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I decided I wanted to build an Imperial Guard army, but there's no way I can afford the $800+ for all those vehicles. This is my attempt at scratch-building a Russ - there are no GW parts in it (unless you want to count the sprue the Heavy Bolters are made from).

The body is made of MDF, the treads are cast from resin. The sposons, hull bolter, and turret are all magnetized and fully movable/swappable.

I ended up squaring it off a little bit in order to make it easier to reproduce on a saw.

Size is actually pretty darn close. The sposons are what's off the most - I didn't account for the MDF thickness when building them so they probably add a 1/2" to 1" to the total width larger than it shoudl be. It's good enough for a beta.

Lotta firsts with this one:

1st scratch build
1st time casting anything (didn't do a great job, but adequete I think)
1st time painting camo
1st time weathering a tank

Overall I'm pleased with it - there's some obvious joints and "rough" spots that I'll need to try and improve on with the next one, but I think it turned out rather well.

The last picture gives an acual GW Russ for comparison.







Edit: Hmm, looking at it I really need to do a wash after all to bring out the details in the side plates. Looks like I'll have to post updated pics in a day or so.

I think you should use plasticard aka polystyrene sheets. MDF isn't right material for making vehicles.. I think plasticard is even cheaper than it.

Not too Shabby!
i would watch the width though. it looks a little wider than the GW version.
and trust me, they're hard enough to get cover for as is....

I'll give you points for trying, but that thing really looks lousy. It's way too boxy, even for an IG tank, and it looks really cobbled together. As mentioned, try plasticard for this sort of thing. MDF is just too dense a material.

I highly approve of the attempt and as its your first scrath build I give you the thumbs up however i have to agree with several other posters that i looks a bit ummm crude.

Try experimenting with polystyrene sheet material or styrene as some call it, also with styrene try building up the armour plates ontop of your main surface leaving joint or shadow gaps, keep going always try to develope your skills in design and construction, you should be able to find somewhere on the internet that has plans for a leman russ even if you have to look for patterns for card builders.