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^^^ Quick Spoiler to see current progress to save you scrolling all the way down ^^^

Armoured 40k train!

Hello all, this is my first forum post really, and it as much to make sure I keep myself motivated to actually continue with this project.

So I first saw it on on a trading group someone selling a modified toy for Warhammer games as a cool looking scenic project. So; this got the agitators working in my brain and I thought to myself, hey i could have a go at THAT!

So with some digging around I managed to find the train that they used and managed to purchase 2 sets of it, so I had spares, and it allowed me room to convert as I pleased.

So I managed to day dream and sketch up a quick idea of what I would like, and set about the models to see what I could achieve, and managed to come up with two main ideas:
- One train that was a gun train, has guns sticking out everywhere!
- One train that was mainly a freight train, carrying some much needed supplies to some of the shuttlebays nearby!

Now this seems like an overly complicated way of making a project, but the truth is, my full time work is working on the railway, which meant my mind had to apply some form of logic to the project; hence the two trains. It also meant that when looking at the vehicles that came with the toy! Seeing they only had ONE axle per end, this would not be allowed to remain. So the first challenge i had, was making the wheelsets have TWO axles per end, and that presented many challenges. The current Bogie (The equipment that holds the wheelsets for those who don't know!) only had one wheel, so I needed more. 12 to be exact. So I turned to a friend who has in his arsenal a 3D printer and many CAD skills. He managed to run off all the extra wheels I would need. However, when I went to fit them, the size of the wheels were too large for the bogie, which meant I now needed bigger bogies. Back to the printer...

And that is where I am up to right now! Just waiting to sort out the new bogies, and I can add them to the train and move along with the progress I have. I would like to update the build as I go and what I will focus on next.
The immediate jobs to do are:
- Flattening the surfaces on the flat cars and the caboose.
- Strip down the other locomotive for easier conversion.
- Start to build up the front wagons which will have my leman russ spares onto them.

Hope you will enjoy the build as I try to move along!

Please excuse the rubbish photographs so far, my mobile is not the best, but I will take better photos as more progress is made off my DSLR.

good luck with the project... i am not really a train enthusiast...but whenever someone converts trains into the 40k universe i watch with interest!

 Viktor von Domm wrote:
good luck with the project... i am not really a train enthusiast...but whenever someone converts trains into the 40k universe i watch with interest!

Then I hope not to disappoint! The bits box I have for this project is quite impressive!

If you make train scenery with sidings and carriages like an XCOM map I’m all over this!

Always interesting to see grim dark locomotives come together.

I think this project is going to be awesome, just look up some of the armored trains the Germans built in WW2, and imagine the narrative missions you could build around such an awesome set piece

The hope is for me and my friends to play Kill team along the train and around it for some cool themed missions!

Boarding the heresy train, this is very very promising !

Interesting.

I've had a nebulous idea to pay tribute to parts of the Battles of Velikiye Luki/Rzhev by including a rail-platform on my board, will be watching eagerly.

Subbed, consider me watching with interest!

Look forward to seeing how this progresses. Have you got any pictures of your original inspiration?

I do but they're lost in some of my PC download folder. However I would feel slightly uncomfortable posting up someone else's project etc as it was off face cloth marketplace


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Okay guys some more progress to report! But first would like to get something off my mind about this build and where it is headed:

> First off, i HATE the train that is available from another site and 3D printing sites. It's not my style of 40k, it is not what I picture in my mind when reading, so please don't expect this build to progress to that level.

> Secondly I am interested in train engineering. Therefore this is a build of interest for me and a mashup of 40k. So it will be what I think looks cool as a train + 40k = Ill let you know when it's done...

So what started tonight as a quick look through my bits box turned into getting a saw out and making a start. Which surprised me, as I'm at the point I want to finish the wheelsets before moving on, but I am not one to shy from progress on projects when I seem to lack motivation after a school night...

I managed after work to sneak to a local model railway shop and pick up some plastic dowel to make my axles with, so that saves me a challenge when they return. And then whilst searching through the box I found some awesome parts which just had to go onto the model, and then I just kept cutting, and have somewhat the basis for the form of the back of my locomotive in very very basic format. I then also need to start greenstuffing some aquilas as I will need a lot for this train, I am planning on using them to use the axle holes on the bogies. So i need 48... Hope you enjoy the small progress I have made... [I've also learned how to post images a little better so it doesn't look awful with images spread everywhere...]

Just a quick update for the Friday, probably wont have too much time to work on the project over the weekend due to other hobbies, so had a bit of time to start work on some other bits.
Started to work on the front gun carriage today as well as completed the box around the engine parts. All glued in and ready to go!

I bought that same train set, then trashed it because I got so frustrated with the 'quality' of it.

I wish you much better fortune!

--Brian

The gun carriage looks amazing. I think I need to.see the rest with a lick of paint as the plastic yellow.is breaking the disbelief for me

I'm all for 40k trains, and for trains in general! And this is looking nice so far.

 amazingturtles wrote:
I'm all for 40k trains, and for trains in general! And this is looking nice so far.

Given this, Gits' recent foray, and my shenanigans, I suspect there's going to be a SUPER-SECRET 'train hobby' sub-sub-sub forum, someday.

Okay guys I have had a bit of time to continue, with ways where you can see the train starting to take shape. The reason that the front car and engine are getting most of the work is I cannot work on the carriages without the new wheels, but they should be easy enough to butcher...

There was some things I forgot to mention on the introduction post. There are two other mini objectives for this project:

1) The train will be used as a stand alone board for Kill team games and Necromunda
2) The train will still be motorised to go around the tracks; because hey, I am a big kid and It just would be funny. (not whilst playing on the toy tracks )

Started to make up the sides for the front gun carriage and building up the rear structure. Managed to finish up the rear loco doors using bits from the baneblade sprues. So I am pretty happy with how that turned out really.
Started placing panels and made some headlights up for the front, the next part was to cut up the rhino front panels to make the new windscreens and driving cab.
The walkways were quickly cut out of some chequer plate plasticard to quickly mock up the walkways for the side of the engine.
There is no plan for this model, it is a case of build it up and see how we go... I am pretty happy with the results so far:



I hope you enjoy my tempo-stick blue tack that I am using to take guess and quick looks to see how the train looks.

What do you guys think?

Cool but would the train damage models?

Emperors will wrote:
Cool but would the train damage models?

Nope just driving around on the toy track and on the floor not whilst we play

Awesome work!

So everyone... sorry it has been a while since i last updated the thread, work has slowly been taking all my time. No fun!
I have however managed to make some more updates to the train!

The front gun carriage has taken some considerable modifications and added some turrets, so far loving how it has come out.

The main engine, albeit does not look all that much has had what feels like days of cutting and filing to make things fit, and is slowly taking shape.

Both wagons have their running boards fitted and all in place which means everything 25mm will fit on perfectly and it will take and balance bases up to terminators! Which is cool when we start playing some games with it!

Just some notes before i leave you with photos, the boards are chequer plated, not flat plasticard, its just i have a bad camera. There will also be guard rails placed around the train and wagons, its just I havent built them yet. This is a WIP log afterall...

There are a lot of gaps and wonky looking things on the pictures, do not worry, some things are not permanently glued yet. Im also holding back from green stuffing until i have a full day spare, as i have about 30 things that all need attention with green stuff, so want to sit down and smash it all out in one day...

I have also included for fun some before and after photos, of what i started out with to what it looks like now...


Anyway hope you enjoy the progress, as always, let me know what you think!

Looking good! The armor is already giving it a very robust look.

EXCELLENT work on the skirting, it really hides the oversized wheel problem.

Thanks for sharing!

--B.

Okay everyone the forges have been quite busy recently with the arrival of 3D printed goodness! Huzzah!

A nice summary of what I have been up to before I overload you with picture spam is as follows!

Worked on the train which is more or less done now. I managed to smash lots of leman russ barrels together to make one massive barrel with I really like the look of with a gunner commander at the top. As why not! Rather conveniently had a spare turret part from my old FW turrets lying around which works brilliantly for the new kit as a turret ring! Winner! This area will be built up with Plastic card in the coming weeks so it doesn't look so hilariously balanced on the top. It also fits in some of the old promethium relay pipe vents, so if i dont want the turret on the top, i can swap it out, which i think is quite cool! Had to glue lots of 2ps into the turret to keep the weight into it, so it didn't sag, again happy with the result! Added to the details to the cab which i think looks really cool, especially the fuel barrels down the side. This pretty much completes the loco, just needs the gaps filling, and the guard rails and couplings added when they arrive in the post.

As per the wheels, to make sure the feel of a train is correct I had my friend print off some parts for me, so it allowed me to have some decent looking train wheels more so than the cheap and nasty toy ones. So it was a job of filing them all down and putting them all together. So that took a bit of time, but I am about half way through them now which is good, as i can focus on some of the wagons now. Some will be flat cars with barrels and containers on them, whereas others will have ramps to store vehicles on them. Im also leaving the toy crane one on there, as I will be using a galvanic servohauler on there to make it totally 40k! So happy to see how that turns out!

Anyway, enjoy the pictures and again please let me know any feedback!

I love everything except how the turret is mounted. There's far too much of the pivot cylinder visible. I'd try to bring that down, or otherwise hide it/cover it.

--Brian

Ooh, good effort so far! That is looking very robust and Imperial. Subbed!

Briancj wrote:I love everything except how the turret is mounted. There's far too much of the pivot cylinder visible. I'd try to bring that down, or otherwise hide it/cover it.

--Brian

Brady218 wrote: Rather conveniently had a spare turret part from my old FW turrets lying around which works brilliantly for the new kit as a turret ring! Winner! This area will be built up with Plastic card in the coming weeks so it doesn't look so hilariously balanced on the top.

Brady is one step ahead of you!

 Briancj wrote:
I love everything except how the turret is mounted. There's far too much of the pivot cylinder visible. I'd try to bring that down, or otherwise hide it/cover it.

--Brian

Dont worry! Already on this! I know how silly it looks on the top, but I just ran out of time to build it up. Other projects on the go and GSC! So hopefully the next week or two will have the sides built up.

As promised, managed to delay some other projects, (GSC....) to quickly get the top done, again holding out on the green stuff until i have a day and motivation to do a LOT of my other stuff.
Found some parts and beefed up the turret whilst i was at it as well! Happy with the result!

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet.