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Anvildude wrote:
I'd suggest to keep with the Imperium/Sentinel theme, you not use an arm for the ranged weapon- either mount it directly to the chassis, or at least remove the lower arm, so the shoulder is the only joint.

And on the actual arms- have you tried making your own struts instead of using tubes? The roundness kinda clashes with the shape of the main bodies- I think a square, I-beam or box construction for the arms (and maybe the legs, though I know you've worked on those enough already) would make them look less 'Noodly'.

Plus, elbows don't need ball joints- try making those into hinges (another place where having square limbs comes in handy)- it'll make it look better than the round bulge on a round tube- which is a little too Raygun Gothic for the Imperium, I think.

The pits, though, are awesome, and I like the CC weapons- the sword's waay too overlong, which is great. If you're looking for other GW bits like that, the DreadKnight has a superbig sword too.

Thanks Anvildude
Well unfortunately the design as I planned it is asking for arms - close combat weapon, ranged weapon, moving head - actually it is to be the missing link between the Sentinel and the Knight
As for the "noodly" look I totally agree, but these pipes are only the skeleton - once I have everything in position and added cables and hydraulic hoses I will add armor plates. Hopefully this will "Imperialize" the look
And you may see in todays update that some of the ball joints received covers - also alterning the look.


Good morning!
During the initial design phase I planned to add some Machine Guns/Stubbers to the cockpit/head.
So I quickly built 4 MG.


However, when mounting them I wasn't really convinced.


What do you think? Too much?


Or maybe an alternative position?


Would the MG further back on the side or even under the chin look better?
Or should I remove them completely?


I recall someone asking me what kind of balls I use for the joints.
They are pretty no-name wooden beads 12mm - I got them in a local hobby store.


After I put the MG to the side to see what your feedback will point me to, I began to work on the ranged weapons.
I decided to give CASTOR some twin-linked Lascannons.


A rather simple mount, with an extra central sight.


POLLUX' multi-purpose power fist with the flame-thrower also received a small belt fed bolter.


Truly multi-purpose


For his right side he's getting something bigger.
It is a special low-velocity drum fed Grenade Launcher.


With its 9-shot magazine it can dish out some devastating fire. The 80mm grenades with High Explosive warheads have a large blast radius and are excellent anti-personnel weapons - speak Ork Splatterer


Before I will apply armor to the arms and legs I started to add cables and hydraulic hoses.


And here's the final question for you
I want to add lights - like I used on the PONOS and POLEMOS.
Which version looks best?
Version A


Version B


Version C


Version D


Version E


So what do you think?
I look forward to your feedback on the machine-guns and on the lights.
Thanks

Klaus

B and D look best in my eyes.
Maybe taking one version for each of them would be an option. To have variates like with the weapons.

Wow, you are back in action with hot stuff, Klaus!

About your question.....MG looks better under the cabin and same about the lights. About the lights, all the others give it a look who resemble a face (speciall version C & D) and honestly, i don't like it too much.

Hey Klaus! Good looking walkers there..... glad to hear you will be adding some armour to the arms etc as i was thinking they looked slighly "gangly"

Overall a great look...... i think on the lights.....

D & E are my favourites..... even perhaps mounting a light on the arm so that the light beam follows and lights up whatever the weapon is aiming at??

Just a thought!

Again.... the speed and quality of the work is top notch!

I vote B, with the guns chin mounted. Great job as is expected from your work the mechanicus has its eyes on you.

Guns mounted on the chin.

Side mounting them might get in the way of the arms in combat?

And E for the lamps.

If you mount the guns on the side, E for the light. If you mount the guns on the chin, B for the lamps.

I like B. But then again WeaponPrime is right. It kinda depends on front mounted weapons.......

A for lamps with a chin turret if still in Imperial hands, C lamps if it has been Looted by the Orcs and the Imperials are trying to recover it

Hi all,
thanks for your great feedback.

I read several comments about the roundness, lankiness, tube-style of the extremities.
Apparently I missed to mention that these are just the bones, the skeleton. As soon as I'm done with the basic build, tubes and hoses I will add armor plates.
This will bulk up the features and add the imperial box style.

Actually I was intending to give the two Knights a face like feature with the lights, but it seems that's not well appreciated with you
So I will try something different (though no final decision yet).
Some of your feedback suggested to try a lights-MG combo for the chin.

So this is what I tried yesterday. Its a twin mount for the MG and the central light, accompanied by two sensor lenses left and right.


Looks pretty good.


Today's question is to mount them to the front or rear of the chin.
Version A (rear)


Version B (front)
So what do you think?


So is this central chin version better than the other "facial" versions?


If so, which one is better - front of the chin or further back?
Thanks I look forward to your C&C and suggestions.
Cheers

Klaus

I like the MG/light combo further back. The forward position looks tacked on (field modification) to me and that feels wrong for what I assume are aim-able turrets.

Just to clarify- for the tube arms- (and I know, I'm kinda harping on about this, but Walkers are near and dear to my heart)- unless you're adding a whole plethora of cabling and secondary struts and almost entirely covering the arm in the armour, you'll still be able to see the central structures, and that's what I'm worried will look out of place. All your other builds have such minute attention to detail in them- you build them almost how they'd be built in real life, but for these, it seems as though you're just going "I'll just build an armature and cover it with armour- no need to worry about the inner workings!"- which would really be a shame I think.

We'll have to see, I suppose.

I like that much more. And the rear mounting looks best to me. It keeps the center of gravity better I would think.

I like the rear mount chin guns.... But if you mount them forward they kinda have the Apache Attack helo look.....

I am wondering what those new gun/light mounts would look like on the top or side as well...

I am sure they would look great no matter where they mount up.

i think it's a good experiment......not bad!

Again great feedback here and in the other forums!
Thanks allot mates

Now that most decisions are done, the basic skeleton build complete, I was able to look at the actual "beefing up" and adding armor.
For this I wanted to keep the 3-sided (or 6-corner) approach that I also used on the carapace.


The first section of armor plates on the thigh of POLLUX.


And on both walkers (they now look a bit like Dutch Ice Skaters )



The first armor plates for the shins.


Here you can see clearly the difference with and without shin armor.



While the Green Putty cured I added a shield to CASTOR.


The putty sanded and cleaned up.


As a final detail I added a plastic card ornament to the shield.


And then it was time for rivets - plenty of rivets




And POLLUX with rivets - did I tell you how much I like his pose?

No, I LOVE the pose

POLLUX and CASTOR completed!


So, what do you think?
Do they look Imperial enough?

Now I will start to look into the other combatants and the actual construction of the street and buildings. So I will browse the Hirst Arts gallery (http://www.hirstarts.com/projects.html) for some inspiration.
As opposing combatants we'll have some Orks. I have the idea of an Ork emerging from a sewer manhole and firing an RPG-style rocket launcher, but I still need a bigger opponent, worthy of POLLUX or CASTOR.
Maybe a tank or a emplaced gun (no walker, as I've already done some Ork walkers )

I look forward to your C&C and suggestions.
Cheers
Klaus

Needs more cabling in the armpit. Pistons, cables, little braces- right now, it's just a tube. And how do they look from the back?

They look absolutely amazing.

Just can not put all the words down would take too long. And they just don't cover it. They look brilliant.

On the foe.....What about Grots swarming up out of the floor and walls, with a few orks and runtherds to supervise. Maybe a power armored ork stood centrally challenging them?

There are four things that never fail to impress me about your work Klaus. The imagination... Seriously all the time, new ideas, effortlessly combining sci-if grim dark with new ideas and concepts. The execution, those walkers look fantastic and your scratch built tanks are second to none. The speed at which you work is phenomenal and more importantly makes me feel bad and disappointingly human in my own efforts. Finally the scale, it takes something different to decide to make not one new variant walker, but two! Very impressed! I look forward to seeing paint on Castor and Pollux.

Looking gorgeous mate. Maybe an aquilla on the nose to mark it as imperial. Also, agree on the need for cabling. Lovely work nonetheless.

They both look fantastic, adding the extra armour and rivets has really brought them to life,
and to me they feel very pre heresy, they just seem to fit the age very well.

As for Diorama ideas, how about this: The walkers and a small squad of Guardsmen are on the rubble stricken street of a ruined city,
when their ambushed by Orks, who have the high ground up in the ruins, firing down at the street.

I love your idea of the Ork in the sewer grate, which made me think of one trying to attache a magnetic mine to the leg of one of the walkers,
by coming up though a man hole cover.

Taking that concept even further, you could build a cutaway sewer into the diorama, showing the Orks moving beneath the street trying to out flank the guardsmen.
But that would be quite a lot of extra work .

To look more Imperial add moar skullz. Excellent stuff, will they be camo or maybe battleship grey?
As for opponents, I've seen some nice ork (grot?) tanks that look a bit like ships, you could reenact the War of the Worlds image of the Thunderchild being sunk by a tripod (or 2 bipods in your case).

Hi all,

Now that the actual build of POLLUX and CASTOR is completed (well maybe I will do some additional armor around the "armpits" ), I started with the diorama base.
Here you can see the two walkers/knights on the board. The lines show where the sewer will be and where the opposing gun will be.


I'm using my standard instant plaster for the base, as this will crack nicely.
The soda cap is the hole for the sewer manhole.


While the plaster cured I started to assemble the Ork crew.
The gunner will be turning in his seat to look at the new approaching danger...


The plaster cured nicely with some great cracks


The gun itself is a big energy beam weapon - not really a Zzap gun, is it?And the gunner turning in his seat to look at the approaching walkers.


The mount of the gun, with rivets and cables.


And the two Orks that do the turning of the gun


On the base.


Ixajin asked how tall they are.
Shoulder height is between 12 and 13 cm (depending on pose)


With the basic gun built I started to cast a lot of bricks, using my Hirst Arts molds.
The basic street layout with the sewer manhole.


Oh, and here is the RPG gunner


As you can see he's hit as he's firing his RPG...

I wonder what it will do to his rocket....

The buildings nearing completion.




After the buildings were built I drew the ornaments for the street.


And carved the lines into the plaster...Most of it will be covered by rubble, so I really wonder why I bother


The one window behind the gun will have a mural.


But most of the glass will be shot.


The other window is boarded up.


So, what do you think?
I look forward to your feedback and suggestions.
Cheers
Klaus

I have to admit Klaus.... one of my favourite things about your work is the narative that goes along with it...... you can really believe the story going on...... and all of the details fit together to really bring it to life...... allready you can get a feel for the action and the situation...

So it's obviously brilliant, as always.

Got to say I think you are gradually changing the way I think. I build, at the moment, models that can be used for an army list. But I never play, and most are probably illegal. And I come here and see your work and think, "I want tot try that!" Not that I would be anywhere near as good, just that I might as well build a nice diorama than just a model. Not sure I can forgive you that!

Please never stop.

Cam, over the past few years, I have come to the realization that you have to do what YOU want to do. I also feel that if someone were to show up with some of Klaus' vehicles, I'd bust ass to figure out some 'counts as' rules, and let 'er rip.

Fun over function, Cam. Just go for it.

You seen my blog lately?

But yep you are right. But it takes brilliance like this blog to remind us, that all the hype and who-ha! over rules and games is just non-sense and we should follow are own spirit. It's why I come to Dakka dakka every day.

I have, Cam. It is in my not-really-sorta-ish-40K-modeling list. People reaching out beyond the 'limits'.

Your work continues to be stunning, and you've inspired me to get much more creative (and orky ) with my own bases. Tremendous stuff.