Thursday, June 27, 2013

Eldar - Armorcast Tempest, the cleanup

My buddy Dave over at Ex Fide Vivo scrounged around in his (also significant) hobby storage area and unearthed a few Eldar goodies which he donated to the cause - however he will no doubt regret such a magnanimous decision at some point in the future. We have a running joke about gifted units kicking the butts of the giver going back nearly twenty years, when I gave him an old War Walker which proceeded to ANNIHILATE my army in every game thereafter, much to our amusement! The big find was an old Armorcast Tempest that has been kicking around in a box for a decade or so.


When Dave got the Tempest, it had already been through multiple owners and it had been, shall we say, extensively primered. So into a bucket of Simple Green it went. ...That was three weeks ago. Stripping the paint proved to be an archaeological process - turns out the model had five coats of primer and paint on it. Green when Dave had it, apparently it had also been blue, red, orange and white over the course of its lifetime. I'd pull it out every couple days, give it a good scrub uncovering the next layer and then back into the dip it went. Eventually went through two gallons of Simple Green just to get it to what you see here! At this point after one last good soak in a fresh bucket all that's left is the 'scraping all the nooks and crannies' step which as you can imagine is going to be a rather tedious process. Luckily, I can do that in the living room while watching a movie, as you can currently melt lead in the hobby loft. Oof!

13 comments:

  1. Do rules exist for this? I find it difficult to bring those old models up to something visually fitting of current armies. I guess that old war hound ruined it for me ha ha. I'm sure this will look great in your scheme

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  2. @TheAmbit: I figured I'd run it as a Scorpion in friendly local games - I agree, it's definitely showing its age but it has a fun nostalgia factor for me. :)

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  3. For those really tough jobs, try easy off or any other foaming oven cleaner. Coat the model put it in a ziplock freezer bag for a few hours rinse and scrub. So far everything i have used it on slides right off.

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  4. Purple Power. It's an engine degreaser that I use on my models and you can pick it up in the automotive section of Walmart

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  5. Damn that Valley has it right, Purple Power (Or what ever else you find that's "Purple" and "cleaner" in the same slogan, works really well for the stubbornest paint messes. (Have an old GUO that has been sat in it for months as the paint was so thick. Or was it cos I'm so lazy? ;P

    A mate back in the day had imported one of those grav tanks over to the UK. We thought it was cool as heck. Now, I think it's better than that. I wish Armorcast still made those old Warhound Titans - my Adeptus Titanicus loving self would love a proper sized one.

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  6. Electric toothbrush those grooves...
    Will clean them right out.

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  7. @David: Hahah!

    @Zab: Interesting - I'll try that! Have you had any issues with it warping/melting resin?

    @Damn The Valley: I'll give that a try next time as well. Thanks!

    @Dai: I'm a big fan of the old Armorcast stuff as well, I kick myself every time I think of the multiple Reavers and Warhounds that I've owned and sold over the years...

    @Ranger Rob: That's an excellent idea! I have an old electric that may be just the thing. Great tip!

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  8. No warping or melting yet, but I don't leave it in overnight or anything.

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  9. If you do try the Purple stuff, make sure to wear gloves - it'll leave your hands a dried and sore mess otherwise.

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  10. I have a couple and the Apocalypse gaming club, Apoc-Eclipse, I play with uses a home grown datasheet.

    Here is a link to the pdf on the Apo-Eclipse wiki. http://www.tralfazsolutions.com/MegaBattle/EldarApocalypse-Matt.pdf

    I think that the Bell of Lost souls lords of battle pdf has the Tempest in it also.

    ColKG

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  11. @Zab: Dig it - I'll give it try on some metal minis first!

    @Dai: Totally, Simple Green is supposedly much more gentle, but gloves are still a plus.

    @ColKillgore: Good call! It didn't even occur to me to look in the Lords of Battle book, thanks for the link to the Apoc-Eclipse one as well!

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  12. No Problem, I am glad I could help you in your quest for updated rules for the Tempest.

    ColKG

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