about men with huge chainswords....

THEY ARE FREAKIN' AWESOME! But really, how close to scale is it next to the armor? It looks a bit too large for even an 8-foot-tall killing machine!

 

[Tracyn Ordo]

Loving the oil and gas detailing you've got on the hilt there, very cool!

 

[thorssoli]

how close to scale is it next to the armor?

Looking at the miniatures, the chainsword should be somewhere around six feet long. The one I've made is under five. It's still huge, but scaling it down brings it a bit closer to looking practical.

Everything is looking sharp man. Definitely looking forward to the paint up.

Paint up? How about paint ups (plural):


After working out the last few details, I couldn't help but make a couple more. The last step was to add this piece to the top of the grill:


I glued some window screen mesh into the vents and then it was time for painting.

I should have all three paintjobs knocked out sometime tomorrow. I'll also be back to work on the rest of the armor.

Stay tuned...

 

[Nessy]

Looking at the miniatures, the chainsword should be somewhere around six feet long. The one I've made is under five. It's still huge, but scaling it down brings it a bit closer to looking practical.

Does the size of your vac former have anything to do with the size of the chain sword? It looked like anything bigger would have to been cut in half to fit on the table. The sword is looking amazing, any plans for motors spinning the chain, and chainsaw sound effects?

 

[thorssoli]

That was a distinctly limiting factor, yes, but it worked out well with about an inch and a half to spare on either end.

Minor update: almost done painting...


I should have them all done in the next day or two.

 

[Warpath5150]

Woah. Plain out amazing work you've done here, im loving it. I gotta get me one of those chainswords

Suprised i made it! commented before this turned into a elite build

 

[thorn696]

Epic just Epic....Now I do however have 1 question. How heavy is that Weapon?

 

[Liq]

I don't care that you have a thread already in elite, this one should be right beside it. Your work on this is fantastic as always, and you truly are a great artist.

 

[Spartan Devastator]

so jealous of the mad crazy skills that you have man! I just love you chainswords!