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 Theophony wrote:
Sounds like fun stuff. Just put it in a salt shaker at mcdonalds and watch the magic

Well it's a liquid at room temperature, so wouldn't look like salt. It also wouldn't hang around long by itself and would probably eat through the shaker (yes it attacks glass as well) and then set fire to the table... and the noxious fumes it gives off would probably stop anyone going in the building, never mind sitting at the table. But yeah, good stuff.

And the Gunner is wired up now:

The main cable connects to the box on his back and then lighter wires connect that to the box on the back of the head (so he doesn't have a heavy cable dangling off his head ).
I've also added an unconnected cable to the "free" side of the tank interior. It's positioned to be laying on the floor of the tank, but is only glued to the wall. What is it's purpose, is left up to the observer...

And this should show the height issue a little better with the roof on.

The bottom lip of where the top piece sits on is roughly at eye level for the Gunner.
And while I can place the roof on with the turret and not touch him where he is, I want to raise it a little just so it doesn't look like he has to spend his time standing under the turret all the time... The thickness of the "depth" of a piece of sprue looks to be sufficient as a guide to height (the "width" of a piece of sprue looks too tall).

Oh yeah - sprue just 'happens' to be the right thickness... You planned that part all along didn't you

You know it's "accidental" when the sprue doesn't need to be "carved" by the spruemeister general

Ruglud wrote:Oh yeah - sprue just 'happens' to be the right thickness... You planned that part all along didn't you

Theophony wrote:You know it's "accidental" when the sprue doesn't need to be "carved" by the spruemeister general

It's just that I have a lot of it close to hand and tend to pick it up first...
You did notice that the boxes on the Gunner's back and head are both made of sprue pieces...

I'm planning on slightly angled sides to the roof extension, so sprue may not fit the bill. I may use a little to support the roof piece, but the outside will be made with the plasticard (that was also used for the front... with a few added bits of sprue).

raw flouride I know is toxic as heck, special gear is needed as it is not safe from even using latex gloves for the salt looking basic flouride, and the dilute that into our water!

But Chlorine triflouride, Ouch!

Still no word yet on PPH that was also let loose into the Elk river with the 4MCHM at charleston WV, now had this been a terror attack it would have had more news and all and war would be declared on someone, but a business is responsible so nothing...... :(

 shasolenzabi wrote:
raw flouride I know is toxic as heck, special gear is needed as it is not safe from even using latex gloves for the salt looking basic flouride, and the dilute that into our water!

That is the nature of chemicals. Small quantities are often good and necessary for life. Large quantities of the same stuff is often toxic...

but don't get fluoride and fluorine mixed up. Fluorine is the element that is highly reactive and toxic. A fluoride is a compound of fluorine and something else (e.g. Sodium Fluoride), the properties can vary wildly depending on the other element/molecule involved. Some will be completely inert and some will range all the way up to toxic.

But Chlorine triflouride, Ouch!

Here's a video of what happens if you get some of a selection of what might be considered safety gear, like leather, gloves, a gas mask, and some plexiglass and wood for the fun of it...

Still no word yet on PPH that was also let loose into the Elk river with the 4MCHM at charleston WV, now had this been a terror attack it would have had more news and all and war would be declared on someone, but a business is responsible so nothing...... :(

terrorists tend not to pay much money to the government and money is what is important these days...

Let the cries of Heresy continue...


It was just a matter of chopping out the exhausts,
cutting a piece of plasticard to fit,
gluing it in (I also braced it with some sprue that I had to hand)
and cutting off the excess.

Neatly done.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Neatly done.

Ta.
It wasn't looking so neat at the "I have just hacked the exhausts out" stage. But with some trimming and sanding the plasticard fills the holes quite well (and the second side went in really easily).
There's a few bits that need filling and possibly a little more sanding. Most of it will be covered by the sponsons that I've yet to think about but can now start to design and it should look nice a smooth once painted... eventually...

So while I consider how to construct the sponsons, I've had a look at raising the roof.

Much more to do, but this will give you an idea of where it's heading.
My first idea for the roof section was just to build a raised edge and have the normal roof section sit on that in much the same way as it does on the normal roof.
In addition to that, I thought that I'd make the raised parts angled, because that's what tank armour should be.

Somewhere in this thinking I thought the roof section needed chopping in two and I could then have the rear of the roof piece also angled.
So step one in raising your roof is to chop the perfectly good removable roof section that comes in the kit into two pieces...

I also want the interior to still look functional and didn't just want to add some cross beams and sit the roof on them. So I took a piece of sprue...

...Cut it in half, lengthways, and found that sitting them on the edge of the hole didn't allow the roof to sit on top of them... well duh... so I did what any normal person would do and took another piece of sprue...

...Chopped off bits of the end to make thin-ish trapezoid things (whatever a 3D shape with a trapezoid cross-section is called), which I then squared off and cut in half across the diagonal to make little triangles that I used to attach the lengths of sprue to the roof.

I also saved the little hinge bits off the roof and used them to give the new roof piece a way to position itself on the top of the tank (so this whole section can be removable).

I've now got to make the sloping sides and they will look a little like this:

Imagine it with all the edges neatly lining up and all the gaps filled (one way or another) and you will see what I have in my head...

There's a lot of complex shapes to be arranged together in the near future... fingernail biting time...

That's a neat concept for the raised gun turret, me likey where this is going

....so I did what any normal person would do and took another piece of sprue...

I am disappointed, the entire tank is not made from sprue.!

I like it Dr, looking good.

Thanks guys.

Cam: Well occasionally it's worth making use of the other pieces of plastic that come free with the sprue

and I've seen lots of people making use of this plasticard stuff, and I bought some ages ago (when Modelzone was imploding), and haven't touched it since, so I thought it was time to have a play and make use of it.

Here you go, looking more complete (from this angle anyway).
Still have to do the front of this piece and there's loads of gaps to fill.

Really need to think about these sponsons (they are the limiting factor in progress now)...

Damn that roof looks good. Well done.

How are you going too load it out weapon wise? I think some form of basket seats with turret on one side would be neat.

That chemical loves to destroy anything! (Video)

Tank is shaping up very nicely!

cormadepanda wrote:Damn that roof looks good. Well done.

Thanks Comrade. I'm quite pleased with how it looks.

shasolenzabi wrote:That chemical loves to destroy anything! (Video)

Yep. Now try to imagine what it would look like for a ton of this stuff to spill out onto concrete... Because that has happened and one eye-witness said "The concrete was on fire!". It made 12" of concrete and a further 36" of gravel underneath disappear...

That's what I think of your cover save...

Tank is shaping up very nicely!

Thanks.

Theophony wrote:How are you going too load it out weapon wise? I think some form of basket seats with turret on one side would be neat.

Well, I'm not using the "sponsons" that come with the kit because they don't look rugged enough for what I see this tank doing (driving through buildings etc...). So a basket seat would be a step in the wrong direction, that more something open-topped... Say, like an Ork truck that comes in the Ork battleforce...

As for the actual weapon load-out:
The turret will have the Autocannon. Because, with the shape of the turret (and what I currently have planned for the turret) it looks more tank-like than the las-cannons.

One of the sponsons will house a Heavy-Bolter equivalent (as I don't want to distance myself from the available rules too much and potentially confuse my opponents unnecessarily. If I ever actually get to the point of actually playing someone).
This gun has already been partially built, as I mentioned before. But now it's probably only going to be the barrels that will be used as the rear box is a bit too big to fit "in" a sponson (as it was designed to replace the hanging weapon).
I will probably work on this one first as the second sponson will require building from scratch, so I can use this to get a sense of size.

The other sponson (which is different, in spite of the rules, because why build two of the same thing when I can make two unique things) will be an Electron Cannon (Las-Cannon equivalent).

I have fluffy explanations for both weapons and will share them when I start building them.

The kind of shape that I'm leaning towards for the actual sponson housing is something like this:

Hence needing a little more space on the side of the tank and removing the exhausts.

We will see how it goes in due time...

I've been Dakka-less for about a month. So glad to see you haven't rushed anything This project continues to impress and inspire, Dr. H.

Dr. H buried in my thread in the WiP of my scrath made super heavies was my construction of similar design sponsons. They may well prove the dig worth it.

Here, page 33
http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/960/326377.page

Moltar wrote:I've been Dakka-less for about a month. So glad to see you haven't rushed anything This project continues to impress and inspire, Dr. H.

How did you survive? Good to see you back. Yeah, it's a good thing that I take my time and don't churn out an endless number of updates on an almost daily basis, or you would have loads to catch up on...
Thanks Moltar.

shasolenzabi wrote:Dr. H buried in my thread in the WiP of my scrath made super heavies was my construction of similar design sponsons. They may well prove the dig worth it.

A digging I shall go...

Ah ^ link is useful. ta.

I am sure the professor would love the Khadrovian inventiveness.

 shasolenzabi wrote:
I am sure the professor would love the Khadrovian inventiveness.

Indeed. Has given me things to think about.
and other than having a rummage in my boxes of junk (and rearranging them in the ongoing battle of 3D tetris that is my room), I have only managed some thinking about these sponsons, so no pictures of progress today...

First things first, the front of the raised roof is done.
Instead of just angling it down to the hull (which was going to be tricky with the bits just in front there), I decided to make it a little more interesting and make use of the shape of, you guessed it, sprue.
Here is it with the turret on top:

And you can see the extra piece of sprue I added into the hull to fill the gap under the removable piece. Gives it a out-in-out shape.
There's still gaps to fill all over it, but the structure is done.

Now, on to these sponsons... well, sponson number one (but I will make them identical, mirror images of each other on the outside)...

First to the weapon; As I mentioned it is a Heavy-bolter equivalent, so will likely use those rules.
However, when doing this kind of thing and replacing a weapon (or any equipment) with a (Mad) Scientist version, it would be very easy to come up with improvements here and there and end up with units and eventually the whole army being very over powered on the tabletop.

This, as I've said before, is not what I want to do with this army.
Yes, The Scientist is a genius and quite possibly the most intelligent being in the galaxy (maybe even the universe).
Yes, he does fully understand and can improve the technology of all races.
And yes, being (technically) immortal, he has the time to work on these things.

But, he is still as mad as a box of hat-wearing frogs with Mercury poisoning...

So the challenge is to cover all this in the fluff and combine crazy ideas with real science (this is more apparent in the fluff for the Electron gun).

Three-barrelled, Fast-action, Gatling Gun


As with most of the models I've been making, an initial, simple, design/idea has grown to greater complexity.
While at first I was going to have simple swivelling guns that looked like they elevated... and I could have done something similar to Shas' (thanks, still useful though)...
I then found this picture in my "tracked vehicle" folder:
(huge picture I'm afraid) Oh, huge-tastic... here's the link http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Female_sponson,_Mark_IV_tank,_Flirt_II_.jpg

If you look at the gun facing towards the camera, you can see it's mounted in a short cylinder (that allows vertical motion) that is, in turn, mounted in a tall cylinder at right angles.

I thought this was a brilliant idea and even noticed that both cylinders are about the same radius. So I just need to find one tube that is large enough to house the weapon, but not too large to make the tank ridiculously wide...
So I've done a few measurements and a diagram (I also included picture of the gun as it is, but the green bit will need removing or reducing in size):

I think I should be able to get away with 15mm, and 20mm looks too wide as that will need housing in the sponson.

Thoughts?

Love the way you have increased the height. Looks perfect.

Really like the gun for the sponson.

As to the sponson, I think you will find that the two radius fit inside each other rather than are the same. ie the one for vertical movement will have an external diameter the same as the internal diameter. And you may find it easier to make the internal one a ball that fits anyways.

I have a 15mm pipe available if you need it, but not sure I have the internal ball etc.

Hope I am helping.!

I do have one piece of Tank constructive criticism, the front of the raised turret ring section, It needs sloped armor. that present arrangement would be a "shot trap" which will catch a shell, and allow it to tear into your creation with ease.

 Camkierhi wrote:
Love the way you have increased the height. Looks perfect.

Really like the gun for the sponson.

Thanks Cam.
I think the roof breaks up the flatness that is there on the original and makes the whole thing look less box like. The practical side of it is the important thing though and the gunner won't be banging his head any time soon.

Who doesn't like multi-barrelled gatling guns. I put this together ages ago, to be used with this kit. There will be some changes, but it will be used.

As to the sponson, I think you will find that the two radius fit inside each other rather than are the same. ie the one for vertical movement will have an external diameter the same as the internal diameter. And you may find it easier to make the internal one a ball that fits anyways.

I have a 15mm pipe available if you need it, but not sure I have the internal ball etc.

Hope I am helping.!

You may be right, will have to see by experimentation.

I nearly bit your arm off then, but I think I'll be alright. I have found my box that contains many tube shaped things (mostly from soap pumps) and the vast majority of them are in the region of 15mm, some larger, some smaller, but that will help with the experiments.

I'll report back what I find.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 shasolenzabi wrote:
I do have one piece of Tank constructive criticism, the front of the raised turret ring section, It needs sloped armor. that present arrangement would be a "shot trap" which will catch a shell, and allow it to tear into your creation with ease.

Thanks Shas. Yeah, you're right of course. I'll see what I can do about the flatness of the front of that piece of sprue.

Good deal, that will help you keep the tank in good order so it can do what it does best

Is it the flatness of that piece that causes the problem, or the gap under that?

The gap is no higher than the raised hatch area in front of it.

If I was to carve away the upper part of that piece of sprue to make it angled, but left the gap under it, would that solve the issue?
Or does it really need to reach all the way down to the hull?

While we're on the subject, I've always wondered about the angled underside of turrets, they always look like they'll focus any shells into the ring. Surely that's not good for keeping a turret that can rotate...