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Hi all,
I'm going to be tearing down my Blood Angels army and rebuilding it soon, and I've got a question about tanks in 40K... I am a big fan of the Baal predator, and want it to be a focal point in my army. My only problem is, I think the Predator model is garbage... using the Rhino chassis makes it look like a miserably undersized shoebox with guns. I want to tear the model apart, and take the weapons, details, and greeblies, and graft them onto some other tank kit... I'm thinking a cheap 1/35 Merkava II, for its sci-fi lines. I want to know now, before I start into this, if I'm going to have problems with gaming... the new model will likely be a bit larger than the Rhino chassis, but I am going to make sure to keep things like the sponsor mounts the same so that shouldn't affect anything (templates are still measured from weapon barrels, aren't they?).
If you guys have any advice on this, I'd appreciate it. I'm planning on building the new army with gaming in the mind from the start, as I've already got plenty of models, and am hoping this will work.

I don't think people will mind you making the tank bigger especially with the current LOS rules.

1st major problem is that it takes a lot of work to 40K-ify a model of a real world vehicle.

2ndly is trying to add sponsons to said models. Sponsons work on 40K vehicles because they have "wrap around" tracks, ie: the tracks go up over the top of the vehicle, or very high at least. Real world tanks abandoned that design after WWII.

You could always try modifying a Leman Russ or something. Some of the Forge World Predator hull and turret variants, combined with reinforced armor could really "beef up" the look of the tank.

Marines got a new Codex this month... there must be a new wave of mini's to come with it, and more waves over the coming months... all the space marine tanks except LR desperately need overhauling as they are embarrassingly crap next to every other race's vehicles now (even Orks now that that dreadful old Trukk has gone) so one would hope that the new SM tanks are on the way. Keep an eye out for news and timescales and decide if you can wait that long.

If you can't, then I'd be going for IG tanks, particularly Leman Russ. They're Imperial anyway so it's not unlikely that the two forces wouldn't share equipment, and Space Wolves are allowed Leman Russ anyway!! I'm sure you could come up with a bit of fluff why you have Russ pattern hulls with space marine weapons on for your chapter.

What's wrong with the current rhino chassis? The old one looks dumb now but the new one is fine. I don't expect that GW will revamp the rhino chassis again for a long time.

They still look pretty rubbish, IMHO :S

The Land Raider is a proper work of art, looks incredible and supremely functional...

The Rhino and most if not all of it's variants looks about as scary and purposeful as a Robin Reliant sat next to a Challenger II MBT.

Hmm... I hadn't thought about the possibility of them coming out with a new tank chassis... seems unlikely, but maybe. If they do, maybe I'll guy one, but for now I want to make something myself... getting FW stuff is an idea, but it's sooooo expensive. Even if I tacked on some of the FW Predator upgrades, it's still a horribly boxy and too-small design.

The Land Raider needs another 1/4" of ground clearance. If it were real, it'd get hung up too easily.

I think what I'm going to do is use the Baal I've got, add FW spaced armor, move the turret to the rear like a Razorback, maybe tweak the turret shape some, and I think widen the stance with new running gear... I'll get some cheap tank kit for the wheels and tracks, and make them fit so they function just like the current setup... I think widening the stance and moving the turret back will help make it a bit more aggressive looking. Any thoughts?

Why bother replacing the tracks? Just add spacers between them and the hull, and plasticard/greenstuff over the gaps.

The tracks on the Rhino chassis are really narrow and goofy looking... I want to widen the running gear area to make the model more squat and less boxy.

I am working on some similar conversions. I have a WWII panther tank, its 1/35. Its is quite longer then a Lemam or rhino almost twice as long 8"/203mm vs 5"/127mm. Its taller,maybe 1" or 24 mm. I like the bigger tanks, though not an undersized Rhino mod. I was think of mini sponsons on the turret to get around the modern track base or multiple co-axil mounts. I am looking at some 1/48 scale tanks for heavy support, the larger 1/35 could possible be a super-heavy?.?. Depending on what you measure 40k minis are between 1/40 and 1/60, nice GW....

I spent this afternoon trying to make a 35th tank kit work, but the overall design ethos of the Predator doesn't lend itself well any more modern chassis, especially bc/ of the side sponsons... I think doing a hack-job of the Rhino chassis will be easier in the end. Hope you post some pics of your work tho!

Hmm. I think you'd probably be able to get double-width tracks by getting hold of a spare set of tracks and using something like chunks of sprue to widen the track bay.

Sprue's useful stuff; I'm currently planning to use it to improve on a screwup on a Russ demolisher turret so the damn thing stays down. (I glued the turret floor in upside-down.)

This is a start on my tank conversion using a Panther MBT. More pics in my army post. Maybe this will spark some ideas.

to viney that panther looks pretty good in all honesty. you did goood on the the 40ifying-ness. it just needs some eagles or somthing.
but i would suggest buying some IG tank and converting that. even a chimera is ALOT bigger and tougher looking then a rhino. ive always agreed with the idea that rhinos look a little whimpy. speacially next to any IG tanks. But i say if you find a tank you like, and you have the idea plotted out in your head, screw it man just do it. you might fail, then again it might turn out so good, that ends up being the first thing you show people from then on. Good luck either way you go at it

why not add the Baal odds n sods to a "Clousseuo" (sp?) pattern Rhino? that'd keep it 40k but 'roid it up loads.

I would look at some of the less well-known WW2 and modern vehicles. Here are some I found on Hobby Link Japan which could be converted.

http://www.hlj.com/product/AFV35119

http://www.hlj.com/product/ACD13212

http://www.hlj.com/product/AFV35016

http://www.hlj.com/product/AFV35S33

http://www.hlj.com/product/GNZG-784
Armoured train.

http://www.hlj.com/product/HEL81134

http://www.hlj.com/product/REV03080

Thanks for the links... I think the WWII stuff is too distinctive for 40K... the first one looks good, but I think it'll make my life a whole lot easier if I just do some heavy mods to the Rhino chassis rather than build a whole new vehicle.