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Originally, i had intended to buy a Chimera chasis for this in addition to a Rhino for my SM contingent. But then decided why spend twice the money, when i could have both. I think the heavier chassis of the Rhino looks better for a Hydra then the lower profile Chimera anyway, and heres the result so far:

Still very WIP so far, needs sanding and touching up. When all is said and done the Hydra portion up top will be removeable and proper Rhino hatches can be swapped on when i want to run it as such as well as useing it as a Hydra for my IG.

What do you guys think?

At the moment looks very ramshackle and orky but if it is refined will look a treat

i think you need to take your time assembling that tank...i understand its still early in the build. And i like the Ideal and all, but that Rhino... your side hatches are on backwards...at least cut off the tabs so it sits flat... and your front armor...the front of the Rhino is on backwards...please tell me that's not glued on yet and its a dry fitting...if it was orky i can understand, but this is for your marines and imps...

Looks a little too high for my taste. Think you could do without the Russ hull piece on top of the Rhino.

jep'ray wrote:i think you need to take your time assembling that tank...i understand its still early in the build. And i like the Ideal and all, but that Rhino... your side hatches are on backwards...at least cut off the tabs so it sits flat... and your front armor...the front of the Rhino is on backwards...please tell me that's not glued on yet and its a dry fitting...if it was orky i can understand, but this is for your marines and imps...

Yeh.. that was a product of me being an idiot and dry popping the bits into place without thinking. Discovered the error when i came home from work and litterally facepalmed in disgust lol.. all fixed now though new pics later minus the fubar'ing of those bits, and a more refined product.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm not a fan of the concept. The dreadnought chassis, Leman Russ turret, leman russ chassis, it all doesn't fit together so well.

It seems like you would have saved more money by buying a chimera and not scrapping a leman russ and dreadnought?

I'm fine with the concept, but yes it's much too high, the Russ hull doesn't add anything (other than making it look a bit more IGish).

Think up a spot of fluff to justify the vehicle - e.g. it's a battlefield conversion of a broken-down rhino, or a gift from a marine company to commemorate some shared battle or whatever - then work backwards to decide how it should look (including the eventual paintjob).

It's not clear what will be behind the sheild? an enclosed turret or some IG loading ammo drums?

ph34r wrote:I'm gonna be honest, I'm not a fan of the concept. The dreadnought chassis, Leman Russ turret, leman russ chassis, it all doesn't fit together so well.

It seems like you would have saved more money by buying a chimera and not scrapping a leman russ and dreadnought?

yeah i know it looks pretty all all jammed together in its current state. Hopefully it will be more appealing as i flesh it out. And yes normally i would agree that on the surface it would look more expensive then the alternative, the dread bits came from a larger bits bag (with no other dread bits sadly) And id been stareing at it in my bits box with no purpose. So opted to try and fashion it into a shield for a gunner, whom once placed inside will be looking through the ga visibly working the controls for the turret. The Russ portion ended up with a large crack through the cut off portion (someone stepped on the box : / ) so i replaced that particular bit and chucked that broken piece into said bits box till now.

Clang wrote:I'm fine with the concept, but yes it's much too high, the Russ hull doesn't add anything (other than making it look a bit more IGish).

Think up a spot of fluff to justify the vehicle - e.g. it's a battlefield conversion of a broken-down rhino, or a gift from a marine company to commemorate some shared battle or whatever - then work backwards to decide how it should look (including the eventual paintjob).

It's not clear what will be behind the sheild? an enclosed turret or some IG loading ammo drums?

Well, the premice behind the army its going into is that (simple version) they are the shattered remnants of a few companys more or less abandoned by their previous chain of command. So in their retreat from the Xeno menace they picked up survivors here and there (accounting for the mix of infantry types, as well as the beaten/dirty look of the troops.) Their vehicles are similarly banged up, and show signs of 'field modifications' made by troopers trying to keep their only means of escape operational during their retreat. So, with that said i guess the Rhino could be explained as a bit of battlefield scavenging [as you mentioned] will come up with more detailed fluff, but this is allready becomeing a wall of text..

Personally i like the height, though admitadley it IS taller even then my Russ's and looks a little out of scale perhaps..Ill remove the turret from the Russ mount and look at it against the Rhino from there and see how it goes. At least then it may be a little more visually appealing to more then just me lol.

Thanks for your comments everyone, i appreciate the honesty. Frankly im still testing the waters in doing things like this so the help is both needed and appreciated.


Edit: And new pics will be forthcomeing when i can get new batterys for my cam..

Edit 2: Got one pic, fleshed out the turret section with some plasticard. Broke up the obvious "hey thats a dread" part of it. And enclosed the crew are, the gunner is also now visible through the front. And those blots on the armor are intended, when the actual paint scheme is put onto it they will be rusted/corroded sections of armor / battle damage etc.

I see its starting to look like WW2 M16 MGMC quad .50 cal turret...
thanks for fixing that Rhino hull...
will reserve judgment until i see more of the build. Remember to take it easy and make it look well built, and not Orky...

I really like the concept, actually, but I think you might want to invest in a set of really good files (eg GF9 micro-diamond files - fairly cheap and vg) to smooth out off bits nubs of plastic. I am, however, going to steal the idea of using a bit of a dread, although I think for a Manticore.

It's very clever and creative but I think the profile's too high.

I wouldn't call it ramshackle though, looks good...