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As I start to wrap things up in my long journey of working on my guard army, I wanted to make sure I had the ability to field tanks if I wanted. Now, I have an old Russ chassis, but the odds of me fielding just one tank are pretty slim. As such, this seemed like the perfect time to add a new module to my chimera blank system. Basically, it would be a plasticard fixture that I could slide into my chimera-chassis blanks to make a Leman Russ.

It was obviously going to be a bit tricky to make this convincing as a TANK, rather than just another chimera-chassied vehicle. As such, not only did I draw inspiration from the regular Russ kit, but I also took a page from the Chi-Ha, and the USS Monitor.





Hopefully, the end result would be something that looked sufficiently tank-like, while still saving me money by fitting into the models I already had.

To start with, I went and got my chimeras and removed the manticore module. This left me with just the chimera blank:



I have to apologize in advance for the slightly blurrier nature of these pictures. My office isn't heated, so much of this was done in the kitchen, what with the sub-zero temperatures.

Anyways, the first step in any chimera blank module is the basic part that fits onto the chimera rails. The details will all be based on this part.

I decided to keep it relatively simple. It's basically just a box with some structural support in it.



Once this was in, it would be a matter of making something for the turret to sit on. On both the Russ chassis and the chi-ha (along with lots of other tanks for the period), is that there is sort of a skirt underneath the turret. This not only held the engine mount in, but also shielded the turret mechanisms. I decided to keep form and go for an octagonal skirt, with the chi-ha's long back on it.

After consulting with 5 physics graduate students, I was able to acquire the angle to cut the plasticard, and the end result was planning and prepping the pieces.



Which was then put together. This took a lot of time as more than once I found I'd overshot the boundaries of my base. In a fit of frustration, I glued it on as best I could and slid it in to make sure it still fit in properly.



With this done, it was time to finish off the base. This meant putting on a back to make things flush. I wanted it to hang down a bit, though, as I was a little unsatisfied by how flat it looked.

With a little work, I was able to get something that would nicely glue into the back.





With this done, it was time to get the turret done.

Originally, I wanted to run these as demolishers. Having played with it a couple of times, I discovered that, despite my love for the unit, it actually fit very poorly with the rest of my list. I engineered the turret to be interchangeable...



but then I thought I wouldn't ever want something else so I glued it in. Once I realised that I wanted something else, I had the choice of redoing the turret or doing a different one. As what I'd be making was an exterminator, the vehicle seemed like it wouldn't be as heavy, so I decided to make a new, lighter turret, based more on the chimera.

I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to do the exterminator cannon. I rolled over several ideas of a 4-barreled model, like a hydra. In the end, I decided to go with more of the actual exterminator model and just do it with two. How to make an exterminator look like it has two twin-linked weapons when it just has two weapons?

The idea I settled on was to have it be less of an autocannon tank and more of a flak tank. The idea is that the twin-linking comes from the sheer amount of shrapnel it put out. As such, I upscaled the barrels from little autocannons to something a little beefier.



I decided that in order to keep the turret slightly lighter, that I'd leave a few vision slits open for the gunner to see out of. This meant that I'd need to make a seperate roof. The only problem was that you could see that there was no one in the turret when you looked at it from the side. A bit of plasticard, GS, and an extra head, and the turret was coming along nicely.



This just left me to glue it all together, and add some details, and the tank was done.





Once I started painting, I realised that I could have done the top of the turret better, and the big piece on the top was actually less than flattering. As such, I quick went back in and put a hatch on.

I also had ideas to put some more detail on, but the holidays are coming up and I have to leave tomorrow morning, so it was either having less detail, or waiting until well into the new year to finish it off.

As such, I decided to keep it relatively simple. The end result looks sufficiently like a tank...







Once again, the pictures are a little cruddy, but the two giant cannons rule ass. I like how it sort of looks like a battleship turret.

I'm a little disappointed in the actual execution. I'm nowhere near as good at plasticard as I am with GS. Thankfully, everything is painted brown

The other one of these modules is only half-done, but now that the concept is proofed, it should finish up pretty quickly. In any case, I now have another way to set up my chimera chassis to add extra options.

That looks pretty awesome! I have always loved the ability to switch my Rhinos to Razorbacks to Whirlwinds, a quality I miss with the IG. I will have to see if I can work on my plasticard ability! Much inspiration here. Definitely a few more bits can spruce it up, but other than that it looks quite awesome.

To be technical, how does the turrets height, barrel length compare to the original Leman Russ?

Add some rivets and you'd have a splendid tank; I think that's what's disappointing for you. If you added rivets, some detailing to the back... (exhaust come to mind). You could improved on a good start, since your basic platicard work is nice and clean.

Actually, there are exhaust pipes, they're just sort of hard to see (they're hanging off the bottom on the sides).

The total inability to do rivets I think is the biggest challenge for me. I've done a little bit of riveting with plasticard rod before, but the original GW rivets are SO SMALL, I have no idea how to do it.

Just getting to the point where I have reasonably clean basic plasticard work is I think the proudest I am of this project. Eventually, if I do more work with plasticard I'll be able to start adding some real detail work.

As for the original turret of a russ, I'm not certain, but I know it's definitely larger. The actually russ turret is comically small, and I know this, smaller turret is like twice as big (the demolisher one was like 3x as big). The barrel length is probably about the same if not slightly longer.

And yeah, chimera blanks are awesome. You can have any guard vehicle save a vendetta, and all you need to do is build the back part and slide it in!

I really like the insert and the chassis, but the turret looks a bit too basic even for Imperial kit. If you're looking for an alternate turret I would recommend the Predator turret. I use them on all my Chimera based tanks. Some examples here.

Agreed. Great work but the addition of more details will make it much better.

Very cool

Nice work. I do love modular vehicles

That looks awesome!

Very cool to have modular vehicles & nice work so far! like it!!

MadMaverick76 wrote:That looks pretty awesome! I have always loved the ability to switch my Rhinos to Razorbacks to Whirlwinds, a quality I miss with the IG. I will have to see if I can work on my plasticard ability! Much inspiration here. Definitely a few more bits can spruce it up, but other than that it looks quite awesome.

To be technical, how does the turrets height, barrel length compare to the original Leman Russ?

indeed. Add some rivets and some other gubbins on the turrent top. Mayhaps a view slit and some sort of (detachable) very funky wireless set up, mayhaps like a telephone line. through a bunch of cables, shovels, and other IG tank bits and it will kit up nicely.

Well executed - I like the feel of the model and your use of the concept pics to develop it. The turret has a nice "bunker" look to it. I like your plati-card handi-work alot and that you included a gunner.

The adjustment Id make is to make it a bit bulkier as the actual model does have a larger footprint than this. Maybe adding another layer of armor to the top of the turret?

Looks excellent! Add in a bit more details to the back and it'll look great

Take an awl, heat it up, and make rivets from the other side of the plasticard. Looks fantastic!

Love the design.

It could have used more rivets to tie the scratch built parts to the chassis.

Very nice build up. I love the bunker/turret concept. I agree that it could use some rivets. Why do they have to be such a pain to make?

Thanks!

So, I've worked with rivets before, and it was tricky because the things are so small. These were with rivets which are HUGE in comparison to the ones GW uses on its tanks. I don't even know where I could get plasticard rod thin enough to make rivets the size of GW's. Is punching the plasticard from behind really the way they do it?

Also, I've been a bit less than desirous to put a whole lot of detail on the back, as the back section is put on crooked, and every attempt I had to add detail only emphasized just how crooked it was (the pics I took generously minimize this). I might be able to slap an aquilla on the upper part of the rear of the tank, but I don't know what I could add to the back plate without making it obvious that I screwed up.

As for the predetor turret, I like how wide it is, but I dont' like how tall it is. The fact that the turret entrance is offset on a turret that flat makes me wonder how anybody would ever get into one of the vehicles. Plus, I sort of have this bunker theme going on with my other non-artillery vehicles.

Other than that, i was thinking about putting a blue and white color swatch over the part where the tank's name is, but would that be too small of a color piece? Nice addition, or just distracting? I know it would work well on my Monitor-style demolisher turret, but the viewports on this one would squish it down by quite a bit.

For further inspiration:

A Utilitarian View Of The Monitor's Fight
By Melville.

Plain be the phrase, yet apt the verse,
More ponderous than nimble;
For since grimed War here laid aside
His painted pomp, 'twould ill befit
Overmuch to ply
The rhyme's barbaric symbol.

Hail to victory without the gaud
Of glory; zeal that needs no fans
Of banners; plain mechanic power
Plied cogently in War now placed -
Where War belongs -
Among the trades and artisans.

Yet this was battle, and intense -
Beyond the strife of fleets heroic;
Deadlier, closer, calm 'mid storm;
No passion; all went on by crank.
Pivot, and screw,
And calculations of caloric.

Needless to dwell; the story's known.
The ringing of those plates on plates
Still ringeth round the world -
The clangor of the blacksmiths' fray.
The anvil-din
Resounds this message from the Fates:

War shall yet be, and to the end;
But war-paint shows the streaks of weather;
War yet shall be, but the warriors
Are now but operatives; War's made
Less grand than Peace,
And a singe runs through lace and feather.

You are a scratch-build god.

Regarding rivets... I am personally familiar with this particular frustration, but while reading this thread I had a sudden flash of inspiration that may have solved the same rivet issue for both of us (providing of course you find merit in the idea).

If scale is the issue, rather than match the rivets already on the model, sand / file them off and replace them with rivets of your own. A work-intensive project for sure, and obviously easier to do when the vehicle is unbuilt, but you are the master of complicated projects made fast and "easy". And think of how absolutely unique it would be? Everything I've seen you do so far is 100% "yours". The base is 40K IG but you've absolutely made it into your personal vision. Consider the reward of the results. I'm sure it will make the effort more attractive.

For myself, I'm going to try this on my next vehicle.

Nice tank. I like it.

I think it' s really nice. However i would prefer if you were to upgrade it's side armor.
Oh , and your greek is wrong. It should read υπερ πιστεως (For the Faith)

Skalk Bloodaxe wrote:If scale is the issue, rather than match the rivets already on the model, sand / file them off and replace them with rivets of your own.
For myself, I'm going to try this on my next vehicle.

Lol! That's so mad it just might be genius!

clearing off the old rivets wouldn't be that much of a thing. Hmm... I'm going to have to look into how to get more plasticard rodding.

konst80hummel wrote:I think it' s really nice. However i would prefer if you were to upgrade it's side armor.

I really wanted to do this. The problem was that I couldn't come up with a way of adding in more armor in such a way where it didn't mess with the woeful way that GW decided the tracks should go on the vehicle. The best I could come up with was some track guards, but they'd interfere with the way that the back end slid on.

I MIGHT be able to come up with a way, though. The more comments I'm getting, the more I think that once I get done with the second of these, I should go back and rework both of them a little. I always wanted a somewhat nautical theme with my tanks, and the idea of adding on some semiphore flags are calling to me...

konst80hummel wrote: and your greek is wrong. It should read υπερ πιστεως (For the Faith)

Nice catch, but what I wasn't going for was "for the faith" but "high fidelity" (like the audio format). I know "fidelity" is a loanword from latin, but I didn't know what the greek equivalent is, and my greek search engine returned blank stares when I asked it.

That's really cool. Seems your entire army is spiced up by you, that's neat.

It looks pretty cool, but a little bit detailles for me...

i dont like it. i think it lacks the character of your other conversions. also, there is a general lack of detail. you can definitely do better, given what you have modeled before.

my overall suggestion is it needs some more bulk. perhaps you should enclose the top front of the chimera, much like the plastic manticore kit does. this can give you a chance to extend some heavy flat track guards or something off to the sides, maybe with stowage or tow cables or something on them. if you bulk it up, maybe there will be some real estate on the tank for an army crest or something

on the turret, maybe you should go with viewports instead of an airgap. i dont think it should be open, given this is an av14 or 13 part of the tank. the cannons need something else too; maybe some gas vent hole things or some kind of detail at their tips.

also, you can make perfect rivets by shaving slices off the smallest rods in the GF9 multipack plastic tube set thing. use a sharp razorblade and dip the rivets in thin superglue to apply to plastic card. its cheap, and doesnt take long. if you have a hobby store around you, they sell plastic rod for pennies.

its definitely in your skill set to make this mediocre conversion into a tank worthy of the foleran first. but if you like it, so be it. i have faith it will pummel the enemy either way

I love it, also have to try the chimera blank it looks good for a regular chimera

You go and make something that awesome, and you expect people to find something wrong?!
Nice work!

On the rivet front have you tried making GS sausages of the right thickness and chopping them to length? It works for spent shell casings so it might also work for rivets.

For rivets, I wouldn't remove all the rivets from the model, just the ones on the front center section. Replace with your larger rivets and you're good to go.

For extra armor, have you thought about cutting out a plasticard shape that is the same as the side profile? You can then add a spacer or two underneath and glue down, then cut some plates to shape to fit on the extra armor to give it more depth. Add on your rivets, and once again you're good to go.

nice work. will you be adding to the rear to make it flow with the rest of the model?