Project Log: Skaven Warp-Skryre Tower, Part 4

The Warp-Skryre accumulator-device is starting to shape up nicely...

 

Skaven contraptions can never have too many gears! I added another small engine under the platform. The engine is made out of a Dreadnought engine and some gears and wheels.

 

 

The large wagon wheel was placed over the extended drive shaft up top, and the two smokestacks on the Dreadnought engine became the drive shafts for the lower gears.

 

 

I built the lower wheel out of two shields, and fit a strip of styrene card around it and the larger wheel to create the belt.

 

 

I also added a piece of wood from the Gnawhole kit to serve as a support arm.

 

 

The engine itself was carved up and distressed, and I added more rivets and plating to cover the vent slots.

 

 

The gears were decorated with some plastic strips to make the Skaven symbol, and the center holes were covered with bits of styrene hex rod and round rod to make the bolts.

 

 

Here's the setup with everything in place:

 

 

On the opposite side, I built a boiler and smokestack out of the cannon from the Chaos Defiler, and some styrene tube and plastic strips.

 

 

The nuts and bolts on the main platform were bade with a bit of hex rod for the nut, and a smaller bit of round rod for the protruding bolt.

 

 

To make the crown of the smokestack, I marked the points to cut out and drilled holes around the bottom. Then I trimmed the arrowhead shapes at the top.

 

 

To help hole the flared shape, I added some thin strips of styrene strips. They also help create a more decorative appearance to the smokestack's crown.

 

 

I had an L-shaped piece that I had previously sculpted out of Aves Apoxie Sculpt, which I used to make the bend in the stack. To cover some of the seams and conceal the baroque Chaos trim on the cannon, I added plates made from thin styrene. The two halves of the smokestack were joined with the ring from a Stormfiend rattling cannon, and I attached a chain from the Screaming Bell as a support. The hatch cover from the Defiler was added on the end of the boiler, with a strip of rivet-punched styrene to cover the gap.

 

 

On the opposite end, I used a glass bead to create a power orb (it will be painted with a suitably green glow in the final piece), and attached it to part of a Dreadnought power fist.

 

 

Then I made some connecting pipes by bending thick styrene rod with a heat gun. The attachment cuffs were made from styrene tube.

 

 

I glued them in place and used a piece of hose from the Stormfiend kit to connect the glass orb to the main engine.

 

 

As a final embellishment, I added some ropes and bells from the Gnawhole kit.

 

 

I used the same process to make the attachment post for the angled gear, and connected it to a waist piece from a plastic Dreadnought.

 

 

Next, it was time to turn to the mount for the Warp-Skryre accumulator. I built the mount out of a support from a Land Raider lascannon and the shoulder mount for a Dreadnought. In this image, I have the engine core from a Space Marine Landspeeder, but left it out of the final assembly because it made it too tall. These pieces were all attached where the dome's telescope used to be, with a length of brass rod running all the way through.

 

 

I used an iron wheel from a Space Ork artillery piece, and a small gear from a wind-up toy to add more engineering to the attachment. The hole in the center of the giant gear was filled in with Aves putty so the accumulator could be pinned in place. In the final piece, I'll leave it unglued so I can remove it for storage, and rotate it during the game.

 

 

Here's a look at everything and how it will sit atop the rocky spire:

 

 

Now, it's just a matter of working out the details for the lens array and the cables and tech bits around the accumulator dome, and adding a few more details here and there.

'Til next time!