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So based on suggestions from Ailaros and alarmingrick in response to my query in this thread I have (mostly) completed my conversion. I snapped some shots to document the process and thought I'd show them here.

First off, if you're not familiar with the Chimera model, most of the chassis comes on one sprue, with the various modifcations for the different vehicles built off the same frame on other sprues, depending on what kit you bought. All the components for this conversion were on the basic sprue, though I belive that pieces such as the hull-mount weapon and the hatches may be on other sprues.

In any event, the basic hull has two versions, a "short" version and an "extended" version; the latter is used for the Chimera but we want the former for this conversion. In step two of the Chimera instructions it shows a hull top and two hull floor pieces being glued into the chassis. Omit the aft-most floor piece so it looks like this:

(Note the ridges molded into the inner hull, these support various parts of the hull construction and the gaps allow pieces to be slid in and out.)

Then find this piece on the sprue:



You probably want to glue it in place, but I like making things more difficult than they need to be, and while I have no intention of ever fielding this vehicle as a Chimera, I have even fewer intentions of dropping $35 USD on a new kit if I change my mind, so I left it loose and glued some supports which I will eventually magnetize. (see the project gallery if you're desperate for pics of hot makeshift sprue-on-card action.)

Anyway, one way or the other you get that piece in there like so:



The dimensions of the area from the back wall of the cabin to the trailing edge of the back plate are ~52mm, and the width between the hull walls is ~50mm. Cut a piece of sheet styrene, plasticard, (or in my case a For Rent sign from Home Depot,) to these dimensions.

This will slide into the space from behind on the ridges, it may require some shaving or sanding to fit well if you cut it too big. It will form a raised rear deck behind the front cab of the chimera.

The next trick is the turret mounting. The easy thing to do would be to take the top plate of the Aegis turret and shave off the mounting ridges, then glue it to the plasticard. But again, I've made things more difficult, cut a hole in the card, and PVA glued the turret mount in the hole so that if I decide I want to use the aegis turret some day, I can pop the bit off and put it where it belongs. See pics:




of course depending on what other parts you have available, there are other options...



Anyway, once the glue is dry, you're ready to slide that rear deck in, put the turret in, and viola:





Easy peasy.

Thanks again to Ailaros and alarmingrick for their suggestion and inspiration!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Addendum: I do plan to do up that rear deck with additional details, etc.

EDIT: removed pointless spoiler tags

Yup, that's how you do it.

Why put the pictures in "spoiler" tags?

Wow, that is actually a rather easy, yet good-looking conversion.

Are you doing any Gaurd to go along with this?

@ Ailaros: I just put the pics under tags for folks whose connection speeds are slow.

@ Alexos: I am working on a guard army themed as a Rogue Trader's "shore entourage" which will focus on characters (based on FFG's RT RPG classes), light equipment (sentinels, etc), and airmoble forces (valkyrie mounted troops) - so even though this "counts as" a regular Hydra, I like the fact that it's smaller and looks like it could be transported in a gun-cutter or something.

surely for the price of a chimera chassis and an aegis you could pretty much get a forgeworld hydra?
worth alot more if you ever sell it on too.

Anacrucis wrote:@ Ailaros: I just put the pics under tags for folks whose connection speeds are slow.

The spoiler tag doesn't stop the images from being downloaded, just stops them from being shown.

winterdyne wrote:The spoiler tag doesn't stop the images from being downloaded, just stops them from being shown.

Well that's good to know.

@ Fox40 depending on the exchange rate from GBP to USD the price works out to be about $20 more USD with shipping from FW, plus 28 days for it to cross the Pond. The FW model is extremely good-looking, I will admit, but I enjoyed converting this model and the more compact design fits the look I'm going for with my army better.

i have seen this done before, and its a good conversion, but i still have a problem with the fluff part...hydra barrels are supposed to be longer...what i did is take the left over bits from hvy weapon squads and mashed them together...hvy bolter+missile launcher+autocannon barrel=my hydra autocannon (no pics, a friend is making resin copies for me)

@jordanis: Hmm. I'd like to keep the compact look but a barrel extension is not off the table. I could extend the barrels with some plastic tubing I got for mocking up weapons for a TF conversion on my back burner.

Still, and all, my Broadsides' railguns are half the length of my Hammerheads' and they have the same in-game stats...

Really like the conversion so far

heres what mine looks like (sorry about quality its from my webcam)
half painted warp spider for size comparison only


EDIT: pic fixed


Automatically Appended Next Post:
it is still horrible, sorry : /

Looks good, thanks for the pics. I need to do (2) and I haven't decided how. I am leaning towards this method.

ok, found my camera link cable, heres a better pic of it

the long barrels do look pretty sweet. I'm curious how they look clustered on the quad turret?

Great work! nice job!