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You're not wrong, Vik.

Camkierhi wrote:Your sponson ammo is dependant on the weapon, are you intending to have the weapons swappable?

No. Everything in my army will be built with everything it needs and will ever need. There will be no swapping and changing of bits to customise this army to the enemy. It's all left to chance/random effects/chaos/entropy...

And what about using Vik's excellent idea on the sponsons, Nid acid sprayers instead of flamers. And the gunner being a nid would have a "hive"link to the sponsons! Then you would not require to invade the interior with ammo racks.

I do have future plans for an acid cannon replacement to a flamer weapon and (not to disappoint anyone, but) I have already chosen what the guns will be in the sponsons. It's how they end up being built that will dictate the shape of the reloads.

Good a time to talk about the sponsons as any really.
The weapons that will be installed have been alluded to in the fluff I posted earlier, and some of the wip photos may have had one of the guns in the background...

...Now that you've gone and had a look back over the last few pages;
First off, I know that a Predator is meant to have the same gun on each sponson. But this is where I take my leave from the rules of the game and add a little randomness/chaos, and so they will be different on each side. Which will make things more interesting depending on which way the tank is positioned on the battlefield...

One of the guns I had the idea for when I first bought the kit and actually started building it. Intended as a replacement for the Heavy Bolter option I decided to make a 3-barrelled Gatling cannon type weapon. It still needs a lot more work, especially now that I've changed the idea of how the sponsons will be attached. This gun will, of course, require an ammo drum and reloads stored inside the tank.

The other weapon (intended as a replacement of the Las cannon option) was featured heavily in the fluff that revealed the nature and identity of the tank. I have more, quite detailed, fluff about the functioning of the gun and I'll post that when I come to that gun. I will say now though, that instead of it being a weapon that "fires" light, it uses electrons... It's very mad scientist...

Just thinking out load.

Nothing wrong with that. It leads to many good ideas. Keep it up.

cormadepanda wrote:but ammo racks are the best!

Thanks Panda.

nerdfest09 wrote:That ammo rack is simply outstanding! you are a very clever little Dr aren't you! :-)

Thank You NF.

it uses electrons... It's very mad scientist...


I like that... would require probably some other gear as any laser gun...hmmm.... more like a radiation gun...

as for the gatling...:even if I still have seen nothing yet.. gatlings always will be my favourite type of gun...even before shotguns

 Viktor von Domm wrote:
I like that... would require probably some other gear as any laser gun...hmmm.... more like a radiation gun...

Well, actually electrons are a form of radioactive emission.
[Science bit] Everybody has heard of Gamma Rays as radiation. These are electromagnetic waves, just like light (and x-rays, microwaves and radio-waves).
But there are two other types of emission from a radioactive material;
Alpha-particles, which are helium nuclei (2 protons and 2 neutrons).
And Beta-particles, which are high-energy electrons.
[/Science Bit]

All will be explained later.

as for the gatling...:even if I still have seen nothing yet.. gatlings always will be my favourite type of gun...even before shotguns

Yeah, both very nice guns.

Let's see...
...You can see it here behind the driver.

ha!....me knows about alpha and beta rays....it has even a face....an ugly one at that...:







Automatically Appended Next Post:
ah I see^^

Vik: Not had to pleasure (if you can call it that) of seeing him before. What's he from?

And after spending ages trying to make the shapes I wanted (from card) to fit on the sides of the dispenser, I remembered the collection of discs and rings I had and picked out a size that fits fine and does at least part of the job I was originally aiming for.
Here's how the finished ammo dispenser fits in with the rest of the interior...


I think the next jobs will be to make the front of the tank and extend the roof, as both jobs require the use of plasticard...

The dispenser and shells looks great - like a crazy gumball dispenser

BTW, the comic fella is Beta Ray Bill from Thor comics (Marvel)

Looking quite good there!

Awesome job all around Dr. h , that's brilliant work on the shell dispenser.

Thats going to be a great charactful piece Dr. I commend your eye for detail and the time spent on the interior I cant wait to see this beast progress to the finish line!

Ruglud wrote:The dispenser and shells looks great - like a crazy gumball dispenser

BTW, the comic fella is Beta Ray Bill from Thor comics (Marvel)

Thanks Ruglud.
I see, Not read many Thor stories.

Thanks Shas. (only "quite"... )
Thanks Theo.

bebopdrums2424 wrote:Thats going to be a great charactful piece Dr. I commend your eye for detail and the time spent on the interior I cant wait to see this beast progress to the finish line!

Thanks BB. The little details is where I find I'm happiest. I aim to go just beyond the point where the details aren't noticeable by themselves but add to the overall impression of a well detailed piece (if you know what I mean ).
There's such a long way to go until the whole is finished, but with each job as an individual "whole" there is a nice series of little finishes spread out evenly. That keeps you lot interested and me, motivated. That's a good thing to keep in mind whenever you start a large project...

Well, I could have downgraded it to a simple "Looking good"

well....that dispenser looks cool...and no way around it!...it even has what we in the trade call the icing of any worthy cake...:rivets

as for beta ray bill... I think he was the fella why there ever was that eternal question...: why the long face?...

Thanks Vik and lol.

I wanted to make a kind of "S"-shape on the sides, but I just couldn't cut the curves or the ends (where the pieces met each other or the sides) right.
But I think the circle gives a good enough impression of how it functions.

While I think about a design for the front of the tank, I have started painting the next commission pieces. So expect an update over there once there's more than a basecoat to show.

I'm now going to google "tank hatches" and see if inspiration jumps out at me...

This whole tank ought to be a real attention grabber when you show it off at your local store! It has certainly been grabbing attention here at Dakka!

 shasolenzabi wrote:
This whole tank ought to be a real attention grabber when you show it off at your local store! It has certainly been grabbing attention here at Dakka!

Thanks Shas.
It's got a long way to go before it can surpass the Hut or the "rippers playing 40k" in terms of attention grabbing.

Oh, and I forgot to say to your previous comment...

LOL Dr H, I'll raise you with a

That shell dispenser is the coolest bit of kit I think I've ever seen!

 dsteingass wrote:
That shell dispenser is the coolest bit of kit I think I've ever seen!

Thanks Dave. With all the cool things available today, that means a lot.

Although I could have picked a better material for the curved body of it; A cheap cotton bobbin thing that I think was probably made from recycled plastic was a pain in the backside to work with. It was very soft to cut, but it also didn't cut cleanly. So getting a smooth edge to those holes was practically impossible. Will have to see how they look when I prime it and if they still look rough I'll have to add some putty round the edges.

Still contemplating the hatch and painting commission models. I'll be back soon.

It is still a very Dr.H made dispenser, so unique item

Paint will cover all!

shasolenzabi wrote:It is still a very Dr.H made dispenser, so unique item

Thanks Shas. Unique is my main aim in this blog.

dsteingass wrote:Paint will cover all!

It does cover most sins, but not quite everything...

On the topic of paint, I could do with some thoughts in my commission blog. Ta.

I may return here later with some mock-ups of hatches for the tank...

I said I'd be back with concepts and here they are.
This is (at the moment) just to get an idea of the shape and to give you all an idea of the layout I'm planning.

So a square hatch would allow the hinge to be either at the top or the side and it allows me to bring the headlights/eyes closer together (I don't know the ideal distance yet, but I want to give it the impression of having eyes).

a rectangular hatch would have to have the hinge at the top (I don't think at the bottom is a viable option, but not entirely ruled out yet). The headlights won't be able to be as close, but there will be a delicate balancing act between the two. This option also gives the best view of the interior.

A circular hatch, while matching the other hatches of the tank kit, would be very difficult to cut out (although I may have something laying about to help). Has the same benefits as the square hatch, but I'm not sure of the aesthetics of a round hatch with round lights... And the main problem, as shown in the picture, is that very little of the interior would be visible through the hatch and therefore make it a little pointless.

Obviously there will be more details on the finished surfaces of the model.

Thoughts?

Triangular, hinged at the bottom, with just mesh for a window.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Triangular, hinged at the bottom, with just mesh for a window.

You're thinking like an Ork there, aren't you?!
I know I've introduced the fact that The Scientist has an Ork engineer, but it's still designed by a scientist (albeit a slightly mad one ).
I also don't fancy trying to cut out a triangular hole... and it would also limit visibility into the tank... But I might put a triangular window on something in the future, just because you mentioned it...

I kind of prefer the last one, but make it the same size hole as right above so you can use a turret hatch that opens right and left. It also needs an entry keypad that is ridiculously complex right next to it, so when they are surprised Nd have to get into the tank they have to enter a third digit combo with correct capitalization and no backspace key .

#2 or #3 for sure...#1 is too big and #4 looks like a porthole on the Titanic or something.

what about no hatch and just a bunch of slants like the cars from death race?

Theophony wrote:I kind of prefer the last one, but make it the same size hole as right above so you can use a turret hatch that opens right and left. It also needs an entry keypad that is ridiculously complex right next to it, so when they are surprised Nd have to get into the tank they have to enter a third digit combo with correct capitalization and no backspace key .

I haven't tried yet, but I don't think the hatches that come in the kit will fit in the space on the front, although it is something to check.
This hatch isn't for entry, there's plenty of other hatches to get in and out of (not that they will do a lot of that) not to mention the large hatch on the rear.
This is just for the driver to open if he wants to feel the breeze on his face...

dsteingass wrote:#2 or #3 for sure...#1 is too big and #4 looks like a porthole on the Titanic or something.

The top one is just what it looks like at the moment.
I am inclined to agree with you though on the porthole...

cormadepanda wrote:what about no hatch and just a bunch of slants like the cars from death race?

Nice idea and I like the look. But it's still a little too Ork-y for what I'm after. I'll save that one for later.

Thanks for the input guys, keep it coming.

what about a lens- like round opening... much bigger than what you sketched but it is only open just a fraction of the full extent and thus not much more than you already have? the mad scientist´s approach would thus be satisfied...:

something like this..:

Perhaps make a cardboard cutout in scale of a space marine for him to have on the front to get through imperial checkpoints .