Carnival of Chaos -=- WIP -=- Part 5

The Plague Cart for my Carnival of Chaos Mordheim warband is built finally. Yay! Here are some shots of it before it got a spray of primer.If you've seen the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, then you will be familiar with the cart's design. Since that is my source of inspiration for the piece.

The first thing to note is that this is an extra large "cart." I am not sure of the feasibility of using it as a vehicle in the game. Many people do use rules that allow for movement and to carry guys. But due to it's size, both to get around terrain and being an extra large target, I think I may opt to use it more as scenery. It is up for debate if I can include this in my list and receive the benefits from it. Ideas are welcome.

 

 As described before, I built the cart completely out of plasticard. The wheels are from a Scaven vehicle. I have added some nurgle rot with green stuff around the cart. I wanted some, but not too much. Like the fiction for CoC says, the town's people welcome in the Carnival only to realize their true intentions too late. 

 The driver is from the Dark Age range of figures. He originally held a spear and shield. Those were shaved off and his arms positioned to hold the reins for the horses.

 The main characteristic of my plague cart was a fold down stage. I had seen this on a few other models people had built, but not to this scale. The whole side of the cart is hinges down to form the stage floor. Magnets keep the door shut, and fold out support lowered to help support the stage.

The interior features some green stuff drapes that carry the performance/circus theme inside. A stove and misc stuff are there. I dropped a fish in there being a repeating theme in Mordheim. A few models can fit inside with the door shut.

 The back of the cart features lots of stuff stowed away. Plus some things trying to escape...

I hope you like. Cart has been primed along with the whole warband. So it is all ready for some paint. Cheers for now.

Tutorial: Wood Texturing on Plastic Card

A Guide to creating wood texture using plasticard.

I've found using plasticard is a good alternative to balsa wood for building. Large panels of it can be created, and overall strength is higher than gluing wood together. Below is a guide I created based on how I used it to construct a Mordheim Plague Cart for a Carnival of Chaos warband recently. Technique can be done on a small scale to create wood flooring for bases or smaller projects.

Step 1: I measured off a square of 3mm plastic (maybe 4 inch square) and cut it out. (This particular piece of plastic is from a display sign made of PVC) Then measured and marked off parallel lines with a 4mm spacing for the individual planks.

Step 2: I use a utility blade for cutting. Be sure to keep the blade sharp. A dull knife is not your friend. I pre-scored each parallel plank line with the blade, then used a pointed jewelers file to widen the gap between each plank.

Step 3: Here I have begun the scoring between the individual planks. When making the cross cuts to end each plank, be sure to focus on keeping them as random as possible. You don't want them all to line up. So varying the lengths helps alittle.

Step 4: Here you see I am laying in the wood texture of the individual planks. I push the file straight in to create some random knot holes. You can see a few to the left before the texture is done. Then I drag the tip of the file down each plank to create each texture line. Go from top to bottom, and keep it moving around. Trees are living and naturally have variation. Push hard enough to score the plastic, but not deeper than the lines between the planks.

Step 5: Here are a few final pieces constructed. If you look closely, you'll notice 2 small nail holes at the ends of each plank. I used a very small drill bit to drill shallow holes to simulate the nail holes. Hope this helps.

Carnival of Chaos -=- WIP -=- Part 4

Quick/Teaser update:
The Carnival of Chaos Plague Cart construction is underway. I have most all the main structure built now. It will turn out some size larger than the official model, so I am unclear if I will be using it in gameplay or just for added cool factor to the warband. Below is a picture of most the parts piled up before assembling. You'll see the two horses and the model I will be using for the Guardian driver (he is a neat Dark Age model I got at the paint n' take at KublaCon this year)


Wood Working For Dummies
Per Op-For's recommendation (which I highly regard for his conversion skills) I used plastic card for the construction material. The main model is made from 3mm PVC. It was either that or balsa wood. But I felt the plastic would add strength to the model, and I would be able to control it better. I am glad I did! It does take alot more work to prepare, but I think the end result will be great.

All the wood work in the picture was done by first laying out the wood paneling design with pencil, then scoring the lines with a knife, followed by enlarging the cuts with a small pointed file (like seen below).
Then on the plastic's surface I used that same file to randomly lay down lines to simulate the wood grain pattern. Finally, I used a small pin vice to add nail holes to the ends of each wood panel created. It's that simple folks! Maybe I can take some closeup pictures of how to do the wood.

I will be assembling and building the cart now. I am excited to see it take shape from my drawing sketches to 3D.