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I'm working on a few Imperial Guard tanks and it just hit me that I need to make them more or less unique to each other.
I googled customized Leman Russ, but nothing special came up, so I thought I could make a thread and hopefully people would share their own personal tanks.

I'm fairly new to Dakkadakka and there might just be a thread just like this, but then I hope someone can provide a link.

I got no pictures, nor any special parts, I have not had time to go through my bits to see if there are any items I can use, but this is what I have come up with so far:

I want the crew man sticking up from the hatch to rotate, so without the magnets I figured I could try to be creative.
- I stuck the guy through the hole, then I held him down with some sprue bits under him, inside the turret. This seems to be my best option so far, but I'm afraid once I glue him down the bond will not be as strong and he will wiggle around or the whole thing will fall off over time.
- My other idea is to cut up some plasticard and seal him in, but I'm afraid this will get the same result as the above.

My best option seems to be magnets...

Anyway, please share your photoes, I would love to add equipment, bags and such to my tanks aswell, so off to ebay I guess!

Take care.

plasticard extra armor, gauze webbing, coms, bags, plasticard/pen tube improvised exhaust, kill markings, "nose art," names, graffitti, infantry gear


I find the second half of Full Metal Jacket to show some really interesting lived-in tanks made almost unrecognizable with improvised gear etc.

Look up a particular real world tank on google. All the different pictures of the same tank type will give you unGodly amounts of inspiration.

I'll post some pics tomorrow but for my guard tanks I've added stowage of course, but what's more is none are remotely stock. 1 chimera has had the tracks replaced with 6 large crusher wheels, 1 has been given land raider tracks & guards, plus the skirting off a bradley & custom road wheels. Both have had the turret mounts cut away & closed up plasticard so the turrets mount straight on the former driver's hatch for the lighter chimera chassis tanks. My Russes are scratchbuilds with chimera tracks. Also a pair of chimera counts-as 1 is a halftrack, the other is a deuce & a half, both conversion/scratchbuilds.

I've done a few things to mine. Being GK I can only run land raiders as a via able tank. But, I've put on both the hurricane bolter and the flame storm cannons on my land raiders. I'll throw up pics tomorrow.

You can always replace the turret with a predator turret. Don't know how it would look, though. Also, there are custom turrets from 3rd party sources you can buy/use.

Me, I just paint religious icons on my Rhinos. Lots of it.

I used the Chimera chassis and Predator turrets for my Russes



A much more pleasing aesthetic in my opinion.

I haven't done much to my tanks (SM, not IG, anyway), beyond magnetizing weapon options, but, having done my homework on the topic, I'd echo some of the suggestions here - adding stowage (glue-soaked tissue is great for tarps, bedrolls, etc. if you don't want to mess with putty) gives them a nice "lived in" touch, while gauze sprinkled flock/dried herbs/old tea is a relatively easy way to add camo netting. Neither of these requires anything from your bits box, let alone scratchbuilt parts.

Also, you may have better luck searching for converted or kitbashed models - both are terms specific to and more commonly used by modelers for customization. those terms will likely give you better results, for your purpose, whether on Google or the Dakka Gallery.

My Land Raider has the hull of a Hive Tyrant painted in hive fleet kraken colors, and fits in with the rest of my 2nd Company Ultramarines.

Hello,

I like using the GW textured paint to "slop" my vehicles tracks and lower hull. While its wet, I then chop pieces of "Field Grass" from woodland scenics and smush them into the tracks and up under the hull. It gives them a look that they have been in the field a while.

That might help ya out !!

Unless your army has special fluff (e.g. tied to a nearby Forgeworld doing military development work), they're likely to use standard IG vehicles. Any 'customising' would be likely to consist of: stowage, markings (although they'd probably be consistent across the whole army), and the occasional battlefield repair or modification (e.g. welded/bolted-on extra armour, extra fuel tanks etc).

GW has some extra stowage in the IG bits section and its a bit pricey for a couple stowage pieces but I like them and am working on gettting them on my tanks. I also have some netting that Im working with getting on the tank.

A trick for getting a commander to stay in the turret that Ive used is to glue extra bases inside on the bottem part of the turret, 2-3 onn top of each other should be good enough.

I use skulls on my tanks to represent kill markings, and I've also recieved a baneblade(which has cool names on the transfer which I will be using)

Wish I had pics but my phone camera never seems good enough to catch detail and my girlfriends camera doesnt have a lens for Small models.

I did all my pictures under the work in progress forum. Under Buggus.

I plastic carded the turrent to look like the M1Aram. dbl top hatch, pictures for each step.. As well as the rest of my guard army...

My entire army revolves around unique tanks that I modify/build. each and every tank/armored vehicale has a name and some modification or something that sets it apart from the rest.
Then again my army is named the 91st Experimental Regiment which has fluff to back up the conversions/modifications. So I don't thinik you will want to go this extreame. but you asked for "custom" tanks so here they are.

these below are just a few of the Russes.

Salvaged


Experimental



and my construction blog, which has many of the pictures in there. not all of them but alot of them.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/417916.page

Ok, as promised, here's my latest WiP for my Steel Legion army:

First the Russ



Hellhound



Chimerae
Deuce & a half -



Half-Track



Heavy Tracked Chimera




Command Car



Salamander Scout

I use plastic strap that they use to wrap boxes with. (You know, the kind that has that metal clip holding it together.) I think it looks like steel plating. I put it over the tops of the treads of all of my tanks and chimeras. I also use it as bits of armor plating here and there on them.

My scratch built LR, the "Lumbering Jack",I painted with a green and black checkered pattern, like a lumberjack, and the commander in the turret has a plaid vest on also and carrying an axe.

Found my IG link, its very detailed with a truck load of pictures,, fyi,, tanks, to ratlings, to storm troopers, you named it.. lots of custom work..


http://z11.invisionfree.com/Work_In_Progress/index.php?showtopic=12326