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When the Manticore tank was released many people I know were rather disappointed. There is technically nothing wrong with the kit, it just didn't "feel" right to us, and it was far from what we were expecting.

Now that there are rumors of a Hydra kit coming I fear that same thing will happen. So, with that in mind I have and idea for scratch attempt. How do you think it would look if I used the turret from the Fortress of Redemption, removed the twin lascannon, used four Predator autocannons, and mounted the entire thing on a Basilik chasis?

Well sounds unique but also at the same time needlessly complicated and expensive

I didnt even know there was a hydra rumor

IMHO the Fortress of Redemption turret has a SM look that won't mesh well with the IG Basilisk, and the Predator autocannons just don't do it for me either.

or you could do what i did, its cheqp-ish and effective, i scratchbuilt the turret out of IG heavy weapons (mortars, HB's, missile launchers, and autocannon barrels and the turret is a knob from an old radio. i beleive i have pics of it in my gallery. check it out, that chassis is a basilisk.
EDIT: appearantly i dont have photos in my gallery, i will in 24 hours though

Presuming the Fortress of Redemption turret isn't too big, I think it could make a very cool vehicle turret. Not sure which Chimera chassis variant would look the best though...

The Aegis Defence Line has a lovely quad autocannon with a round base...

Hmm.. not my preference for turret look, but I think it could be made to work for a more Shilka style of Hydra, i.e clusterig the 4 barrels in the centre of the turret, rather than the more standard side mounted jobs. I think your idea would look good, however as already noted it might be a bit pricey, unless you can find Predator armament for cheap. If all you're after are RFAC barrels though I would recommend checking out Old Crow. I picked up 4 of their 50mm barrels for my hydra conversion. They have a similar feel to the Predator AC armament. The other option would be to pick up Guard AC barrels as they should be much cheaper to buy separately.

The turret from the fortress of redemption is fairly big.
After reading your idea I put the turret on the turret spot of a Leman Russ, just to see if it would work.
IMO it looks really stupid, the fortress turret is far too big for a Leman Russ chassis (in both hight as width, it covers half the tracks) , and thus most probably for a chimera chassis as well.

Flinty wrote:Hmm.. not my preference for turret look, but I think it could be made to work for a more Shilka style of Hydra, i.e clusterig the 4 barrels in the centre of the turret, rather than the more standard side mounted jobs. I think your idea would look good, however as already noted it might be a bit pricey, unless you can find Predator armament for cheap. If all you're after are RFAC barrels though I would recommend checking out Old Crow. I picked up 4 of their 50mm barrels for my hydra conversion. They have a similar feel to the Predator AC armament. The other option would be to pick up Guard AC barrels as they should be much cheaper to buy separately.

The Shilka style is exactly what I was going for. I all ready have the Predator autocannons (hobby store bits box), so I just need a suitable turret that is large enough to fit in four autocannon barrels. THe Baneblade turret looks like it is big enough, and it is is definatley an IG turret. I wonder how that would look on a chimera chasis.

the baneblade turret is gigantic...way too big for a hydra, ideally the turret should only be about 1.5 inches wide (not counting the guns) max and no longer either.

I just checked, and unfortunately the Baneblade turret looks absurdly big on top of a chimera (well, unless you were planning a comedy Ork looted version).

jordanis wrote:the baneblade turret is gigantic...way too big for a hydra, ideally the turret should only be about 1.5 inches wide (not counting the guns) max and no longer either.

I don't want the guns mounted on the sides of the turret. I want them centerline mounted like the picture in the above link. I guess if the Baneblade turret is too large, I wonder if a Demolisher turret could concievably fit four autocannon barrels in the place ment for a demolisher cannon?

It sounds like you're in need of a beefy turret. If you look at the Shilka it's pretty big and round too. You can try a Leman Russ turret if you want to keep to GW, but I suspect you'll have to scratchbuild or adapt a 1/35th tank turret to house four predator autocannons.
The ork battlewagon has a pretty big turret doesn't it? I'm not familiar with the kit but you may want to give it a look