Over the last 2 weeks I’ve been working on 12 of GZG’s Spider Drones – 2 packs each of the standard and rotary canon.  I paused in the middle and painted some other stuff, then my bases finally arrived from Litko, so I finished them up this weekend.

I painted them all the same, except for the top, which I painted in a similar style as I did the Grav Drones a while back.  Then I based them using Green Stuff.

Cleaned and assembled.  There’s a bit of flash around the leg joints that I just left – it was going to be very time consuming to clean, and leaving just added to the “spider legs” effect, I think.

 

Primed.

 

Various stages.  Here’s was my process:

• Do the bottom parts of all of them with a rough coat of metallic silver.
• One at a time, do the metallic brass parts, then the black guns, the red lens, and highlights
• Wash the bottom in heavy black
• Paint the top

 

Here’s the bases in various stages.  Litko 0.8mm thick wooden bases, 30mm in diameter, with a Litko heavy duty magnet bottom under it.  Then I pre-cut the bits for the top of the base. That’s some metal mesh from the hardware store – I also use it to make chain link fences – and some square plastic mesh I got at the craft store in the knitting section.

 

Here’s with the Green Stuff – ready for primer.

 

There’s the Green Stuff, rolled flat.  I put the base on it and use the razor blade to cut it to fit.  The copper pipe fitting I use to make the circular indent.  I have a smaller one, also.  The mesh I just press gently into it, and it sticks.  No glue needed.

 

All primed.

All painted.

 

A coat of shiny varnish, and then I glued the drone on to it.

 

 

Making the bases was fun, but I don’t think they look as good on the Spiders as they did on the Grav Drones.  It’s too busy and dark.  Lesson learned.