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WIP shots:
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m44/gmagdic/Chimera%20Command%20%20APC/ChimeraCommand1.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m44/gmagdic/Chimera%20Command%20%20APC/ChimeraCommand2.jpg

Seems awfully small for a Chimera. You'd probably want something more along the lines of the Stryker instead of the Fox you seem to have based it off of.

I like it I have something similar.

Ghost in the Darkness wrote:I like it I have something similar.

I would love to see some pictures of it.

I'm gettin a "Mad-Max-meets-the-Indy-500" vibe from it. Not say it's a bad scratch build, but it doesn't say "Imperial Guard" in my opinion.

CrashUSAR wrote:I'm gettin a "Mad-Max-meets-the-Indy-500" vibe from it. Not say it's a bad scratch build, but it doesn't say "Imperial Guard" in my opinion.

I would have said the same thing about the "dune buggies" that FW just released if I saw them in a void an didn't know GW had made them.

Fact is a regiment might utilize vehicles like this due to their own specific home world, tactics, etc. For example the world this regiment is from may have such vehicles in use by civies, and so this has been requisitioned for military use or out of tradition, etc. A little fluff and imagination can help make a cool custom themed IG force.

However while i like this conversion, it seems small for a Chimera as was noted. I'd remove one of the guns and use it as a "counts as" sentinel proxy instead.

Neat! Reminds me of the command vehilces from the Pat Labor anime. Trying to cram a full CCS into this thing would be kind of tight, I'd imagine (even more than a Chimera).

Modified to Centaur scout tank:

Magnificent

Very cool!
i like it alot!

I definately like it, but I'd have to say it looks a little small. It would make an excellent smaller wheeled scout vehicle for IG. Great conversion!

I don't have the combo-turret set up for it, but I've built a few proxy Chimeras out of old Russ parts and model wheels. I call them Scarab-pattern AFVs, being made on the fly out of tanks which cannot be entirely salvaged for battlefield use. Here's one mounting a standard Chimera turret without the additional weapon mount.

@indra, do you have a guide to make those?

My version of a Chimera.....

The Chimera is a multi-use vehicle. Its may purpose is to carry troops into combat. We use to have two tracked vehicles in Viet Nam, the 113 and the 114. One carried troops like the Chimera and the other was small and was used as a scout vehicle. Yours is more like a scout vehicle which again, is another vehicle lacking in the Imperium.

@silveroxide - The Guard have Sentinels and Salamanders for use as mechanised scouts. I guess they also have Tauroses (Taurii?) for the Elysians.

In fact, IA8 states Tauros vehicles can be used in any IG army. So your Chimera is best used as one of them.

Yet they are still lacking in this area. especially in the wheeled department. I may design a ATV for the Guard sometime soon.

guardpiper wrote:@indra, do you have a guide to make those?

Well, I don't have a guide, but I can tell you what I used to make them. It's all GW parts except for the Random Wheels and the back hatch.

Parts List:

Leman Russ Hull x1 (I used ones previous to recent hull redesign, such as you can also find on the old Russ accessory sprue)
1:35 or 1:42 Offroad / Military wheels x4 or x6 (I have constructed both variants)
Leman Russ Sponson Caps (lower) x2
Russ/Chimera Track Guards (Long) x2
Chimera Turret x1
Plastic Card, Sheet x1
Leman Russ Driver 'Cover' x1
Chimera Spotlight (old) x1
Frame Sprue, Cut x2
Baneblade 'arrowhead' Bit x1
Cadian Sentinel Visor, cut in half, x3
Cadian Sentinel sides x2
Suitable rear-facing 'hatch' bit (your choice) x1
Additional Gubbins

I constructed the Russ hull first, cutting plastic card to form the outer 'walls' on each side. I made sure to follow the profile exactly. The 'rear end' is, of course, the front. The wheels can go on next - usually you can just pin them in and glue them, or you can be elaborate and put axles straight through. The track guards and sponson caps go next, flush with the midline of the hull. You'll see the thing start to shape up really quick already.

Next, I affixed the rear hatch, which in the first was a loose tailgate from an old military truck kit that fit almost precisely. You'll have to do some filing on the grooves and such for the traditional 'driver's window' and front gun emplacement on the traditional Russ configuration to ensure a snug fit, but this doesn't take long with a good sanding sponge in my experience. Once this is done, the vehicle will really have begun to come together.

Once the hatch is set, you then apply the firing points, driver canopy plate and side windows. This will take a bit of cutting and sanding; the Cadian visors are what I used for my own kits, having a bunch of Sentinel frames and preferring the top assembly of the Steel Legion variant better. I carefully cut each front canopy plate in half, leaving the windows 'open' at first whilst trimming down the window frames into the shapes that you see in the picture. Note the little nubs at the top that allow the panes to from the top corner of the hull. These aren't necessary, of course. As for the driver side windows, I took the left and right sides of the Cadian Sentinel top and cut them into shape. You'll also need to do some filing on the inside of each piece and bend them slightly into a flat spot, but this is pretty naturally done.

As for the top hatch, it's a piece from a very bare Baneblade sprue that was given to me by a friend. I haven't ever made one, so I assume it's a bit of hull or turret. No idea really. You can cut down the lip underneath the flat piece and it fits very nicely.

Once this is all done, you can cut a 'cap' for the hole where the Russ turret usually goes, then drilling a hole into which the old-style Chimera turret I used pegs right in. I haven't assembled a new-style Chimera, but I imagine it can't be hard to cut a suitable aperture into which the new turret can slot.

Now the vehicle is almost entirely assembled. All that is left is to take the 'driver's visor' bit from the Russ sprue, bend its lower edge a bit, and file down all the raised edges on the back. You can then glue it on as seen in the picture. I then use the front part of the large spotlight, but you can play with other configurations and sizes. I rather like my Scarabs to be little cyclops-cars. The front and rear bumpers are just a length of frame sprue cut down to fit properly. The front bumper seals perfectly flush with the flat surface.

I also applied a name-scroll from a Rhino kit and a command skull from a tank kit to give this vehicle identity and to denote it as a command APC. I currently just have the two Scarabs, and I use them for my command peeps. They're not the same LENGTH of a Chimera, of course, but they look big enough to fit a six-man unit comfortable. Alternatively, should you use them as Chimeras for a ten-man unit, what they gain in a slight length advantage from the Chimera they lose an inch or so of front-weapon range; you can notch a front-firing weapon emplacement on the hull on the wider left side of the vehicle (since the 'engine bulge' on the Russ is slightly offset) and so will fire from the front of the vehicle itself, not the end of a barrel which juts out. This can be vital, as I've discovered, when using flamers especially.

Well there you go. I find it's pretty simple to do once you have the necessary parts, and they sure get interest on the battlefield. Cheers!