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Since I'm putting together a small Salamanders force, I'm using Vulkan in my army. Ironclad dreadnoughts are pretty lucrative to begin with, but when you're suddenly able to reroll all of the ranged weaponry it's got, it becomes a must-have. To that end, I'm building up an Ironclad who will be podding in on Turn 1 of most of my games to try and destroy as much armor as he can possibly reach.

Because he's a Salamanders dreadnought, I'm swapping out the stormbolter on the CCW arm for a heavy flamer - nothing beats that reroll. Aside from that, this is going to be a pretty straightforward Ironclad in terms of wargear. I'm keeping the Seismic hammer half because I think it beats the chainfist for most uses, and half because it's a 'hammer' and that's a big part of Sallies iconography anyway.

To that end, I've been working on the upper torso so far, and I thought I'd share a bit. I've not done much detailing, mostly just setting up the chassis. Some of my ideas are loosely based on the Ironclad Dreadnought Concept Art that got out over at Warseer. I'm referencing that for the torso, mainly; it seems the Ironclad design there has much more squared off shoulders, as compared to the stock dreadnought's slight outward incline. Additionally, since the thing is AV 13, I figured squaring the torso off by adding extra armor plating overtop was the best way to go.

Some pictures:







The torso's been squared off with carding, and greenstuff was used to patch up my sloppy seam between the plates on the front edge of both sides. It's filed smooth and flat, so it should be pretty indistinguishable.

The sarcophagus area was slightly filled, as you can see in the pictures, because initially I was going to go for the Forgeworld sort of design where there is a head in a terminator-esque alcove on the front of the dreadnought. I got talked out of this by a couple people, with the rationale that if it's got AV13, it should not be exposed like that, and some sort of monolithic front plate would be much better in terms of appearance. I will be adding some sort of reinforced sarcophagus plate overtop that area, once I figure out what I want it to look like.

The engine on the back was from a Grey Knight Dreadnought that I bought ages ago. I didn't use it on the GK dread because I had a spare engine from a Throne of Judgement which looked much more gothic and fit the Inquisitorial theme of the thing better. The pipes on the bottom of it were also seriously miscast (thanks forgeworld!) so I cut them down and got this thing to fit on the back here. I'll probably do more with it later, but I figured I'd get it out of the way.

Most important thing I wanted to discuss, though, was the Seismic Hammer arm. I was scratching my head for a while there as to what I wanted to do before I dug a furioso arm out of my bitz bins, and it all clicked. the CCW hand from the furioso arm found it's way onto the other arm, while I used the rest of it as a basis for the hammer. I figured it was ideal, anyway, because it already had a meltagun underslung.

The wrist area is capped off by a bit from a Thunderfire Cannon that had four holes. (I had this left over, because I bought a Tfire cannon to use as a chassis for a large Shokk Attack Gun for my orks). I figured I'd borrow a bit more from the CAD art and put some sort of hydraulic piston-y things on the end of each.

Now, this is where I am having a bit of trouble, conceptually. Because Salamanders are big on the hammer iconography, I wanted to do an actual hammer on the end of these pistons - like a giant, scaled-up thunder hammer, basically. I thought it'd be more suiting than the back-massager the Ironclad in the CAD art has. However, I have a couple ideas bouncing around in my head, and I wanted a bit of feedback as to what might be the most viable. Both are pretty much hammers, but different in appearance.

Here's a picture of the base:



Idea number one is pretty straightforward - like a giant thunderhammer, scaled-up to fit on the end of the pistons, maybe with some sort of reinforced plating so that it could either smash with the top of the hammer, or either of the sides.



Idea number two is a bit lower tech. My concept was that perhaps their Primarch, Vulkan, being a craftsman of sorts, had some sort of artistic pursuits, and sculpted things from the volcanic stone on Nocturne in his youth, or spare time, or whatever. That's not really important. What I'm trying to get at is that this very hard, dense, volcanic stone had something to do with the Salamanders primarch. Maybe it was his special posing rock, that he used when he wanted to look particularly heroic. Either way, it's been commandeered by this Dreadnought as a somewhat-sacred beatstick.



Both are flamed because, well, Salamanders, and it looks cool.

I am fonder of concept number two, but I'm at a loss as to how I might go about making the stone itself. I want it to be cracked and a bit worn from smashing so many heretics to pieces, yet still retain that general hammer shape. My first impulse says that making a understructure out of styrene and sculpting with greenstuff overtop will let me add the cracks and such properly, but I'm pretty rubbish as a sculptor, and I have a feeling any cracks I try to press into the greenstuff with an xacto or what have you will look ludicrously silly.

I'm sort've looking for input at this juncture as to ideas for the hammer itself, and how I might go about executing said ideas. In the mean time I'll probably work on the legs while I think it over.

I'll vote for concept #1. Looks much more durable. And with something that is supposed to be smashing armoured vehicles, stonce doesn't quite make sense.

Awesome work of the start of that arm though and the rest of the dread, very impressive.

I vote #2....to me it is more visually pleasing...it's not this big bulky ork looking hammer head....unless of course you want it to look like that....

Call me silly but don't pnuematics generally go forwards and backwards and over the Irish Sea, like?

Just in my eyes, swinging the hammer back and forth when you've got this big bit that could LAUNCH THE HAMMER IN YOUR FACE seems counter-intuitive.

>_> Don't kill me, but I'd suggest some sort of drill/hammer head or some provision to allow thrusting or the seemingness of being thrust.

However, your model etc so out of the choices I vote two from asthetical viewpoint.

Solasun wrote:Call me silly but don't pnuematics generally go forwards and backwards and over the Irish Sea, like?

Just in my eyes, swinging the hammer back and forth when you've got this big bit that could LAUNCH THE HAMMER IN YOUR FACE seems counter-intuitive.

>_> Don't kill me, but I'd suggest some sort of drill/hammer head or some provision to allow thrusting or the seemingness of being thrust.

However, your model etc so out of the choices I vote two from asthetical viewpoint.

From a functional perspective, I just sort've figured the dreadnought would raise the thing up, it would extend out on the pistons, and he'd swing it down. Extending out would give him some added leverage for the swing to make it hit harder.

Alternatively, yes, he could just piston it straight out, which is why I spiked the front side of the hammer on the first design.

A drill's a bit too long for the arm with the pistons already included, and doesn't quite fit the iconography I have in mind. GW's CAD sketches have something that looks like it pistons straight in and out, but mostly for the Salamanders hammer-oriented fluff I wanted to keep this a blunt weapon that could be swung.

I presumed the pnuematics were for changing the lengh of the hammer and its used by swinging the arm.
personally i prefer numbeone btw.

score. this will be awesome!!
Id go with number 2. What else do you have planned for the army?

I see why youd like to go with stone (im guessing because itll look killer) but fluffwise, wouldnt it make sense to just have a metal hammer forged by whoever had time? I mean, thats what they do afterall

It's nice to see your talent doing wonders for other armies as well Ein. IMO, Salamanders are one of the few chapters which don't enough support from GW or the players, so it's nice to see someone with you enthusiasm on the project.

I prefer hammer #2. The whole Stone concept seems to fit quite nice with the background.

Since I'm putting together a small Salamanders force, I'm using Vulkan in my army.

Are you talking about the PRIMARCH???

i vote #2 its less orky.

No Vulkan Hestan the IC, he is the current Forgefather who's job it is to track down the missing relics of Vulkan the Primarch.

Ghost is right, I'm making (or rather, almost done making) Vulkan He'stan - not the primarch, but the character who takes on the first name 'Vulkan' in honor of him.

Please note that I'm not just looking for preference as to which hammer, but recommendations as to how to go about it. In particular, I'm not sure how to deal with making a rock-hewn surface to form the basis of the hammer. I've a pretty solid feeling that if I try sculpting it overtop a styrene cube, and add scratches with a knife or what have you, it'll end up looking rather silly.

Love the idea and execution.

How about something like this?



I had the idea of the steam hammer punching outwards rather than like a warhammer.

I also like the idea of impacting the salamanders logo or the aquilla onto the side of enemy tanks! Like an elephant stamp for ememies that have been nice enough to be destroyed.

;-)

I much prefer option 2 above than option 1.

Cheers

Derr

Hand->Face

Except the base of a flame burns hotter, and appears the lighter color, so his original pic is accurate.

Ein: Were this an ork vehicle, I'd say hammer #1, as it's more brutal. But we're dealing with Sallies, so I say it's out. Hammer #2 is cleaner, looks a lot more like marine power weapons, and thus wins my vote. If modeled large enough, with some careful details (which I'm fairly certain you're capable of...maybe ) it will look great.

Torso looks great so far. Squaring off the shoulders is a simple enough mod, but will definitely help it stand out on the field. Good job.

I really like Hammer no.2, although I'd always thought of a seismic hammer being a conventional hammer shape, but with some sort of hydraulic piston-y hammer face that could move in and out of the hammer head, so that it punched down a bit as the hammer blow was struck, just to give it a bit more punch. Oh well.

Short of having a piece of actual granite cut to size, or carving one from a hard wood block, I don't know how to do it any better than the methods you've described. Keep your eye out for particularly square looking stones.

Some more rummaging in my bitz bins may have produced something interesting.

I found a deathwind launcher from the new Drop Pod kit that looked like it might do the trick. I sanded it down a bit so it wouldn't be quite as wide (making the front of it more square) and filed the iconography off the sides because it was technically upside-down. It's just loosely pinned on there, but I think it has some decent potential.





I think it could be pretty cool, actually. The venting on the back gives it a power-weapon appearance, and with appropriate armored plating on the impact side and top, it might do the trick. Also, flames, of course.

Thoughts? On the final dreadnought, I'm going to repose the arm mounts just a bit so that this arm is out at a bit more of an angle than the stock, parallel to torso pose, so the twist in the hammer's head to one side will look a bit more natural.

Properly awesome, that'll do it buddy!!

If you want to revisit the carved volcanic rock concept, give insulation foam a whirl. GW has been touting insulation foam for years in their scenery articles. You know, those beautiful, wonderful, creative articles that no longer exist... /mourn black gobbo...

I digress. Insulation foam has been turned into all manner of large stones in studio scenery. Ruined temples, sacrificial pits, Lustrian monoliths, etc.

I would snag some foam and a hot wire cutter. Make the stone shape, and grab a sharpened pencil for smaller surface detail work. You can even texture paint it to secure a more igneous appearance. On second thought, no texture paint. Volcanic obsidian is glassy, very smooth. Then use the trusty pcard to bracket it back into the arm structure. I'd say it's worth a shot, as I'm not as fond of the hi-tech hammer.

You know, it's a bit too much 'taking the easy way out', particularly if I'm sticking with this Deathwind launcher as the hammer head, but putting the missile-launcher front on the thing makes a pretty simple and straightforward tenderizer.



Anyway, I'm thinking on what I want to do with the hammer for now. I think it needs a bit more vertical heft to properly square it off. In the mean time, I'm going to have a go at reposing these awful dreadnought legs.

Little thing you might want to check that the meltagun's fire arc isn't fouled by the hammer. I like the chapter symbol on a plate idea for the hammer. It look's great keep up the good work.

You do realize Ein, that this looks like an Ork Tankhammer

edit: Your Vulcan looks awesome btw.

Really not a fan of the missile bit on the front of the hammer as is. No matter how you paint it, it's still going to look like a missile launcher on the front of the hammer, which is going to leave people scratching their heads.

I do like the shape of the hammer with that piece in place, though... so I would recommend cutting out the missiles and filling the front with putty to bring it up flat. And then add some hydraulics running from the back of the face piece down the sides of the hammer.

It also looks like it could use the head shifted back a fraction on the wrist, to balance it front to back a little.


Otherwise, it's definitely a promising start.