Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
Times and dates in your local timezone.
Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.
2010/11/14 23:03:20
Subject: Ruglud's conversions and scratchbuilds [Update: Back in business...]
UPDATE: This blog was originally going to be my attempt at building a Space Marine force from my own home brew chapter, but at the moment I've gone off the idea and instead concentrating on various scratchbuilds and conversions from the 40k world...
So far we have up-armoured Rhino and Predator with LEDs, an AoBR Dreadnought, a converted Stormraven,and scratchbuilds on a Thunderhawk Gunship,Thunderbolt Heavy Fighter, Marauder Bomber and Taurox
ORIGINAL POST:
You may have seen a glimpse of this in my Imperial Guard diorama blog Once More Unto the Breach diorama blog. Well, while the filler dries I've moved back to my Rhino and Predator 'Pimp Yo Ride' project. Plan is to fully magentise the Predator so that weapon options can be interchanged and for the Rhino I'll be magentising as well as having all the hatches hinged and openable... Something I saw over on Warseer a while back...
These models will be part of my upcoming Space Marine force and will be a homebrew chapter of which I will reveal more as I go.
Here's some WIP of the initial sponson magentising. I'm going to have the actual sponsons swappable not just the weapon and have got hold of a couple of spares to do this.
The little circular nubs on plastic sprues are useful for mounting the magnets I have. Just have to drill a hole as deep as the magnet then glue it in place
Added magnet to the Rhino door so can change between Predator and Rhino if needed
On the Rhino I made the mistake of gluing too soon and as a result managed to get the loading ramp the wrong way round! To fix this I had to cut the damn thing off and then cut a slot to refit the newly glued pivot bar... Lesson learnt !!
Quick note, I don't plan to rush into this, my main focus is still the IG diorama which itself is having to fit around my ongoing house decoration project (maybe the subject for a new blog ). I will though update as when there has been progress or new purchases, as so far, asides from these tanks, I have the AoBR set plus a couple of sprues of marines and that's it...
Cheers
R
This message was edited 67 times. Last update was at 2017/04/24 20:07:55
Over to the Rhino now and I've been working on havng all hatches and doors fully hinged, which has been trickier than I thought and am also upgrading the armour by scratch building with plasticard, going for a similar look to the stuff Forgeworld makes, with some slight changes.
Here's the photos...
Hinges are just made from thin paperclips cut to size and bent in an L shape with the model hinges drilled out, paperclip passed through and into main body of the Rhino. To secure them I'll bend the clips behind the rhino body, although will be painting them first. See the first photo for the door lying next to the Rhino with clips in place.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/01/26 12:51:47
The tactical symbol is inspired by PowerPoint! I use this every day at work and it's one of the available block arrows that you can draw. It's made from thin card rather than plasticard but I like the effect of the raised symbol over freehand painted.
Next stage is working pn the front armour than adding my chapter symbol (home brew chapter) to the rear and side doors, plus something on the front.
Thanks for the kind comments folks, the Rhino is a cool model and hopefully my additions will increase the coolness in some way.
In terms of a tutorial, I'm making most of this up as I go, but may do a tutorial for the next Rhino I build, watch this space.
Work has progressed on the front armour plates, have also cut out the windows on the drivers cabin - will replace this with clear pastic so as to get a reflection when looking head on - interior of the drivers cabin will be painted black, not detailing it, just think the clear plastic will look good...
Have also been considering adding LEDs for the actual lights, so the cabin may become the battery holder... Thought in progress on this...
Rough edges and joins to be worked on next.
Cheers, R
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/02/04 01:07:15
taffiarti wrote:Looks great mate. I would love to see the LED lights on it as well. If this is the standard of your normal rhino's I can't wait to see whatever you do to a centrepiece model!
Cheers, saw the LEDs done in another thread so may steal that one... These are almost my first 40k models in over 20 years of gaming - I was always a Fantasy player, then moved to historical (ww2, Old West, Vikings to name a few). I have dabbled with a few single models but never got immersed in the 40k lore - until a few years back when I started my IG diorama. The plan is for these to be the start of a new force, let's see how it goes...
Lennysmash wrote:Great progress mate. Tutorial wise just keep those pictures coming and it a tutorial in itself. One question though what thickness cards are you using?
Cheers Lennysmash, more pictures are on the way (see below!) I have two thicknesses of plasticard at the moment, bpught them years and years ago from a model airplane shop, not sure of the measurement, will check in the morning and post - think it'll be something like 2mm & 4mm? I also use a lot of thin card, again not sure but think it is 220gsm grade and is all approx 50mm x 80mm sized (credit card size). Got this from where I used to work in a printing centre, and was the offcuts from where we made name badges for corporate events.
So here's the next steps - pretty much finished then decided to add some extra rear armour around the loading ramp and also another plate to the front. Gotta go over the whole lot and add rivets, although haven't decided the best approach to this? I read that shallow drilled holes with the contents of a water filter stuck inside works well, anyone used this approach before or any other suggestions?
until next time... R
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/01/31 00:52:45
Lennysmash wrote:Great progress mate. Tutorial wise just keep those pictures coming and it a tutorial in itself. One question though what thickness cards are you using?
Actually, the plasticard thickness I use are 1mm and 2mm, not 2mm and 4mm as previously stated, sorry about the misinformation!!
Right, on with the build...
Have added grab handles onto all doors and hatches as well as replacing the hard plastic ladder on the side door with wire rungs - these are all multi use, as they not only look good, but allow me to open the hatches without damaging the (upcoming) paint work. The wire is stripped out from a thin single core electrical roll (copper). Same wire that the door/hatch hinges are made from (the original paperclips proved to be too thick and damaged the soft plastic the rhino is made from).
Top hatch hinged, plus rotates. The smaller hatch also rotates freely...
Also added an extra armour plate on the front under the cabin armour, can just about see it in this image...
Here's the workings for the hatches - these wires are paperclips bent and glued into the top hatch but runs free under the body (copper wire was too soft for this)
Small hatch is magnetised with the plasticard insert to hold the pivot magnet. I'll be adding the missile launcher on top of this hatch and wanted to have the full 360º rotation, along with the vertical movement of the weapon mount.
To do:
Fill all gaps on the pasticard armour
Add rivets
Add extras such as weapons, smoke launchers, tow cable, tow hook
Add battle damage to armour
Add tracks
Add LEDs (maybe)
PAINT (gotta get an airbrush...)
I may move back the Predator now and although I wasn't going to, add some extra armour to this one, but I may follow the Forge World version a bit closer - plus is less work
Cheers,
R
P.S. Any suggestions for how to add/model rivets are most appreciated - I have lots to do on this Rhino!!
Commander Cain wrote:Great work on the extra armour! The small details really set it out from the crowd.
Cheers, yeah I reckon it's looking good.
notprop wrote:Rivets can be done by drilling a slight divet into the surface and then stcking a carbon bead from a water filter into the divet [carefully break open the plastic filter and you will have thousands of beads].
You can then flatten the bead with a file/sandpaper/knife to taste.
This is all looking great by the way.
I reckon this is the way to go, thanks for the advice.
Back to the Pred and working on the extra armour a la Forgeworld.
These are what I'm using as the basis for this build
So on to my progress, door surrounds built for both sides (2mm plasticard all round)
Front armour made for both sides as well - mixture of 2mm and 1mm armour. Some further pieces needed to make it look nice and chunky, but it's fitting niccely on the model...
Just blu-tacked on front and rear amour for the photos, have constructed them in one piece so will glue it once the insides of the pred are painted and I've glued down the hull.
TO DO: Add armour to exhausts Fill all gaps on the pasticard armour Add rivets Add extras such as weapons, smoke launchers, tow cable, tow hook Add battle damage to armour Add tracks Add LEDs (maybe) PAINT (gotta get an airbrush...)
So basically, same as for the Rhino!
R
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/02/06 11:03:08
Lennysmash wrote:Still looking good, but you are aware that you tank now has the same problem as the first Deathstar, the rebels just need to get a torpedo into that rear vent and kaboom!
LOL, very true (and love the Star Wars comparison!) I guess we all need our Achilles heel, otherwise the SMs would just wipe the board clean of their foe without problem, oh wait, isn't that what all the old fluff used to say about them!!
Lennysmash wrote:Indeed it did, but now you can run a marine off the board I think. So much for "Death or Glory" lol.
Yeah, I hear you on that one...
shingouki wrote:this looks really cool ive not seen a rhino get pimped before.keep up the quality work.
Cheers, I love the working hatches, LEDs would def give it more of the 'pimped' effect, just not sure whether I'm going this route or not.
whalemusic360 wrote:Very impressive rhino chassis, keep at it! Any plans for more vehicles when done?
Thanks, yep, there'll definitely be a few more Rhino based tanks - Vindicator, Whirlwind are on my to do list, I'll also armour these up although will be the Pred style rather than the Rhino.
Think a Land Raider or two may appear at some point along with some drop pods, bikes and landspeeders. Might also scratchbuild a Thunderhawk or two if / when I get some spare time (although will need to stock up on some foam board and plasticard)
Ohh and some troops of course !!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/06 19:28:28
Exhaust armour added, then had to reposition the sponson magnets as the extra armour pushes them out further from the body. Quick cut, added a piece of plasticard and re-glued...
Cave_Dweller wrote:Nice job upgrading that armor! I was thinking of doing something similar with a rhino I've got, but you've executed that perfectly!
Thanks! I think they're looking good as well !
obi-wan34 wrote:Ooooooo! Me like! I haven't seen a lot of platicard wips on the site, and would like to see more. Good job!
Well, if I go with the scratchbuilt Thunderhawk, Dakka Dakka may end up drowning in plasticard off cuts !!
crazypsyko666 wrote:I've never used a Rhino before, but is it possible to just stick a giant cannon on top of one and a few side-sponson weapons and call it a predator? (assuming, of course that they are the proper weapons.)
I guess you can do whatever you want, as long as your opponent agrees to having the piece as 'counts as'. I would imagine that given the history of the 40K 'verse, there must be plenty of variations on the Rhino chasis?
Here's some shots of more WIP - been magnetising everything in sight. I love magnets !
Predator mode
Close-up of magnetised turret hatch
Top plate removable to enable change of vehicle designation
Rhino mode, with turret hatch moved to front hatch
oops, forgot to put the extra armour on for the shots...
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/02/10 08:28:17
whalemusic360 wrote:What happened to the hinges on the roof hatches?
LOL, good spot - that was a result of experimenting with different hinge systems, but went a bit wrong on these and I ended up chopping them totally off ! Will be remodelling them at some stage with some thin plastic rod.
tipios wrote:This is such a good WIP log, and great work on the extra armour, it looks so well made. How do you cut your plastic card?
Cheers. I have several approaches to working with palsticard and also depends on the thickness. Sometmes I score the plastic part way then snap off, especially for the thicker grade. With more intricate shapes I'll drill pilot holes then score with a sharp blade. For quick cuts a sharp pair of scissors or side cutters are just as good.
All edges are smoothed with needle file and fine sandpaper, this gets rid of the bur from cutting with a blade and also gets rid of any bumps or mis-cut. Always glue together with plastic glue, not only does it make for solid joins but can also be used to fill gaps.
Another way that I haven't used yet is to get a fine fret(?) saw, these cut in any direction and can easily handle tricky shapes. I'll be investing in one of these soon and will show the results.
I have also in the past experimented with a Dremel and cutting disc, but didn't like the results
c0un7_z3r0 wrote:That is some solid work! This gave me loads of inspiration on how to magnetize my tanks!
Cool, glad it's inspired. Magnets are great !
crazypsyko666 wrote:I was mostly wondering (in my previous post) if the bodies were the same. Great job, anyways. That armor looks great and natural.
Ahh, okay. Yes it's all from the same basic body style. Many people suggest that you never buy a basic Rhino but always go for a variant as you can magnetise and have multiple styles of tank for the price of one. My Rhino was bought as a Rhino, I got it on eBay and a lot cheaper than buying new, only problem was it stunk of cigarettes, so had to leave the sprues outside to air, then wash all the parts in warm soapy water to get rid of the smell !!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/24 01:14:07
Not really an update, but the 3mm blue LEDs arrived today, only ordered them yesterday www.phenoptic.com Great service, highly recomended...
Going to do a test fit once the batteries and holders turn up (running from 3v coin cell batteries). Also need to go raid the garage and see if I can find my old soldering iron, think it's been in a box for the past 15-20 years as I haven't used it since my college days.
In the meantime I was looking at weathering techniques for tanks and found this excellent video on Youtube.
Dear Santa, if I promise to be good for the rest of the year...
I'm sure this would have been posted before, but it's still epic...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/17 11:51:53
Cut a hole for the battery access (using a CR2035 3v coin cell battery and holder) to power 3mm LEDs
Made a housing for the battery holder out of plasticard. Battery holder contacts stick through for wires to be attached
Battery holder in place (top)
(bottom)
Next job will be to locate the on/off switch - this will most likely go next to the battery compartment, although am just waiting on the on/off switch to arrive in the post and not really sure how big they are until they do!!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/21 01:13:24
Update: switches have now arrived, bit bigger than I thought they'd be, but still okay to fit next to the battery holder. I'll recess them slightly so there's only a minimum of the switch poking through the base of the tank.
Some_Call_Me_Tim? wrote:Ha, that Youtube video of the Rhino is classic! May not be the best looking Rhino out there, but still awesome. Who owns that thing?
I love the way you are customizing the Rhino, I have always thought that they should look more beefy. Now you just gotta get them painted!
_Tim?
I don't know for sure who owns it, but THQ and GW commissioned a company called Tanks-a-lot to build this and based it on a British FV432 troop carrier. Wonder if it's parked outside GWHQ ??
Yeah, the painting will need to wait until I buy a good airbrush and can get the hang of using it - really want to do a top notch job on these models. Gonna be delayed further though as I was playing around today and managed to break the hinges on one of the Rhino side doors clean off... Now have to go back and fix this up - might even add some extra plating on the bottom of the doors to make them stronger...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/02/24 01:59:56
Update time, and a damn fiddly one at that. Have been adding rivets all over the Rhino's extra armour plates and boy where there a lot to add. Rivets are the tiny balls from a water filter that had been hanging around the kitchen for an age, drilled a shallow hole then super glued them in. Pretty mind numbing, but the results look good and luckily there will be a lot less to do on the Predator armour.
Next up will be adding rivets to the Pred, then spraying some primer over everything to see if there any rough edges or filling needed
@LennySmash, yeah, the rivets look good in the 'flesh' although I reckon will look even better when some paint's been applied, hopefully will get the pred armour done in the morning before heading to work in the afternoon...
For now I've just left the beads round, hadn't thought about flattening them but will take a look once I've put a primer coat over the lot. I find that a good constant colour shows up any imperfections nicely.
@SilverMK2 - Yep, It was a Brita filter that I opened and inside was thousands upon thousands of tiny beads and a mixture of really small to really, really, really small. Mixed in with these is small pieces of what looks like charcoal, might come in handy at a later date for bases?? I reckon there'll be enough beads in here for a lifetime of riveting riveting (it's actually quite tedious process !!)
@tipios Glad to have been a help and good luck with the rivets.
My only advice is to drill a very shallow indent where you want the rivets to go then use superglue by applying with a needle (need to squirt some of the glue out onto a flat surface like an old jar lid or an old blister pack).
Another option is to drip some plastic glue in the indent and allow the beads to bond when the plastic melts then resets - the beads wont melt, but if the hole is too deep they might sink in and you'll have to redrill.
I've tried both methods and they're equally effective but would say you might want to have a practice on a scrap piece of plastic to get the hang of it.
UPDATE:
Rivets added to the Predator armour - used the plastic glue method as described above (the armour is not yet fixed in place)
Next steps... Apply primer to both tanks, spray the battery compartments black, assemble LED lighting
Cheers, R
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2012/06/26 13:27:25
Got a bit lost on the off-topic forums and my modeling time got sucked away into the void, but I'm going cold turkey now and getting back to this.
I've got an airbrush and compressor now but need to get some good quality paints so have decided to move to other minis in the Space Marine Blog.
Here's the first, an AOBR dreadnought. Constructed it last year and undercoated it, it looked a bit plain though so I'm going to add new elements to him. It isn't going to a Venerable or Ironclad but I carried on the armour theme and andded some plates. Also a smoke launcher and spotlight. I may also do something with the power fist, but haven't quite worked out what yet. Oh and I'll also drill out the flamer barrels
2011/03/29 09:53:04
Subject: Re:Ruglud's nearly NEW Space Marine Blog [Update: 29 March]
Battery holder and switch are loose at the moment as I'll be painting them up first before final fit. Have come to the conclusion though that I don't like soldering - damn fiddly...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2011/04/06 10:28:43
2011/04/06 10:27:27
Subject: Re:Ruglud's nearly NEW Space Marine Blog [Update: 6 April - with working LEDs]
I've also made two extra sponsoon spotlights as these where missing from the extra weapons sprue I bought on ebay - hard to see the details but made from plasticard with thin plastic tube to represent the actual light
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2011/04/06 10:29:03
2012/06/13 10:59:28
Subject: Re:Ruglud's nearly NEW Space Marine Blog [Update: Stormraven build - 13 June 2012]
Got myself a Stormraven, even though I'm not going to be fielding a Blood Angel or Grey Knights army, just like the model - felt that it could be improved upon, especially after seeing MajorTom's version and the Chapterhouse kit (which I believe was created by Hits the Spot)
So without further ado...
As you might be able to tell from my previous posts and other blogs, I'm more of a model builder than a painter, but I'm going to try and change that, purchased an airbrush and compressor so hopefully will splash some colour at some stage during the build of this one as well as sorting the Predator, Rhino and Dreadnought. well, maybe...
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2012/06/13 11:04:45
2012/06/19 11:04:55
Subject: Ruglud's nearly NEW Space Marine Blog [Update: Stormraven build - 13 June 2012]
Cheers for the comments guys... A titan may be a step too far for me, but would love to have a go at a Thunderhawk
Work commences (slowly) on the raven... Did a bit of belly work, adding a Rhino style hatch for a speedy drop of the troops / dreadnought (although there's no way a dread would actually fit inside...
2012/06/26 12:47:36
Subject: Re:Ruglud's nearly NEW Space Marine Blog [Update: Stormraven build - 19 June 2012]
Further progress made, not stuck together yet, just test fit for wings and engines.
Can't decide what to do with the turret and air intake though... am thinking of typhoon missile launcher or just a hatch, with the air intake resized to fit... Also need to make a new rear wing of some shape and description, but not using the supplied tail / wing combo as not at all keen on it....
). I will though update as when there has been progress or new purchases, as so far, asides from these tanks, I have the 
Now have to go back and fix this up - might even add some extra plating on the bottom of the doors to make them stronger...
