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Howdy guys and gal. I've been on the trail of doing a conversion of the current land raider into a rhino. I'm just about to go buy me a kit and start haking things up. Before I do that, I was wondering if anyone had tried this before, and had any words of wisdom they cared to impart. Any trims or cuts that worked really well, or didn't work at all?

Don't have any tips, as I have never tried it, but would like to know if you are planning on armoring the top of the treads? If so, are you carding it or how are you going toattempt it.

Cant wait to see some pics of the process!

Well jediraptor, I'm not sure of ALL the cuts I am going to make yet. I'll try to keep the armour as it is modeled, since I think it looks good. Ultimately, I am looking for a roughly scaled down, single door/side Land Raider that is roughly Rhino sized. I know how I am cutting the extra door out, so decreasing the length of this land yacht isn't so much the issue. Chopping and dropping it, another story. That's a tall ride, and I need to get her low. I figure the doors will go in the back, and I may end up carding smoke stacks like the current model has. Got to do somehting for an engine, and that monster the LR comes with would just look a bit much, and really have no place to put it. May just chop it as well, but we shalle see.

Forgive my ignorance....

If you want a Rhino, why aren't you just buying a less expensive) Rhino to begin with?

Maybe I've missed something...

Eric

I'd imagine the OP wants a Rhino that's a proper scale to a proper sized spaz marinz hurr.. or something like that.

fluffwise, it could be a rhino equivalent built from a wrecked land raider during some equipment shortage or siege perhaps? Or has a particular forgeworld mysteriously got the Raider template plans but not the Rhino template and is desperately trying to build their own substitute?

I do think it's worth thiing out your fluff reason for it, coz it will cost you extra money and be a lot of work, so why are you really building it? And some fluff will also help you decide how to do the conversion work. Potentially it could look very cool and different, especially as a centrepiece model for a commander.

What you are looking for is a "clouseu" pattern rhino. Uses the center portion of a landraider, foam core and plastic to make the sides, and the IG track sprue to create the tracks.

Unfortunately, with the demise of bitz ordering, you would probably have to buy a Land Raider kit, as well as a chimera kit to make it, unless you have a very deep bitz box.

a shame, because it is a good looking piece of kit, even if it is a bit large.

something similar should be possible using the Raider tracks instead? Plenty of leftover bits for the bits box, hurrah

I smell a troll...

I knew I'd have to explain myself. Fair enough.

I'm doing because it appeals. I know this seems illy, especially to someone who partakes fo the GW fruit almost solely for the gaming aspect instead of the modeling and painting as well, but that's it guys. I want a Rhino that looks like a Land Raider. I've built plenty of Clouseau patterns out of card, but for this one I was wanting to try carving it up out of a full scale land raider. Yes, a rhino is much cheaper (2:1?). Yes, it makes little to no fiscal sense. Same thing could be said about little army men for guys our age in general.

Lasgunpacker: My bitz box is deep. Real deep.

Clang: You make a very good point regarding having fluff reasons for doing it, however I think the need for that is a bit overstated. After all, GW has very different models for the Rhino (the original, and the Mk. IIc), and neither of them has any real designator indicating anything different rules wise. I mean, if one of them was designated "Pre-Heresey" or something, then maybe I could see it. However, the fluff is there as an opportunity should I ever chose to use it. I may just call it a Mk. III, as (if built right) it should end up looking like a logical continuation of design toward a meet with the Land Raider, as the current rhino and land raider models seem to already be doing.

Magical: yeah, I know, I know. It doesn't make much sense. Sometimes, it doesn't have to, m'fren.

the main reason I suggested 'built from a wrecked land raider' fluff is that extra armour plates, weld lines and rivets will hide many modelling sins. If you instead go for 'the alternative 'Mk x pattern rhino' fluff then you'll need to do a LOT of work to make it look 'real' - you'll know whether you succeeded if people look at it and ask if it's a new Forgeworld kit

Anyway, back to how to make an 'alternative 'Mk x pattern rhino'. I'm presuming you don't want to use any rhino bits (some sort of Raider-tracked rhino hull would be relatively easy) and want to use the Raider bits as much as possible, so the main issue is reducing the Raider hull to approximate rhino dimensions:
- width - easy enough, as you'll be replacing the entire 'middle' anyway to match the rhino layout, so just make the new armour plates about half an inch narrower. Some may moan that the resulting model doesn't have room in it for 10 marines, but others would say the same about the standard rhino , and you can always claim your rhino has a different internal layout
- length - relatively easy, chop both of the side door holes roughly down the middle,and rejoin them (aligning the suspension) so that you now have just one side door hole. As the two doors and suspension don't quite align, the new single door hole will be narrower or wider, and you'll need new doors.
- height is the hard one. The rear suspension is too high for a rhino's height and needs to be lowered somehow, although maybe the top of the rear wheel could become the height of the new rhino hull? Then slice a bit out of the door holes (at the same time as you're merging them to correct the hull length, as above) so that you retain the hill top. Not sure how neatly the hull front will algn though.
- Hmm, thinking about it more, I suggest ignoring the side door holes at first, instead lower the height of the hull and shorten the length at the same time, cutting them into a top left, bottom left, top right and bottom right sections and then aligning them (and the suspension) so that all the outer edges line up (if that makes any sense) - so long as the dimensions are sensible, you can then add a new door frame and side armour on top of that

Hmm, maybe some pictures would make that a lot clearer

Would suggest finding or taking a side view photo of a Land Raider and chopping it up in Photoshop (or similar program) before chopping any plastic.

At one time i was considering building a scratch built Rhino that looked like a smaller Land Raider with the Land Raider track configuration and wider tracks. Have some rough drawings around somewhere...

tim

I've seen this before it actually looks really great.


I don't have pictures of it as its not mine, but basically you don't even really need to cut anything at all.


It is a little more expensive. Basically the "chassis" of the Landraider and a chassis of a Rhino are interchanged.

ugh I wish I had a picture.

I am looking forward to this conversions. The opening front doors are something I think are fantastci

Kungfuhustler wrote: I smell a troll...

ok someone explain this to me.... because at the moment im not understanding the troll thing.
as forthe landraider into a rhino, personaly i think thats alot of cash to drop on a rhino, BUT at the same time, i say for for it. I like it when people do weird shtuff. good luck on it and post some pics!

KingCracker wrote:

Kungfuhustler wrote: I smell a troll...

ok someone explain this to me.... because at the moment im not understanding the troll thing.
as forthe landraider into a rhino, personaly i think thats alot of cash to drop on a rhino, BUT at the same time, i say for for it. I like it when people do weird shtuff. good luck on it and post some pics!

Just ignore him.

easy for you to say! its been stirring around in my head all day! AAHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

KingCracker wrote:

Kungfuhustler wrote: I smell a troll...

ok someone explain this to me.... because at the moment im not understanding the troll thing.
as forthe landraider into a rhino, personaly i think thats alot of cash to drop on a rhino, BUT at the same time, i say for for it. I like it when people do weird shtuff. good luck on it and post some pics!

I thought this post was a joke at first. A troll is someone who makes a ridiculous statement on the internet in hopes of garnering a large reaction from people who think the statement is ridiculous. which it is. encyclopediadramatica is your friend if you find any internet slang you dont understand

Say, that comment on Ignoring Kungfuhustler worked swell!

Anyway, I've been doodling in AutoCAD, just trying to get an idea on my cuts before I start hacking anything up. I'll post my ideas up here, see what you think.

ok, second try. tried making this up earlier, got kicked offline and lost my work.

The pictures shown here are sketches. I know they are missing details, not to scale, angles wrong, radii wrong. I'm glad everyone here is beyond such niceties. I've taken these screenshots out of autocad, which is making a better sketch pad than I would have thought. I'f you haven't tried AutoCAD 2008, I must recommend it.

The outlines of the sponson are shown in white. Cuts are shown in red. New edges produced by cuts are shown in blue. Pretty straightforward.


1. Here's the initial outline. This is where we will be starting.


2. initial cuts shown in red. these will chop and drop the vehicle so that you lose quite a bit of height. She's a big girl, so she's gonna need it.


3. ok, pieces cut out. Next cuts in red to effectively remove a door.


4. Garbage removed, taken out of the picture.. THis shows what we're left with. at this point, the model should collapse nicely into a smaller overall piece.


5. post collapse. top and bottom will need shortening.


6. Top and bottom shortend.


7. rough image here of what it should look like after the cuts are complete. Obviously there will be some trimming and filling to be done to get things looking halfway decent. Really, the cuts trully need to be straight or this is going to look like butt. Also, the detailing afterward will go along way as well.

Right, what I am looking for from y'all is some ideas on the cuts. Do you see an alternative to the cuts I've outlined here that might look better, be easier? Really, any suggestions are welcome. Far be it from me to handicap the creative process with artificially imposed preconceptions.

yea after seeing those i think its going to work out nicely. i was going to suggest youd have to cut it into 4 pieces to get everything together, BUT you already got that far. anywho again man good luck

yeah, that's roughly what I had in mind. If you can cut it out really neatly, and hide the resulting 'blue' joins after you glue it back together (some Extra Armour upgrades will help), I think it will look great.

Wow, nice drawing! That could look really cool, anybody got pics of a completed one?

Completed? Nah dude, those drawings are what we call "conceptual". I am still trying to assemble some tooling to get the project done right. once I get everything together, which should be in about a week or so, I will be starting cutting and hopefully taking pictures of the work at the relavant steps to post here on lovely ol dakka.

was a guy about 5 years ago or somthign who was makign conversion kits ofr exactly wah tyour wanting to do, simply a set of spare side doors and some thing that went over the front

got shafted by GW of course but it was exactly the same as your planning

What? GW shaft someone for even breathing on their precious IP?

Does that happen? Where was this guy trying to sell his upgrade kis, ebay?

grizgrin wrote:I knew I'd have to explain myself. Fair enough.

I'm doing because it appeals. I

<SNIP>

Magical: yeah, I know, I know. It doesn't make much sense. Sometimes, it doesn't have to, m'fren.

S'all the reason I need, buddy.

I say "Good luck and post pics when it's done," then!


Eric

Gracias, hombre. I'll post them up, but it'll be some time. I'm still in the process of assembling tooling. Namely, I'm waiting for my paycheck to buy my band saw.

I'm dieing to see this, I'm holding off building any more of my Raiders til I see how this looks.

Climbing the mountain because it is there. Very much looking forward to seeing the results....

I really like the concept, been rolling around some concepts myself for some true scale rhino/razorbacks. The only issue I see is mechanical. When you make your lower box cut in panel 2, your track wheels would be inside your sponsons/ hatches. My recommendation would be to make your lower cut in panel 2 as a single cut along the top of your red box, and make the cut in panel 5 as you originally planned. That would keep your same overall idea and still leave room for the track wheels. Hope that helps, and good luck.

To the previous posters, I apologize for the thread necromancy, but I would hate for this guy to do all this great conversion work and realize a potential design flaw after the fact. Or if anyone else was going to use this for that matter.

Cheers