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Finished product looking great bruh. I like the fact you did a little conclusion about the new stuff you tried, I agree about the camo, looks cool as!
Nice one

Thanks STG! I'm past the half-century mark and still have so much to try out- OSL is definitely on the list and I see all these cool projects with micro-lighting, I want to try that again. I've rigged lights for model railroad buildings and train cars and the like, but I can't truly be happy until I've lit up a Titan, or at least a speeder. If I'd had something like Dakka Dakka back in the day, I probably wouldn't have gone dark for 15 years!

Finished project is so cool looking Meer, your paint job on the guardsman is very good. All the little bitz you added to the project look great, really like the wagon full of shells.

Outstanding work, Meer. I like it.

Hello Yorkright and Oldravenman, and thank you for looking in. I still kid myself a little bit that I'm paintng pieces to game with one day- but really, adding a base to a 'counts as' Chimera (in a pinch) isn't terribly practical for something that will need LOS calculated, and other considerations for moving about the board. So, making things with substantive bases is what really lets me detail the action, to have the piece try to tell a story at a glance.

It is fun to think of all the things I used to see around when I was part of a gun crew myself, and try to replicate them here. It's even more fun for me to find 'found bits' and scratch build them myself, instead of buying purpose made. For instance, the exhaust on the left side of the cab/engine compartment is made with two bits of straw stuck into the underside of one of the flip lids from a small can of Old Bay spice.

Thank you for the kind words- I had a lot of fun building this piece, but it is nice to get some feedback from someone other than myself; I tend to be very biased in my own favor!

More follows soonest!

Great job on the Phaethon. Nice build.

I have been lurking. Good work throughout.

Thanks very much for stopping by, Dr. H, and for the kind words. I've learned a fair amount lurking on your threads and look forward to more.

Up to this point, it has been sometimes difficult but mostly manageable to stick to one project at a time. I know me, if I let myself get out of hand, I'll start three or more, all in different media (figures, a vehicle and a terrain piece) or venues (Imperial Guard, Eldar, Fantasy) and never finish anything ever again. But with the Phaethon done, I've got so many new things I've seen on everyone's blogs to try- it's very hard to be reasonable with myself!

I look forward to seeing everyone's new projects with the new year and hope to report some modest endeavors myself.

There was an Irish pundit on the Beeb when I was stationed in Yorkshire (quite few years ago, now), I think his name was James Allen, who used to close his program with "Take care, and my your God go with you" (he himself was an Atheist. But for Christmas, every year he would say "May our God go with us".

For all of us out there, whether we seek order in the Universe based in ourselves, or in a power greater than ourselves, I offer "may our God go with us".

Merry Christmas, and more follows soonest.

Very lovely work, Meer. Look forward to your work in the new year.

Thank you briancj- I've been nosing about your galleries and I have a lot I can be learning from you! Good building to you in the New Year!

Welp, first post of the new year, so some news on the next project, some on the (hopefully) project after that and some interesting bits I came across for $1.00 at my local Goodwill thrift shop.

First up, with the Phaethon Ammo Carrier complete, it really needs a siege gun to service. The cannon and mount from the original Soviet WWII tracked, towed 203mm howitzer will still do stand-in duty for the Earthshaker that a Basilisk would carry:



It's just not going to be the _next_ project, it's going to be the _next after_ project. I figure to scratchbuild the whole vehicle, with the gun being the only part that comes from a prefab kit. That's a lot of work (for me) and I've just come off a long build for the Phaethon, so I'm going to do something a bit simpler, and quicker, first to have some fun and try a couple of new things.

Specifically, I'm going to use this Soviet WWII BA-64 armored car kit:



(Sorry for the horrid picture- I didn't notice how blurry it was until now) I've been wild to build a 'rat patrol' type recon buggy ever since I saw Brushfire's IG Rat Patrol models based on Russian GAZ light trucks. I am shamelessly ripping off his ideas and applying them to this BA-64 to make a two man, light, fast, possibly counts-as IG Walker model. (To find Brushfire's work all you have to do is go to the Gallery page and search for 'GAZ'- his stuff comes right up at the top. I'd include one of his pictures here, but I'm not sure that is a) within the rules to use someone else's stuff without permission and b) ethical in any event. But do take a look- he's done some great work with those two vehicles- very dynamic.)

In the interesting bits category, I found this toy at Goodwill for a buck:



Some may only see an amusing child's toy, but when you take it apart:



I see a pair of external fuel tanks for any combat vehicle, possibly even for a Valkyrie, or that could also be used for corridor bling in a space ship table; I see a pair of treads for a large Thunderfire cannon or similar type of self-propelled artillery; what was the parachute for the toy can now be a large tarp for deck stowage; three hatch covers or access panels that can be glued straight onto anything; a remote security camera, an engine cover and tell me that computer card doesn't look exactly like a ready made instrument panel for a Valk or anything that needs one?

But there is also the dozer blade, which lends itself to a lot of things, like maybe the snout of a Hades Drill vehicle, perhaps?



Separate the top blade from the lower, and you have two blades for two different vehicles:



But Meer Cat, I hear you scoff, what do I do with the long armatures that are left? Well, they seem to be exactly the right size to be the arms for a lifting boom, if one were to want to scratchbuild or convert a hull into a repair vehicle like a bergepanzer:



In fact, with the dozer blades off, the arms could form the basis for building a mine clearing vehicle, which could be magnetized so that the Leman Russ could be used as a speicalty vehicle or returned to regular service as a straight fighting vehicle. (This LR is also magnetized for all it's turret and sponson and hull weapons, so it is already a chameleon.)

So there you have it- this is what I'm up to and fixin' to get up to. I hope everyone's New Year is starting off with new and exciting ideas, and new techniques to try. I know mine is!

More follows soonest!

Very promising and interesting. Looking forward to following you.

Looking forward to what you cook up.

Thank you both for looking in- it means a lot to me.

Cam: I've been watching the Underhive crew growing- can't wait to see the oil rig box building terrain start to emerge. Of course, given how fast you put an entire village together for the friends in Canada, what are you doing day after tomorrow when you're finished with that?

oldravenman3025: I've been watching your projects as well- and a lot of your supply drops and future projects with envy. I've been eyeballing some of those same kits for awhile now; really looking forward to seeing what you make of them!

Some interesting bits in here, as always. I'm looking forward to what you're going to do with that armoured car!

Thanks for looking in CommissarKhaine! I'm afraid that this BA-64 Armoured Car model isn't going to work for my Rat Patrol project- it's just a squidge too small. For real-scale figures it would be very close for what I had in mind, which is something along the lines of a Pennscouer assault vehicle (the dune buggies with the elevated gunner's position at the back from the First Gulf War). But for 'heroically scaled' figures, it just won't work.

I've ordered another off eBay, this time in 1/35 scale, to do the Rat Patrol thing. I'll use the bits from this one as add-ons to other combat vehicles and I'm thinking that the hull itself, inverted, might actually make a good jet bike frame.... so there are still possibilities for something unusual and fun.

I reckon this is the Modelling Gods way of telling me to do another squad of infantry next, not another vehicle, so I may move on to some of my Raging Heroes backlog.

I hope to have some pics to put up soon!

Yeah, I'm always torn between 1/48 and 1/35 for scale. Would grots fit in there? It would be a fun buggy.

Grots would fit for sure- at least one driver, probably two sticking up out of the turret and perhaps one or two hanging onto the fenders! I see a lot of possibilities, now that you've pointed them out. I haven't tried grots before- it might make for a fun side project!

Summary: I ordered a 1/48 scale BA-64 Soviet WWII Armored Car with the intention of building a 'Rat Patrol' type vehicle- preferably in a highly dynamic evolution a' la Brushfire- but it was 'way too small for the 28 mm (pushing 30mm) figure that I wanted use to man it. So I ordered the same type car in 1/35 scale and per an excellent suggestion from ComissarKhaine have also order a mixed lot of Grots to kitbash/customize into a crew for the 1/48 scale version. The 1/35 scale will now become the Rat Patrol vehicle, and then I'll get back to work on the self-propelled that goes with the Phaethon Ammunition Hauler. (And that, children, is what we mean when we say "scope creep"....)



I offer as a suggestion for one of you waughhhhh modelers out there that you could make a sort of Ork battle buggy out of a 1/35 scale BA-64, and have it closely followed by a Grot battle buggy made from the 1/48 scale kit....

Here's some pics to illustrate what's described above. Some of you may remember Staff Sergeant Shauna Abernathy, of the 1st Battalion Grenadiers (although, with a name like Abernathy, those fine people being a sept of my own Clan Leslie, she's probably a transfer over from the King's Own Scottish Borderers); she's the targeting/gunnery officer from the Athena Command and Control Vehicle (C2V) covered earlier in this blog:



Here's the good staff sergeant sitting on the 1/48 scale BA-64; it's _almost_ big enough, but as is, is just small enough to look like a toy ride in front of a grocery store and she's waiting for someone to put a quarter in:



Now here she is on the 1/35:



This is much more the proper size for balance, but is actually almost a little bit _too_ big. I wanted something small and nimble and in balalnce, like the GAZ trucks that Brushfire used. Don't get me wrong- I like this kit and think it'll work fine. I believe that chopping the engine compartment off at the point of the air intake vent will bring it more into line with what I want, and I think I'll try cutting out some of the armor panels and installing some round sprue as roll bars; give the whole thing a more open, light, mobile feel and at the same time give some good view into the interior fittings (so, now we're doing the interior too, maybe- NOT on the original build plan...). For dynamism, I want Abernathy to be firing a heavy bolter, with muzzle flash effects per instructions given in Klaus- Not Santa's blog and maybe even an explosion rocking the vehicle over onto its side (but not flipping it).

Finally, I took apart a defunct battery operated quartz clock movement tonight, and the copper winding looks to me like a winch that should be fitted onto the front of the new armored car (name forthcoming, possibly Hyperion....):



So that's what I'm up to now, lots of things to work on, and very much looking for my Empire of Men Kickstarter figures to get here next month. What a great gift you Dakka Dakka folks ahve given me: the enthusiasm of a small kid at Christmas for a package to come, thanks to your support, advice and freindship here. No small boon, indeed!

Your comments, suggestions and constructive criticism are always welcome.

More follows soonest!

haha, the squeaky waagh is spreading!

I see what you mean with the scale shots, the 1/35 is much more in line with a human-sized model. Making it nimble can be done by adding proper wheels (with suspension), exhausts, maybe some roll cage/fender type thingies to suggest it occasionally bumps into things?

I'll definitely incorporate the items you suggest; I think I can do roll cage with the some narrow sprue that I've been saving for just such an occasion or with some styrene channel left over from the Athena build. Exhaust I can do- but would welcome suggestions as to where to run them: up alongside the driver's vision port- as in a HMMWV, or straight out the sides and angled down from the engine compartment (as in a hotrod) or even running underneath and rising up at the back (risky though, in a rough terrain vehicle)?

Not sure how to modify the tires that came with the kit, may have to buy some. I can augment the suspension pieces that came with it, though.

Already doing some cutting, to open the piece up, make it look lighter, show off some interior bits.

It's funny, in real life this vehicle was only 3 meters long and less than 2 meters high- it's no wonder the 1/48 looked so small- the real thing was!

Should have pics shortly and I'm looking forward to advancing this build. More follows soonest!

Looking forward to seeing it!

Where to run the exhausts will depend on what exactly you cut away . How are the kit's wheels anyway, Don't think I saw them in the pics?

looking promising, i'll be interested to see what you do with it.
Nice one!

Hi Oldravenman, , CK and STG- and thank you for looking in!

Last night was one of those good nights where every measurement is precise, every cut is true and lots gets done- a really fun evening hacking up a perfectly good model kit. The kind where you have to stop at one point just to clear the offcuts and debris away because it starts getting fouled up in the glue.

I roughed out where I thought needed cut away to start getting the look I wanted. As the piece emerged (I think it was Michelangelo who said that he saw the sculpture in the piece of marble and simply removed everything that wasn't part of the statue) I stopped thinking of it as a counts-as Sentinel and started thinking of it more as a counts-as Tauros:





Cut those areas out and started sanding them smooth. I imagine I'll edge them with some bits of styrene to get a really sharp straight edge, but it's a start for now:





Next, needed a bulkhead between the gunner/TC's compartment and the driver's hole, and the start of the driver's seat:





I've included this shot with the start of the driver figure to give a sense of scale:



And finally, CommissarKhaine had asked about the kit's original tires. Here's a shot of them next to the car body- in my opinion they are too small and too narrow; I really like the look of the real Tauros model's heavy duty tires, especially in the rear where they are dualies:



Here's a shot with some tires left over from a 1/35 Flak37 trailer kit:



These are bigger than the ones that come with the kit, but are still pretty narrow. I also only have two of them, so would want four more so as to have dualies in the back and a pair up front. I could even use the fenders from the Flak37 trailer over the rear tires.

As for the exhaust, well, the Tauros builds I saw on Google didn't seem to have any. Doesn't mean I can't model some though, so would definitely be interested in folks' opinion's on whether to have them or not, and if so, where to run them. I also saw a ton of ideas for rear bumper/step plates, ammo boxes, and other gubbins to trick the build out with. This one is definitely shaping up to be fun.

I look forward to your ideas, and more follows soonest!

I feel your scale woes - but some some early/interwar vehicles really were like the fun ride in front of the grocery store, so I usually just go for it myself. Keep up the good work!

The tires do seem rather thin for the 40K universe... Good thing there are plenty of 3rd party sites that offer titres and tracks - or you could try cutting them in half and thickening them up with plasticard and gs?

CommissarKhaine- your suggestion put me on what I think is the right track for how I'm going to do the tires for this critter.

But first- here's a couple of in-work pics to show a little bit of advancement for the chassis. First, the no-slip is installed in the gunner's compartment:



And here's a look at how the heavy bolter scales with the turret and body itself- I'll need to integrate a substantial mount that looks like an extension of the turret itself to keep the balance of the look right (essentially, I see the 'turret' becoming really a heavy ring mount that offers the gunner a little bit of protection):



And here's the bit for the tires. I was looking through all my bits and came across a set of toy construction vehicles that I bought on clearance from Ollie's (an American discount store) last Christmas for US3.00. It had something like seven or eight construction trucks, dozers, back-hoes, etc and I saw a lot of potential for all the dozer blades, tracks, treads and wheels. I sized one of the wheels up and it looked quite promising, but like the other, proper model kit wheels I had, it seemed too thin. I wanted dualies in the back anyway, so I started pulling things apart to see what could be made of all these parts:



Drilled out the centers of half the pieces:



And doubled up- but not dualies, I think they're going to do just fine. Nice, fat, all-terrain tires for the recon vehicle:



Here's how the size compared to the body of the vehicle- I'll definitely give them heavy duty fenders, either tubular steel, the fenders that came with the kit, plasticard or the fenders from the Flak-37 trailer:



CommissarKhaine had suggested cutting the wheels I had in half and building them out with greenstuff and/or plastic card; this is essentially doing that, just with a different set of tires. I like 'em.

I'm hoping to get quite a bit done this week (it always depends on work, and especially how much of it they want from me) because I've got so many other things to try and there's always the Kickstarter figures coming in a few weeks, so- more follows soonest!

Your observations and comments are always welcome.

Looking brilliant bud. Wheels are looking 40k, I.e. Far to ridiculously big but suitable all the same. Good find, got a box full of the same myself.

As to the gun mount, look to some round sprue, often you get a nicely curved bit, couple easy snips and she's a nice slide rail. Overall this is looking wonderful and promising. Can't wait for more.

Nice solution for the tires! And I Agree 4 wheels is plenty, it'll make it look faster IMO. Have you consider offsetting the bolter? That might create some room in the turret.

Hi Cam! I'm glad to see you 'up and about' on the blogs again- it was worrisome hearing the details, but you're on the slog now and it's great to have your kind words. Funny, isn't it, that 'heroic scale' isn't just for the figures, but for their vehicles and everything else too! Somebody somewhere is compensating for something.

Hi CommissarKhaine! Yup, I think four fat tires will be plenty, especially after getting some work in tonight and getting the axles and wheels attached to the under-carriage (and wasn't _that_ fun- fitting, filing and coming up with ideas on the fly to adjust for imagination bumping into reality).

I do think that an extended mount of some kind- that get more of the gun out of the turret- is going to be the way to go, something along the lines of the ring mount on a US WWII deuce and a half truck, or maybe the mount on an M20 armored car. I like the idea of a slide rail, as I think I've got some sprue and it sounds like a quick and fairly easy route to go (famous last words). I'm trying not to get all fancy and bogged down on this one, as there are so many other projects in the offing, but by golly, it's fun and I'm learning a lot.

CK- I've also got my grots in and want to do that little buggy- I've never tackled anything like that before- all kinds of new territory to learn!

More follows soonest, with pics.