Finishing my MK1 Land Raiders


(Click for larger image)

Being the big stickler for rules and WYSIWYG, I thought I should at least finish off the only two vehicles in the one army I have. It's the least I can do right?


When these gems came to me, they only needed a little bit of love to get them back in shape. I was fortunate they were in great shape and didn't need much body work other than a couple weapon mounts, a hatch or two and a door here and there. Can't really complain.

The one thing I've been missing though is the pintle mounted weapons. And I don't know about you guys, but if I don't see it on the model, I forget to shoot it. Simple as that. I can try and remind myself, but that never works and I'm only kidding myself.
I've got to see it on the model.

So the hunt was on. I've been looking around for a while now. I haven't been killing myself to get the bits, but I've had my eye out for them. All in all, I needed a pair of vehicle storm bolters and a pair of multimeltas. Not too hard to come by you would think. We'll you'd be surprised... I know I was.

I happened upon a pair of the vehicle storm bolters from a Client of mine that I did some work for. A fellow Dark Angels player at that. He just happen to have two spare vehicle storm bolters in his bits box that he was willing to give me.
Perfect. Half way there.

The multimeltas though, they must be made of gold since nobody has a spare one of these lying around that they're willing to part with.

Again, I was fortunate and happened to strike up a conversation with Richie over at Wargamers World about bits a few weeks ago. He's getting into the bits market and was more than willing to help me out with getting ahold of what I needed.

Now I normally order from The Warstore and don't have any problems with them at all. The reason is this is that I'm usually ordering new/current stuff.
Richie does more with OOP models and bits, he focuses on the older pieces and bits that most serious conversion builders will end up looking for at some point in their modeling career. It just so happened that he had some spare multimeltas lying around. I also happened to score this killer old school power fist as well. These are the kind of things you can't usually get from regular bits stores and can really make a conversion come to life.

And if all else fails and you still can't find what you're looking for, there's the Barter Bucket over at Santa Cruz Warhammer. It can be a great way to get ahold of bits from other gamers if you keep striking out with online vendors.

I was worried at first with Richie being over in the UK and me in the USA and having to get things shipped across the pond, but he managed to get the multimeltas and power fist to me in no time at all.
I'm the classic pain-in-the-backside customer, I want it and I want it now. If I order it tonight, what do you mean it won't be here tomorrow morning?


So my multimeltas arrived in no time at all in good shape and I set about mounting them to my Land Raiders. Both vehicles have a small hole just in front of the top hatch. Perfect. I figured I would just add a pin to the bottom of the multi-meltas and drop them right into place. This was a blessing in disguise because if I had to permanently attach them to the vehicles, I'm not sure they would still fit in my carrying case. A little work to get one of them repaired and I was all set for my new guns.


Turns out, this is not really gonna work since the cable that runs below the multimelta hangs so low. I've got another plan though, and I'm going to mount them a little further back where there was probably some kind of antenna long ago. The multimelta fits perfectly and there shouldn't be any trouble with it.

It never seems to work out the way I plan it.

So, if you're in the market for older or an OOP bit to finish that conversion you're working on, swing by Wargamers World and shoot Richie an email if you don't see what you're looking for. He's in the process of getting everything online, but if you're like me, you can never find what you want even if it right under your nose.


Now I just need to mount my storm bolters for this week's Old Timer's League. Maybe they'll fit up front.


Ron, From the WarpIf you've got any questions about something in this post, shoot me a comment and I'll be glad to answer. Make sure to share your hobby tips and thoughts in the comments below!