Converting a Heavy Flamer Turret for a Razorback Part 2

Last time, I discussed the bitz you'll need to convert a twin-linked heavy flamer turret for a Razorback as well as the tools that I use and links to where you can buy them. If you missed it, make sure you check out part 1.  Let's get on with the tutorial.

Step 1: You want to cut the tips off of the heavy bolters and the heavy flamers. There's a couple different ways you can do this. You can use a saw, plastic cutters, or an x-acto knife. I tend to use all 3 methods. Use what works best for you. I typically don't get the straightest cuts with the saw and I end up straightening everything out with the needle file. You can click on these pictures for a larger image. Make sure to cut the heavy flamers where the edge is in the below pic.

 

Step 2: Clean up the edges with a needle file so everything is nice and smooth and glue the pieces together with liquid cement. If you cut the heavy flamer like you were supposed to, there is going to be a gap on the one side. This is okay as we will fix this later, but you might have a hard time getting this to sit right. When you are using liquid cement, don't just put the glue there and stick the two parts together. You want to make circular motions and rub the parts together at the contact point so the glue starts to work. I left flash on both pieces and used that to line them up. When you are done, your heavy flamer barrels should look like the below pic.

Step 3: While the main gun barrels are drying, pop off the tips of each of the LEGO® hoses and cut them in half with an x-acto knife. You don't have to be dead center, just relatively close. The hoses are going to sit down inside the Rhino body, so it isn't a big deal if one is longer than the other. Once they are cut in half, cut off the tips were the connector pieces were. Be a bit more careful here as you'll need a  flat surface that we can glue to in our next step.

Step 4: On the bottom of the heavy flamer bit is a little round disc of plastic that you want to shave off. I just used the x-acto knife and filed it smooth. This is where our hoses are going to connect to the bottom of the heavy flamer. Take some super glue and attach the hoses here. I also put a little bit of super glue between the heavy flamer and heavy bolter piece for added strength and let it dry. While that was drying, I cut 2 small rectangles of plastic card and attached them to the side of the heavy flamer over the holes with liquid cement. Again, make sure to rub the squares against the gun so the glue starts to work. I didn't make my squares exactly the same, because one is in the middle of the guns that you won't see and once they are painted you won't be able to tell the difference. When you are done with this step, it should look like the below pic.

Step 5: At this point, you want to assemble your turret. After I did, I found there was a lot of extra tension on the hoses and the turret was difficult to move up and down. While the hoses seemed fine, I didn't want them to break off later or in the middle of a game. Turn the turret upside down and cut off the entire front piece of plastic ring. I'd also recommend widening the hole at the front of the turret with a needle file until the turret can freely move up and down with just a little resistance.

Step 6: Clean up the flash and any unsightly gaps or holes and dry fit your turret to make sure that everything fits together. Oh, and don't forget to use your pin vise and drill out your gun barrels! Pet peeve of mine is guns with no barrels. When you are done, it should look like the below pic.

Step 7: Prime all of the pieces black, paint everything up, and glue it all together and you should end up with a nice turret for your Razorback.

The Razorback above just has base colors on it right now and just a few washes and no highlighting or weathering. I need to add a lot before I call it done, but I want to get basic painting on my entire army before I finish anything. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial. Please leave me some feedback and ask questions so I know that you guys are getting something out of this. Also, if you do your own conversion, let me know and I'll post it here.

There is a lot that I am currently working and have planned for the blog in the coming weeks:

• I'm currently working on replacing my gaming tables and I'll have a tutorial on how you can make two 4'x6' tables for under $100
• Farseer Frank has agreed to come back from his Craftworld and report on his first tournament experience at Conflict GT
• I'm planning on converting a Space Marine Drop Pod to a Dreadnaught Drop Pod from this awesome article that was posted by There is Only War...
• I'll have some more conversion tutorials as I continue to work on my Razorbacks and move on to my Sanguinary Priests

Next time, I'll jump right into another tutorial and show you how to convert a lascannon and twin-linked plasmagun turret for a Razorback. See the pic for a sneak peek.

Till then,

–The Harrower