Yep its finally here, you’ve all seen the log. If not its here : http://z3.invisionfree.com/The_Ammobunker/...topic=1064&st=0 (shameless plug :D).

First you should think about the pros and cons of Scratch built tanks.

Pros
Cheap!!!
Resilient (they won’t break if dropped)
Easy to carry and store (they don’t break)
Light

Cons
Time consuming
GW will frown, only usable a veterans gaming if at all (depending on your friendship with the staff)
Less detailed (sad but true)
Vulnerable to hitting with hammer/ getting wet
Tricky at first

I dare say your all now wondering how to make your own tank company for next to nothing. Well that’s the point of this here tutorial.

You need to get yourself over to the BWC archive, Here: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/bwc-archive/files/ and join their great yahoo group. There you can find some great templates made by the members there, special mention to Bile and Lackofbettername for their awesome templates.

I used these: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/bwc-ar...k/Leman%20Russ/ Russ templates as a start and with some simple modifications (I.E. adding tabs to the turret) they are really great. The instructions are there as well although I will elaborate on them a little here.

Right once you’ve got the templates print them out on standard paper if your going to be making card tanks. A thicker class of paper is needed for entirely paper creations.



Stick the things onto suitably sized card. Cereal boxes have been fine for me they’re easily available, effectively free and strong enough for the job. I dare say a better type could be found but probably not as cheaply and that’s basically the point right :D. PVA glue works fine and that’s what your going to be using for the whole build if you want to keep costs and stuck fingers to a minimum.



I tend to start with tracks first so follow the nice neat instructions to turn this:


into this



These bits are the sponson parts


Which should make something like this.



The hull’s fairly easy but be sure to have the paper on the outside of the tank for this bit else you will end up with a russ who’s hull weapon’s on the wrong side (I think I have 3 of those :D ). You should end up with something like this



Now finally we have the turret. For some reason the instructions fail to explain this so I will guide you through it. First you take the flower like piece and fold all the “”petals”” inwards being sure to bend the ridged section into the sort of nose shape. Now glue the “”petals”” together (I said tabs would make it easier). When they’re dry glue the similar shaped hexagon to the bottom of the now formed turret. The spiky shaped piece below the main turret is the rear ammo box and should be stuck to the back of the turret. It should be fairly obvious that the two nose shaped bits are detail layers and then all that is left is the battlecannon itself. The small-ish rectangle is its mounting and the lined rectangle is meant to be the gun itself. I know from experience how small that barrel is so do yourself a favour from the start and widen it by adding a strip to the side of it. The hatch should be self-explanatory really just cut the layers and stick them on top of each other.

It should look like this:


With any luck your tank will look something like this:


Then all it needs is a coating of PVA and a few layers of paint to turn it into this.



Well I hope you’ve been encouraged to construct your own card creations. Or at the very least seen how much work goes into making these things.

“Command just radioed in”
“Yes, Vat did zey say!” snapped the inpatient Commissar Flick
“Heavy support available”
“Excellent, we may just beat zese chaos peasants yet.”