TUTORIAL – Khador Battle Engine Gun Carriage Walker…

Alright so here’s a step-by-step breakdown on how I built this sucka. This is my first really big conversion project and it’s still pretty easy compared to a lot of the more hardcore modders out there. So hopefully this will encourage those to try a conversion project and also show that some aren’t that too crazy to do yourself with minimal experience! Here we gooooooo!

Tools used are as follows…

1. X-acto/Hobby Knife/Blade
2. Jeweler’s Saw
3. Dremel
4. 4 Rare Earth Magnets (1/4″ wide by 1/8″ thick)
5. Plasticard (1/16″ thickness)
6. Pin vice & brass rod (very little)
7. Dust Tactics Medium Assault Walker (around $15-$20USD)
8. Dozer Blade (optional, I used a old GW one)

1. Line it up to see where you are going to need to cut/score the carriage bottom

2. Score the general cutting guidelines with your x-acto knife. It doesn’t need to be precise as the legs have some room to be flexible. I ended the bottom right below the turrets.

3. Use the Jeweler’s saw to cut out the main big chunks. Be careful when pulling it back out. They are so thin that I broke 3-4 of them during this process.

4. After the main chunks are cut off, your going to use the Dremel to smooth out the shape so you get a nice fit between the legs.

5. Dry fit the carriage onto the legs and keep sanding it down with the Dremel until it fits nice and snug.

6. Score and Dremel holes for your magnets. I advise instead of lining them up like I did you actually make one further forward and one further back so it has minimal tilting/swaying/teetering.

7. I opted to put a dozer blade because it looks cooler plus I imagine it knocking down trees while stomping through the forest. I did a simple pin job to make sure it stayed on nice and tight.

Notice there’s a BIG gap on the sides.

8. This was literally the hardest part of the conversion. Measuring and getting the right size armor piece to fill the gap. It took some trial and error and I had a little wiggle room for error since the dozer I used was curved. I just made 1 and used it as a template for the other side. I then scored a line in the middle to try and match the armor on the carriage and gently bent the plasticard. Be careful as to not break it in 1/2 since it will make it a lot harder to glue it to the carriage. I broke one of the sides and I simply used tape to keep it together. I knew the glue would hold the rest.

9. I went ahead and glued the magnets with a little bit of epoxy around the empty spaces to make sure they stayed on nicely. Be sure to mark your magnets so you don’t reverse the polarization! I advise letting the epoxy harden over 12-24 hours otherwise the magnets will most likely still rip out.

10. How you make rivets is really up to you. I just ended up rolling some epoxy up and let it dry overnight and proceeded to cut pieces off. I went a little too crazy with the glue as you can see below and they were too large compared to the rest of the rivets. I also added some extra Behemoth spikes I had to the side of the walker legs.

11. I then use more epoxy and rounded off the base on the walker legs. I wasn’t too worried about making the base look perfect since I use flock for my basing. If you use normal basing grit you will probably want to smooth it out much more than I did. I also just pinned the soldier popping out in the rear but painted him separately which is why you don’t see him here.

I originally wanted to do a 4 legged walker like the oldschool Revell Robotech models but the Dust Tactics model just happened to fit so perfectly. Plus this was much easier and cheaper for me.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FINISHED MODEL!

Now since the Gun Carriage is magnetized it is easier to travel with and it does fit nicely in the 3″ Battlefoam pluck tray. And yes there’s space for another Gun Carriage in that tray 😉