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I've just started work on converting a Basilisk into a Colossus.

I'm basing it on the S-51 Russian Artillery Piece (Here's a render from World of Tanks)
http://bestgamewallpapers.com/files/world-of-tanks/s-51_wide.jpg

Therefore I'm planning to move the gun + gunshield to the front of the Chimera Chassis.
Because the Colossus is supposed to fire huge shells, I will add a crane mechanism somewhere around center Chassis.
I want to be able to model the fact that it fires 3 shells in a barrage - I'm planning to cut down the long EarthShaker Cannon and making it into 3 separate barrels.

As I see it, there are two possible ways for me to model the gun(trio).
1) I could put them on top of each other, like a vertical missile rack, and add two more breaches to the other barrels. This would fit into the current gunshield, but would leave no room for elevation or depression of the gun(trio).
2) I could arrange them in a triangular fashion, and create a large breach to cover all 3 at once. Issue is, I would have to modify the gun shield, probably having to cut it in half, and widening the gap, to fit the gun(trio) through.

What do you guys think?
Constructive Criticism/ Thoughts wanted.





Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just thought of something else too -- I'll use the Dozer Blade as an Earth Spade at the back, to work against the massive recoil from the gun (trio).

Like the spade at the back of this - and other SPG's like it.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/155mm-GMC-M12-France-1944.jpg

So what thinking about this and sure a crane is cool but I have always thought that there was so much more potential, if you have the skills I would suggest trying to scratch build some form of drum, so it would look like a giant 3 barrelled 6 shooter artillery of doom.

Other than that all I can say is please post pics of progress, I always like to see people do crazy things with artillery.

Ok, I've just finished the main arty piece itself. It's only missing -
A crane (Still got to decide how and where I'll do that)
The Crew (Don't know how I'll do them yet.)
The Finished Nameplates (Need a name to go on em )

What he has -
Tri Barrel that actually rotates
Full Elevation/Depression Range
Earth Spade to work against recoil
His gun deck is high enough for crouching crew members to be positioned on the lower level.

Profile -


Front -


Back -


Elevation -


Shows that the Barrels actually Rotate -




Thoughts People? Be gentle; it's the first vehicle I've made

Also, I have a couple questions as I'm not quite finished on him.

1. I'm looking for Names - My Regiment comes from Gryphonne (The Solar System which got ate by nids), so they're the last ones left from their home system. Any Name Ideas for this arty?
2. I'm planning to add a crane/winch to help bring ammo up to the gun deck - any ideas on how I'd do that? Atm the best idea I've got is a long pole to go out passed the Earth Spade to pull up ammo by winch.. it is a good idea, I'm just looking for more options.
3. Whilst the Gun can be fully elevated -- it's front heavy, so it drops back down -- I need to add a counter-weight that would actually look good, to allow me to change the elevation whenever I wanted. Any ideas for Counter-Weights that look good/fit the scheme?
4. Anyone know how I would go about modelling shells?

Looking good so far! Regarding your questions, I may have a few ideas:

1. Considering the backstory, how about names such as; 'Avenger', 'Vengeful' or 'Martyr of Gryphonne' (Just from the top of my head ) Generic names such as 'Thunderer', 'Leviathan', 'Behemoth' etc. also work quite well. May I suggest taking a look into medieval English (or European for that matter) history - they often named their siege engines with a variety of creative names. For example 'God's Sling' was applied to engines such as a trebuchet - how about 'The Emperor's Sling' or some other name. Just some thoughts to get you going

2. If I recall correctly, the Space Marine Vindicator has a crane included in the kit for the exact same purpose - check eBay for bits regarding that. If it's not the aesthetic you were going for, then how about finding some historical engineer vehicle 1/35 scale kits and nicking the crane off them. For example, this 1/35 Challenger ARRV:

http://www.hlj.com/product/ACMC024

3. I think putting in a counter weight would be a bad idea myself. Simply because, unless you have it finely balanced, it'll either slump forwards or it will slump back to it's full extreme. Personally, I'd suggest possibly using some magnets in the gun mount. If they are strong enough, then the gun will be prevented from tipping forward or backwards too far by the strength of the magnets holding it in one position.

4. I've been waiting for someone to ask this for ages! If you want to go down the route of buying ammunition bits, there is myriad places you can get them - anvil-industries, Forgeworld, shells out of a Vindicator etc.

However, if you want a low cost solution, then I've found that casings from a .22 Rifle round are the perfect size to represent shells. All you'll need are a handful of spent .22 casings (The empty casings ejected after the round has been fired) and I'm sure you could either pop round to your local game hunter/rifle enthusiast/casual shooter/shooting range, and ask for a handful of spent rifle rounds. (Obviously it's important to remember that you'll need to explain exactly why you want them and depending on your age, the law and how dangerous the shooter views spent casings, they may ask for ID or a Firearms license first). Without the heads, they are perfect for throwing around the gun deck as spent rounds or stacked in a corner to represent the tubes of propellant used in modern artillery.

Of course, to represent live shells is a touch more difficult if you want to use .22 rounds. Obviously, for legal and safety reasons - live ammunition should NEVER be used in any circumstance. Even if it looks right - it is downright 100% dangerous and irresponsible to venture outside a designated shooting zone with live ammunition - Duh! (I just feel the need to reinforce that point )

Therefore, to represent 'live' shells with a .22 casing, I would grab a spent casing and then mold a little GS head in lieu of a real one. The result looks very realistic and is very low cost. I would recommend using a metal primer to prime the casings - I have attempted it with a simple matt black primer, but it didn't etch into the brass well enough.

Hope this helps!

Damn good reply - ty.

Whilst those are some good suggestions, nothing really speaks to me -- I have a feeling this will take me a while to find a name I like

I really like that historical vehicle engineer crane - so I'll look into getting that. Ty.

Magnets to hold it is a good idea. Ty.

I really like the idea of using spent .22 casings. I may try finding deactivated .22 rounds for the 'live' ammo too. Very good idea.

I was going to suggest de-activating .22 casings and popping the heads back in, but as I'm not sure exactly who I'm speaking to, I didn't suggest it because some people could go off and do something incredibly stupid if they did it themselves (Not yourself of course - you sound like you know a bit about doing it, but you can never tell ) However, if you are going to de-activate them yourself, remember that the priming charge (The percussion cap) is in the rim of the .22 round. I'm not sure how you would get this out, but if you opt to leave it in the casing, be aware that it may not be legal to do so, especially if somebody pulls you up about it in a public place (I.E if you take them into a shop and somebody officious starts to question you about them). It's just a thought, and chances are that nobody will bat an eyelid, but I just have to say it as a bit of a disclaimer.

Good luck with the conversion and make sure to put some pics up of the finished product

Oh dat waggon will be the envy of all da boyz! Nice to see the imperium take a page outa the orky book.

Jokes aside, my only gripe is the gun but the rest of the model is just awsome. The paint job will look stunning in the finished army.

What I'm planning to do before I consider it done -

1. Find a Name and put it on
2. Put on a Crane for the Ammo
3. Magnetize the gun so it doesn't just flop
4. Add a Camonet
5. Add some Sand-bags around the crew compartment.
6. Add some Ammo, both spent and 'live'
7. Add Crew

Don't "de-activate" a live round. You'll only end up slipping and setting it off.
And you'll never get all of the powder dust out so if a cop with a dog happen by (or if you ship your army or try to bring it on a plane) the dog will alert on your army bag and the cops may well decide to be really safe and deactivate your suspect "army bag" with a det-charge.

Another option is a bit of plastic tube about 3/4" long with one end capped off with a piece of card stock. Then you can prime it and paint it any colors you like; like brass with a blackened end on the open side. For an unspent round just GS a shell cap on the open end.

Griffon theme

The Griffon's Talons

Wings of Redemption

Wrath of Lions

Ill keep thinking. Just woke up. Could incorporate the nids source name as well.

Tyrans Vigil etc... For tank names and such.

Gryphons wrath?
Phoenix of gryphon?
Gryphoeoix?
Just a few poor suggestions.
Love the model though.

Tubing, old round shields and warheads made from milliput have always served me well. Painted up, they look like an actual rimmed shell but don't have the weight (however, you CAN get brass tube in the right diameter, couple it with a plastic round shield and then it will have weight and look like a shell anyway.

Thanks for all the suggestions on both names and modelling tips.

Unfortunately, I haven't come up with any I like, and none of these speak to me either. I most likely will incorporate something to do with Nids into the name. Considering it's a major part of the fluff from Gryphonne.

Either way, thanks a lot for all of the suggestions and comments!