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Hey All,

EDIT (END RESULT SPOILER)



New project, sort of a combination of an idea that came along a while ago and the opportunity to make use of 3D printers while at school.
The design, and where it is to date, below.

Basic desgin sketch:

Leg and arm 3D model

leg bent

1st 3D prints



To note, first as seen in the sketch, the arms and legs will be covered in armor plates. the hexagon platforms in the middle are they for ease of attachment.

More updates will follow...hopefully in a timely manner!
Thanks for viewing

I admire your engineering skills!

Update 1:
So the new Dreadnought body arrived, and while I wait for more Ink to arrive, I put together a few pictures to show sort of what it *could* look like
after seeing the Photoshop at the bottom it seems that some correction may be necessary...as in IT UGLY, especially the legs
Any opinions/ comments/ critiques are greatly appreciated!

@corpuschainMade: Thanks man! guess college still teaches some things

Another update:

Single image, but hopefully this will go to show both what it will look like, and any changes that have been made since the last one



More than likely, the parts seen attached will not be used in the final version and will be replaced with higher resolution ones.
Comments and suggestions more than welcome!

If I could offer any suggestions or criticisms it's that the 'hips' are too wide.
Consider slimming them down at the part where the hip joints connect to the 'groin'

Another thing that might be worth mentioning is the rigidness of the legs. I noticed you mimicked the joints from typical dread legs but I don't think it looks as good when lengthened.
Consider more of a ball-joint for the hip if that's still do-able (such as with the Contemptor dreadnought legs). I feel like that would lend it some much needed flexibility.

Hope that helps you figure out what changes you need/want to make.
Good Luck

@XendarcMade Thank you for the suggestions! I think you're right about the hip joints-they are too wide. Had to look up what the contemptor looks like but that' at least looks do-able

Hopefully I can prototype something like that over the weekend haha

Would it be too ambitious to try and replicate the legs of a dreadknight or maybe even centurions? Think that might blend in a bit better.

Good job on what you've done though, 3D printing is witchcraft to me!

@Xendarc: Would it be too ambitious...probably not actually!

They are both covered in plates over all the tech underneath-which I am planning to do. I took a look at the Dreadknight and Centurion models-theyve both got this goofy looking cylinders off the back of their feet

MIGHT be worth looking at haha thanks for the suggestions man!

I'll hopefully have an update later tonight


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Update: Re-designed legs thanks to suggestions, and the ugliness of the old ones
Shortened the hips, put on a ball socket for the hip connectors, and added a bit of detail to the back.

Also note how the arm in the second picture is covered with plasticard "armor plating" which is the plan for all the leg/arm sections. More detail will be added as completion nears
Enjoy!




Thanks for looking!

Update!

New legs post printing, sort of pre-posed in a not necessarily permanent position. Also to note, the legs are "naked" still and need covering (like EP2 C-3P0 ) As an example of what this may look like, the arm is covered but not yet detailed








Thanks for looking-any comments, suggestions, or general discussion more than welcome!

Wow, thats cool! Very nice idea, and good implementation. There is only one thing that disturbs me, the legs. They look too long.
In addition, thats so big, that it looks like a mega dread, why you dont make mega dread from this?
But good work, ya dont stop!

You've probably already thought of this, but are you going to be finishing the printed bits with something like this http://www.smooth-on.com/Epoxy-Coatings-XTC/c1397_1429/index.html

Looking good!

Nice job on the legs dude. They do look freakishly storky at the moment but they might look more in proportion after you've bulked them out with plating.
Either way, Looking good so far

@Sananjalka: I think the legs look strange at the moment as they are uncovered-hopefully this will change when fully plated haha. Also Mega-Dreads are AWESOME-but at the moment I do not have any Orks...need to remedy that. In any case you're right the dread is designed as much for fun as anything, and probably is too big to be used as a Dreadnought in game

@D4V1D0: Man I wish I HAD seen that stuff, I might have to try it out actually-at least for the visible 3D printed parts. Thanks for the post man!

@Xendarc: Yeah they look a bit odd-still trying to figure out exactly how I'm going to plate the lower legs. Something different from the basic hexagon pattern. And thank you!!

Update 2/9/2016

This is honestly a really small update, just wanted to show A thought I've had.


The black rail looking things are designed so extra armor plates can be mounted in front of the carapace. I was having trouble with how small the torso is in comparison to the legs and arms. This beefs it up a little. What do you think?




...That "exhaust" is going to need a lot of work...

Thanks for viewing! C&C always welcome!

He needs a bigger base. It looks odd.

cool though

I'm a big fan of this project. And I feel a bit of a heel for even bringing this up, but... The underarm lascannons. They render the hand pointless, he will smash the barrels any time he grabs or punches something. Ideally they should sit back, with the barrels terminating at the wrist.

While completely true, it isn't a power-fist type deal, so I can't see punching with it anyway. Ignoring the obvious downsides in punching anything with a bipedal mech, I imagine they are more for utility than close combat.

@IceLord: Yeah he definitely does-I'm not actually sure where to find one that size, any tips would be awesome!

@goblinzz: Haha no man you're totally right-and I think I've remedied that point (see below) Thanks for the tip-and for viewing!

@kb_lock: I did modify the weapon...I'm thinking about putting a heavy bolter on that arm now, actually. Need to order one or two haha

Update 2/11:

I think the pics speak for themselves about what's going on with the Dread, but mainly the legs are now covered and the front plates are probably 80-90% detailed. The lascannons have been moved to the main body-which eliminates the need to make cables along the arm, as well as above mentioned functionality. Still lots to detail,especially the backside. Enjoy!






Thanks for viewing, and as always C&C most welcome!

Optimus Prime!

Well although not round you could get one of the oval flyer bases. It would make for much more interesting basing and fit much better.

Love the armor btw!

Awesome detail on the front leg plates. They certainly possess a unique aesthetic.
Is there anything in particular which inspired this design?
I also really like where the lascannons are mounted now.
I can totally see this thing grappling with a daemon (with it's now free arms) and then blasting it in half with it's chest cannon.

On a side note, I was wondering about the feet and if you had any further plans there.
Imo they looked kinda small before but now with the armour they look kinda tiny

Also I'm with Icelord on the flyer bases. So long as you know that whoever you usually play against would be cool with it.

It's been great seeing the progress on this thing, I look forward to whatever comes next.

@Capamaru: LOL good thing he won't be painted like a crimson fist then

@Icelord: Thanks for that man! definitely better than the dread base, gonna have to order one up haha-leaves a good amount of room for a base detailing too!

@Xendarc: Again thank you, your suggestions have been very helpful! The feet were definitely on the small side-so I've remedied that with feet that might be too big...I think it helps balance out the gun tho, which is posted below. I'm thinking about magnetizing another arm where that gun is, for a more close combat oriented form, which could definitely grapple with a daemon

And update time!!

I'm pretty excited with how this turned out-its been a bit of an undertaking. While I may tweak the pose once it's been based, this is the general look I wanted. Obviously the biggest part of this update is the main gun, which will count as...something still working on that. I wanted it to look a bit like one of the FW mechanicum cannon while still retaining that bulky SM look. the result is...mixed but i think it fits. Big tho Also done now are the feet and reactor/exhaust. These came out way better than expected-and I can say that I really like evergreen's styrene tubes...maybe a bit too much. some of the angles are a little Tau-ish haha.

What do you think??










Lots left to do, foremost detailing on the carapace area and a weapon for the fist arm (possibly heavy bolter). Other various detailing will happen as well but that all I've got for now!

C&C most welcome!

This is a very interesting project. I think one of the issues you have had about leg/arm length are more to do with the torso proportional size. The armour bulking of the limbs has worked excellently, but body proportions of the human form mean that the torso probably should have been slightly taller for our eyes to have accepted it better. Still think it's cool. It is quite Optimus Prime, but that's not a bad thing

Love the gun

Feet are now a little too big, they would catch as it took a step due to the overlap during gait. They do look cool though

Keep it up

That's cool, i agree with TP though that the scaling looks odd, that said, what is scaled correctly in 40k? It almost likes like a dreadturion/centnaught. Really nice work dude.

I dont mind the proportions, since the original dreadnought proportions are kinda of silly. This although it is more slender it looks way more functional..
Cant wait to see paint on it and please do a crimsons fist scheme !

Please don't get he wrong impression. I love the model, but I more commented in a way offering thoughts as to why some may have issues with the limb lengths. I probably would have plasticard extended the base of the torso by 1cm just to big it up a little. Regardless I would happily have this beauty in my collection as it is!!!

@TP^DC Deputy Manager: Thank you! No, you're right it definitely isn't what you would call proportional-and this is somewhat by design. It's also true that I'm used to the design and don't noticw it, so your insights are quite helpful!
On the other side though, what is 40K if not disproportionate

@Capamaru: We'll have to see what happens with the paint...it might be a few months unfortunately... SCHOOL

In any case: UPDATE:

This is probably the last update for quite some time, as I am not able to paint models while at school. Hopefully when this is painted I'll be able to post another update without any thread necromancy...lol I suppose If it's done by that point it would go in the showcase forum anyway

Okay, enough musing: Here are the pics! Most noticeably new is the underarm "twin linked heavy bolter" which IS positioned so as to not interfere with any punching I also redid the chest armor plates/accessories/whatever that is. It also is based now, on the GIANT 160mm base from GW. Only other new things are the added decorative elements? from the Venerable Dreadnought kit. And yeah that'll probably be it-END CONSTRUCTION...

That being said C&C still most welcome as I'll probably mess with the final version in any case












Thanks to all and anyone out there looking!

Now that's a base!

I'm impressed, that's some really nice scratch building.

THREAD NECROMANCY!!! Hopefully the (near) completion of this model counts as adding quality content...if NOT, mods please lock/remove

I do realize it's been over a year since this thread was updated, the model has actually been like 50% painted for close to a year, but I lacked the knowledge to finish it properly-and I may yet add a few details (like BASING) haha

I think this paint job is...like 99% completed, its in a sort of concept Astral Claws scheme, with grey base instead of silver/boltgun/leadbelcher. Still needs decals

I'm actually pretty happy with how this turned out, and it works pretty well as a proxy imperial knight (using the big gun as a counts as thermal cannon, fist as a thunderstrike gauntlet) it works...OKAY but I didn't build it to use in game so its just for fun haha.

I'm just rambling now though...PICS INSTEAD!!!












As always, I really do want to hear what anyone reading this thinks of it, I will probably go back and fix a few things!

Thanks for looking!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
....And since I've never posted a scale picture, here's one of those too