1/72 Giant Spiders Construction

I wanted a set of giant spiders to use as nuisance monsters.  I was not wanting really giant bugs, but for my first set some thing about the same size as my giant rats and bats.  I checked a lot of miniature sites and just could not find a set of spiders that would work as 1/72 nuisance monsters.  Every set I found was just way too big.   

I was about to give up and move on when I noticed some charms in the bead section of a craft store, and I wondered if the internet had any spider charms that I might use.  I went to eBay and searched for pewter spider charms and I found these little fellows. 

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I thought a quick snip to remove the loop on its back side and I would have my spiders.  I am still hoping to find a use for the spider webs.  After searching for a while to find the best price I ordered 12 of the little guys.  The charms survived the surgery from take them from jewelry to miniature with no complications.

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The next step was to glue some cork to the washer with PVA/white glue.  I allowed the glue to dry  and then shape it into a piece of rock with an razor blade knife.

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I took a pair of pliers and adjusted the spiders arms to give the models some variety and then glued the spiders to the cork.  The last touch was to add some sand to the bare spots on the washers and I was done.  

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After an about face you get the view from the figures from the other side.  I think that adjusting the arms and placing them in different locations on their respective boulders has taken one figure and given it a lot of variety.

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They are now ready to prime and paint.  I will be showing pictures of the completed colony/swarm/cluster/nest and individual spiders in my next post.  Questions and comments are always welcome. Thanks for reading...

Copyright © Ron Hamilton 2013, All Right Reserved.

Minatures Scale Picture by Christopher B of the blog "A Rust Monster Ate My Sword"

I use a miniature scale picture in lots of my blog entries.  I think it is very handy to see how different figures match up against it.  As usual, Friar Tuck (an Airfix Robin Hood set figure) and Conan (a Caesar Miniatures Adventures set figure) make their appearance for scale, as well as the Scale Picture (a scale picture).

(Click on the image for a larger version)

You may one one of your own, if so, do not despair.  All you need to do is to click on the Miniature Scale Picture link and you can have one of you own.

          Miniature Scale Picture

The picture looks way to big when viewed in your browser window, but due to the magic of a 300 dots per inch setting hidden deep in its JPG soul, it prints out perfectly.  I printed mine using Windows Paint.  If you would like to visit the blog of the fellow who created this neat little gadget, click the link below. 

          A Rust Monster Ate My Sword

Thanks Christopher B. for creating such a useful little picture.  I have a laminated copy I keep in my wallet for those time when I wonder, "Will this work with scale X figures."


Thanks for reading...





Copyright © Ron Hamilton 2011, All Right Reserved.