Helsreach Walker

Hello and Welcome back, 

Ever since I was a spotty kid, I have admired the slaver walkers in the Helsreach art in the first edition 40K rule book. 

Fast forward to 2014 and Mr Papafakis's awesome Helsreach Walker kit bash inspired me to build one for myself. After a good while scouring the Internet I ccouldn't find a suitable toy to cut up but I discovered a Ban Dai Destroid Spartan kit which I acquired. Work started on this during the late covid lockdowns here.

These kits are well detailed, each part of the leg and foot are fully mobile making posing it interesting. I only needed the bottom half so the rest of the model now lurks in the bits box. 

Things stalled as I waited to find a suitable item to make the platform, in this case a plastic individual dessert tub. I tried several glues before I found UHU managed to bond the two different plastics. Learning from that the tub was lined inside & out with standard ink jet paper and PVA glue. This not only reinforced the tub but allowed all the various gubbins to be added. 

The tub was a little deep for my 28mm figures to peep over so a piece of foam board was added to lift the deck. Granny grating/embroidery mesh was laid on top of it. The machinegun coupla was made from a kinder egg pod added to the side. Lots of milliput filled the gaps around the bottom. Card was wrapped around the outside to disguise the shape of the pods. The floor was then added. The gun rail is a bit of plastic rod warmed up (by holding against a mug of tea) and formed around the coupla shape. The gun was salvaged from the bits box, the handles came from a mantic vehicle heavy weapon and the ammo box is a 1/35 scale WW2 item. 

The metal posts for the ropes are made from plastic rod. The ropes are made with twisted wire from the inside of a electrical cable.

Various bits make up the controls and gubbins. The exhausts are from the Bandi walker kit and the water tank is a Ramshackle Games resin item. The light array posed a problem. It was eventually made from a small electronics component box lid (found in the bits box) and a bunch of stick on googly eyes. The ladders are 3d printed items which were cut up to look like they are retractable. A chain was added so the crew could pull it up or drop it as needed (it doesn't work on the model!). A spotlamp from a 40K Imperial Guard tank was added. 

Paint was reasonably quick once the front "toes" were painted with industrial hazard stripes. Lots of washes followed the base colours to make it look worn and weathered. The model was based on a CD. It's taken me 3 years to finish but I have learnt a lot. Who knows, I might make more walkers in future if suitable donor bits are found. 

The Walker will see use with my Orks on Maddans world when they come a raiding. On Mattblackgod’s World the Walker will get used by my Slaver gang "Tox's Blackhearts". 

Thanks for looking and stay safe out there.