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You could put a small shrine?

Perhaps a communication unit so infantry can talk with the crew?

Exhaust pipes?

"Motivational poster"?

Spare gun rack, tow chains, spare track or a large jerry can perhaps?

Dare I suggest an Ork hostage

Wow it's been a while since I've commented on your blog...

Honestly the weathered tanks on the previous page on the thread look awesome, and I really like the mock-up of the leman russ/macharius style chimera chasis aswell. In regards to the new door/back to the chimera you could attempt some freehand art/iconography of your army or assuming you are still holding to their mining world background from ages ago some sort of spare drills/digging gear aswell?

That's a cool profile for a tank... without the treads at least, though they don't ruin the look at all. I can't wait to see more of the plastic version done.

Agreed with monkeytroll : some stowage for a gas can, ropes, maybe a firing point?

Looking good so far, good luck!

Imperial tanks always need more stowage! But - how about double doors? Doesn't matter if one's wider than the other (like on a transit van bus).

inmygravenimage wrote:Imperial tanks always need more stowage! But - how about double doors? Doesn't matter if one's wider than the other (like on a transit van bus).

I believe there is only 1 door as the mechanisms for the turret take up the other side of the rear compartment.

SilverMK2 wrote:

inmygravenimage wrote:Imperial tanks always need more stowage! But - how about double doors? Doesn't matter if one's wider than the other (like on a transit van bus).

I believe there is only 1 door as the mechanisms for the turret take up the other side of the rear compartment.

That's correct. Only the one door.
I know this isn't all that great for a fast exit, but hey

I've still got to rivet it all, but here it is with some wiring and what not on the back to texture it a bit. I didn't want to put too much strong detail on it as I wanted to try and cast it without too many problems. Stowage can, of course, be added after each one has been built so they are all different.

Hmmm... you should of mounted it on its own panel and left a hole in the right for it to slot into - that way you could make and cast multiple different panels.

Oh - looks good BTW

Looks nice...

blah blah blah WoulddaCoulddaShouldda

If I decide I want a different panel on the back I can make one, file a cast flat and mount it on. At this point in time I'm happy with just the one back. Now I just need to thicken up the card panels so that it will cast properly.

Some photos of the other tank coming later...

Looking good. I like what you did with the chimeras, and the mini-macharius is looking promising. Nice job!

As promised. Here are a couple of shots of the other tank coming together slowly, but nicely.





I still need to work out the sides to the front turret as I'm not 100% sure the best way to go about making curved sides to it. The best I can think of is to glue the three bits together, stuff the sides with putty and sand/round it off

Hot water is a good way to soften the plasticard, so you can curve it. But gluing a bunch of smaller strips then filing them down would work too. I think the hot water thing needs a bit of work to get it right, but it's not too bad.

The Good Green wrote:Hot water is a good way to soften the plasticard, so you can curve it. But gluing a bunch of smaller strips then filing them down would work too. I think the hot water thing needs a bit of work to get it right, but it's not too bad.

Looking through my bitz box I just came across some sheets of very thin plasticard that should bend nicely, but I'll give the hot water thing a try if that doesn't work. Thanks

And another quick couple of pictures before bed just showing how the bits look when combined wit the track units and russ turret

Great tank conversion! Can't wait to see it finished.

Man you always make me want to start gaurd

STUNING convertions as always man, befor im off one question:

How will you make the CYCLOPS DEMOLITION SQUADRON? seem like a good fit in your army, litte mining robots that blow tunnels for a dig to start.

bigmek35 wrote:How will you make the CYCLOPS DEMOLITION SQUADRON? seem like a good fit in your army, litte mining robots that blow tunnels for a dig to start.

Thanks
I've not thought about Cyclops squadrons yet. In the short term I could always use the two CATs from Space Hulk

Re: Bending plasticard: if you have anchor points along the curve that will help it hold its shape - if you can add in a strut, or even a bit of sprue, halfway between the back of the sponson mount and the gun mount on either side (if that make sense) that should help. Also, mate, superb work generally: makes me want to go back and do another scratch-built tank o'doom, but maybe a macharius this time!

Yeah, the tanks looks promising...

Good lock with your "curved plasticard thingy"!!

I've found thin plasticard (0.5mm) works best for curves - just don't put it anywhere load bearing! (The original, now replaced, air intake for my latest Trukk was done that way)

It was suggested to me to use several layers of thin plasticard to create curves - bend the first layer, then bend the second layer a little bit more and stick it behind the outer first layer and it will keep the outer layer taught and curved.

endtransmission wrote:I've not thought about Cyclops squadrons yet. In the short term I could always use the two CATs from Space Hulk

I thnk its a start, but i dont like those CATS, they'll look out of place. knowing you youll make somthing cool though

Agreed with bigmek35, and they are really, really small to look efficient as suicide bombers...

The tank looks awesome like a WW2 Grant. If your interested in something similiar to the Russ conversion there are templates about for something called a Fortis Animus which is the same concept by somebody called Patorcah. I don't have a good link so Googles your best bet.

Llamahead wrote:The tank looks awesome like a WW2 Grant.

Agreed. The Grant's profile is really high, more than any other tank I can think of (relative to its length), something that all 40k tanks (except maybe the Macharius?) have as an integral part of their designs - take the standard LR for example. This russ incarnation here is maybe a bit more squat than the M3, which is not a bad thing. Keep up the good work it's looking super-promising!

Llamahead wrote:The tank looks awesome like a WW2 Grant. If your interested in something similiar to the Russ conversion there are templates about for something called a Fortis Animus which is the same concept by somebody called Patorcah. I don't have a good link so Googles your best bet.

I've seen Patorcah's name around before in relation to templates for a Malcador and Macharius, but I've never been able to find any sign of his templates. I did find some papermodel templates for them in the BWC-archive group on Googlegroups that have some possibilities

Updates? Man i got a battle force of the catachan kind and im kinda basing my army of of yours...


so saying that please update befor e this thread needs to get to the point of thred necromancy

Fantastic work on the tanks there. Will you be fitting sponsons to the Macharius-alike?

Regarding the new chimera rear, I would have just used the space as a handy place for the drop tank and left it at that Dangerous to leave, perhaps, but you don't join the Guard for the life expectancy

bigmek35 wrote:Updates? Man i got a battle force of the catachan kind and im kinda basing my army of of yours...
so saying that please update befor e this thread needs to get to the point of thred necromancy

I saw the start of your thread
The tanks have been delayed a little as I managed to run out of plasticard, so I need to find another reasonably priced source. Hobbycraft is a tad pricy for buying lots of sheets at a time

Last night I spent some time on my Red Scorpions (Angstrom camo scheme!), but once that unit is finished, I do intend to go back to doing some sculpting for a bit while I think on the tank progress a bit more. Fear not, things are progressing... albeit slowly.