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Great job chaos, but I don't think that the ladder pieces fit into the general aesthetic. Perhaps put them on one side, or the back, with more spacing between each rung.

Great looking machine! I have been playing around with some digital sculpting sites for a few months now, I must say that I am more impressed than ever

Are there going to be any 40k markings on it or are you trying to stay away from them?

Nope. There will be space available in prominent locations for you to apply your own decals/brass etch.

Hello,
The front keeps catching my eye, and I figured out what it is. It is to flat up front, perhaps break it into two planes, other wise it loses the tank effect and looks like a Volvo grill, or a old Kubelwagen front, with the bevel it would be better at deflecting small and medium arms fire as well, giving it a more amphibous look.

Regards,
Carl

I know precisely what you mean, and its being worked on.

First : Applause for you sir - really liking the tank . The general proportions look good to me, and the turret looks like it could be easily modified for a range of different weapon loadouts.

Second : If I may, I have a thought - inspired by the comments about the nose armour - regarding a possible marketing approach...

Would it be possible to slightly modify the chassis to develop an APC variant ?

My thought is that an APC kit might be easier to put into production, and slightly cheaper perhaps, offering a means of building funds for the launch of the MBT kit ?

I'm no expert, and have NO experience in this type of venture so I may be way off, but I thought I'd at least mention it in case it helps.

Anyhoo - keep up the sterling work. If I were an IG player I'd be waiting to order a few of these

Thanks for the comments Reaper6. I suppose it could be modified for an APC variant, I'll have to give that some thought though. I have plans for an APC that shares a similar design philosophy (and can also be used for things such as artillery vehicles, air-defense vehicles, flame-tanks, etc.), but is more of a half-track style vehicle, kind of a bastard child of a ww2 german SDKFZ and a modern day LAV III in terms of looks.

That looks amazing. This is what the LMBT should look like. Great mix of old styling (the sponsons), with a modern and futuristic theme to it.

Keep up the great work. Hopefully you get it put into production, if even a limited run. For 30 buck a pop, I would need a garage just to fit these into.

I am also interested in an APC to replace the chimera (although unlike the LRBT, I actually don't mind the GW model). Your idea seems like it would look pretty great.

Also, you make me want to get back into CAD... shame I never learned how to do 3D.

Talizvar wrote:Ummm... looks really cool but I cannot shake the feeling that with the first picture you unconsciously made a "Millennium Falcon" turret.

Agree.

If, and when you manage to get this printed out. Do you have an idea of how you'd like it to piece together? Like hull pieces, turret, etc?
I think the tank looks fabulous. Did think YT-1300 at first, but once it was placed on the tank, you could hardly tell.

Well, I'm trying to find the middle ground between convenience and detail. I have some nifty (theoretical) ideas on how to manage both, but I'm not sure if it will work out the way I would like it to.

Obviously its very much a WIP, but this is something I threw together last night. I decided to knock out a few smaller pieces to get some more experience with the 3d thing (as well as to give me a break from the tank), and to make some cash on the side. This is a heavy weapon platform, not unlike what you might find in Imperial Guard platoons. Weapon options-wise, I'm imagining twin light machine guns, a mortar, a heavy mg, AT rifle, high-energy laser, and cannon (with AT and fragmentation rounds). I should have the design finished by the end of next week (maybe not the weapons). The heavy mg and high-energy laser designs will probably be a first-look at the hull-mounted weapons for the tank, and I'm thinking a twin-linked AT rifle would make a pretty cool turret as well, don't you?

Once its done, I'm gonna see about finding a caster. Not sure if I want to sell these things directly, I'm consisering contacting Troll Forged, maybe Chapterhouse, maybe some others. I'll decide who I'm going w/ depending on the terms offered to me.



The big blue circle is the outline of a 60mm base. As you can see, it overhangs a bit, but I've never seen someone have an issue with a mini because it overhangs its base. Besides that, it kinda needed to be this big to capture the feel I was going for, I wasn't able to do exactly what I wanted to do, but I'm overall quite pleased.

Nice. That, I'm interested in.

Very nice! I'd vote for slightly smaller, if at all possible, to get the spades onto a 60mm base, though...

That said, if you get these out fairly soon and at a reasonable price-point, I'd be interested in quite a few for my Tallarn army. It'd save me having to convert up a bunch of weapons chassis for my heavy weapons. I never did like the original metal ones... 'Course I'd be trying to fit the older-style metal autocannon on most of them, so it'd also depend on if that was an "easy" fit.

Vale,

JohnS

Hmm, I'll see about making it smaller, but I'm kinda limited by technology. The smallest 'thin wall' I can do is .6mm and some of the walls are sitting at about 1mm right now, and I don't want these to be flimsy... so we'll see. Alternatively I can shorten the spade pole or whatever its called a bit. I personally prefer them longer, but it doesn't really significantly effect the appearance IMO.

I'm aiming to have these available for sale late february-marchish. Say 2 weeks to get the designs finished + 2 weeks to get prototypes + 2 weeks to get molds + 1-2 weeks of 'flex' time? Really it depends on the prototypist and the manufacturer. The prototypes shouldn't take more than a day + shipping time to get to me, unless they get hit with a big project at the same time. But the manufacturer is an unknown factor, since aside from not having one lined up yet, I don't know what their production times are like, etc.

As for weapons, the 'slot' on the shield is about 7.5mm wide, so if the old style metal autocannons are 7.5mm or less in width, you'll be good to go.

Pricewise, I don't really know, since I wouldn't be the one manufacturing them. Obviously there would be some sort of quantity discount (especially because I'll be needing a couple hundred of these things myself over the next year or so...). There will probably be a sliding scale on the price, with a bigger discount the more you buy.

Update time. The wheels and spades/spadepole thingies and the front of the shield are done. I only have the main structure and weapons left to do atm, and I had a really sweet idea on how to ensure the weapon remains securely in place while still being interchangeable (without the use of magnets). I'll have more on that next update.

Also, as you can see, I shortened the spades they still overhang SLIGHTLY but not really.

chaos0xomega wrote:Good eye major tom. It is NX 5.0

I also have solidworks, but I dont really ever use it.

I had maya and 3ds (and rhino 3d) but I had absolutely no idea how to use them, so I got rid of them. I still have blender, but I only kept it because it was the only one I had acquired legally out of the group. I'm an engineer, and thus recieved training on engineering software. To me, 3ds, maya, rhino, and blender are the most unintuitive, impossible to use software ever written.

Ever try Photoworks for Solidworks?

No, what does photoworks do? I'm guessing its a rendering application?

It is soooo pretty.

I wish it would fit in with my IG army... guess its time to mix regiments...

i want you to make it more like the falcon. EXAXTLY like it.

sparkywtf wrote:It is soooo pretty.

I wish it would fit in with my IG army... guess its time to mix regiments...

Whats your IG army? Should fit w just about any force I can think of, except maybe Elysians.

diarrhea attendant wrote:i want you to make it more like the falcon. EXAXTLY like it.

The tank or the heavy weapon platform?... Get back into your hole, troll!

I'm really liking the redesign. Would you be planning on offering the carriage without any weapons?

I'm definitely going to keep this on my "to watch" list...

Valete,

JohnS

cygnnus, I haven't given it much thought in regards to how would it be sold. Since this is destined for resin production (at least until I have enough money to do plastics and not end up in additional debt, on top of my student loans), I don't see why weaponless carriages would be an issue. I just have to figure out how to work the logistics system so I don't end up with a freight container of unwanted weapon bits.

chaos0xomega wrote:

sparkywtf wrote:It is soooo pretty.

I wish it would fit in with my IG army... guess its time to mix regiments...

Whats your IG army? Should fit w just about any force I can think of, except maybe Elysians.

Catachans... They would work for like artillery, but I just don't think they kind fit in with an army of Rambos running through the forest.

Then again, Chimeras don't really fit in either... oh well!

Depending on the price and weapon options, they would be a great way for me to get me 12+ heavy weapon squads... or w.e that apoc formation is!

sparkywtf wrote:

chaos0xomega wrote:

sparkywtf wrote:It is soooo pretty.

I wish it would fit in with my IG army... guess its time to mix regiments...

Whats your IG army? Should fit w just about any force I can think of, except maybe Elysians.

Catachans... They would work for like artillery, but I just don't think they kind fit in with an army of Rambos running through the forest.

Then again, Chimeras don't really fit in either... oh well!

Depending on the price and weapon options, they would be a great way for me to get me 12+ heavy weapon squads... or w.e that apoc formation is!

Part of the reason I'm doing this

I'm trying to put together a Praetorian infantry horde, and as such I need about 90 of these things just for that

And yeah, I see what you mean about Catachans, although I don't really think it would be quite so out of place. Even Catachans gotta set up defensive positions. Go research what a Vietnam War era firebase looked like

Like I said earlier, pricewise I have no clue, but I'm aiming for affordable en masse.

Weapons options wise, twin light machine guns, a mortar, a heavy mg, AT rifle, high-energy laser, and cannon (with AT and fragmentation rounds). I'll leave you to figure out what is usable with 40k IG armies.

Anywho, here is the mostly final design (barring weapons):




I made one major modification to the previous design. The spacing between the two wheels was increased 4mm in order to allow the weapon mount more freedom to rotate. It can now rotate about +-10 degrees.

I played around a bit with the idea of adding an electro-optical device on the opposite side of the gunshield from the vision slit. I decided against it because it seemed a bit like too much tech for something that is fairly crude.

I also played around a bit with the idea of a 'lower shield' to cover the space in between the two wheels. Not sure if its that important/if I should bother. Thoughts?

I'd say no on the lower shield.

1. From a IRL standpoint, a lower shield would make it more difficult to move through terrain.

2. from a casting perspective, a lower piece would be another mold, most likely.

1. Well, the Germans didn't seem to have an issue doing it: http://www.gamefront.nl/images/fh_pak40.jpg

2. Yeah, thats the main reason I didn't want to bother, although I think I can integrate it into one of the other pieces depending on the shape.

you must have been rendering that for a damn long time

chaos0xomega wrote:No, what does photoworks do? I'm guessing its a rendering application?

Basically yes. It now comes standard with Solidworks 2011. I haven't had time to play with it much, been too busy at the office.

I'm going to have to re-d/l solidworks then. I would like to provide better renders to you, my loyal fanbase...

...speaking of which, where are all the posts of validation from my adoring fans? I DEMAND VALIDATION!!!! AND ADORATION!!!!

(seriously, since May 2010 I only had 4 pages of posts.... on warseer I had 4 pages of posts in the first month(and half of them weren't mine...), what gives!?)