Bolt Action Italian Army Project Blog #2: Building Metal Artillery

If ever you've decided not to pick up a big chunk of metal for your army, this one goes out to you. Heavy metal - no pun intended - can be intimidating, but even without having to drill and pin some of these kits you'll still find it easy enough to get your miniatures assembled so that they're sturdy and hard-wearing enough for tabletop play.
The audio is a little muddy in this one despite trying to tweak it to be more clear. Apologies for that, but the entire right channel on my mic was twenty minutes of loud hissing, so I had to improvise and fix what I could!
00:00 - Intro
02:32 - On Tools and Glue
05:21 - Assembly Time!
11:21 - On Basing Artillery
12:48 - Final Assembly Stages
Thanks to Producer Patrons Alan Nuttall, Kyrie Crawford, Andrew, Jimmy, and Rod - as well as all the other Patrons that made this video possible, and Exit23 Games for recording equipment that helps keep the channel ticking over! Find out more at the following links:
www.patreon.com/sonicsledgehammer
sonicsledge
sonicsledgehammer
ko-fi.com/docwholigan
exit23.games

[@loupiscanis9449]

Thank you , Troy . 🐺

[@SPD3DPrinting]

Another run through this series. You might consider making them a playlist for Italian enthusiasts.

[@SPD3DPrinting]

Gave this video another run through, thank you for your tips & techniques. Quite helpful with resin, plastic and metal models.

[@robisonwells1]

I always get frustrated by Warlord artillery---I wish they had build instructions. Glad to hear your wife is okay and that you stayed healthy.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's really only when they've got some of the separate wheels and sights - like on the British 6pdr - that they get *really* irritating. I ordinarily leave off the super fiddly bits. 😅

[@scottshouse2423]

I’ve been building an Italian army over the past year more for the Western Campaign but I’ve getting ready to try them at a tournament. I’m planning on using some six to eight man veteran squads (Bersaglieri, San Marco and paratroopers) along with M15/42s and artillery. It will be interesting to see how they do. Looking forward to more videos as you progress.

[@tumbleweed1970able]

great tutorial on a subject that rarely gets any coverage , also after I have filed and cleaned up and if required drilled I give the parts a gentle wash in isopropyl alcohol and/or warm soapy water and a rinse , air dry then prime using primer spray another tip I find useful is to use black VMS Superglue gel and thin helpful in that you can see exactly where you are placing glue on a silver metal joint

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

I'd never heard of super glue coming in a colour! That's really clever, I'll definitely have to check that out. Seeing a little black blob would be massively useful compared to not quiiite knowing where I'm going to stick my fingers down... 🤣

[@tumbleweed1970able]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio VMS in my opinion is the best superglue , they make the black superglue im referring too its available in the uk just do a google search for a stockist

[@Jim-yk9if]

Glad to hear Ms. Sledge is recovered.

[@justanothercaptain6566]

I hope Mrs Sledge gets well soon. Thanks for the walk through on metal miniatures. I have a box full of 95th Riffles that will need that level of TLC. Great pointers! Thanks as always for sharing! Cheers 🍻

[@graemerigg4029]

You don't need expensive glue activator, bicarbonate of soda from the baking aisle works as well.

[@johnkelley9877]

This was a good tutorial as it has been a while since I worked with metal aminatures. Thanks for sharing this and I and glad to hear that Mrs. Sledge is doing well. When a loved one is ill everything is secondary to their health so take your time in making these neat videos.

[@RuthlessMojo]

Really looking forward to these Italian builds. I decided to do some dioramas to honour my Alpino grandfather. I found some of the wargame Atlantic Alpini which I'm going to purchase and build. I'm also going to get some partisans, as my grandfather fought with them also. I'm going to kind of do a 3d timeline with the dioramas.

[@manjr]

Well-timed! I just bought one of these from Miniature Market - which has a bunch of Warlord Italian stuff on sale right now, BTW. Good to see the Italian project moving forward - can't wait to see this painted up.

[@skavenmatt3904]

Love em! You need some autoprottetos and trucks next :D

[@eh9801]

This was so helpful. you are the bob ross of mini soldiers

[@SPD3DPrinting]

thanks for the tips with metal models. I am building my italian army (balkans theater) at the moment so this video is quite spot on to current projects.

[@dwadland]

I was surprised you glued the crew down first before painting them but, as you explained, you can get to them to paint all the crew anyway. For those who prefer not to, I would imagine they could glue the crew to spare bases with a dab of superglue, then pop them off and put them on the big base once they're all finished.

[@joesturn7740]

I did it that way and used double sided foam tape to stick them to my paint handles (PVC pipe ends) so that there was no glue needed. The foam tape is strong enough to actually stop the metal minis from wobbling while painting. It worked, however, I don't think I'll do it that way again because I want to get more ambitious with the bases and that's pretty hard to do when you're gluing down materials and also trying to avoid your intricately painted crew.

[@irishtom30]

Please keep these videos coming, it's nice to share progress with others. I just finished my mortar team and MMG for my IJA for Bolt Action, with about 25 or so minis to go before I'm done the bulk of what I need for a 1000 point game. I plan to get an AT gun and a howitzer at some point. I actually have people to play Bolt Action with, so this project won't just be for hidden shelves for a change!

[@nickdavis5420]

Mmm loving these videos. Side note has anyone had problems with plastic magic glue and war games Atlantic figs my raumjager are just not gluing together.

[@Gabbiano88]

Love metal miniatures

[@Imperialguardftw]

I'm not sure if Bolt Action make them, but if you ever want to have a cool looking unit, get some Alpini soldiers! But it's always cool to see underrepresented armies being made 🙂

[@manjr]

The Wargames Atlantic plastic Italians come with Alpini heads!

[@martinteasdale542]

I ordered the same model last week, this video should be useful. The Breda autocannon that I also have seems a more daunting task though. There is a lot of thin parts and contact points!

[@garyhollywood85]

Metal rules

[@swarliusgamerus640]

I recently built a 6pdr for my Polish Airborne, while not a tricky build my main gripe was lack of instructions with the kit. Looks good when done though

[@alessiodecarolis]

I'm eager to see how you'll paint the gun AND the crew, generally I painted the wheels separate from the main body, and the crewmen surely will be difficult to detail appropiately. Italian artillery isn't very popular in our hobby, so this will be an interesting alternative.

[@Barfunkel]

Warlord metal artillery pieces are sometimes a real pain to assemble. I've had an unassambled 8th Army 6-pounder anti-tank gun for a few years now, still don't know how to put it together lol. The bits are all like from different guns.

[@theenigmaticgamer]

Nice video. Even old timers such as me can pick up tips from your tutorials. Superglue gel in this case! Thanks.

[@gwebber33]

loving your work..... been a fan for a while, and am just starting my first Bolt Action army and i'm going DAK. However i was wondering if you had done a video that starts from removing figure from sprue so i can see your technique for cleaning up the mold lines.... takes me upto 1 hour per model to clean up all parts and glue together... is this normal?

[@rutiguer2701]

When manipulating metal miniatures it is a good practice to use gloves. Although the amount of plumber in metal miniatures has decreased in the last years, metallic powder after sanding can interact with sweat (moisture of the skin), so that small amount of plumber can be absorbed by the skin. Plumber is toxic, as you may know. I’m a physician, BTW. Great video, I liked it so much.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Luckily, the Bolt Action range is lead free. Though that is something I should have mentioned, you're quite right!

[@rutiguer2701]

@@SonicSledgehammerStudio Ups, I’m sorry. I wrote “plumber” instead of “lead”.

[@CV33Games]

Ah yes, constructing an improvised part holder thing from stuff around the table so I don't have to hold them myself. You'd think after going "oh crap, I need something to hold these together" so many times I'd be prepared for it before hand, but no. Never.

[@lesliebeilby-tipping6854]

You have been cutting steel wire with those clippers. Yes you have definitely picked a simple one. Try the breda MMG.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Tyranid Lictors, pinning swords back into metal hands, the Space Marine Thunderfire Cannon... I've done my share of PITA miniatures in metal. The basics are still the same no matter how complex the assembly is.

[@thepiratepenguin4465]

The last metal model I got for Bolt Action was a 75mm Pack gun for my US Airborne & the fit was not great. Did manage to get it "usable" in the end.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

Surprisingly it's some of the smaller ones that can be the most tricky to get sitting right. Those mortar teams can be a real bear!

[@gorkamorka999]

I'd pin the hell out of that gun and then pin it to the base as well. I'd put a wire through the base and bend it underneath so it's in an L shape to anchor it. A model isn't properly built until you can beat someone to death with it. I'm a little neurotic about those things.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

It's been a long time since I've needed to actually pin a gun like this, luckily - short of beating someone physically about the head and shoulders for defeating me, they just don't see that much activity beyond being pulled out of and put into a case. But I can understand the caution!

[@iangabor6822]

I've found the biggest issue with pewter guns in general is that they're too heavy for themselves. I've still not managed to get my 17pdr fully assembled because the breach and barrel are one big unevenly weight distributed piece.

[@SonicSledgehammerStudio]

If it helps, I ordinarily find that gluing the wheels to the carriage and then *really* going overboard with gluing down the carriage to the base tends to help with that. Prop something under the barrel to help balance as it dries and it will usually be alright once it's set; I've assembled a PaK 43 which is about the same size as the 17pdr, and a real beast for the same reasons!

[@iangabor6822]

@Sonic Sledgehammer Studio I've managed to get the barrel to sit in place before but then I'll pick it up to take it outside for priming and that's right when the glue decides it's had enough and is going home. Smaller guns like 105s and 57mm/6pdrs have never really given me issues like these big guns although I do base smaller guns more often because I can fit their bases in my bag but I couldn't find a convenient base for my 17pdr that also fit in my travel bag.

[@robertstrong6798]

Thing with metal just don’t drop them , treat them with respect NP 😉