Forgot about this thread! I am thinking of going along the same route as you and making a bunch of obscure vehicle, infantry and weapon variants, it makes for a great deal of fun in the long run!
Keep up the good work
There is another drop pod variant out there. While I can't find a picture of it, I remember it being a limited run by GW australia a while back, may be worth looking into!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Found it! Looks easy to kitbash by the looks of it.
Lol, reference for what? I remember looking at that scratch Thunderhawk like 5 years ago, it's actually from 11 years ago. It isn't very accurate, but I remember it inspiring me very much back in 05'. It's cool and all.
I just bought my second Thunderhawk, my originals were the double pack of the flying bricks they use to make (ala Epic!)
@Zuul
Yup, I've seen that site, I like it, it's like the big pewter T-hawk and the FW T-Hawk combined. If I ever get to making the Epic T-hawk I most recently posted, I'll do it the same way I did my flying brick and just rely on the model and my gut.
@Mythos: Don't worry, I think it's missing more parts than the seller says, and I'd want a clean and complete one if I'm going to lay down that much cash!
@Commander Cain: Cool, go for it, it has been a blast for me! Yup, I know about that model. I'd usually be all over such a thing, excepts it's not based on any real fluff, just the builder's imagination, which is fine, but it really could have been more than just a resin cast of plasticard and landspeeder bitz, and yeah, could probably kitbash it easily!
Automatically Appended Next Post: @jabbakahut: Cool, those have great detail for their size!
Long time! I've finally made some headway with my dissertation, so I've had some time to start my second T-hawk!
And for those rare hunters, this is an old pre-Armorcast vindicator made and sold by Tim DuPertuis from way back when. I snagged one, and even though its not in the most pristine condition, I'm glad I got it! Here it is on a refurbashed Rhino.
Awesome! I just noticed you were online on the member list, and i thought, wow, theres a name i havent seen in a while. And lo and behold a thread update!
Looking forward to seeing the progression of number 2!
Hey Commander Cain! Yeah, painting requires a mindset I just can't get into while I'm still writing my dissertation. Scratchbuilding on the other hand...
Yeah, I'm not sure if it pre-dates the Epicast one or not, I'd assume it was about the same time, since Epicast pre-dates Armorcast as a company.
And thanks Vitruvian, I'm glad people remember me! It's hard to keep my thread going when I'm so busy with my dissertation, but little by little. One day I hope to fill this thread with painted wip and finished models!
Here is my T-hawk mkII again, just added the tail fin, next are the wings, which will be interesting!
Also, a pic of all three versions of the quad-barrelled rapier! The original mkI, the new FW one, and the somewhat rare Necromunda one. Not shown is the mkII, which was only double-barrelled for some reason. Behind them is a drop-pod made from templates found in Citadel Journal issue 6! This may have been the earliest 40k scale rule-set for drop-pods, unless they were included in Rogue Trader.
Automatically Appended Next Post: I'll put up a less blurry pic when I have time!
Yeah... toward the end run of the revised necromunda one of the Journal style publications included rules and a model. It was only available for a short time before GW pulled the plug on Necromunda and specialist games as a supported entity. Its probably my favorite of the Rapiers, it general looks like a better sculpted version that blends the better details from both of the original RT era rapier.
Oh, for those of you who recall the pre-heresy dreadnought I cobbled up, here it is again next to a FW Contemptor. Since the last time I took pictures of it, I decided to make it in line with Bjorn the Fellhanded. Now that 6th edition has brought back allies, I can make an Iron Hands fluffy army combineing codex SM and SW.
For my T-hawk, here are the engine nacelles I'm using. I made them using parts off of a GI Joe toy (the Cobra Rattler) and medium leg tips.
If you are looking for something cool to make after the Thunderhawk, you could always try making a space crusade dreadnought. I stumbled across this amazing 3D render on one just the other day!
@ Commander Cain: Cool, I like that 3D render, I'd rather just 3D print that than make my own! I actually have one of those old dreads, they are pretty unique, but I think they are more of a Chaos engine. It would be a cool project, I'm sure you'd do a great job.
Oh, I also contributed to the Dreamforge kickstarter, can't wait to get a plastic Leviathan Crusader!
Cool, those look great! Yeah, mine is painted up for my Iron Hands, I see no issue with it, I was just thinking back on the scenerio used in the old Space Crusade expansion, which clearly has these guys as bad guys. I recall seeing an early design sketch for the FW Decimator, where it looked as if they were thinking of taking it in the direction of these guys.
Well, I've finally got the wings of my T-hawk put together and attached to the hull. It turned out pretty well I think, and the junk I used to make the engines really worked out!
And finally something else I've been tinkering with. For anyone who recognises what I'm basing this off of gets a pat on the back. This is truly the bottom of the 40k barrel, I'm kind of thinking that I should have just left well enough alone!
Heliodore wrote: And finally something else I've been tinkering with. For anyone who recognises what I'm basing this off of gets a pat on the back. This is truly the bottom of the 40k barrel, I'm kind of thinking that I should have just left well enough alone!
Awesome! The ornithopter thing! Was this the Orgus Flyer? I seem to recall this in the 40K Compendium, which probably means it was a White Dwarf around the 90s. (The 'Eavy Metal with the classic RT01 marine kit, complete with Dalek kitbashes.)
I've enjoyed stumbling across this thread: I do a little bit of scratch-building and am working on my own ode to the Grav-Attack Tank, so was hunting for similar people online and found this treasure trove. Alas, it makes my own scratch-built Land Raider and Rhino look a bit tame, and my Grav Attack vehicle will never have as many rivets as yours do. :-)
Cool, my thread has re-awakened! I took a big long break from my MkII T-hawk in order to write most of my thesis!
@GQuail: Thanks for stopping by! Yes, I figured with all the new flyers coming out I should try my hand at an Orguss Flyer. It may have popped up in an old WD, but I'm pretty sure it was originally in the Rogue Trader rule book! Well, all I can say is practise, before I built the Fellblade from my first page I built an over-scaled Vindicator out of plasticard and treads taken from a GI Joe toy. I ended up just giving it to a friend, but I wouldn't call it a waisted effort, just practise! A tank with a million rivets still began with just a single rivet! Success on your upcoming projects!
Thanks jabbakahut and Hazzer! I've reached a good place in my thesis to get bak into my scratchbuiding. I have had other projects like the FW Storm Eagle and other such kits I've recieved as presents or bought for fun. Right now I'm working on a nifty third party kit I picked up based on an old piece of FW lineart, it's almost built. Once that's done I'll get back to my MkII T-hawk. After that I will tackle the ultimate GW kit, the metal T-hawk, I finally got one, should be a long fun ride!
Ok, here's some stuff I've been working on when I haven't been writing my thesis!
I got these as a present from AkaMythos (we go way back), his updating of the old prototype rogue trader Terminator. I gave them TH/SS and bionics, plus another guy I made from other parts! The white resin makes it hard to see the detail, I'll put up more pics after I get around to primering them.
I've also recenty aquired two more MkI Landraiders. The one that is white plastic I completely refurbished, and the other is fine as it is, and I'll just eventually paint over it. There's also an old Rogue Trader dreanought in there as well!
I got a Storm Eagle as a B-day/X-mas present from my gal. Here's a pic of the entire family!
Flipping through some really old WD articles, it seemed that long ago Space Marines utilized something called a Heavy Hoverer. Down the road I found this cool hover tank model made by Demonscape. So I bought it and tricked it out with some 40k bitz. It, to me, is what I think the Heavy Hoverer probably looked like!
I don't play Dark Angels, but I kind of liked the spirit of the new Landspeeder Vengeance. First, I had to get rid of that front gunner, not a fan! The havoc missile laucher fit perfectly in that spot. Second, I traded out the plasma battery for something more Iron Hands-ish, heavy conversion beamers! Those are Space Crusade beamers, from the dreadnought expansion!
Finally, the metal T-hawk, which, as you can see, is just a pile of bits. I won't be getting to this for awhile. I want to finish my scratch built one first!
Later in the week, I'll show off a neat 3rd party tank kit I picked up!
Great update! Can't wait to see what you do with those MK1 termies. I remember AkaMythos making them ages ago but he only seems to have made one guy as far as I can tell.
Hover tank is super cool, you sure do find some very obscure references to build on!
While I despise the DA land speeder thing with a passion you seem to have made it half decent, the missile launcher was meant to be!
I suspect that T-hawk may need a little pinning, looks a tad heavy..
Ok, here is an interesting specimen. Some time ago I found this pic depicting an interesting 40k inspired tank:
It's from a neat site called Tempus Fugitives, and this tank and its stats were for their Horus Heresy Campaign, which pre-dates all the FW stuff. One of their members, who goes by the name Da Vinci, built and sold a kit of this tank for a little while. I was lucky enough to aquire one!
Also, from what I can garner, the above drawing of what Tempus Fugitives called a Perterabo Storm Tank, now it seems to be called an Olympus Storm Tank, is actually an old Forge World sketch or possibly based on some old line art, I'm not really sure. Either way, it makes for a great stand in for FW's Cerberus Tank Hunter, and if it was indeed based on an old FW design, then it can be assumed it was a preliminary sketch of what has now become the Cerberus, which in turn may have been a nod to the Sabre tank as well!
Automatically Appended Next Post: @CommanderCain: Thanks, glad you like it all! Glad AkaMythos showed up to point out his updates! Hehe, yeah, I'm really digging pretty deep these days. There are certainly other things, but I feel I've covered the most viable things at this point! Yeah, I did't care for the LSV either at first, but in person it is a bit better. When I saw a display model at my local GW I really wanted to see how it would look w/o the front gunner. I'm glad it looks better to say the least, now to explain how my Iron Hands have one of these things flying around?
Yup, I expect a lot of pinning in my near future, and possibly resin mixing, especially if I want it to maintain its structural integrity for years to come. With such a heavy model, there is a good possibility that its wings and landing gears will just bend under its own weight, don't want that to happen!
Oh, a bit more on the Storm tank/ Cerberus count-as: It was not an easy model to assemble and clean up, but it was certainly enjoyable just seeing it come together. The only thing I changed was that I swapped out the lascannons it came with for a pair of FW heavy bolters I had left over from another kit.The back hatch is for a havoc launcher, which I will put there once it arrives in the mail! If anyone is interested in getting this kit, its creator will eventually open up his own webstore, which looks like it will have some cool stuff for sale once its up and running, here: http://www.plastikkrak.com/
Once again it has been a long time. I've reached a brief lull in my thesis writing and found a bit of time and motivation to do some scratch-building and other model-related hobby work.
Thinking upon all of Forge World's Horus Heresy/ Legion releases, I'm a bit excited to see what the next HH book will bring. I like a lot of the new models, and I certainly got a kick out of the Proteus when it was released a while back, which as we all know is an homage to GW's original Land Raider plastic kit. Before the Proteus was released, I always considered the original plastic LR to be the LR Mk.I, but now I feel that it is better suited as being the Proteus Mk.I, and the FW Proteus being a mk.II possibly, and the armoured one being an upgrade or even mk.III. As we know, the current LR plastic kit is often labeled a Mk.III LR, and FW's upgrade kit being the Mk.IIb, which left me wondering if there was anything left to suggest the existence of an actual Mk.I LR that wasn't in the same linneage as the Proteus/RT kit? As many of you who have followed my thread may have noticed, I tend to like to go back to the old Epic scale models for inspiration. As many of you know, FW's Mk.IIb was made so one could convert the current plastic LR into an older version that resembled an older Epic styling of the LR. The earliest versions of the LR in Epic were based off the RT plastic kit (now the Proteus), but later the design was shifted to a more updated look. Now, I may be wrong in the order of things, but I assume this first change took place before the current LR kit came out, and then afterwards, new Epic LRs were released to look more like this kit, and thus FW made there Mk.IIb as an homage to the in-between LR design. However, upon a closer look at the Epic models in question (you could get one in plastic, as well as a command version in metal), there are still several clear differences between it and FW's Mk.IIb, thus I figured that this Epic model was probably the best candidate for an actual Mk.I LR, and the FW Mk.IIb (as its name suggests) was more of a transitional design. Whew, sorry for all the text, I'm actually procrastinating from grading right now!
Anyways, I've modded a FW Mk.IIb to be more in line with the original Epic model it was based on, here's the Epic model I have been writing about:
And here is my mod:
As you can see, the main differences are found in the front, as well as some small differences on the hull and side sponsons, not to mention the old-style treads (thanks Machinator) that go further up the hull than on the plastic kit.
Here's another blast from the past, at one point GW had a special set of RT Space Marines that could be used as passangers or crewman for your old-style Rhinos, as well as a special metal hatch that allowed you to have the hatch opened with a marine sticking out. Enjoy:
Thanks Commander Cain! I've seen several really great conversions using Machinator's tracks. I know Machinator himself did-up a landraider using his Baneblade sized tracks, and I've seen others that borrow from Machinator's idea, which is to make the Land Raider more closely resemble a British WWI tank, which as we know was the original inspiration for the Land Raider in the first place.
Hehe, at this point the only things I wouldn't know about would be all the various vehicles named in the new HH novels and still being invented at FW. There are really obscure things in Rogue Trader and old WDs, but I think I've covered all the stuff that personally interests me. After I finish the MkII T-hawk I'm slowly working on, I do plan to start the SM Landing Craft, I even have the Epic model as a reference, but this is not for a while.
Ooh a landing craft huh? If you need more inspiration when that time comes around there is a blog on dakka where someone was building one (though it seems to have gone quiet as of late).
Yes, I've seen that thread, it's pretty cool, I wonder if he completely finished it. Well, I know how it goes when life catches up with you. If I ever get around to it I'm probably going to try and stay as true to the Epic model as possible.
Here are couple of cool models I've been working on! The one on the right is Armorcast's high-detail Baneblade, probably their most-detailed and highest quality release before they lost their license from GW. On the left is FW's Spartan tank! It was a gift to myself for submitting my thesis on time, hehe! The tracks were a pain, but I did a better job this time around than on the Proteus kit I had initially tackled! If and when I get it back to NZ I'll get a pic of both the original and FW Spartans side by side!
Wow, that's great praise from one of the founding fathers of early 40k resin casting! I'm going to have to sig my newly bestowed title! Thanks for stopping by and taking a look!!
I don't know why, but there's something about the flying brick, I just couldn't get it out of my head! I started right at the end of 40k 2nd edition and have always seemed to gravitate towards the old beakies and their vehicles!
Yes, I've corrected both errors. Aargh, I knew that was made by Epicast, haha, hard to forget that orange resin! I think my spatial memory has gone down the crapper after spending the last 3 years typing a thesis! Thanks for the corrections!!!
Hello, it's been awhile, but for good reasons! My thesis is more or less done, passed my defence, just final revisions and making a hard bound copy for the university library and I can begin the process for graduating! During this time I've built a lot of cool stuff, mainly FW models for my Iron Hands Horus Heresy force, but not any scratchbuilds, save for the last week. Maybe it's due to Escalation being released, but really it's because I found myself with most of the needed bits for building it. It being the original Baneblade, sort of. White Dwarf 132 (late 1990 I believe) featured a scratch building tutorial by Tony Cottrell for making a 40k Baneblade! The Mike Biasi Baneblade, which would also be revamped and re-released by Forge World Models (USA) and Armorcast later on, premiered in 1991. As such, both are based on the Epic Baneblade of that era. The Tony Cottrell Baneblade required plasticard or cardboard to make the bulk of the model, with bits from the original Predator kit and other Citadel pieces, most prominantly, their large-sized Fantasy shields. I recently aquired a pile of bits that included some the most integral parts, like the old Pred side-sponson lascannons, and found a seller for the old shields. In the end I only missed out in using two original bits specified in the article: the Aquila hatch from the old Pred kit, and unsuprisingly, an old Citadel display base, which I have never seen in the flesh or for sale. After working with the templates for the first couple of stages, I quickly came to the realization that the templates were not perfect, and required a little elbow grease to make this fit and work. My finished product is pretty rough, and not perfectly aligned in places, but I'm ok with it. Here's a WIP:
The cool thing was that I got to work with brass rods for the first time, which as you can see, were used for the 2 main battle cannons. I pretty much added all the detail I could spot from the original article, although it pretty much says to do whatever you want in terms of detail. My only addition was the use of two old beaky bolters to make the "stormbolter" on the main hatch.
Here's a shot of the back, just for fun:
I'd say this was a pretty hard model to construct, and that the templates were more like guidelines, hehe, but my final product "looks" like an old style BB. As with many vehicles in the 40k world, the BB has grown in size from its original conception, so this guy is pretty small compared to all the BBs that would come after. Speaking of which, I recently aquired a job Forgeworld Mars-Pattern BB that I've refurbished, I'll show that off in a couple of days! As some of you may know, after Armorcast lost it's licence to make 40k vehicles GW, only a couple of years later, stepped in and founded Forgeworld in order to fill that void, or should I say to get a piece of the action! I believe they released their first all-resin BB in 2002, which was discontinued once the plastic kit came out in 2007! Fun times!
Automatically Appended Next Post: The only thing left to make is the front heavy-bolter turret, which is the piece that originally required a Citadel display base, so unless someone has one they are willing to sell me, I'll be making it out of another display base that should hopefully fit, if not, I'll be sculping it.
Here's a pick of the FW Mars Pattern Baneblade that I've refurbished. I like FW's effort better than the current GW plastic kit. I also like FW's Mars Pattern better than its Lucius Pattern, although I think they're both pretty cool!
Here's a size comparison between the FW BB and my recent scratch build of Tony Cottrell's WD article BB!
And just for fun a Deimos Vindi with the above two tanks for scale purposes!
Also, I'm still working on my second Thunderhawk gunship scratch build. I know I've been putting it off for some time, but I'll get it done eventually. Right now I still have some paneling to do and then mass riveting. The daunting parts will be the front hatch and the secondary wings!
@Zuul: Hehe, thanks, I thinks that's a good way to sum up my work! I do have some other FW tanks that I've built or will build that I'll probably get to posting pics of at some point! With the release of HH Massacre and the 2nd edition of Imperial Armour 2, I'm getting pumped again!
@Commander Cain: And thanks as well, Baneblades are such fun tanks, even the current plastic one looks like a hoot to build, although I'll probably never get one.
Finally, after a long amount of time, I've been able to do more work on my Mk. II Thunderhawk gunship. So far, I've done all the major riveting, added the top hull plate, and the two side fins.
As we can see on the bottom, I've also added the third engine.
The next major steps are the assault ramp, cockpit hood, and the side "wings," which seem to just cover the engines from the looks of the Epic model I'm basing it off of, but more on that when I get to it.
@aka_mythos: Yeah, I've gone a bit crazy with the Baneblades. It dawned on me one day that I don't have any early OOP Forgeworld stuff, and their early BBs were some of their best models, so I tracked one down!
Yeah, I always liked the Epic Ordinatus models. You gather the supplies and I'll totally help! Should be more fun than a Death Star Trench gaming board!
Automatically Appended Next Post: All right! Got some more work done on my T-hawk! As we see here, I added the canopy and assault ramp. They both came out better than I thought they would. The ramp does open by the way!
I also got the landing gears on as well. As with mu first T-hawk I used the plastic landing gears from off the old Millennium Falcon toy. They are big and chunky and durable. I probably don't have the patience for building the landing gears from scratch!
The next part will be the two mini-wings that go over the engines. I'm still questioning how to go about building these parts. On the Epic model they look to be a solid piece that aren't so much wings, but extra armor for protecting the engines. However, this could just be the limitations of the original sculpt and mold, and they are meant to be seperatable wings, as we see with the current FW T-hawk. Clearly, there are now lascannons here, so do I add them or leave them off. I have a plan based on the T-hawks 2nd editions rules via Citadel Journal, but we'll see!
Done more substantial work on my MkII T-hawk. I'll put this pic up again so people know that I'm basing the design of this T-hawk on the second Epic scale T-hawk made by Games Workshop. As such, it's clear that I'm not modeling this on the FW T-hawk or even the metal one, but something a bit different. Unlike the "MkI" or flying brick, the MkII demonstrates the earliest design concepts of what would eventually become GW/ FW's iconic T-hawk of today.
It's very much a proto-Thunderhawk! As of last time I was mulling over whether to make the mini-wings seperate or not. I decided to stay true to the Epic model and make it appear as if the mini-wings are built onto the main wings. There are clearly no lascannons on the Epic T-hawk as you would find on the movable mini-wings of FW's design.
As you can also see, I've started to add bits and pieces to the T-hawks exterior. All those bits and shapes are directly based on the exterior detail of the Epic model. I've taken artistic license on many of these details because the Epic model is very lacking in this department, but I think I've got the right idea! Here's the front side detail, which includes the driver side doors and twin-linked heavy bolters.
Here's a final shot. For the aquila I went ahead and used FW's brass etchings. I concluded it would save me a lot of pain and grief to avoid cutting the aquila from plasticard!
There's actually not much left. Just some detail on the top of the hull, the missles poking out of the wings and bomb bay doors, some piping on the side hull, the side hull aquilas, and finally the wing mounted twin-linked heavy bolters! I am probably going to mount a couple of lascannons on it, just not sure where and how!
Thanks Camkierhi! Yeah, there is something robust about this particular design. Initially I thought the MkII was just a less detailed version of Epic's MkIII T-hawk, but after seeing both models it became clear that they are actually two separate, yet related, designs that demonstrates the T-hawk's design evolution. You have a great bunch of Orks and Orky vehicles by the way!
Thanks Commander Cain and MagosBiff90! Almost there, just a little left to do! After this I've got a Fireraptor to build and then I guess I have no choice but to start building my metal T-hawk!
Ok! Really close to being done with this guy! Since the last update I've added more detail to the sides of the hull, which includes some piping, more aquilas, missiles coming out of the wing as per the Epic model, a sensor thing below the main cannon, and structural detail on the T-hawk's roof.
Here's a better shot of the side of the hull, which includes the slaved twin-linked heavy bolter on the wing. I still need to do the other wing's because I'm still waiting for the heavy bolters to get to me in the mail. For those not in the US, you might recognize the part as a Kinder egg capsule, hehe!
Here's a final full shot of the MkII T-hawk. Other than the second twin-linked heavy bolter all that's left to do is some cosmetic bits and putty to fill in some gaps! The big empty space on the T-hawk's hull, in front of the side sponsons, is where my big Iron Hands decal will go, so don't worry!
Someone had to say it. But it is, an awesome build. Amazing detail work, looks well balanced. Now you just need to paint this one, and then you need, I would say, another 9 of these.
Thanks Camkierhi, that means a lot, I was really hoping for a final well balanced look with the T-hawks intended detail! Yeah, I really should paint something, just don't have the space right now, although that doesn't keep me from building stuff! Hehe, counting my metal one I have 3 T-hawks now, not sure if I need more! Well, if GW ever does a plastic MkV I'd be all over that!
@Mythos, thanks, that's all I need to finish it up!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Since I've now, more or less, finished my T-hawk I've had time to assemble the Fire Raptor I got for Christmas (thanks Mom!). Here's a bonus shot of both of my new birds!
Thanks Littletower, I appreciate it! Definately, go for it, can never have too many tanks!
Hehe, I'm currently waiting for the final bitz to finish my MkII T-hawk, but I've got several little projects going that continue the trend of scraping the bottom of the 40k barrel!
How easy was it to assemble the gunship? I was seriously considering getting it but I have never had the best of luke with the big plastic-resin kits..
Well, I'd say, unless you are a super perfectionist, the Fire Raptor, as FW hybrid kits go, was relatively painless. FW seems to have learned a lot since they released the Storm Eagle, which, in my opinion, was pretty darn hard to assemble and made for a less than enjoyable experience, even though it's a pretty cool-looking kit! Like most FW kits, the Fire Raptor will require some fixing up with the use of near-boiling water or a hair dryer (which ever you prefer). From the looks of your Scorpius I'm confident you'll have no trouble with it. The Storm Eagle would probably give anybody a headache though!
Yeah, I'd go for it, it's a pricey enough model to make the free shipping worthwhile! Feel free to ask me anything while you build it if you want!
Automatically Appended Next Post: As I've said before, I've just about scraped clean the bottom of the 40k barrel. This next obscure tank is what I would call semi-official, maybe not even that, some would say it's just plain unofficial. Back in the day, before the founding of Armorcast, Tim DuPertuis published a quarterly gamer magaizine called Inquisitor, which, I believe, ran for 18 issues before being ended around the time Armorcast was no longer allowed to sell their GW licenced models in 1998/99. Prior to Armorcast, this magazine served as an unofficial 40k/ wargames forum providing new rules, reviews, hobby tips and info, and later datasheets for Biasi/Armorcast models. In issue 8 were Rogue Trader edition rules for Combat Engineers in all the races. Issue 17 included an article that updated these rules to 2nd edition. One of the neat things provided was rules for fielding an Engineer Rhino with bridge-layer. The article even provides some building tips and a picture of one belonging to one of the article's writers. Now, I've seen various scratchbuilds of Space Marine bridge-layers, and I've always kind of liked the idea, seeing as my Grandfather was a Combat Engineer in WWII and Korea! I pretty much built my own, partly based on the picture and tips provided in issue 17, plus other little things to make it a bit more feasible, plus, I had a lot of extra MkI Rhino parts lieing around. So, really, I thought I'd have a little fun, hehe. Here it is, with bridge-layer parts coming from an Airfix 1/76 Churchill bridge-layer tank plastic kit.
And a side view, showing the picture frame wall mounts I used to create the tank's support structure.
I think that the bridge needs a few more skulls but apart from that it is an excellent build.
If you are looking for more stuff to build I notice that you haven't built one of the hover Rhinos yet. Should be a pretty easy build provided you can scrounge up some land speeder bits.
There is also the old whirlwind with crayon launchers which I don't think you have made yet.
Apart from that though I'm pretty sure you made just about everything that there is to make with the exception of a few bike/jetbike variants. When you are completely out of ideas I sketched up a space mariney tank a while back if you want me to upload a pic!
@aka_mythos: Yeah, I agree, didn't consider it because I can't drill through that hard a metal. What I might do is use the light bar (what attaches to the same place as the ram and on the back) from the MkI Rhino. Cut it into thirds and use the part with the 2 holes and 2 sets of rivets and just glue it straight on, it will at least provide some texture, hehe!
I wonder if I can get more of those tank toys from HEB, hehe. I wouldn't mind trying my hand at a second one. I would make it look more like it does in the old pic, with a lot less rivets and more armored layers!
@Llamahead: Cool link, I didn't even know about Hobart's Funnies, awesome! Hehe, I like the Crocodile, and the Crab is very Orky, I wouldn't doubt that it was the inspiration for the Battlewagon dethrolla! I'll have to look into it more!
@Commander Cain: Hehe, luckily this is a Rogue Trader vehicle, back before GW's design studio got carried away!
Yeah, I know about the hover Rhino, but its history only goes back to the HHCCG and its artbook so it was never on my list, but maybe I'll get to it after I've exhausted my current to do list. Funny you mention Whirlwinds and jetbikes! I have the old crayon Whirlwind, and my philosophy has been I only build something if there has never been a 40k scale version of it already, even if you take size creep into consideration. As such, I have some of the old jet bikes as well, and they are tiny, but they exist, but I wouldn't close the book on that idea as well, I'm sure if inspiration strikes or I learn some sculpting techniques I may re-visit the idea!
Sure, I love seeing new and clever ideas, I did build aka_mythos's Rhidon!
@Zuul: Ooh, I've only slightly heard of this tank, it's certainly a useful thing to have for a chapter that specializes in siege warfare. Do you have a reference for this bit of fluff? I assume its from a HH novel!
Something that I haven't done, which I am currently considering, is a Rhino Advancer, if anyone wants to look that up!
Re. the IW rhino I found some fluff on the 40k wiki.
The Castellan Rhino was a variant of the Rhino developed during the Great Crusade by the Iron Warriors' Primarch, Perturabo. The Castellan variant featured unfolding armour plating and impact bracing that allowed the vehicle to be turned into a miniature bunker. The modular construction allowed multiple Castellan Rhinos to be linked together in a chain, forming a makeshift fortified line when materials for more permanent emplacements were unavailable or a defence had to be fashioned quickly. During the Iron Warriors and Emperor's Children's siege of the ancient Eldar fortress of Amon ny-shak Kaelis the Iron Warriors deployed over 400 Castallen Rhinos as their defensive line.
No decent pics though though I'm sure I found on in my HH art book, I shall trawl through it tomorrow just in case...
This could be it?
Also I would love to see a model for the advancer! No idea how you would make it though as the entire chassis would need to be bigger.
Great info Commander Cain, thanks! Dang, I think I've read the book that that fluff came off, must not have been memorable. I certainly like the idea, but I'd be hesitant to make something without at least a picture to go by. The pic you posted could be one, but it doesn't really show the distinctive parts that would make it a castellan rhino. Also, I wonder if it would have seen widespread use with other legions, oh well. A crusade era vehicle I'd love to build that has been mentioned several times in the HH books, but has no official artwork, is the quad-tracked mastodon! Maybe FW will make it one day!
Yeah, the advancer would be fun, I'd have to totally scratch build it and use rhino bits for some of the detail, probably need some parts from a fine-scale tank model, like the wheels!
I remember when I found the article for the Rhino Advancer Munitions Carrier build online a while back. It's nice that the internet archive has old versions of the GW site.
Hehe, I remember finding that article as well, the scenerio was fun, but I had to ask another dakka member for the pics, which seem to all be dead. Black Gobbo had a lot of fun stuff back in the day!
Hello again! If you've noticed the different flags on my posts that's because I've been out-of-town for the last three weeks. Before I left I did complete my MkII T-hawk. I took some pics, but didn't have time to post them. So, here they are, top and bottom!
Just for fun, here is a shot of my MkI and MkII side by side!
I've noticed that people have seemed to enjoy my pic with the three different rapiers, so I've looked over my collection for similar shots I can take that will show off the progression of some of GW's smaller models. For instance, here are all four of GW/FW's jet bikes through the ages!
I probably don't need to list what's in the pic, but the first two are GW's Rogue Trader era jet bikes, which are kind of wimpy, but I could see them being really cool if properly updated, The next is the Dark Angel's Master of the Ravenwing jetbike that I've cleaned up to be riderless, and in the back is FW's Scimitar pattern Jet bike.
At some point I can probably do some side by side pics of SM bikes, attack bikes, robots, and terantulas.
Hello again, thought I'd pop in and post some pics of what I've been up to post-thunderhawk! First off, this is for Zuul who brought up the old Space Crusade dreadnought. I was given a couple specimens in order to mod for an Adeptus Arbite force I'm also working on. The guy in the pic has been modded into your good old riflemen dread. I used the old metal autocannons from one of the older Leman Russ varient kits. I also think that by smoothing out the dread's face, it looks much more Imperial.
Finding myself with extra mkI Rhino and Leman Russ I decided to revisit Citadel Journal 7, which as some of you mightrecal was where I found the article for the Tech-marine rhino I built awhile back. Also in this article is what the author calls an armoured Razorback, which is pretty much a Razorback whose weapon is mounted on a Leman Russ turret. If you look at the 2nd/3rd edition Dark Angels codex, you'll also see this same conversion idea being utilized by one of the book's example armies.
I've also been getting my Vindicator on! Here are three specimens I've put together. Starting from the left is my rendition of the very first Vindicator build that was introduced in White Dwarf #118. Next is my second Vindicator to use Tim Pertuis's resin thunder cannon kit. I have to thank timd himself for this pristine example! Third is Puppet War's Big Momma Cannon fitted to the MkI Rhino's track assemblies with extra armor. I bet Puppet War didn'tthink anyone would do this!
Speaking of Vindicators, I was fortunate enough to aquire Da Vinci's Sabre Tank Hunter upgrade kit, which he did alongside the Storm tank for Tempus Fugitives! I wouldn't usually bother with third party upgrade kits, but I found this design to be pretty inspired (as with Puppet War's Big Momma).
Again, I've taken some pics from my collection that shows off the evolution of some of GW's models. In the following order: Robots, the Terantula Sentry gun (2L Lascannons), bikes, and attack bikes!
Currently, I am moving forward with the Rhino Advancer, I'll have pics at some point!
Thanks guys, glad you like it all, even with my crap quality pics!
Yeah, the Advancer is going well. All I have done is the start of the track assemblies. The only reference I have for this vehicle is a single piece of artwork from the HHCCG. Looking at the pic, it takes itsbasic aesthetic from the MkI Rhino, but is clearly a bit longer, wider, and generally larger. Pretty much a Space Marine Trukk!
Ok, here is what I've done so far on the Rhino Advancer. It's pretty much well on its way. The track assemblies are done, as is the floor of the hull, just waiting on some treads from Machinator before I glue on the wheels and assemble what you see in the pic. The assault ramp I'm using for the Advancer is made from using two Stormraven rear-side assault ramps, you can see some of it at the top of the photo. Once this is all done, all that's left is the front hull, which should be a breeze!
Something else I've been working away on is my Iron Hands Chapter Master/Captain on bike, but I didn't want to just use a plain old bike. Seemed kind of boring, and I know that the IHs CM build can be a bit OTT, I figured it deserved a little ingenuity. So, going back again to the good old days of Rogue Trader, there was something called a Powerboard, pretty much a hover surf board type of thing. Using this as inspiration, I built my own version (from a ton of different bitz) that could be considered more military grade! The CM himself is kitted out with two of the relics from the Iron Hands suppliment, the Ax of Medusa and the combi-melta that lasts forever (or just a plain old combi-melta if I don't have the points!). He's pretty much Kardon Stronos! I may do a Shield eternal version down the line.
Next is something cool I recently picked up. It's a so-called Adepticonstruct released in honor of Adepticon's 10th anniversary. I always thought it was cool, but had no reason to get one. But now, with the HH stuff, he makes a great stand in for a Castellax Battle-automata! As you can see, I've added some extra weapons to it!
Finally, we have an old mkI Predator junker that I salvaged off ebay. It's battle cannon was broken off ages ago I assume, but since I had a couple of the old style Lascannons lying around I decided to make it a Predator Annihilator, fun stuff!
Hey Zuul! The engine is from the Dark Angels Landspeeder Vengeance. I just took the half-pieces and glued the two together! The bitz were pretty cheap from Bits and Kits!
That's a good question! First off, it was intentional! If you've ever seen the catalog pics for the MkI Pred that's how it is shown.
http://www.solegends.com/citcat1989/c890011plaspredator-01.htm I've noticed, having looked through tons of old GW publications, that the old Rhino hatches could be positioned either way. Typically, you'd have the little viewport facing forward where it would act to hold the bolter in place. Other times, like with the Pred, it can intstead act as the hinge for the hatch. It's styalistic in many cases, but I tend to go with how the old official pics show!
Great stuff, the old school gear looks so cool to me, alot of the modern gear looks too much like our gear now for me. All practical and all. But the old stuff looks so much more zany. Keep it coming dude.
Hehe, thanks Zuul! When I got back into 40k in 2007 after almost a six year hiatus, I became neurotic about filling out my SM collection and making sure everything was "accurate!" I've still missed a lot of little things along the way, but it's sure been fun!
Hehe, I've considered doing that, but I want to wait once I've painted most things. Also, I'd probably want a better camera, I've got a lot of stuff, not sure it could all fit into one shot!
I'm more or less done with the Advancer's main parts. I've had to reduce the width of its main hull so as to maintain size consistency with the MkI Rhino. Otherwise, the two front hatches would look a bit wonky on the front. I'm still waiting for the Machinator treads. Once they arrive I'll glue all the wheels in place, and I need the treads so I can determine the amount of clearence they will need, which requires the wheels to be positioned just right! Once that's done it's just a matter of glueing everything together. The interior detail is all ready to go, and will be a breeze!
Reading through my copy of Imperial Armour II 2nd Edition I learned a nifty new fluff detail that wasn't in the original edition. If you're familiar with the Sisters of Battle Immolator kit you know that it has a higher profile than SM Rhinos due to the added viewports that allow its occupants a 360 view, the Immolator turret not withstanding. According to the new fluff, this is a MkIIIa Rhino, which is favored by the SoB over the typical MkIIb, which SMs are usually associated with. Of course, it doesn't say that SMs don't use MkIIIs at all, just that they favor the MkII, so i figured I'd build one for my collection. Of course, I got rid of all the SoB iconography, mainly the fluer-de-lis symbol on the circular hatch, which proved to be the perfect size for an AdMech brass etched icon! As per its instructions, the Immolator kit can be used to make a plain old SoB Rhino, whereby you replace the Immolator turret with a cupola that uses the clear plastic circular gun shield as its hatch, which doesn't make sence, nor is it very Space Marine, so I opted to mod some SM Rhino hatch doors to fit in it. I think it's worthwhile to have some variation between one's Rhinos!
@Zuul: Yeah, I only caught it myself a couple of weeks ago! It's always cool to find new fluff that somehow sneaks itself into established fluff like that. I think it makes sense considering the SoB plastic kit adds an entirely new top piece. FW actually had an Immolator upgrade kit for the mkII Rhino before this plastic one came out, and it was a much simpler desighn, closer to the original MkI Immolator.
Hehe, good luck on finding one, if I ever see another I'll let you know. I got mine off of ebay. The company/ guy who made it seems to be in limbo right now. I had heard that Machinator was helping in the re-tooling of the kit for a future re-release, but that was awhile ago!
Yeah, I think the Advancer could totally fulfill some specific battlefield roles better than the basic Rhino. Maybe when FW gets to the Space Wolves in their HH stuff they might just do it themsleves!
To answer your question, it is not hand done. I used a textured plasticard. I don't have the name of the company since I threw the packaging away, but it's pretty much this product (I think):
http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/wills-box-cladding.html The packaging, as I recall, described this texture as ideal for corrugated steel roofs and whatnot! Hehe, it would be possible to get the same effect hand done, but that would be pretty tedious. Hope that's helpful!
Howdy! It's been awhile since I last updated this thread. Had a busy couple of weeks and I lost the USB cable for my camera! Now that I've sorted things out I can post some pics of my completed Rhino Advancer! It has actually been done for quite some time!
Since I've taken these pics I've added some more rivets to the top and interior of the hull. In the last couple of weeks I've been busying myself with some terrain projects. Nothing special, just looking back on some old GW tutorials! I may post some pics once I have some more stuff built!
Thanks MagosBiff90! Yeah, all the parts I decided to use came out really well together! So as not to take credit, the wheels are Lego wheels, and the treads I bought from Machinator!
Quick update of a little project I did while back in the States! This was more of a modeling challenge instigated by AkaMythos! I was looking at the Inquisitor digital codex and saw some potential for getting some Servo Skulls into my Iron Hands army, which is pretty logical in my opinion! Instead of a human Inquisitor it was easy enough to use (fluff-wise) a returning Deathwatch Marine whose years away from his Clan has changed his way of fighting, and instead of re-indoctrinating him I can see the Iron Fathers using his new skills for the benefit of the Chapter! So, my power armored Deathwatch Marine and retinue needed a ride! The challenge then, as presented by Mythos was to make a Legion Chimera using the FW Legion Medusa kit. It was easy enough, and by getting one chimera kit and one FW Legion Medusa kit, one still ended up with one of each vehicle even though you ended up swapping a number of bits! So, here it is, only the front for now, I did change up the back hatch, but I'll put up a pic if anyone is interested. There are a coupe of other things I may add down the line like smoke launchers and maybe sculpt some detail to better connect the front hull to the main hull, we'll see!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, the only non GW/FW bit is the turret, which comes from an old 1/72 scale Stalin tank plastic kit, I wanted it to look similarr in shape to FW's Deimos Predator turret!
Ooh I never saw that the Advancer had been completed but it looks incredible! I've wanted to see someone build it since I saw a pic of the thing in the HH artbook.
The Chimera is looking pretty spiffing as well though I think that the lasguns on the roof should be replaced with firing slits seeing as it looks like they can't be positioned horizontally due to the resin bits.
Yeah, that was something I realized as I was putting it together. It was a late night and I was kind of being lazy about it. I didn't like the lasguns in general, but I also wanted to see how it would look all together. It would be an easy thing to cut the lasguns off and make slits or drill a hole into the ball shaped part!
Awesome vehicles. I have read the entire thread. Many of those I knew about but a few even I did not.
I have a couple requests.
The first is Commisar Yarrick's Command Rhino which was seen in art form in 2nd edition. It had two heavy bolters on the top hatches and Yarrick would stand behind them in the big open hatch.
The second is two MK1 Rhino conversions from a very old WD. One had a modified front plate with almost a canopy and the other had its Bolters mounted like a sisters of battle Repressor. Have you seen these before? I believe there is a pic in the Compendium red book but there were plans in a WD.
Very nice IH / DW ride.... looks aggressive and solid!
As was mentioned previously, one little thing i would take out are the lasguns in the chimera section.... just my thought but i would just colse up the troop section in heavy armour and let the turret look after the defence .... Really like the turret though! Oh.... and the side exhausts.....
Yes, I know of the Yarrick Rhino you speak of, I have the art work somewhere. I need to go digging for it, hehe! I don't usually do things for Imperial Guard, but if the art work is as cool as I think it is I might change my mind!
And yes, I have that compendium and the two Rhino's you speak of sound very familiar, I'll check it out as soon as I get to my flat! My feeling is that those two rhinos were probably one of the design staff's personal mods, and were probably pictured to show off what one could do with the basic Rhino kit! If there are indeed instructions of sorts I'll certainly look into it! Thanks for the suggestions!!!
@MagosBiff90: Thanks, I'm glad you like it! Yes, I've been mulling over this issue for awhile now. I should have left off the lasguns from the get go. Sadly, I left my DW Chimera in the US so I can't fix it until the next time I'm home. As Mythos has pointed out, a number of real world APCs utilze spherical hatches, which I can replicate by just snipping off those lasguns and smoothing out the ball-shaped mounts. Thanks again, can't take credit for the side exhausts, that's FW all the way, hehe!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Hehe, here's the Yarrick Rhino. Those look like Heavy Bolters instead of regular bolters! I think this would be pretty easy to make, but it would be all about the paint job to really make this shine!
@JeffJedi: Well, looks like I just learned something new! I checked out the article in my old Rogue Trader compliation soft cover and the Rhinos you were refering to were exactly what I thought they were, in-studio examples of what you can do to make your Rhino more unique! What I didn't know was that in the next issue they promised templates so you could copy two of the Rhino mods shown in the article, the two that you pointed out! The templates are not in the compilation, but I figured out that they are in White Dwarf issue 104. You can find this issue on SCRIBD, but I'm going to get one for myself! Awesome, thanks! I may very well do these mods, they are pretty cool, but it will take me some time to get the issue and two good conditioned old Rhinos!
@JeffJedi: If you are still around I've nearly completed the two RT Rhinos you requested, just waiting on a couple of 20mm round bases in the mail!
Before that I'll put up pics of some classic terrain I've built in the last year. The first was pretty fun. Back in the day GW would sometimes have cardboard terrain come free with an issue of White Dwarf. This is a Battle Bunker that came with WD 169, and I believe you could get three inside the Warhammer 40k Battles Supplement book.
This next item is a Strongpoint section featured in WD 184, which provided the reader with the neccassary templates to build one. I only built the standard Strongpoint, but there is nothing stopping one from building an entire line of these things in various sizes and positions. You could probably scratchbuild an entire Wall of Martyrs with these templates.
Next is a standard Bunker whose templates came in the 4th Edition Warhammer 40K rulebook. I didn't have a copy of the rulebook on hand, and instead relied on a scanned copy of the templates, so the size may be off because all I did was size the door to fit a standard Space Marine.
Finally, we have a DoWSM Plasma Generator I made modified from off of Dakka memeber "dwez" templates, which can be found on his blog Confessions of a 40k Addict. I may try and build all the SMDoW structures one day!
I have another terrain project coming up, which should be fun, which is taken from an old Black Gobbo article: a Communications Bunker! On top of this, I acquired an old Imperial Firebase kit, the one made from printed cardstock and plastic wall sections!
I think that cardboard bunker was a great introduction to scratch building. Forget the fact that they showed us how to turn a deodorant stick into a hovertank in first edition!
I'd love to do terrain building along these lines once my build queue is thinned out. I wish I could find the cityfight masterclass article from black gobbo.
@jabbakahut: Yes, I agree! All the cardstock buildings for 40k and WHF were great introductions. I remember fondly building all those Britonian buildings that came with the 5th editions starter box! I'd like to get two sets of the old cardstock ruins that came with the 2nd edition 40k starter set . I like the idea of mounting them on foam core so as to make them a bit more chuncky!
Thanks Littletower, thought I'd take a break from tanks for a bit! I started a couple of pieces from GW's first How to Make Wargames Terrain book. Left those in the States to be done another day.
All right! As requested by JeffJedi on the last page, I made the two variant Rhinos whose templates can be found in White Dwarf 104!
The first was tricky because the pic of the model and the template instructions were slightly different, mainly with the turret. The pic shown in that old article clearly shows twin linked lascannon (or Rogue Trader equivalent), but the instructions just say to use bolters. Well, seeing as the main highlight of this variant was an up-armored front compartment and turret, I decided to give it some decent weapons, thus making this an early Razorback in the end. Not sure if you could put TL Lascannons on a Rhino back in Rogue Trader, but one of the painted examples in the prior issue was of a Rhino wiith a Multi-Melta. Oh well, I think it looks cooler with Lascannons!
The second one was more straightforward, save for the fact that I needed to hunt down some 20mm round bases for the turret, hehe. I didn't even know GW made 20mm round bases in the day. Supposedly they were originally made for the 1st edition of Blood Bowl! Only thing left for these two before I primer them is getting some of those MkI Rhino handle bars for the hatches.
This next Rogue Trader vehicle also qualifies as scraping the bottom of the 40K barrel. For those of you who have read the actual Deoderant bar Grav Attack Vehicle article, you know that it also included the instructions for making a "Groundhog." I skipped this at first because it was hugely straight forward, just take the old Slitheroid Zoids toy and plop it together. On second look I decided why not, since it had it's own statline and everything, and I guess one could play it as a Hades Breaching Drill, and getting a re-issed Slitheroid was really easy and cheap. Here you go, hehe!
All in all, I've had a lot of fun making these old guys. I thank JeffJedi for bringing the Rhinos to my attention, always glad to uncover something new from the old days of Rogue Trader. After this I'll have some more terrain projects, and then who knows!
Those latest builds are awesome, should look great all primed up! I remember owning that Zoid model once upon a time, wonder if I still have it?
You should also invest in a better camera or even just use a backdrop of some kind, it is kinda tricky to pick out most of the details on those guys...
@Zuul: Thanks! You can find all of WD 104 on Scribd (Not sure I'm allowed to link it), saved me the trouble of getting it off ebay, which isn't usually an issue, but shipping charges to NZ can get crazy with anything book shaped! Regarding Stormbirds, I have considered it. I've ruled out doing the gyro-copter looking one, and the other could be fun, but I can't help but think that FW isn't that far away from doing their own, in which case I'll probably just want to save up to buy it! If not that, I think FW will eventually have actual artwork for one in a future HH book!
@CommanderCain: Thanks, primer coat goes a long way, especially whn dealing with refurbished models! Hehe, yeah, I had the scorpion one back when I was a kid. It's definately gone for good. I have been thinking about improving my camera setup. My office and flat don't have a good place for a clean backdrop. The box method is possible, but I'd still have to take pics crawling on the floor. My hope is that when I finally get around to painting everything I will be retaking all my pics, hopefully I'll have a better camera when that happens! But yeah, I'll try some experimenting in the mean time!
Thanks Mythos!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, I might as well put this here while I'm at it! At various times I've considered building my own scratchbuild knight, but the spirit never overcame me, and then GW released their plastic knight, and I really saw no reason to make my own. However, looking at the old Epic models I felt a bit nostalgic for the old style of knight compared to GW's recent plastic kit (which I also think is cool). Still though, I didn't want to commit to such a project, and then I saw on Ebay the 3rd party "knight" made by Resinlab Models in Spain. Since this kit precedes GW's plastic kit it's actually a pretty nice hommage to the old Epic style, so I took the plunge. I actually have 3 of these, but I'm happy with just building this one and selling the other two (since I mixed and matched parts from the 3 kits!). Happy with this I don't feel compelled to build my own anymore, hehe!
You got me there CommanderCain! A man can dream! My collection may very well be one of those Humanity colonizing space adventures where its the 9th generation removed from the original colonists who finally find a suitable planet to live on. I hope if I ever have kids they'll enjoy 40k as much as I do!
Yeah, as soon as I saw it I knew it was better for me to just buy it than make my own! I've seen other 3rd party knights and this is by far the best. I mixed and matched parts so as to have the most Epic knight looking model I could make. For instance, the other heads are cool, but the one I used has the best overall old-school look!
A couple more buildings to add to my terrain count! The first is a Comms Bunker, which was built from templates supplied by an old Black Gobbo article! I was even able to figure out what Star Wars toy was originally used in the article for the radar dish and other comm structures. All that's left is to base it!
The next is another DoW inspired building, a Space Marine Armoury. To make this I used the templates made and provided by Bugbait from off his Warseer thread, lots of great stuff on there! All that's left to do on this is attach a plastic antenna I'm waiting for and to base it!
@Zuul: It was the "Padme Amidala Coruscant attack" figure. It's a cheap and easy figure to find on Ebay and other such places!
@Warboss_Waaazag: Thanks for stopping by! The Comms Bunker is foamcore lined with cardstock on the edges. The buttresses and other similar pieces are plasticard! The Armoury is foamcore covered completely in cardstock.
Thanks Mythos! I'd like to, it's been fun, but only because I didn't have to make the templates myself! At this point I wouldn't mind building a SM Stronghold, barracks/chapel, and Orbital Relay. Hopefully Bugbait from Warseer will share any future DoW endeavors with the public. I know he's been working on a Stronghold for awhile now!
Now for something a tad different. Back in the day when Games Workshop implied more than three (two) supported game systems, GW had a game called Car Wars and later Dark Future, which was pretty much a smash-em-up shoot-em-up Mad Max style racing game. The game came with two styles of plastic cars that you could modify and arm-up as you pleased. I thought it would be neat to make one in 40k scale! Here are some WIPs of the undercarriage next to the original model!
Since I took those pics I've finished the undercarriage. Next I will start the body!
I've also enlarged the engine a bit since I took these last two pics. While what I've built is not an exact replica, I think it's close enough seeing as much of it will be hidden once I have the body done.
Thanks Zogg! That's a good question! I'm still mulling over what to do about the weapons. My first inclination is to give it the load out of a similar or equivalent 40k vehicle, namely a Tauros Venator, which means I'll arm it with twin-linked lascannons, 2 hunter killer missiles and smoke launchers, which wouldn't be two far off from what one could originally arm a Dark Future Renegade (kind of). Otherwise, I could easily just load it out to whatever I want, in which case I would make the weapons interchangeable, and magnetizing them would be a real possibility!
Heliodore, I am extremely impressed! Great job bringing these Rhinos to life. I really love the HK missile on the Lascannon version as I have always wondered what that bit was intended to be. Definitely works as an early Razorback.
I'm not sure what the second one is meant to be with it's strange front section, but you can see a little bit of the Sister's Repressor with the bolters. I also think the first tank inspired the old school Sister's Immolator tank.
In a funny bit of coincidence, I was the person who uploaded the Bunker and Strongpoint terrain that you just finished. Small world, haha.
JeffJedi!! Glad to hear from you again!! Thanks again for pointing out these old builds! Yes, I thought the same thing, both of them do have aspects of those later vehicles. Yeah, I added the missile myself, which I got from the zoids toy. I figured hunter killer missile was the only way to go with that bit! It's also cool that these builds were created by Bob Naismith himself, the designer of GW's first space marine! The article mentions that Mr. Naismith eventually used one of his mockups for the original plastic Predator kit, and I know he had his hand in a lot of the early 40k universe!
Hehe, cool! I just got into a terrain kick and decided to look in on some old GW tutorials! Great minds and all!!!
Thanks Jehan-reznor! Hehe, I had to look that reference up since I don't know a thing about Dark Future's fluff! So funny, but I think I'll keep my Space Marine for now!
@Capt.: From the way I have it posed, about 17 cm tall. There's another thread on Dakka belonging to fellow that shows some good comparison pics with GW/FW's knights. It certainly looks as if the Resinlab one is a bit taller than GW's plastic kit, but shorter than FW's Castigator.
Thanks Warboss_Waaazag! Yeah, always ends up that way. If I was crazier about the whole Dark future setting I'd totally make several of these and up-scale the game, but I only have time for this one!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, here is something interesting I dug up from an old White Dwarf (203) from 1996. This is Fred Reed's (GW's Manager of the Year 1996) solution to the then recent discontinuation of GW's original Land Raider kit. I think it's kind of cool and I got back to thinking about it because Tamiya just released a new WWI era MkIV male tank with moving treads and motorized engine in 1/35th scale. Now, I have plenty of LRs, and if I got the Tamiya kit I'd want to build the MkIV male to my best abilities, but this creation certainly counts as an obscure 40k vehicle. However, I think I'll probably leave this one behind, so I thought I'd at least mention it in my thread!
As you can see, it uses the MkIV, actually of the female variant. Reed has just added 40k weaponry and used the hull from off a Russ and a Chimera turret to bulk it out! I wouldn't say there is anything "official" about it, save for the fact that White Dwarf printed a couple of pictures of it!
Actually, after digging around looking for a cheap MkIV it's clear that the WD article was wrong when it stated he used a Female MkIV, looking at the side sponsons Reed used a Male MkIV for his LR!
Ok! More or less done with the Dark Future Renegade. I just need to do some sanding, putty up some gaps, and put a couple of old lascannons on the front tire guards (coming in the mail). I've decided to use this guy as a count-as Javelin Attack Speeder with twin-linked lascannons, heavy bolter, and 2 hunter-killer missiles! I modded the HK missiles to be more reminiscent of the Dark Future missile pods that came with the game! Let me know if you think I should keep the spare tire where I put it in the pics!
Heliodore wrote: @Capt.: From the way I have it posed, about 17 cm tall. There's another thread on Dakka belonging to fellow that shows some good comparison pics with GW/FW's knights. It certainly looks as if the Resinlab one is a bit taller than GW's plastic kit, but shorter than FW's Castigator.
Thanks Warboss_Waaazag! Yeah, always ends up that way. If I was crazier about the whole Dark future setting I'd totally make several of these and up-scale the game, but I only have time for this one!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, here is something interesting I dug up from an old White Dwarf (203) from 1996. This is Fred Reed's (GW's Manager of the Year 1996) solution to the then recent discontinuation of GW's original Land Raider kit. I think it's kind of cool and I got back to thinking about it because Tamiya just released a new WWI era MkIV male tank with moving treads and motorized engine in 1/35th scale. Now, I have plenty of LRs, and if I got the Tamiya kit I'd want to build the MkIV male to my best abilities, but this creation certainly counts as an obscure 40k vehicle. However, I think I'll probably leave this one behind, so I thought I'd at least mention it in my thread!
As you can see, it uses the MkIV, actually of the female variant. Reed has just added 40k weaponry and used the hull from off a Russ and a Chimera turret to bulk it out! I wouldn't say there is anything "official" about it, save for the fact that White Dwarf printed a couple of pictures of it!
I modified mine slightly, to represent a landraider prototype
Thanks guys, I trust your judgement. I considered it because I saw online that a number of Dark Future players would stick an extra tire there, guess it doesn't look right on my beefier rendition!
That's awesome Jehan-reznor! Those are a pair of nice looking tanks, I take it you used a mkIV tadpole! The more I've thought about it the more I want to go ahead and make one of these reverse homages, hehe! I think the only thing I want to change from the WD example is the use of the Chimera/Russ treads, they just don't seem wide enough to me. I also don't want to use the rubber/vinyl treads that tend to come standard in most tank kits, which is why I liked the idea of using the new Tamiya male where each link is a separate plastic piece and just looks cooler! I actually had one in my hands, but I felt like I'd be desecrating an awesome model, so I'll hunt down an older 1/35 scale version and look around to see if there are resin tread options out there as I know there are for other real-world tank kits!
Thanks for stopping by Zogg! Yes, I'll be leaving off the tire, hehe!
Yes, I am very familiar with Machinator's work, used a bunch of his treads for various projects, highly recommended. While great, they are custom made for GW tanks, so I don't know if they'd fit a 1/35 MkIV male. I'm thinking I can probably use the one it comes with and add detail to it myself!
Yeah Mythos, I don't really like that aspect. At this point I think I'm going to use the treads the kit comes with and add larger hinges all the way round to give it that Rogue Trader look!
Got my lascannons in the mail, so my Dark Future Renegade is all done! As you can see in the background is the actual Renegade armed the way I have my scratch build.
Additionally, I was bored a couple of nights ago and found on Scribd a fellow cool enough to have uploaded all 50 copies of Citadel Journal for public perusal. So, I sat down and skimmed through all 50 issues in case there were any projects I've overlooked. Only a couple small projects caught my interest, one of which was a quick and dirty tutorial from Citadel Journal 9 for making a crater terrain piece from a small pie plate, hehe! As you can see, pretty simple but kind of cool! I'll probably cover it with a coat of filler and flock it later.
Now, I did find some other cool projects that I don't really have any interest in, but I thought I'd cite them for any of you Imperial Guard Tread-heads out there because there's some pretty nifty tank articles in CJ.
Citadel Journal 9: Tutorial, fluff, and outdated rules for a Pegasus A. A. V. (A Chimera variant with reversed hull and Rhino track assemblies)
Citadel Journal 11: Tutorial, fluff, and outdated rules for 3 assault Chimeras: The Chimerro, the Chimerox, and the Chimedon (I believe these are Epic variants of the Chimera that give it different armaments)
Citadel Journal 15 and 16: Two part tutorial, fluff, and outdated rules for Centaur AFV and Minotaur AFV (These are pretty much armored jeeps made using the Russ hull and big wheels)
Citadel Journal 28: Tutorial, fluff, and outdated rules for a Hyena LSV (A Chimera jeep variant)
Citadel Journal 32: A narrative description for building an Imperial Forest base and Jungle Class Clearance Bulldozer (the bulldozer uses the Chimera hull and lots of random bitz)
Citadel Journal 33: A narrative description and outdated rules for an Imperial Leviathan (really!) and Yarrick's Rhino.
I'll mention CJ 35, nothing as cool as the above articles, but it does have a lot of pics of various IG tank mods made by a guest writer.
If anybody hunts down these journal issues and builds any of these tanks I'd love to see some pics!
Hehe, yeah, when I read that Citadel Journal article, which is presented quite humorously, I pretty much slapped my head as to why I never thought of that before! I've since spread wall filler all over it and it's now looking quite good!
Well, I've gone and done it, I've started work on a 40k scale Space Marine Landing Craft! I really hope this isn't the big flyer FW plans on releasing in the near future! This is going to be a pretty big build, so I'm doing it in stages. Stage 1 is the cockpit and fuselage, which you can see is conveniently squarish in shape. Once I get this part built I'll probably shelve it until I get some other projects out of the way and then I'll eventually return to finishing it! I've done quite a lot so far, I figured WIP pics would have been a bit redundant, so here it is a little more than half-way done!
As you can see on the Epic model, its head is somewhat arrowhead shaped and not an actual square. I guarantee that my build is that same shape. My picture wasn't able to capture that very well.
I recently acquired the larger Space Crusade Dreadnought, thought it would make a nifty Contemptor Mortis!
I notice that a LOT of my so-called "friends" have been hanging around this blog... yet none of you thought to point out Heliodore's work to me?! What a bunch of weedy gits!
Heliodore, the things on this blog are fantastic, amazing, nostalgic and wonderfully impossible! As one who also appreciates "the old ways"... going through this blog has been an absolute delight!
Please keep it up... there's just too much awesome here to be confined to only occasional posts.
@Gitsplitta: Hehe, thanks for finding my thread then! I really appreciate your kind words. This thread pretty much encapsulates everything I love about 40k and Space Marines, so it's always nice when others think well of my builds! FYI, I'm totally a fan of your many great blogs, which I've lurked over through the years!
@Commander Cain: Yes, you were there when I was still playing around with the idea! Little by little I'll get it done, I hope it meets your expectations in the end! I don't look forward to the six arms!
@akaMythos: I totally got 6 Rhinos, but this guy can carry 3 Land Raiders instead, so now my Achilles, Terminus Ultra, and Spartan have a ride!
Automatically Appended Next Post: @ruralguard: Great minds!!! Wow, four assault cannons and four missile launchers, that's pretty wicked! Those are some great looking dreads!
Hey jabbakahut! I can see where the confusion comes from. Yes, I'm building the simply named Space Marine Landing Craft. It does share some similarities with the Thunderhawk gunship and transporter, but is a much bigger craft and can indeed carry 6 rhinos. It only appeared as an Epic Armageddon model. For what ever reason it was given a pretty generic name, it would have made some sense to call it a Thunderhawk landing craft or something like that! All the fluff written about it appears in the Epic Armageddon rules set, which GW had as a free download on their site for the longest time.
Yeah, I totally remember it, I just didn't realize you were doing one. I've got one of the SM company boxes (or two?) and I thought one day I have to build on just because I have so many Rhinos laying around. Figured it would be a cool overhead handing decoration for my game room. It's got to be one of the few things they don't have rules for, least not that I recall seeing (even in the apoch books!)
It's going to look sweet, I can't wait to see your take on it.
Well, I guess it's official now: You have totally lost it.
In the best possible way, mind you!
(Just make sure you either build it modular, or you do the final assembly in the right side of the ocean... Unless you are planning to actually fly it across when done...)
Thanks jabbakahut, my hope is to just keep it as close to the original Epic model as I can. Of course, that's easier said than done. One thing I've noticed is that on many Epic scale models the cupolas and weapons tend to be a bit exaggerated. For instance, the cupola on the SMLC is the same size as the cupola of an Epic Land Raider MkII. But, if the scale is accurate based on the cupolas than the MkII is pretty darn big and there is no way the SMLC could carry three such Land Raiders. So, in scaling up my build, I've decided to do it in such a way as to keep the cupolas and weaponry a tad smaller than they appear on the epic model. In the end I want it to realistically look like it could actually carry 3 LRs or 6 Rhinos. Funny thing, I think that according to the Epic rules it could carry 4 LRs, but I think this is a stretch. Yeah, it should be quite impressive when it's done.
Regarding why it's only ever been an Epic model, I have no idea. My guess is that the SMLC was concocted before FW came up with the Thunderhawk Transporter, and when this fellow came out it pretty much replaced the SMLC both fluff-wise and support-wise. I could be wrong, I have no idea when Epic Armageddon came out or when the T-hawk Transporter was released. It could be as simple as the SMLC was deemed just too big a craft to be feasible as a both a FW model and as a playable option in Apoc/40k. Although, it seems FW will soon be releasing a large SM flyer in the near future!
@Littletower: Hehe, I think I lost it when I built by mega-death tank several years ago! I'll probably lose it again when in a year or two I'll be building an old Codex Titanicus Thunderbolt dropship! Yeah, that is something I've been thinking about. Chances are looking good I'm already on the right side of the ocean, I just need space for this guy, hehe!
I've done some more on it by the way. Whew, just this first part and I'm getting beat. I finally finished the bulk of the neck assembly, just a couple nubs left to go and then I can finish up the top hull detail and riveting. Once I get my magnets from the mail I can complete the assault ramp.
After those above steps it will just be the massive landing gear on the bottom and, as you can deduce from the empty side face, the weird side detail (yay arches...).
Another quick update. All done with the landing gear, which was fairly simple since, even on the model, it doesn't look to be retractable due to it's large size in comparison to the hull. I scaled it down a bit also since I don't want it being bigger than the other two landing gears that are attached to the back portion of the Landing Craft.
The bottom detail was based on the FW T-hawk's landing gear.
For something a bit random, from Citadel Journal 36 was a tutorial for making a Tech-marine Terminator for games of Space Hulk. He comes armed with a chainfist and a plasma blastgun. Today, you can make this guy using the FW Iron Father and the appropriate Cataphractii arm and weapon bitz. The tutorial is pretty convoluted, requiring a lot of different bitz, which is why I had to do it!
For next time I'll be tackling the side hull arches, which is going to be pain!
@Camkierhi: Good question, hehe, I'm guessing somewhere between 3 and 4 feet long. Thanks, though I must admit, this build has been particularly rough, as in I don't feel its coming out as clean and crisp as I would like. It's funny, for as long as I have been building models I still make these dumb mistakes and many times with a new project, like this one, I feel like a beginner all over again. After I posted the last couple of pictures last night I actually went back and pulled out the landing gear and repositioned it because I didn't quite like where I initially placed it. Once I finish the arches it will be good to put it aside for awhile and do some other things I think!
Gits! How could you not tell me about this awesome thread?! I was making a bunch of old school White Dwarf surprises for my blog, and heck, I could have just stolen, I mean... uh, acquired so much reference from this old god!
I feel like a Salamander on IIsstvan right now...
Awesome thread! I really loved the Vindicators. Vindicators were my first tank love, and I was going to convert a 2nd edition Rhino to a Dakka Predator but, now after seeing your conversions from WD 118, I'm not sure...
Also, love the Thunderhawks. Great work, you crazy devil. I had one halfway done and then I gave up and trashed it. (You were crazy enough to build two.)
Subbed wholeheartedly! I cannot wait to see what you do with your current project! (I know it won't be painting though. )
Quick Edit: So Legoburner just changed my username. I used to be Coldwill. Just so people don't freak out or go "lol who are you?" Not that I'm really popular anyways though.
Geez you guys (Stormwall and Gitsplitta)! You're going to give me a big head at this rate! Hehe, thanks for your kind words!
@Stormwall: Hehe, I'm glad you found and enjoyed my thread! I certainly didn't write or create any of the old projects on here, so I'd never consider anything on here as something that could be stolen. My ultimate hope is that gamers and scratch-builders can enjoy my thread as a nifty 40k resource..
Yeah, I totally love Vindicators too! I was amazed at the number of Rogue Trader era variants to pop up (WD tutorial, Epic MkII, Epicast cannon, and the Tim DuPertuis cannon). To think that GW's first official Vindi kit was released only in 1999 (I'm pretty sure). Guess what I just found, it seems after the new Rhino kit was released GW took a long time to update the Vindicator to the new Rhino chassis. Sometime between the release of the mkII Rhino and FW's eventual Vindicator upgrade kit, GW put out a quick tutorial on how to make an updated Vindicator with the MkII chassis using a SoB Immolater and pieces from the original metal Vindi!
I hope I'm the best kind of crazy!
Thanks, I appreciate it! Well then, I'm happy to say I have completed stage 1 of my SM Landing Craft! Got the side detail done, which was the pain I thought it would be, but I think it came out pretty well!
So, as I said before, I think I'll shelve this for awhile and get back to it later when I have more supplies and space! I may go ahead and get the engines built since I'll need them to scale the large back-end of this guy, which is probably what I'll work on next whenever I get back to the SM Landing Craft. I do have other projects in the works, so I'll probably get to them. I have all the parts I need to make the British MkIV Land Raider except for the MkIV kit itself, just haven't had good luck finding a cheap EMhar, but eventually!
Thanks Jabbakahut slowly but surely! Oh, I have the actual Epic model, picked it up a couple of years ago. I'm pretty much just eyeing it , keeping various things in mind in order to scale it up reasonably. For instance, I want it to be big enough to actually be able to carry Rhinos and Land Raiders. The Epic Landing Craft model is funny compared to an Epic Land Raider I have. The copulas and weapons match in terms of size, but the LR is way to big to actually be carried by it, so I have to assume the Landing Craft is bigger in scale to the copulas, weapons, and Epic Land Raider. However, in the end, the most important thing is that in the end it's at least a cool looking build even if the scaling is a bit odd!
I just love large projects. I grew up playing Epic! And dreamed of the day I would have enough money and skill to upscale the 40K world to the epic scale level of warfare! I'm currently in the the pre-build planning phase of the largest project I've done. I can't wait to see your progress. Please share updates often!
Sounds like you've got something exciting cooking up! I'm pretty curious now, hehe! Thanks for always popping by, I'll definitely keep the updates rolling as long as I have projects on hand!!
Very small post. Here's my mini pie-tin crater all covered up with filler, gravel, and rocks!
And here's a WIP pic for a Space Marine bunker I'm making based off of some bunkers featured in the SM 4th Edition codex and some White Dwarfs of the era! Somewhere down the line someone from the paperhammer circle made templates, which have proven to be quite useful!
Thanks Commander, it's always nice to take a break from plasticard and just make something from cardboard!
Here it is assembled and almost done!
There's actually a long explanation as to why I've built it a certain way, but I'll save that for when it's completely done. Right now I just need one more Rhino hatch/mount, sheesh!
Here's the transitional Vindicator I talked about several posts ago. I believe this simple tutorial was from a 2004/2005 issue of White Dwarf, which was during that time frame between the release of the MkII Rhino in 2002 and the release of the updated plastic Vindicator kit in 2007. FW released their upgrade kit around 2005, but it was clearly the more expensive option. This was back when you could still order individual metal bitz from GW's mail order, so along with the Immolator sprue you had a quick and easy mkII chassis Vindicator! You can't see in the pick, but it also uses the metal rear hatch from off the 1999 Vindi!
Honestly, it probably wasn't worth the bother, but I really love Vindicators, in case nobody noticed, hehe!
Vindi looks great. I too love those. It's just the total improbability of it. Where are the Shells?, and if that thing actually fired, the vehicle would shoot backwards a thousand yards.
The bunker is great, always thought I had seen that kind of idea somewhere, now I know where. Looks brilliant.
@ Camkierhi: Hehe, I totally agree, in Imperial Armour 2 there is an interior shot showing how the shells are stowed, but even then seems a bit dubious, it must have one helk of a parking break!
@Stormwall: Thank you kindly! Awesome, plasticard is great, don't know what I'd do without it!
As I said before, so I don't accidentally take someone else's credit, I actually used templates that were put together by someone in the paperhammer circles and used the pics in the 4th edition SM codex for reference.
Scroll down and you should see some download links. It's listed in the "Buildings" download as "fire base bunker." It's a rar file, and I have no idea if it works, but I assume it does. If you search for just paperhammer fire base bunker you will see the templates show up in Google images, but those belong to a site that no longer exists. I hope that helps.
Since everyone seems to like this bunker, here's a fully updated pic showing the added defense wall!
@ruralguard: Great minds!!! Wow, four assault cannons and four missile launchers, that's pretty wicked! Those are some great looking dreads!
Great idea both of you to proxy a Space Crusade dreadnought as a Contemptor. I'd forgotten how tall the legs on a MkX are, it makes that Sallies dread look short. I do love the SC Dread, I wish forgeworld would do an updated version.
@Heliodore: That SM Landing Craft is going to be very impressive.
The bunker looks great. If you answered this question and I missed it, I apologize... What's the fluff behind the bunker, does it have special rules or is it just a building? I looks like it's meant to be deployed and even recoverable. Which makes me wonder if these are stored on board something like a Hunter Destroyer (or other Escort ship), or maybe they would only be on a larger ship (Cruiser or Battle Barge). In which case there must be other equipment that serves to recover chapter resources like drop pods and battle bunkers right?
@Turaxa: Thanks for stopping by! Yes, they do make a good proxy for the Contemptor, the only limitation being what weapons you can stick on it. Of course, with a little elbow grease you can make anything work, although I'm not sure if it would look very good with a DCCW of some sort! Thanks, I'll get back to the Landing Craft once I have a better work space, the engine and wings section is going to be massive!
@Jabbakahut: Thanks! No worries, I've not dived into this yet, hehe! My best guess is that there is no official fluff on this particular bunker, let alone rules. If any such thing exists it would be in the two White Dwarf issues (298-299?) that covered the release of the Space Marine's 4th edition codex, which I don't own so I couldn't tell you right now. However, looking at the shape and variety of his bunker it is easy to infer that they are, as you say, deployable and recoverable. In the SM 4th edition codex there are 3 distinct versions of this bunker, a command bunker with a radar type thing coming out of the top, a techmarine one with a giant servo arm on the roof, and I guess a Firebase version with the added defensive wall, which is the one I modelled mine off of!
Yeah, it makes sense that SM barges and escorts would have room for all sorts of deployable stuff. As I recall, according to FW fluff, Thunderhawk transports are used to recover drop pods and such, and I'd assume that the big old Landing Craft I'm working on could do the same. Stands to reason that they could easily pick up a bunker like the one I'm building, especially considering it's similar shape and size to a Rhino or drop pod!
@ruralguard: Great minds!!! Wow, four assault cannons and four missile launchers, that's pretty wicked! Those are some great looking dreads!
Great idea both of you to proxy a Space Crusade dreadnought as a Contemptor. I'd forgotten how tall the legs on a MkX are, it makes that Sallies dread look short. I do love the SC Dread, I wish forgeworld would do an updated version.
I do love the Crusade dreadnoughts, such a great looking model. I've got a few of the smaller ones as Imperial Guard sentinels too
Hehe, I wish I knew where that pic came from and what the context was. I assume it's an old White Dwarf, but who knows. To me it's a mkI Rhino hull with unique track assemblies, neither Rhino nor LR, or if it is one or the other it is with a lot of artistic licence, which makes me think this pic comes from a White Dwarf that predates the original Rhino kit. For my build I'm using an old Rhino hull and reversed Leman Russ track assemblies!
@Ruglud: Hehe, I know what you mean, for now I'm treating it as a predecessor to the Legion Medusa! I assume the reason why the track assemblies are so bulky is in order to deal with the recoil, as opposed to the typical track assemblies found on the Rhino.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, I should add that I found this pic on the net a long time ago and whoever initially uploaded it assigned the name Maelstrom to it. Whether this is accurate to the pictures source I don't know. Here's my basic idea for it, currently running short of some crucial bits!
Heliodore wrote: Hehe, I wish I knew where that pic came from and what the context was. I assume it's an old White Dwarf, but who knows. To me it's a mkI Rhino hull with unique track assemblies, neither Rhino nor LR, or if it is one or the other it is with a lot of artistic licence, which makes me think this pic comes from a White Dwarf that predates the original Rhino kit. For my build I'm using an old Rhino hull and reversed Leman Russ track assemblies!
I believe the pic is from a Hourus Heresy card game. I own the HH art book and it has pictures of all the cards at the back. And yes, Maelstrom rings a bell, I'll double check for you though when I am home.
Heliodore wrote: Hehe, I wish I knew where that pic came from and what the context was. I assume it's an old White Dwarf, but who knows. To me it's a mkI Rhino hull with unique track assemblies, neither Rhino nor LR, or if it is one or the other it is with a lot of artistic licence, which makes me think this pic comes from a White Dwarf that predates the original Rhino kit. For my build I'm using an old Rhino hull and reversed Leman Russ track assemblies!
I believe the pic is from a Hourus Heresy card game. I own the HH art book and it has pictures of all the cards at the back. And yes, Maelstrom rings a bell, I'll double check for you though when I am home.
Great start by the way, you sure work fast!
I think I've seen that picture before, and I don't have a WD collection going back to RT, so it could well be an image from the HHCCG, GW used a number of external artists to create the images and some of the pictures which featured on the cards did involve quite a bit of artistic licence.
I'll be around my old WD this thanksgiving, I'll have to look through some of the early 90's ones and see what cool stuff I forgot about.
Good call on the Leman Russ track, it looks like it backwards. The tank kind of reminded me of a smaller version of the Squat/Imperial giant land train thing.
@Turaxa: You're right about the HHCCG art, there was some wonky stuff in there. My brother owns the original art book and I don't recall seeing that pic, but I could have easily missed it. I also think there must be a ton of art that was never published after the CCG went bust. For instance, I've never seen a high resolution image of John Blanche's Ferrus Mannus sketch and I don't think it was in any of the big book compilations. For all we know it could be really old fan art!
@jabbakahut: Cool, let me know if you find anything nifty!
Yeah, thanks, I was a bit proud of that since I had an incomplete Russ lying around that I didn't know what to do with!
@Jabbakahut: Hehe, awesome bunch of pics, that's all great stuff! The first pic is certainly old assault marines. I know in the Rogue Trader era dual weapons were easily allowed. The guy in front probably has a bolt pistol and a plasma pistol. The guy in back is carrying two of something larger, you can see the casings popping out, so oddly enough, they are probably normal bolters, since I'm pretty sure that in the RT days you couldn't dual wield heavy weapons.
Second pic is the original ornithopter, here's mine again:
Yeah, I've got a couple of copies of Rogue Trader, I love going through it for inspiration. The original scratch build Land Raider is truly a thing to behold, hehe. A fellow on Dakkadakka did his own version of it, can't find it right now due to being buried deep, but it's definitely more fiddly that the inevitable plastic kit that came afterwards!
The fourth pic I've seen before, it has crossed my mind to do something with it. It has a more real-world feel, which is due to the fact that it was drawn before the SM aesthetic was fully established In mind it's what eventually became the Predator tank, and may have been based on someone in the studio's early kit-bash. I try to stick with things that have fluff and rules, like the ornithopter.
Hehe, with the fifth pic I initially thought you wanted me to make a full-scale turtle-back Warlord titan (I am tempted!)! The flying dude is actually riding the older style jet bike or jet cycle as they called it, older than the ones in your last pic!
I like those old bikes and jet bikes, after a long while I finally bought a couple of them, I have comparison pics in my gallery. I have that old Termy, along with the other two old styles that were made around that time, but those are back in the states!
Thanks for the blast from the past, not that I was actually there, hehe!
So, I happened upon a copy of gothic and eldritch at half priced books yesterday. There was an alternate design for the current land raider kit in there that would be perfect for your ongoing project here.
I'm eyeing the reaver titans in there as well. They look like a fun project for me.
Hey Zuul!! Awesome, I've always wanted to go through that book, I've seen some of the sketches, but never had the book in front of me! Ooh, sounds fun, wouldn't mind seeing that sketch!
Yeah, go for it, I love seeing all the titan projects that go on in here! A part of me wants to make a 40k scale beetle-back warlord titan one day!
Oh, I've totally been working on a lot of cool stuff, but my camera ran out of juice and my usb cord broke awhile back, so I'm waiting for a new one, otherwise I'd have posted a bunch of stuff by now!
Cool, thanks for the offer Zuul! Hehe, I have a feeling I'd need some big pieces printed, which would probably be a lot of money considering what some things go for on Shapeways! Oh, and those pics you wanted are in my gallery(if I did them right).
Ok, big update on a smattering of projects I've been working on since last I posted any pics! Here's my Maelstrom/ Medusa as copied from the odd piece of artwork I posted several weeks ago! The cannon is Armorcast's howitzer that I modded by adding extra tubing to widen and elongate its barrel. I wonder if I should add more rivets to the sides? I kind of wanted to keep the sleekness as seen in the pic.
And here's the back, hehe, not much space, but then that's typical of the old MkI Rhinos anyways!
Next is the Land Raider made from a WWI British MkIV Male tank as shown in an old White Dwarf article. It's not to the letter exactly like the one built by Fred Reed, but it's pretty close!
Here's a cool garage kit I had to pick up, the Anathema Assault Tank, which was made by a fellow in Russia. As you can see, some of the parts were appropriated from GW kits, but the tank as a whole is something pretty unique. I usually don't go for non-fluff creations, but I really liked the grimdark spirit of this crazy looking tank!
Just for fun, here's my LR Terminus Ultra. I'm just proud of the fact that all of its lascannons can target a single vehicle at once!
And finally, for now, my leftover Vindicator with a Laser Destroyer Array (the old Rapier) instead of a Demolisher cannon, an option you can take in the Horus Heresy books! Not a difficult mod as all, just thought it came out better than I initially thought it would!
That's pretty much it for 2014, see you next year!!
I don|t know which of your creations I like most, top contenders are the ornithopter and the mark raider, I suppose. I expecially like the simpleness of your conversion jobs, simple, yes, but nevertheless producing very distinctive and exactly defined results! In other words,
genius.
The crazy roller-of-doom tank you got there is even crazier because it is based on two real-life studies...
@Stormwall: Thanks kindly! Hehe, cool, I've seen both of those before. The size of the "Devourer" Drop-ship in 40k scale would be crazy, it would totally take up most of my garage, if I had a garage! The Space Marine Drop-ship, on the other hand, I have actually considered! I think it looks cool even though it's something of an anomaly design-wise for the 40k universe. There's a lot of detail on it, which is cool, but I'd want to have the actual Epic/ Spacefleet model in front me if I'm going to tackle it. Even without it, I'd say there is a strong possibility I'll do one down the line! I'll probably do one of these first, hehe:
@Camkierhi: Thanks man, much appreciated! Hehe, totally, and to think I scaled down the howitzer from the old picture I based the tank on!
@Hruotland: Thanks a ton, I appreciate your kind words, I don't get called a genius everyday, hehe! I have always liked the phrase "simplicity is key" when doing my builds!
Awesome, I was aware there were some real-world influences for the Anathema tank, but I didn't know which tanks specifically. Thanks for the pics!!
Great bunch of updates! Nice to see the Maelstrom all finished up though I'm beginning to wonder where you store all these vehicles. Judging by the amount you have made I think an actual tank would take up less space.
Thanks Kid_Kyoto! Big fan of your Reaper and retro review threads!
Hehe, thanks as always Commander Cain! A bunch of my super-heavy tanks are stored back in the States, and here in NZ I have a good number of spacious shelves!
Thank you for the kind words Heliodore and I can't wait to see what you do for that Landing Craft. Maybe we will see that dropship after it in 2015 eh? I think it is cool you are going with the older variant. As of late I have been drafting up plans for a Grav-Attack Cruiser/Lander (I don't have a good name for it yet,) large enough to house a small company of Astartes and some guard, and some of the old epic designs proved to be most useful for it. This thread inspired a lot of it, alongside a scout land raider scratchbuild. I can't show anything yet as I still have to run the Cruiser designs through Adobe Illustrator. (Okay, rather my girlfriend. I am not that talented.) So thank you for all your old-school work. It has even saved me some grief with old Rhino assembly.
Also, I have Pm'd you about Mk1 Terminators, I didn't want to be rude and ask about them in this thread.
Lastly, do you think we will ever be treated to an entire collection shot? (Either all of it or at least two half pictures since you are a global modeller it would seem? :p )
The pleasure is all mine Stormwall! I'm glad that gamers, modelers, and scratchbuilders can find my thread useful, and I'm especially happy if I'm able to inspire someone along the way! Hehe, yes, got to get that Landing Craft done first, and then maybe I'll get to a drop-ship or two (c. 2017, hehe)! Ooh, your projects sound rad, hope you can get them off the ground, so to speak!
Got it!
Hehe, yes, I do hope to take a family picture one of these days. You're right, it may have to be two separate pics, considering the handful of stuff I have back in the States!
So, one additional update! This will probably be my last terrain piece for awhile, and at this point, I'm a bit bunkered-out! This fellow is based, if not entirely copied from, an old White Dwarf battle report terrain piece. If you collected White Dwarfs during 2nd edition 40k (late 100s, early-mid 200s) you'll probably recognize the bunker I'm talking about! During this era, many of their 40k battle-reports used the same 6 or so pieces of terrain, which included a small bunker, a wide bunker, and a tall bunker. Mine is based off of the wide bunker. It's not exact seeing as I only had old White Dwarfs for reference. The most glaring difference is that the walls of my version are all at the same angle, while the original's front wall was built at a much sharper angle than its other walls. Hehe, I only noticed afterwards! Here you go:
And from the back:
Sorry I don't have any WIP pics, my camera was out of action while I was building this! All that's left to do is build up some more of the dirt around the walls and add some texture to the entirety of the structure, as well as add a hatch to the roof!
Thanks! It's just hard board from my local arts supply shop. It's certainly similar to the board used for clipboards, but probably made of a softer cheaper material, since I was able to trim it into the shape I wanted using an x-acto knife.
No worries Stormwall, I actually really enjoy taking questions! Interestingly enough, there was no plasticard used in the making of this bunker. The tiled floor of the emplacement is made from backing board used for protecting comic books. The grating material should be simple old wire mesh, but since I couldn't find any at an appropriate size, I used Tamiya's sand paper mesh. I can't recall what it's actually called, but it's real cheap and is used primarily for smoothing down model rubber tires. Luckily, it's also a wire mesh of sorts, so it works as an easy alternative to actual wire mesh.
I know the bunkers you mean, and this looks prety spot on, even if it's not exact. Seeing that bunker makes me wish GW had gone for a more subdued interpretation of the gothic aesthetic in their own terrain kits. (I'm looking at you, Wall of Dead Cadians...)
Thanks Turaxa! I did my best with what pictures I had in front of me. I think at most angles I did it right, and only through a close comparison with the original could anyone really tell! Yeah, I totally agree, the "more skulls" mentality and the ott-use of Gothic arches and whatnot has gotten pretty stale for me, which is why I decided to make my own terrain!
Howdy! I've been a bit busy, but I've had some time now to start my first new mini-project of the year. Ever since Machinator, a fellow Dakkaanite, starting selling his Baneblade upgrade parts through his store Blood and Skull Industries, I've wanted to make a super-heavy tank using his parts. With the release of FW's third HH supplement, SM Legions can now take a Legion Stormblade. I was hoping that this meant a new version of the Fellblade kit, but nope, seems pretty clear the Legion Stormblade is just the same old plastic BB with FW's upgrade kit. Thus, I decided I'd make one using Machinator's stuff! So, if you've been able to checkout his thread "Fellblades of Renown" you can see that Machinator has his own style of build, which is what I'm going to try and emulate with my Stormblade. So far I've been able to build the basic BB structure and detail it with some Iron Hand specific artisan work, hope it looks good!
I'm still waiting for the Machinator parts in the mail, but once I get them it should be a pretty straight forward job to finish!
Some awesome machines on display here! Really cool work & the bunker is looking sweet!
Haha.... I like the fact that a "mini-project" for you is a Stormblade!
Looks like a good start though... and I have to agree.. I have used Machinator and his Blood and Skulls shop before and the selection and quality of the parts is awesome! Cant wait to see what you do with them all!
@MagosBiff90: Thank you kindly, I appreciate it! Hehe, yeah, compared to the two big projects I have left to do this Stormblade is truly a walk in the park! I agree, I've used his treads on a couple of occasions, great looking stuff and easy to use!
@Gitsplitta: Thanks!!!
@aka_mythos: Thanks, yup, that's exactly what I was going for!!
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, here is the built chassis, still just waiting for the Machinator parts!
Every time I see your tanks I feel my marines need a super heavy tank... Then I remember I play Ravenguard and I start looking at Thunderhawks. Maybe I'll just go get a Stormbird whenever FW does that.
Heliodore wrote: Hey Zuul!! Awesome, I've always wanted to go through that book, I've seen some of the sketches, but never had the book in front of me! Ooh, sounds fun, wouldn't mind seeing that sketch!
Yeah, go for it, I love seeing all the titan projects that go on in here! A part of me wants to make a 40k scale beetle-back warlord titan one day!
Oh, I've totally been working on a lot of cool stuff, but my camera ran out of juice and my usb cord broke awhile back, so I'm waiting for a new one, otherwise I'd have posted a bunch of stuff by now!
@akamythos: Hehe, that's rough, but Thunderhawks are pretty fun builds as well. I'm glad I chose Iron Hands as my primary chapter all those years ago! I bet the FW Stormbird will be pretty great, just pricey!
@shasolenzabi: Thanks, I was happy with how it turned out! It's sometimes pretty fun using fine scale models for 40k! Cool, sounds like a good use for this particular real-world tank!
@Zuul: Wow, really cool, I even see it has better clearance than the actual Land Raider kit! This looks to me how I'd imagine FW would have designed the updated Land Raider had they been allowed! I hope you'll be able to make this into reality!
Still waiting on my Machinator parts. In the mean time I've returned to a small bit for my Space Marine Landing Craft, the engines!
I don't have a mini handy for size reference, but they are roughly 24 cm long and pretty heavy. I'm just going to add a little bit more detail to them and then back to the shelf for this project!
I swear some of the gears on the side of the tank look just like a pack I picked up when shopping with my girlfriend at some art store. They are for scrap booking or some crap, I noticed them a few months ago and bought some to play with.
Hehe, well I just got mine off of ebay, several sellers seems to have boat-loads of old watch gears for sale. I assume there shouldn't be too much variation in watch gears in terms of design!
Ok, here is where I am at on my Stormblade. I have the main turret put together, with a doubled-up nova cannon in order to give the barrel some more length. I've added all the Machinator hull and engine pieces. Next up will probably be the treads, which I don't look forward to, hehe. At first I was thinking of adding some layers to the turret mount in order to have the turret elevated from off the hull further, but after I added all the little bits onto the turret, it seems just fine to me now! From the beginning I liked the idea of a turreted Stormblade, especially a Legion Stormblade, seeing as I initially thought FW was going to make one based off of the Fellblade. Also, in the HH rules, the Legion Stormblade is not listed as having a hull-mounted Plasma Blastgun, while the Solar Auxilia does, not sure sure if that was on purpose.
One tiny little thing for me... Is that a laser targeter / viewfinder that is positioned halfway along the barrel of the Mega Nova canon? IMHO it would be better placed back on the turret or maybe the flat gun cover at the front of the turret... only a tiny thing.. but it is looking great!
What tracks are you going to be using?
I am 100% with you on the Blood and Skulls parts... I have only recently bought some tracks from them to fit on my Macharius MK1 I am building... and the parts I received are a really cool addition, add a lot of detail and a really nice effect!
@MagosBiff90: Thanks! About the targeter, my initial plan was to put it farther back, but it kind of got cluttered in that area what with the spotlight and heavy bolter, so I placed it where I did in order to cover up the seam between the two nova cannons I stuck together. Looking at it, the picture does make it look more obtrusive than it really is. I am considering swapping out the targeter for a smaller one.
I'm just using Machinator's basic BB sized treads, I want to maintain a HH feel to this guy!
Yeah, been wanting to have an excuse to use his stuff for awhile now!
Sorry Heliodore, I was commenting from my phone which doesn't give me much opportunity to wax effusively on a project. I think the extra detail you've added is really fantastic, but it doesn't overwhelm the fact that it's just a really well designed piece of machinery. You could look up "super-heavy" in the dictionary and there would be a picture of this tank waiting for you. Really beautiful work.
@Gitsplitta: Hehe, thanks for your kind words, but it's hard for me to take that much credit seeing as the parts that make up this project are 50% GW, 40% Machinator, and 10% me! I hope it's a non-color dictionary so you can't tell whether it's painted or not!
@MagosBiff90: Thanks again! I'm excited to get it done too!
Cool, well I've got the treads on, always my least favorite part, and added some brass etching here and there! It's looking mighty beefy I think! Still much to do though as I plan to add some more details to the turret and its mount, specifically more gear teeth patterns! The side sponsons are built, but I won't be putting them on until I get the heavy bolters I'm using for them, which may take another couple of weeks for them to get to me, but so far so good!
That is gorgeous Heliodore. By the way, your design on pg 19 helped me with a custom random bit box tank today. (Made a random tank to practice plasticard cutting skills with and Mach's badass leds.)
@Heliodore--treads look great. did you cast those yourself, or buy them somewhere? like gitz said, they are very mk i land raider-esque...an as i am working on a scratch-build mk i, i am obviously curious about those treads...
GawdamSumbish wrote: @Heliodore--treads look great. did you cast those yourself, or buy them somewhere? like gitz said, they are very mk i land raider-esque...an as i am working on a scratch-build mk i, i am obviously curious about those treads...
Hey mate,
Look to the top of this page and you will see the user Machinator ..... the link to "Blood & Skulls Industry" is where you will find a plethora of 40k delights... those tracks are one of his designs... along with a load of other bits and bobs!
Really good stuff & really competitively priced... (even in cases of shipping to the UK) ....
Sorry to jump in, just always nice to push a quality product and top designer IMHO.
heliodore Just wondering about the paintjob on this beast.......a black/dark base with a really strong plasma colour could look amazing!
@Stormwall: Thanks bud! Great, glad I could be of help! Hehe, that is the question! You'd think it would be easy for me to paint everything seeing as I play Iron Hands. I may jump on board and paint this guy, considering with all the detail it almost paints itself!
@MagosBiff90: Yup, I believe these were Machinator's first set of treads he put up for sale, way back before FW released their HH stuff, thus filling a hobby void at that time. If you go back to pg. 1 of my thread you'll see the Fellblade I made pre-Machinator, those treads I had to make myself and had a friend cast up! I'm also glad Machintor decided to eventually cast his treads in multi-linked sections. My brother bought some of these treads back when Machinator had just started and they were all separate single links, hehe. Yeah, that's what I plan for when I get around to painting it, Iron Hands black, a little wear and tear, maybe dust or dirt on the treads, and definitely a nice plasma color for the blastgun, I'm partial to the traditional blue plasma!
Thanks again Gittsplitta! Yeah, I love the old plastic MkI Landraider! That was the inspiration for my old Fellblade back on pg. 1 where I actually did make my own treads. I'm glad I can just get Machinators today!
@GawdamSumbish: Yip, just as MagosBiff90 said, I bought these treads from Blood and Skulls Industry, which is owned and operated by a fellow who goes by "Machinator" online. Totally check out his store on ebay, and thanks for stopping by!
Praise the Omnissiah, a lot has happened since I last stopped by and it's really looking great!
You've definitely created an unique looking vehicle with all the plasticard and bits. I always enjoy seeing the new and interesting ways people use my parts in their creations.
I'd love to post some pics of your project on my FB when you get it done. I'm sure it will inspire a lot of people, and some sales too
I love the generators where the fuel barrels usually go, it looks like it can actually power that huge gun properly.
Nice looking turret and gun too: really mean looking esthetic: like just shooting the gun requires the armor, not just for return fire (or what is left of it!).
@Machinator: Thank you, I'm glad you approve! Sure thing, go right ahead, although with regards to finishing it, as in all painted up, I can't make any promises, hehe! But feel free to use any of my WIP pics.
@MagosBiff: It means a lot, thanks for all the support! Hehe, well, Machinator has made it pretty easy to find him on here!
@Cleatus: Thanks, real nice of you to say!
@Talizvar: Yeah, that really sold me on finally committing to making a Machinator super-heavy tank! I was never a fan of GW's big old drum barrels! Thanks, I was hoping my Stormblade would come off as something you wouldn't want to mess with on the battlefield!
That has to be one of the most brilliant tanks I have ever seen. So big and beautiful. Perfectly balanced as well. That enormous gun just sits on it perfectly. Well done.
Not much to report, still waiting on my heavy bolters. Since awhile go I've been tinkering with the idea of a hollow upraised cupola that I could pop on and off of my tanks so I could have a representation of Iron Hands tank ace Spearhead-Centurion Castrmen Orth from HH2. Generally, I don't like having people sitting on top of my tanks, I prefer the "all hatches closed" look, though I've made exception to this on a couple of occasions, like on my original Fellblade. However, I really like the character of Orth and wanted to be able to use him in my army without gluing him down permanently to any given tank.
I think my solution works out well enough, and the higher profile cupola that sits on top of the actual hatch doesn't look totally obvious.
Hey mate, looking sweet! Really love the little details around the cupola and the turret.... really does sit well with the IH theme! I am same as you... I usually prefer hatches closed but as you say... if you have a particular character in mind (and when he sits as nicely as Orth does there).... then it is all good!
Reading more and more of the HH books the IH are actually becoming one of my 3 favourite pre-heresy legions! And you are certainly doing them justice here!
@MagosBiff90: Thanks man, glad you like it! Yeah, I think it's worth it, now I have a ballistic skill 5 Stormblade or Fellblade or Sicaran!
Yeah, Iron Hands have been my chapter of choice since 2nd edition, even before the Index Astartes article that cemented the whole bionics, machine cult aspect of the IHs. My vision for the IHs always revolved around the idea of tanks and other armored vehicles! As such, I was quite happy to see this aspect emphasized in both the HH campaign books and in the 6th edition SM codex!
In memory of Mr. Leonard Nimoy who just passed away. I thought I'd leave this old Rogue Trader pic:
Yeah, those were the times... a half eldar Dark Angel... fascinating!
The point about tank hatches, I completely understand.. It seems so crazy (and unhealthy) to pop open your hatch in combat (wich is supposed to be there so you DON'T have to be exposed to incoming). Equally silly in my opinion, the pintle-mounted storm bolters and multi-meltas on the hatches. In an aera where the vehicles outfitted in this way (Land Raiders I mean) are partially autopiloted by bottled brains, and whole artillery pieces like the Not-Thudd-Gun are remote-controlled... But it looks so manly to have a bare-headed yelling crustacean soldier standing waist-up in his hatch and dakka-ing it out!
To represent my Sgt. Chronos equivalent (Don'tknow if he's in the actual codex, but meh) I went another way. Being old-school, all my squads and vehicles field a pennant of sorts. If Chronos is on board, the vehicle gets a command-marker on the pennant. Your solution is good, though, I had it considered myself, but didn't want to do harm to my mk.I predators. Execution is equally good, very fitting to the theme as well as to the tank.
Out of interest, for I never served (and considering my figure, the only way I would be useful to a tank force would be as a pop-in hatchet seal cork), in RL, when tank crews look out of their hatches while driving, how is it done? Can they lift and lower their seat, do they stand up, do they have a folding extra-seat, are there ladder steps they step onto, or do they just have to lift their head like a very big boy looking out of the sunroof of a Mini Morris?
(You were crazy enough to build two.) 
