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The first 5 months of this build are on another forum which is currently out of action so I've decided to post it here as well.

The initial idea was to do something different with the baneblade chassis but nothing seemed to click with me well enough to make a start. So after having the chassis sat on the shelf a few years the idea hit me with the release of GW's imperial knight, how do you recover a fallen knight back to the workshop for repair???? A little surfing on the Internet for current combat and engineer tanks etc gave some good pointers and the " Craneblade was finally on the workbench.

struggling to get to grips with how to post off my ipad so have switched to my laptop, hoping to have more success
the first mock up seemed to weedy and the crane seemed to tower above the crew compartment. so spent a couple of hours beefing it all up. the mine ploughs took a couple of hours a night for about two weeks to build and i'm really pleased with how they have turned out.
As this is supposed to be a recovery vehicle it has some defensive weaponry, the sponsons have the bolters fitted but i think i will leave the turrets off. ive added addition bolters from the stormraven kit to the sides aswell, these are located at the front of the chassis.

Those ploughs are awesome. Great skills.

Cheers Fifty, unfortunately I don't have the pics anymore of them being built, otherwise I'd show some of the other pics, oversight on my part, Forgot to back up my iPad, doh. So I'm hoping to retrieve them if Warseer ever gets back up and running.

As my son won't sleep I may as well update some more.

Tried to use a mix of products on the rear of the vehicle to give it a used feel and this was the progress as of November last year, satellite and vox comms detail added along with rear smoke launchers. boxes and bags from the dark angles bike kits dotted about and scratch frame work for a large equipment box. Railing on top of the rear of the crew compartment is a mx of scratch and imperial knight left overs.

oohhh - this looks very promising

I am greatly intrigued by this project, as an IG player who is building engineers. I WANT MOAR

Moved to Blogs...

Nice work so far

Thanks for the comments guys, always like feedback

side shot showing access hatches and detail on the crew compartment. eBay came in handy here as I got a job lot of doors, hatches and other detail for IG vehicles for about £4. Had contemplated scratch building the hatches but took the easy route instead.

Interesting project, keen to see it progress.

Looking good!

As for the sponsons, you could consider mounting cranes where the lascannon turrets would normally be placed. Or an excavator arm for that matter?

Mmmmm, food for thought. Like the idea of a excavator arm, lots of ram and rivet detail potential. Have been building a telescopic crane for another project . aquired an incomplete forgeworld bombard kit and I am currently converting it to a Trojan type supply vehicle with scratch built trailer. The crane from the kit was a bit short for what I wanted so I extended the first section by 20mm and then completely rebuilt the second section as a telescopic jib, but could scratch build something like it for one of the sponsons.

Nice project, and great execution thus far.

Telescopoc crane arm is ace, and extra arms/smaller cranes from the sponsons is a great idea.

Wow, looking VERY good indeed! Eager to see it progress.

As was suggested the other day I sat down and worked on another crane arm to mount on one of the sponsons. This is going to be a three stage telescopic crane and will hopefully be fully positionable. Have messed around with the transport position and think it will be stowed pointing backwards resting on a frame built on the rear angled track guard. Very much a work in progress but here it is so far.

Despite being a recovery vehicle rather than a tank, it looks more majestic than its baneblade counterpart, the ram on the hull making it look quite intimidating.

Thank you, projects been on hold for a month as I was struggling to think up the finishing touches, but with joining Dakka Dakka have had a couple of good suggestions already.

This is brilliant work, excellent idea and execution. And fully operational cranes to boot... Wow...
What technique do you use for rivets? water filter beads, styrene rod, etc.??

Thanks Ruglud
Simple hollow punch. Found a set on eBay that go from 10mm to 1mm. Waiting for a set from China that goes from 5mm to 0.5mm in 0.5mm increments. have tried the other methods you mentioned but can not get the consistency in size so looks a bit odd, found this way works for me.

Always nice to have another project to fall back on when you hit a wall with a build. So I started this project in January when the craneblade ground to a halt, so thought I'd add my supplŷ vehicle conversion to this blog as well. This is the converted bombard kit I mention before. Have put in a chequer plate floor and converted the crane on the main unit as well as add a crane control console with control sticks. I have also scratch built a trailer based on the oop forgeworld one. The main build is nearly finished and it needs the finer detail and a load of some sort.
Experimenting with airbrush settings and paint on this model at the mo as I received a compressor and airbrush set up for my birthday.

With some paint on

This is so cool. Great idea for a project.

EDC

I like the trailer and the hydrolic arm.

As I posted this morning, I built a control panel for the crane Having gone back though my photos managed to find a couple of them being constructed. Tiny bit more detailing required but I'm really pleased with them

Little bit of work on the front last night. Put the new closed gun hatch n the front along with other little bits. Photo also shows the detail behind the mine plough blades and on the Rams.

Excellent craftsmanship, Alaricuk. Beautiful rivet work overall. The mine plough looks great. I know it's a work in progress, and I still am going to be that guy who says the control platform looks a little unfinished. I feel like it needs a cushioned operator's chair on a swivel or something. Anyway, great work. Looking forward to seeing more.

Cheers Warboss, I like the idea of a cushioned chair, would certainly add some interest.
The controls are for my Trojan conversion, and I'm not sure a chair would fit in where I'm thinking of putting them. Had the idea of the operator standing in a small space with cargo behind him .Here's a pic when I was having a test fitted before painting,

Nice updates. I your attention to detail is commendable. The dozer look blooming fantastic.

EDC

Thanks for the comments evildrcheese, think it comes from doing 1/35 tanks for a number of years. It's the little things I think that seem to make it come to life.

So having been inspired with new ideas, have spent a couple more hours working on the crane for one of the sponsons again. Started on the boom mounting and rotating base. Couple of failed attempts where things didn't quite match up but that's the beauty of scratch building, only costs time and little in the way of materials. The boom mounting has had the rivet and bolt detail added, it only remains to make the bearings for the rotating section.