Scratch build Basilisk Tank

Hi,

This article is a great opportunity to introduce you to the work of Jérôme, a friend of mine I met at Lyon’s FabLab. Jérôme is passionate about two things: Warhammer 40000 and lasercutting. Of course, it wasn’t long before he found a way to combine those two hobbies ^^

Jérôme is a veteran lasercutter and I learnt a lot from him since I joined the FabLab last year. As you may or may not remember, I’m not a big fan of MDF kits because of the lack of details and the wood texture that can be seen, even after painting. So I was a little skeptical when he told me he was working on a wh40k Basilisk tank. Still, when he showed me the model, I must confess I was quite impressed by the level of details he put in it.

After a few discussions, we agree that I could try to paint it and see if I could make the “MDF texture” disappear.

As you can see on the picture above, after priming with one layer of black, we can still see the wood texture of the MDF. This is exactly wath I was afraid of. On the other hand, the surface of the part in cardboard are very smooth and glossy which is promising for the next steps. Before painting the next color, I’ll try to spray a few more layers of black primer to see if I can fully seal the MDF surface…

Matt