OTS: Squat Bike Tutorial

Oldhammer Tutorial Series Vol. 1
HOW TO MAKE A SQUAT BIKE IN 5000 EASY STEPS.

PART 1: THE BIKE

Parts List:



1. Squat Head.
2. Torso. I've shown a variety there, including a Catachan torso, a servitor torso (with mechanical bit trimmed off) and an imperial guard tank crew torso.
3. Old plastic ork biker. I chose this as the basis for my bike rider as he has cool gloves, boots and a rounded shoulder pad.
4. Large shocks. Part 5 from the P133 sprue (see part 'a' )
5. Space marine bike with front forks removed
6. Space marine bike handlebars
7. Ultramarine symbol (optional part, used as a mounting plate for the gun assembly)
8. Light from the Dark Angels accessory sprue (one sprue has two of these)
9. Parts from the Vindicator sprue
10. 3 wheels. I swapped two small wheels for two bigger ones halfway through making this tutorial, but it's a matter of preference really.
11. Two small pneumatic pistons. Part 2 from the P133 sprue (see part 'a')
12. Large closed piston. Part 3 from the P133 sprue (see part 'a')
13. Arms from the Imperial guard vehicle accessory sprue
14. Gun mount from the drop pod sprue. There is a similar piece found on Razorback and Land Raider sprues.
15. Part of a Land Raider sponson assembly
a. Kotobukiya M.S.G. P133 sprue. These are available everywhere in Japan, but the best store online for them is Hobby Search: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10070173
NOTE: Kotobukiya make a huge range of excellent hobby items, including weapons etc. I also used this sprue to decorate my vehicles and add some round bumps to the shoulder pad of my rider: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10009162
b. Offcut of 2mm plasticard.
c. Plasticard tubing, 2.4mm

NOTE: I have been collecting parts from various bits collections and eBay lots for years, so some of the bits used here are from expensive kits that you may not want to invest in for the sake of one small bike. It's possible you may have pieces that can match or even do a better job than the ones I used - feel free to share your ideas etc

TOOLS RECOMMENDED:
-Scalpel
-Plastic cement glue
-various files
-metal ruler
-pin vice drill
-fine grain sandpaper (1000, 1500, 2000 grit)


ASSEMBLING THE BIKE:



STEP 1: After you have chopped the front forks off, glue your bike halves together. You might notice my extremely messy glue application - it's not because I am a cack-handed gretchin mekboy assistant, but because plastic cement can act as it's own filler if you use a lot of it. The plastic melts and forms a gooey slop that will dry and become... plastic! When it is fully dry (takes a few hours, i usually leave it for a day) it can be sanded down into a perfectly smooth surface with a file and some finishing sandpaper - super professional! And all because you made a mess. Well done! (NOTE: this trick only works on flat areas - fine detail will be obliterated so use the technique discerningly)

After that business is done, you need to chop the side exhausts off so we can mount the rear wheels. I score all around the area that needs chopping off, then drive the scalpel through in one smooth motion - the blade will follow the scoring and you should get a clean slice. Tidy it up with a file.



STEP 2: Cut two small 5mm lengths of your plasticard rod. Try and get the ends straight (you may want to cut 6mm and use a file to tidy it up). Cut a piece from your 2mm plasticard that is 5mm by 16mm. Use a file to round off the ends. Get your springed forks and glue them to the stubs where the old ones attached. Glue your 2mm plasticard piece to the bottom of the spring forks and glue the two 5mm tubes to where the handlebars would have gone.

STEP 3: Cut the vindicator parts as shown in the photo. This part is a little fiddly so do it carefully. I seem to have an abundance of these parts but they may not be so available to you, so you may need to find an alternative. If you are clever with a blade, cut some pieces out of 1mm plasticard in a similar shape.

STEP 4: Glue a small wheel together. Cut a 12mm piece of the plasticard tube, once again trying to get the ends as straight as possible. Glue the tube into the hole through the wheel, making sure that 1mm is poking out either end. NOTE: the 2.4mm tube will be slightly too small for the hole - glue it to one inner edge, making sure it is straight. This edge will be facing up towards the 2mm plasticard piece, to ensure the wheel has clearance. Glue the vindicator pieces on either side, making sure they match, and then glue the wheel assembly to the 2mm plasticard piece. Leave it to dry thoroughly so you don't knock it askew.

STEP 5: Glue the handlebars onto the 5mm tubes. Trim the bottom of the light so there is a good amount of surface area to glue it to the top of the fuel tank between the 5mm tube pieces.



STEP 6: Glue together the two remaining wheels (large ones are pictured). Glue them to where the exhaust pipes used to go. If you look inside you can see the axle for the original wheel - try to line up the wheels with that axle, it'll help make them level. Glue the Ultramarine symbol to the top of the old wheel well, right behind the driver's seat. When it is thoroughly dry, drill a small hole in the centre of the symbol - this will be where the weapon mount will sit later on.

Congratulations - you have completed the first part of this tutorial! Stay tuned for part two - the rider!

PART 2: THE RIDER

NOTE: I decided to use an old ork biker as the basis for my Squat rider as I have plenty of them, i'm not particularly fond of them, and they have a certain old-school style that I thought would match the other squat plastics I have. I picked up a lot of old plastic squats for about 3 pounds which i've been using heads and bodies for gunners for. If you can come up with a different way of making a nice biker i'd love to see it! I'm not 100% happy with how the arms look on my current Squat riders, so any suggestions there would be appreciated too.



STEP 1: Get your ork biker. Say goodbye to him. Pray you aren't squeamish.
STEP 2: CHOP HIS LIMBS OFF. You need to seperate the legs and arms carefully. If you have one unassembled, obviously that's terrific!
STEP 3: CUT HIS LEGS IN HALF. Cut just under where the knee would be, then use a file to round off the ends of the legs so they look like pants again.
STEP 4: CHOP THE FEET OFF. Discard the middle chunk, don't glue the feet on yet.



STEP 5: CHOP HIS TOES OFF. Take about 2-3mm off the end of the foot, then use a file to round off the ends into boot caps.
STEP 6: Glue the new, smaller feet onto the leg stumps. You now have cute little Squat-legs.
STEP 7: Select the torso of your choice, glue it to the legs, then glue the Squat head onto the torso. Look at that little guy! So cool



STEP 8: Take two ordinary ork arms.
STEP 9: CUT THEM UP! Slice a portion out of the middle, try and leave a little attached to the gloves, and to the shoulder - you may need to do some trimming and filing to get the arms to line up with the handlebar grips.
STEP 10: Place the Squat in the saddle, apply glue to the arm sections and try to get them aligned to the handlebars. Not going to lie - this part can be fiddly.



Congratulations - you've completed part 2 of the tutorial! Stay tuned for part three: the weapon mount.

Part 3: the weapon mount

NOTE: This mount took a bit of time to design - I wanted something as close to the original look as possible, but found the fairly basic pipe mounting a bit lacking. This platform turret can swing 180° giving a better firing arc than the originals, and the platform allows the gunner to use the controls comfortably, instead of having to stand on tippy-toes to use technology they themselves designed!

This tutorial makes use of pieces 11-16 from the parts list.



STEP 1: Get the sponson piece and carefully cut it as shown in the photo - it can be tricky to make a straight cut, but if you score a line gently a few times, the blade will follow the line when you push it in firmly. Tidy the cut up with a file.
STEP 1a: This is an optional step. If you want to make it look fancy, you can cut a piece of HO scale diamond plate plasticard and stick it down to make a non-slip platform for your Squat gunner - safety first!



STEP 2: Get your gun mount piece and cut a small section of it away as shown in the photo - this gap will need to be big enough for the gunner's controls to slot in snugly. Start small, trim trim trim! Test the fit, but don't glue the arms in just yet.
STEP 3: Get part 12, the large closed piston, and slice it through using the line already moulded onto the piece. Be careful not to let that little piece fly away!!
STEP 4: Get the small part and drill a hole using the same width drill piece as you used on the body of the bike when you drilled through the ultramarines symbol. Insert a small length of wire - I use copper wire, but a paper-clip would work as long as it matches the width of the drill piece, as we want a snug fit!



STEP 5: Get parts 11 and glue them in the arrangement shown in the photo.
STEP 6: You may want to experiment with the tilt of the assembly to get the gun mount level facing forward - or pose it however you like! Anti-aircraft guns! Don't glue the turret assembly to the bike yet.



STEP 7-8: Attach the platform assembly to the two upright pistons - the blocks on the platform line up almost perfectly, neat huh?
STEP 9: Place your gunner body on the platform and insert the arms into the gun mount to gauge the fit. I recommend gluing the arms onto the body but not the turret just yet - keep the assemblies separate for easier painting.



Congratulations, you have completed the 3rd part of the tutorial! Stay tuned for part 4: Weapons!

This post is reserved for tutorial part 4: weapons

This post is reserved for tutorial part 5: finishing touches

AMAGA !

This is one hell of a tutorial ! Don't you see you're about to spread the squat plague? The ones I have left will ask me for a bike now?
Seriously this is some very good and ambitious modeling and the result is up to it so far. Can't wait to see it painted and all.

How many of them do you plan on making?

I have three so far all based on this design. I'll make a 4th with a sidecar containing a living ancestor. I'll try and design one for exo-armour too...

Very good, the look great but boy to they look hard work

Make a Squat Tank too, then send it too me hehe

They aren't so hard to build chico - maybe I should make a kit for you to assemble yourself Of course, it's hard to stop at one!

I've updated this thread with Part 3 of the tutorial Now I need to figure out how to make those fershlugginer weapons...