Heavy Bolter part 1: The build

I am a huge Nerd/RolePlayer and I really enjoy the Warhammer 40K Universe and the games that are set in it, Dark Heresy, Rouge Trader and its newest game Deathwatch. A few months ago we started playing Deathwatch and I chose the Devastator as a class. Their weapon of choice the Heavy Bolter. At the end of one of our session it was mention that if we could only come in costume we could get more XP! Well since making Space Marine Armor was out of the question I thought I would do the next best thing, make a scale model of the Heavy Bolter my character uses =D

I worked out the scale from the images I got off the web, using the barrel size as the reference point. Since it is a two handed weapon was by the end was going to be pretty heavy I started by making a spine for the gun. Internal panels were put on both sides so that the body would be good and strong. I just 1/2 inch MDF for these piece and 1/4 inch MDF for the shell of the body to try and keep down the weight as much as possible. The barrel was made from a 5"Hard rubber water pipe. At the start this is where most of the weight came from so I was worried she was going to be from heavy, but that sorted it's self out later, when more was added on.

The handle was going to be made from clay but that didn't last to long so I glued two piece of 1/2 inch MDF on either side and sanded them down into a nice curved hand grip. The Mag for the bolter was a tricky build, and something I didn't have s ref image to go off as a Heavy Bolter is belt fed. I also started using polyfiller to fill in the joins between the wood and cover up the holes of the nails. This stuff worked wonders. I also remember that I had to put in a breach from the shells to exit.

Sadly I don't have any proper woodwork clamps, which time and time again would have been a God send, so I was forced to impervise with what ever heavy weights I could find. But about half way through the build I found this purple clamp which was used to securer the undercarriage for the barrel. A second hole was cut above the barrel for the scope, which was just a short piece of 2" pipe I had a home from another build.

Were as the clay didn't work for the other handle it did hold for this one. I glued it in place to make sure it wasn't going anywhere. I roughly sculpted the shape and once it was safe to work on, I sanded it smooth and into a more defined shaped.

Once the main body was finished I started carving out and shaping the external details. Nearly all of these where made from either 1/2 or 1/4 MDF. I just followed the details that where on the images I got off the internet. I'm not sure what any of these extra dodads do but who am I to argue with the design of Games Workshop.

I found little studs at home from some leather work I did in the past and they worked perfectly as added detail. The breach was a tricky one. I sanded down a piece of 1/2 inch MDF until one of its sides was curved. Then glued it onto the inside of the hole to give a nice sense of depth in the prop. I then just covered the breach. I've learned from this that I need to get a better sander.

The same details where added to the backside of the gun, minus the breach. Once again the polyfiller was a great help here as I use clay at first to fill those gaps and holes but it didn't sit right. Once all the polyfiller had set I sanded it all down till it was flush with the model. I cleaned it down to remove all the dust and she was ready for her first coat of primer.