WH40K at 3mm Scale?

[Mr. Average]

I’m probably crazy to even think of it. Could it even be done? Has anyone ever tried?

I have to admit the idea has crossed my mind more than once. Some light modification to a Mark V tank could yield a Land Raider, for example. A Char B is a reasonable facsimile of a Leman Russ. Some of the smaller-scale, Old School CAV models from Reaper could double as Thunderhawks or Valkyries. There’s already two scales of powered armor available that’d make decent Space Marines, Dreadnoughts…

Maybe I’m just nuts. But do you think it could be done? Have you tried? Would you try?

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Well, if I can do Ogre in this scale…. It~s just a question of whether or not you have the patience to do the mods.

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Mr. Average]

Indeed.  I’m preoccupied with the Royal Croftyran Expeditionary Force and the ZPDR 743rd Motor Rifle Regiment, but NEXT, maybe… 😉

[Ivan Sorensen]

Individual infantry figures though?

Now a copy of NetEpic and some 3mm armies, I could get down for 🙂

[Mr. Average]

That’s what I have in mind, as a matter of fact.  Although I’m still a fan of the 6mm scale Epic game, myself.  Especially with the Steel Crown/Toublemaker “Not-Imperial Guard” units.

[Ivan Sorensen]

My 6mm infantry is a mix of Darkest Star, Angel Barracks (for skirmishing) and Troublemaker). Relying on Darkest Star for vehicles, since shipping is cheaper than the UK outfits.

We played NetEpic (2nd ed fan version) forever. Nowadays, I lean more towards the original Space Marine 1st edition.

[Mr. Average]

Someone ought to see if the National Cheese Emporium would like to produce some Not-Epic 3mm scale vehicles.  The recent O8 Venators would be fine Space Marines, and the WW2 U.S. Infantry is my go-to basic 3mm scale infantry figures for most applications.  I have a handful of Char B’s on hand, and I’m going to see if they’ll take a little putty for some sponson guns – might make Leman Russ tanks at scale…

[Ivan Sorensen]

Does anyone do WW1 tanks in 3mm for some land raiders?

Obviously, you can pick up M113’s for Rhinos and BMPs for Chimeras

[Mr. Average]

I have in mind LVTPs for Chimeras actually.  The Israeli Vayzata makes a very good Rhino and seems like it could take some minor modding to make a Whirlwind or Vindicator.  O8 does make WWI tanks, though I think they’re a  bit long relative to their width for a Land Raider – bulking them out with a bit of putty might do the trick though.  Sh’ot Blazers would be pretty reasonable Predators.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Further on that track, Soviet Tunguska’s are pretty much Hydra flak tanks.

Any ideas for titans?
When we were poor kids, we actually used 40K terminator marines as titans. Much smaller than the real models but they fit the height described in the books much better.

I imagine it’d look decent enough with 3mm figures too.

[Mr. Average]

DP9 figures make excellent out-of-scale Titans.  In fact, just about anything robotic at 28mm scale or bigger would also suit as a Titan.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Ah of course. I should have remembered since I do use Gear figures as support walkers in 15mm.

[Mr. Average]

Oh, and the Soviet SA-6 is an almost perfect Manticore.  Not exactly sure what to use for the Superheavies, but an out-of-scale 6mm tank should be plausible, if one or more could be found for the purpose.

[Ivan Sorensen]

I was going to say, just use a chunky 6mm tank.

Might be hard to find one with 15 different turrets on it, but I am okay sacrificing a little visual fidelity 🙂

[Mr. Average]

More good selections: M110 as a Basilisk, or cut down the barrel to make a Griffon or Bombard.  Soviet FROG as a Deathstrike, albeit one with a wheeled chassis – again, a little putty maybe.  The Ragnarok tank is basically just an old big-turret KV-2.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Predator might be tricky. I might consider “forgetting” the sponsons and just use a ww2 Panzer IV or something.

[Mr. Average]

Another thing – who to fight them? The obvious choices are setting the games in the Heresy and fighting traitor legions. Alternately, O8 aliens make a good basis for a 3mm Tyranid force, with some out-scale Onslaught Leviathans to go with. The larger size might serve to make them more intimidating, maybe. Making some O8 infantry into Coneheads with putty might yield Eldar Guardians, albeit slowly and with a lot of work. And Microworld Foundationist Support Guns are good starts for Eldar Grav Tanks, or many the wedge tanks from the GZG line, ir the Team Katana vehicles from National Cheese Emporium…

[Mike]

Could you use Irregular 2mm as enemies, maybe Squats?
Not sure about vehicles though, seems like humans vs humans would be the best fit with current miniatures, but then why play 40k in that case?

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Hmm. Well, let me give some advice from my experience with the Ogre mods…

Don’t do anything that would require a ton of fiddly modidifications. Leman Russes out of Char Bs? Great! Sounds like fun! But making six bazillian cone-headed Eldar infantry…? No way. You will go nuts.

The probability of you successfully completing enough modded figs for you game falls by half per mod, per fig. It also falls by half if you have to free sculpt a mod: try to get premade bits. If that fails, try to make your bits mass producible, either out of plasticard or home casting.

My one fear with a WH 40k mod is that the figs are too baroque to convincingly modify.

You might want to talk to Marcin, however, about doing Landraiders and Rhinos, at the very least. Hell, he did GEVs and Hammers’ blowers… And WH 40k is a HUGE market.

For titans, any walkie-stompie vehicle between 20-40 mm tall will do. DP9 stuff is perfect. In fact, they have figures that would easily pass as Imperial Titans with no modding at all. Here is one of them from my own collection. Check out Big Red and Thor…

http://leadnobleed.blogspot.com.br/2010/07/big-red-and-thor.html

With regards to Tyranids, I have been thinking about this myself. For “vehicles”, some of the smaller stuff from the new “Dropzone Commander” range might serve. They have something that looks like a piranha, mixed with an ape holding a gun. Very good for a ‘Nid dreadnaught.

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Rhoderic]

Vehicle-heavy Orks, possibly? There’s motorcycles in the O3 WW2 range, and some other vehicles might make good Battlewagons and whatnot with a bit of converting. Looted Imperial vehicles might also have a place in an Ork army. Infantry could be a problem, though. Orks in 40K are more gorilla than human.

[Mr. Average]

The Eldar idea was more joke than serious suggestion. I don’t think it could be done in any feasible way.

There ought to be some way to get reasonably Eldarish troops though. Maybe  helmeted napoleonics with a suitable paint job? Speaking of which, Rough Riders could be done that way too. And good catch on the bikes, Rhoderic!

And maybe, as TB suggests, it would pay to see if Marcin would do a Not Land Raider. But WH40K is kind of a rabbit hole he may not wish to go down, litigious as GW is.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Your best bet for Eldar morphs from the Napoleonic line would probably be the helmeted skirmishers. I have some, so maybe I will paint a stand up, so we can see how they’d turn out.

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

These guys here. The problem is that you only get sixty per pack and one of them (the dude reloading his musket) is less than useful.

http://www.picoarmor.com/pico-products-detail.cfm?id=239&pid=2106&p=Napoleonics&n=Skirmishers%20-%20Helmet%20(15%20pcs)&m=0

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Just pulled out the helmeted skirmishers and had a close look: it is almost as if they were designed to be Eldar.

Here are the only issues I see…

1) They are mounted in stands of two, which means you’ll need a dremel to break them up.

2) One of them is loading his musket and, aside from standard bearer, I don’t know WHAT you can do with him.

3) Absent the loader, you’ll only get 45 per pack – that’s almost a dime per 3mm figure! Figuring something to do with the loader is thus paramount. Maybe stick them on all loader bases as if they were at parade rest…?

4) One nit: they have no packs. An easy fix, however, would be to glue a tiny greeblie between their helmet and ammo pouch. This is a very simple modification and it will increase their SFness.

But what would we use for high-tech Eldar tanks?

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

Also? Sarissa battle armor as Eldar Dreadnought.

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

…and, of course, these Infinity miniatures as Eldar titans.

http://leadnobleed.blogspot.com.br/2012/12/nvl-reinforcements-arrive-on-smades.html

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[Rhoderic]

Thaddeus Blanchette wrote:

But what would we use for high-tech Eldar tanks?

Maybe someone could sculpt a single 3mm Falcon in two pieces (main body and turret) and make a press mould of that. As long as the tanks hover close enough to the ground, their featureless undersides need not be a problem. That said, I’m aware that press moulds are a far-from-perfect method.

If you want to torture yourselves you could trawl through spaceship/spacefighter ranges for something that’s the right size and shape, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

[Mr. Average]

National Cheese Emporium Team Bayonet or Team Katana seems like a good start.

[Mr. Average]

I sent a little cue to Javelin98 regarding this thread, which is starting to get very interesting and far closer to real possibility than I’d originally imagined might be the case. TB, I think you have a better inside line with Marcin than I – maybe he’d find it interesting to follow this discussion as well.

I think that the Tyranids are probably the most immediately doable 40K OPFOR at this scale, with the exception of Chaos, which can basically be primarily a Human army with suitably Chaos-y colors and appointments, maybe a few of the warped Human-Legion Hybrids from the Onslught line as chaos abominations of some kind. On that point, by the way, some of the OTC PA units, though decidedly Tau-y, might also be repurposed as Marine Dreadnoughts. Paired with a four-legged chassis from one of the Microworld Mechs, it could be a reasonable Chaos Devastator as well, with minimal conversion. The Sistrhood tanks might be meat for Baneblade/Shadowsword conversion, too, or possibly used straight, although I admit I have an urge to “save” them for a Sisters of Battle army in their own right.  And as for the Tau themselves, or the Necrons, I’m at a loss at the moment. I think they’d require custom pieces by a willing manufacturer, unfortunately.

Gamewise, I think they would scale out very favorably one to one, just being smaller and on smaller boards. Ranges could be cut by a suitable factor. Or alternately, a set of these could be dressed up on multi-unit bases and you could get TRULY titanic-looking battles going by simply keeping the stats and bumping up the command level such that a vehicle or stand becomes a platoon, a company becomes a battalion, a battalion a regiment, and so on. It’s an idea I have to say I find very appealing given the supposedly apocalyptic nature of the 40K Universe.

[javelin98]

Hey, folks!  I’ve already made a not-Rhino in 3mm scale.  It won’t be hard to make its variants, as well, and then I can knock out a not-Land Raider.  I also already have vehicles that could be easily dressed up to serve as Space Orks (or, as I’ll be calling them, Sp’Orks).  What would be the next xeno race people would like to see?  The Manic-Depressive Space Elves would probably be within the scope of my limited skills, but I don’t think the Bugs would be something I could do in Sketchup.

 

Thanks!

Andreas

 

It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

[Ivan Sorensen]

Slender, refined “Elvar” would be my pick.

[Mr. Average]

Given that Chaos and a large portion of the Orks are covered by the human armies, I too would vote for the Elder Elves. With the caveat that I wouldn’t want to prejudice my affinity for the Imperial Guard, mind you.

[javelin98]

Okay, Elvar it is then!  In the meantime, here are the fruits of a couple hours’ labor.

 

It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

[Mr. Average]

Oh, so tasty! You are the man, jav!

The MAN I say!

only suggestion: upsize that Land Raider… I mean, “Ground Assault Tank” to give it a little bearing over the Rhinoceros tanks. Or maybe not – looking at it now it seems right- sized, so I might be off base. But man the contours are just right – beautifully executed! I hope the be the first kid on the block with a 3mm scale Blood Angels army! Let me know if/when they’re available – I will order them instantly!

[Mr. Average]

Just a thought to add here – Tyranids would be super-easy to do at this scale.  Dark Realm “Skyth,” Onslaught “Legion” and 15mm scale “Space Demons” from Khurasan could easily cover the larger sizes of creature, with the top run occupied by a Space Demon Queen as a Bio-Titan.  Then to fill out the ranks of the infantry, the Xenomorphs from O8 (in two varieties) would match up very well to Genestealers, Hormagaunts, or whatever might be needed.  Between them, the Marines or Imperial Guard, and the oncoming “Elvar” there’s potential here for a set that really stands up and works.

[javelin98]

Okay!  Here for your viewing enjoyment are the first four iterations of the Elvar grav tanks.

The Asp infantry fighting vehicle:

The Hawk main battle tank:

The Shard inexplicably-crystalline cool battle tank:

The Stinger fire support tank:

And a group shot:

I’ll need to add some support walls under the thinner barrels, but otherwise they should meet all the minimum print requirements on Shapeways,

It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

[Mr. Average]

That is pretty damn sweet.

[Thaddeus Blanchette]

My only comments would be….

1) make the guns on the Landraider more shooty. It is the right size, but the guns are too small.

2) Thin outt he bows of the Elvar tanks if you can.

Otherwise, these are great!

We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

[javelin98]

So the first few sets of the IMP vehicles are up.

 

24 “Minos” APCs:  http://shpws.me/Hlkj

24 Support Vehicles (12 not-Preds, 6 not-Whirlwinds, and 6 not-Vindicators:  http://shpws.me/Hlkm

24 not-Land Raiders:  http://shpws.me/HlnW

 

I’ll start on getting the Elvar vehicles uploaded next.  It’s a fair point about the front ends being a bit thick, Thaddeus, but it was that or have them connected with a bar which would have to be clipped off.  3mm always skirts along the boundaries of what Shapeways can print!

It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

[Mr. Average]

I was going to suggest units of 10, so as to make full companies, but I realize now that having a few extras of any given type is very worthwhile, for command units, and painting tests, etc.

I couldn’t be more thrilled!  I’m putting in an order even as we speak!  I’m aiming at Frosted Ultra Detail – is that what you recommend?  There’s the new “Extreme Detail” that might be overpriced – don’t know it, can’t vouch for it, as they say.

[Author]

Posts