Looking for industrial scenery for Necromunda, I found an interesting gantry crane model. This a a MDF kit, provided by TT Combat and the set includes a four legged gantry dotted with stairs and two platforms at the back and a protruding main girder, with a driver's cabin that is mobile thanks to a simple but effective sliding device.
Gaming possibilities
A blog featuring this kit assembled and painted showed me that if 28 mm miniatures are able to climb on both platforms at the back and into the cabin, they are also able to climb and walk along the main girder !
This would make the gantry crane not only highly scenic, but also a nice component of a multi-level system typical of Necromunda. This hardware could provide 4 levels of miniatures progression : ground, first and second floor (back of the crane and potential walkways) and third floor (top of girder).
The only weak point of this kit so far would be that, being MDF only, it obviously lacks a windshield for the cabin and a proper hauling system (chains). Given the nice price (£18) and the quite impressive size of the finished crane, I decided to go for it.
Before building the kit, I was considering the following modifications / add-ons :
Gantry use in the underhive ?
This kind of gantry is commonly associated with rivers/seafront docks where it's used to load and unload cargo freight and it could be some Sludge Harbor hardware. Gantries are also widely used in steel mills, and I decide to place it in an industrial set-up as one of the numerous steelworks required within Necromunda underhives to supply the hundreds of weapons factories. This hardware will be integrated in a slag furnace environment, associated with a scrap metal melter and beam molds.
Let's paint, glue, and paint again...
Assembly
The assembly is quite straightforward, and the instructions provided by the maker (PDF to download on their website) are clear and exhaustive. You only need to pay attention to the slots cut in the leg panel, used for the platforms and the middle beams assembly (since all legs are not identical from this point of view), and to the orientation of the sliding device. The rest can be assembled with just a few looks at the instructions. My painting scheme asked not to build the whole hardware at once, but to keep 4 sub elements (legs, girder, platforms, cabin) separated up to their weathering, before final glueing.
Color choice
A yellow taint could be expected for this crane, but I want it to have both an old school vibe and to be matching actual industry standards (where blue, red, white and orange are also commonly used), so let's go with a rich colour scheme, using blue, orange, yellow and white. This choice implies a lot of stage painting during the assembly process (for the internal sides of the gantry legs, I also used a mat dark brown, wich needed to be applied before glueing the legs) and it looks like a neverending process at some point... I understand now the modern hype for « grim and dark » : it's a lazy painter's choice...
A few details :
Chains & pulleys (from a plastic GW kit named « sacristan forgeshrine ») - Superb rust effect thanks to Tiny !
The driver's cabin. Windshields have been cut from transparent plasticard... and have been contaminated by hive fungus...
Sone warnings about muties... and a sleazy poster (courtesy of the Yaktribe vault) have been printed for the driver's comfort...
Additional ladder from secon d floor to top (from the Mantic kit named « ruined city »), associated with a ledger (made out of MDF sprue bit). Lateral railing have not been installed, to allow further installation of walkways towards external structures on both sides.
On this side a square platform (made from MDF shield) have also been added, to create an observatory post. Green Thunder is ready to deliver his blasting ration of enforcers teeth...
Girder railings have been cut from balsa wood sticks and MDF sprue bits, glued into holes drilled using the Dremel tool.
Walkways have been added on both sides of first floor. They were made out of MDF shields from a walkway kit, glued together and equipped with MDF ladders. They are supported by plastic squares (from the Mantic kit named « ruined city ») glued to the gantry legs. There are now three entry points on the first floor (one at the back, and two additional on both sides).
One more victim of the deadly Lupus twins personal crusade...
The plastic zombie body comes from a WFB kit, the cawdor hood has been sculpted with Andra Sculpt putty, the sign is genuine cardboard from a MDF kit sprue, it is attached with an actual cord hardened with cyanocrylate glue.
Gaming possibilities
A blog featuring this kit assembled and painted showed me that if 28 mm miniatures are able to climb on both platforms at the back and into the cabin, they are also able to climb and walk along the main girder !
This would make the gantry crane not only highly scenic, but also a nice component of a multi-level system typical of Necromunda. This hardware could provide 4 levels of miniatures progression : ground, first and second floor (back of the crane and potential walkways) and third floor (top of girder).
The only weak point of this kit so far would be that, being MDF only, it obviously lacks a windshield for the cabin and a proper hauling system (chains). Given the nice price (£18) and the quite impressive size of the finished crane, I decided to go for it.
Before building the kit, I was considering the following modifications / add-ons :
- chains and pulleys for the lifting system (from a plastic GW kit named « sacristan forgeshrine »)
- cabin windshields (made out of plastic card),
- a ladder between second platform and top of gantry,
- railings along the girder,
- additional walkways on both sides to extend the miniatures movement possibilities.
Gantry use in the underhive ?
This kind of gantry is commonly associated with rivers/seafront docks where it's used to load and unload cargo freight and it could be some Sludge Harbor hardware. Gantries are also widely used in steel mills, and I decide to place it in an industrial set-up as one of the numerous steelworks required within Necromunda underhives to supply the hundreds of weapons factories. This hardware will be integrated in a slag furnace environment, associated with a scrap metal melter and beam molds.
Let's paint, glue, and paint again...
Assembly
The assembly is quite straightforward, and the instructions provided by the maker (PDF to download on their website) are clear and exhaustive. You only need to pay attention to the slots cut in the leg panel, used for the platforms and the middle beams assembly (since all legs are not identical from this point of view), and to the orientation of the sliding device. The rest can be assembled with just a few looks at the instructions. My painting scheme asked not to build the whole hardware at once, but to keep 4 sub elements (legs, girder, platforms, cabin) separated up to their weathering, before final glueing.
Color choice
A yellow taint could be expected for this crane, but I want it to have both an old school vibe and to be matching actual industry standards (where blue, red, white and orange are also commonly used), so let's go with a rich colour scheme, using blue, orange, yellow and white. This choice implies a lot of stage painting during the assembly process (for the internal sides of the gantry legs, I also used a mat dark brown, wich needed to be applied before glueing the legs) and it looks like a neverending process at some point... I understand now the modern hype for « grim and dark » : it's a lazy painter's choice...
A few details :
Chains & pulleys (from a plastic GW kit named « sacristan forgeshrine ») - Superb rust effect thanks to Tiny !
The driver's cabin. Windshields have been cut from transparent plasticard... and have been contaminated by hive fungus...
Sone warnings about muties... and a sleazy poster (courtesy of the Yaktribe vault) have been printed for the driver's comfort...
Additional ladder from secon d floor to top (from the Mantic kit named « ruined city »), associated with a ledger (made out of MDF sprue bit). Lateral railing have not been installed, to allow further installation of walkways towards external structures on both sides.
On this side a square platform (made from MDF shield) have also been added, to create an observatory post. Green Thunder is ready to deliver his blasting ration of enforcers teeth...
Girder railings have been cut from balsa wood sticks and MDF sprue bits, glued into holes drilled using the Dremel tool.
Walkways have been added on both sides of first floor. They were made out of MDF shields from a walkway kit, glued together and equipped with MDF ladders. They are supported by plastic squares (from the Mantic kit named « ruined city ») glued to the gantry legs. There are now three entry points on the first floor (one at the back, and two additional on both sides).
One more victim of the deadly Lupus twins personal crusade...
The plastic zombie body comes from a WFB kit, the cawdor hood has been sculpted with Andra Sculpt putty, the sign is genuine cardboard from a MDF kit sprue, it is attached with an actual cord hardened with cyanocrylate glue.
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