Gobstyk's Gaming Club

My models were featured in White Dwarf and Games Workshop mail order sold the bits as a kit. I don't know what instructions, if any, were supplied with the kit but I am often asked how to put them together.  That's what this page is about. I have illustrated the building of the zappa because that is the most difficult, but the lobba is made in exactly the same way by substituting a Griffon mortar for the traktor kannon. I recommend that you read right through these instructions before starting to glue anything together.

Step 1 : Get the bits!

Mail Order might still sell you a zappa or lobba kit, I don't know. If not then these are the metal bits that you will need. I haven't included stock codes because I don't know what they are and I suspect they may vary from country to country. If you speak to mail order tell them you ate making a big zappa or big lobba like the ones they used to sell as a kit. You will also need either four small wheels or some tank track and wheels depending on whether you want wheels or tracks on the finished model. In the picture above I have shown the front and back of any parts that there are two of.

Step 2 : Build the traktor kannon

Start by assembling the four parts of the traktor kannon barrel as normal. You then need to add two small pieces of plastic sprue to the underneath of the kannon body, as shown in the picture. These will carry the cogs that hold the barrel in the gun mount. Just super-glue them in place. I found I got a better fit if I glued the narrower edge of the sprue to the kannon. This also gives a larger surface for fixing the cogs to later.

Step 3 : Assemble the chassis

The chassis is made from two Gorkamorka gun plates glued together edge to edge. (This component was manufactured to convert a plastic buggy kit to carry a harpoon gun or similar.) The plates have lugs moulded on in each corner, and those in the centre of your assembly should be clipped off and the surface smoothed with a file, as in the photograph. You should also file a flat top onto the upright lug ready to take the footplate later in the assembly. You are only gluing two thin edges together so make sure they are flat and clean by filing them before assembly. Set aside to dry for a few minutes.

Step 4 : Prepare the gun mount

The gun is mounted between two 'worky bits' from a big lugga. These are glued to the chassis with the large wheels on the outside. You will have to clip a little notch out of each bottom corner before it will fit, as shown in the photograph. Glue one of the mounts to the chassis, but leave the second off until you see how the gun fits.

Step 5 : Add the gun pivot cogs

The zappa needs to have two small cogs glued to the sprue to make a sort of axle or pivot for the gun body. Later, you will fix these cogs between the worky bits gun mounts. File the cogs completely flat on one side and glue them to the sprue in the position shown.

Step 6 : Mount the gun in the gun mount

The gun assembly is now mounted between the two gun mounts. You will need to dry-fit the gun first to test the fit before gluing the second worky bit and the gun in place. You might find that the gun assembly seems too wide.

If it does, then file down the cogs until the gun assembly fits between the gun mounts and everything is reasonably square. The fit will depend on what thickness of sprue you used on the gun body and how closely you have fitted everything together. You might find that you have to file the cogs completely flat (with no stub axle left) or, if you are lucky, the stub axles on the cogs will engage between the cogs moulded on the inside of the worky bits and hold the gun in place. If the fit is really tight you might have to clip off the little pips on the cogs on the inside face of the worky bits. If you are really lucky you will be able to leave the gun free to tilt on the cogs, but this is a bonus - if necessary, glue the gun in a fixed position. If you are having difficulty getting everything to glue together try using a rapid two-part epoxy glue rather than superglue.

Step 7 : Add the foot plates

This bit is easy. Glue the big lugga plates onto the chassis, resting at the back on the two protuberances that you filed flat in step 3, and glued at the front edge to the worky bits. You'll get a better fix if you file the surfaces to be glued nice and flat

Step 8 : Add the gears and control lever

Glue a cog onto the end of the spindle on the outside of each worky bit. I clipped the spindles back a bit so the cogs were closer to the body of the gun. File the 'pips' off the inside surface of the cogs to get a better surface for gluing. The control lever is just glued in place on the spindle, between a cog and the worky bit.

Step 9 : Add wheels or tracks to the chassis

This part is easy and I haven't made any step-by-step photographs. If you want wheels on your gun then make two axles out of lengths of plastic rod (I use sprue) and taper the ends so they can be glued into the holes in your wheels. Assemble the axles and then glue them in place on the underside of the chassis. You'll find there are some convenient lugs there to help hold the axle in place.

For tracks you will have to assemble small tank tracks from the wheels and track sprues supplied by Games Workshop and then glue the whole assembly to the sides of the gun. This is quite an uneven fit and you might find a glue with some gap-filling ability like epoxy or even a hot glue gun will work better than superglue.

Making a lobba rather than a zappa

Big Lobbas are actually easier to make than zappas. You substitute a Griffon mortar for the traktor kannon. Assemble the gun chassis and mount in exactly the same way. When you come to fit the mortar in the gun mounting cut the stub axles on the mortar down to the right width to fit between the gun mounts and super-glue in place.