Land Raider (Hades Variant)

[Brother Morgan]

Dear Brothers,

 

I am planning on building a new variant using the Land Raider chassis called Hades to go with my other Land Raider variants (which can be seen on my other Land Raider Variant thread). It will be armed with IG upgraded Manticore missiles on top and also fitted on the side as sponsons. The amount of fire power that will be at the Space Marines disposal will truly send their enemies to hell!

 

Step 1 - Tank Treads

 

To start off, I wanted to have skulls all over the treads, so I created a master tank tread out of resin skulls I had in my bits box and then made a number of moulds out of sillicon putty.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_57.jpg

 

The master can be seen in the top left hand corner, with the blue moulds all around. The long laborius task was to then make 10 copies of the 3 treads and 12 copies of the single tread. Over time, the moulds started to breakdown and the quality of the copies started to deteriorate so careful planning had to be made to ensure the best versions would be placed where they could be seen and the lower quality, underneath and not seen.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_58.jpg

 

To fit the larger skull treads (which are just over an inch in width), I glued a plasticard spacer in between the 2 parts of the LR tank tread parts at the top and the bottom. The bottom white plasticard insert can be seen above. You can also see the skull treads waiting to be fitted to the right.

 

To assist in the skull treads fitting, you need to remove the small plastic lugs in the tread recess.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_63.jpg

 

The plastic lug can be seen half way up on the left hand side.

 

To assist in later stages, I removed the front ramp moulded on parts on the insides of the LR Tread parts with a razor saw.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_62.jpg

 

These parts will be covered in plasticard later.

 

Now you need to start placing and super gluing the skull treads in place. ALWAYS DO DRY RUNS BEFORE USING GLUE! This stage is very time consuming as nearly every seperate tread needed to be sanded down to ensure it fits.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_59.jpg

 

I started at the front and slowly fitted the skull treads all the way around to the back.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_64.jpg

 

You can see the gaps were the seperate treads are joined and you can see the triple and single treads (the front of the LR is at the top).

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_61.jpg

 

As I will be covering the rest with plasticard, I stopped gluing anymore treads. I didn't do wrap around treads as I have done on previous conversions, but this is easy to do so if you so wish. To finish off this step, you need to milliput/greenstuff in between the gaps in the treads and to fix any "damaged" skulls.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111229_55.jpg

 

To complete the tank treads, I plan on stcking the rather large Skulls in the picture above to the front after building a plastic mudguard. I will show pictures as I complete them.

 

You can also see in the above pictures some of the other parts that will be used in the completion of this LR variant.

 

The next update should be tomorrow.

 

Any questions, just ask.

 

Regards, Brother Morgan.

[Son of Carnelian]

You're mad. Mad, I say! But I'm on board for the ride!

[KJB]

This is going to be awesome...

[Subtle Discord]

Great start. Can't wait to see where this goes. I do plenty of plastic card work, but I'm starting to learn mould making and casting. Work like this is very inspiring.

[Kassill]

You have my attention, now please, MOAR! :)

[Brother Morgan]

Step 1 continued

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_1.jpg

 

Approx 4.5 mm wides pieces of plasticard were used to heighten the track guard. Once the plastic cement was dry, you can move onto the next stage.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_2.jpg

 

A lot of the construction involves measuring, so I won't be able to always give precise measurements. Measure twice, cut once as someone a lot wiser than me once said. You can always make templates out of cardboard instead if you wish. There will always be some gaps - learn how to use milliput which helps cover all sins!

 

You can see the front part of the trackguard has been attached. There was a slight overhang on the far side (which can't be seen in this shot) - Milliput will be used to hide this. I also bevelled the top of the plasticard trackguard to assist attaching the top plate later on. You can also see in this shot all the plastic removed by the razor saw. I subsequently removed the vertical bulkhead to assist attaching the plasticard you will see in the next shot.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_3.jpg

 

You can see the attached plasticard to the inside of the trackguard here. This was deliberately made approx 1mm wider all the way around. Once the plastic cement was dry, use a sharp blade and remove the excess. This ensures no mistake in cutting the plasticard short and having to do recut the piece.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_5.jpg

 

You can see the overhang filled here with milliput. Once dry, a quick sand will ensure a clean finish. I'm not really bothered to much on achieving a perfect finish on the outer side of the trackguards as I will be adding "Extra armour" made from thick plasticard AND most of the front will be covered by a huge skull.

 

Step 2 - Rockets

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_6.jpg

 

I wanted to remove the winged skull IG iconography and replace it with SM iconography.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_7.jpg

 

This is what I replaced it with - FW Brassed etch Imperial Eagles.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_8.jpg

 

Here's what the completed rockets now look like. Doesn't look like much, but for a SM purist like me, it matters.

 

Step 3 - The Body

 

You now need to decide how wide the LR is going to be.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_10.jpg

 

After trial and error, I attached plasticard to the bottom and top (right at the back) to achieve a sturdy box construction.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_9.jpg

 

I decided to mix the IG Manticore front glacis and attached a LR part left over from a previous conversion.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111230_11.jpg

 

This was then attached at the front.

 

 

More tomorrow!

 

Regards, Brother Morgan.

[Kassill]

Looking sweet! :lol:

[Brother Morgan]

Step 3 - The Body Continued

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_2.jpg

 

To make the front glacis plate and top plate, I made templates out of plasticard. The top plate will have another copy made out of a thicker plasticard to allow a recess for the missile launcher to sit. I don't plan on sticking the top missile launcher to aid in storing/transporting.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_1.jpg

 

The front glacis in place. The plasticard around where the turret will be placed was cut with a slight overhang, which was then cut to get an exact fit.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_4.jpg

 

I went with a boring bottom to the front glacis plate. It looks similar to the Russian BMP from the front. I didn't see the point in there being a front hatch fitted as there would be no troop transporting capacity on this variant. I will "pimp" up the front later on.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_7.jpg

 

Here's a picture showing the final top plate in place. The gaps joining the front treadguard with the top plate will be filled with milliput. Notches were cut along the sides of the top plate to match the markings on the sides - Little things like this make conversions more convincing.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_8.jpg

 

Gaps filled with milliput.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_9.jpg

 

The back can be built in a variety of shapes. Depending on what accessories you want to have on display, determines what shape the back could be. I didn't want to much of an overhang so I went with a basic rectangle shape built from plasticard.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_10.jpg

 

Small pieces of thin plasticard were used to hide the gap at the rear bottom.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_11.jpg

 

Rear tread guard parts cut and ready to fit.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_12.jpg

 

Rear tread guard completed. Milliput will be used to fill gaps and smooth the trackguard onto the rest of the armour.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_5.jpg

 

The main building work has been completed now. Before I move onto the "extra" armour side plates, here is a picture to show what the tank looks like so far (Only thing missing in this shot is the final top plate and accessories). The large skulls will be stuck on the front of the trackguards later. I normally attach rivets right at the end to finish the conversion off.

 

Step 4 - Side "Extra" Armour

 

Before making the "Extra" side armour out of plasticard, you need to remove some moulding from the existing LR Side.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20111231_14.jpg

 

The steps, rivets and any raised parts will need to be shaved smooth. This will help sticking on the "Extra" side armour in the future.

 

More to follow.

 

Regards, Brother Morgan.

[Maj Tom]

Didn't Robute say something about Marines and too much power? I am not sure if he meant too much Fiya Powa!

 

http://www.motifake.com/image/demotivational-poster/0912/fiyahpowa-firepower-fiyahpowa-fire-power-fiyah-powa-night-at-demotivational-poster-1259784523.jpg

 

This is a cool project that would make Dorn blush!

[Kassill]

Looking awesome! Just don't let the Iron Warriors see it!

[Brother Morgan]

Step 4 Side "Extra" Armour Continued

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_3.jpg

 

As you can see in the picure above, I removed all surface detail to allow the plasticard extra side armour to be attached.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_2.jpg

 

To start the extra armour, I used a piece of cardboard to get the measurements correct (the white piece on the right). When I was happy with the fit, I started to cut 2 pieces for each side, the black part will be used as the back part to rest the missile launcher on and a thicker white plasticard to act as a recess. The thick white plasticard is a nightmare to cut and takes numerous passes with a sharp scalpel. Cutting plasticard invariably leaves a slight bevel on the cut edge - a quick sand with a file quickly fixes this.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_4.jpg

 

To assist with storage and carrying, I decided to use strong magnets to hold the side missile launchers in place. You can see 2 vertical magnets on the bottom of the missile launcher and the matching horizontal magnets on the back of the black plasticard. You have to be very careful where the magnets are attached on the black plasticard as they have to fit within the rear door cavity.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_9.jpg

 

This is what I have decided to use on the side armour - It was taken from the Eternity stair from GW's Warhammer range. It involved a LOT of cutting and a bit of milliput to fill the holes.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_6.jpg

 

Here's what one of the original pieces looked like before being touched by a razorsaw!

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_8.jpg

 

Here's what it looks like on the side armour.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_10.jpg

 

I decided to make some flames in the background of the skeletons with milliput. To finish it off, I will add another set of smaller flames towards the bottom, giving a more 3D effect.

 

Just need to start on the other side armour now - More pictures shortly.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120102_7.jpg

 

Some progress has been made on the frontal armour - Mark 6 Beakies guarding the Adeptus Mechanicus logo. I'll add a few milliput flames flicking around the feet and the shoulders to finish.

 

Regards, Brother Morgan.

[fivepointedstar]

Awesome work as always Brother Morgan your LR is unique, and creative as ever. One question is, when are you going to grace us with the STC data sheets for these variants, or is the AdMech not at liberty to share forbidden STC designs to Asartes in need of such warmachines?

[Brother Morgan]

Awesome work as always Brother Morgan your LR is unique, and creative as ever. One question is, when are you going to grace us with the STC data sheets for these variants, or is the AdMech not at liberty to share forbidden STC designs to Asartes in need of such warmachines?

 

 

Never thought about making any data sheets for any of my Land Raider creations DeathKnight2000. If anyone wants to start, by all means go ahead - I would love to see an STC Database created. I used to try and work out the PV for all of my Razorback/predator variants but got confused with twin barrelled/gatling/long barrelled etc!!

[Brother Morgan]

A bit more progress:

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120109_2.jpg

 

Finished the front of the Land Raider Hades. Large skulls were superglued to front track and then milliputed around the gaps. Rivets attached. I removed all of the rivets from the IG Manticore cockpit as I thought they were too small. The heavy bolters were taken from the SOB Immolator. I have also added the Apocalypse command sprue IG Imperial Eagle Radar to the top. I don't know about adding the top plate of the heavy bolters, what does anyone else think? I'm also thinking of placing a name scroll in the large empty white plasticard area. Thoughts for names?

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120109_4.jpg

 

Just added some sculpted flames and rivets to finish this off.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120109_5.jpg

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120109_3.jpg

 

Side shots showing completed flames, rivets and plasticard scythe that have been added. The side armour was simply super glued to the Land Raider.

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120109_6.jpg

 

To finish off the rear, I need to find some more rivets for one of the trackguards and I have to sand around the adeptus mechanicus symbol. I need to make the eye for the symbol as well out of plastic rod. I'm still making the left hand side from a baneblade, so I'll post some pictures when I finish.

 

Any questions, as usual, just ask.

 

Regards, Brother Morgan

[AGPO]

This is a truly spectacular project! The one suggestion I'd make is that the land raider lacks any defensive weapons, so adding some pintle-mounted storm bolters to those hatches would add a touch of practicality.

[Kassill]

^Agreed. Other than that this thing looks like it came straight out of hell! No doubt that's where it will take the foe! Good work sir. ;)

[Bigger-than-Jesus]

To me, this looks nothing like a marine vehicle. It's almost entirely lost the shape of a Land Raider, each face looks like it was cut from a single massive sheet of metal, and the launchers on the side are way too big-the bottom missile is basically scraping the ground, and coupled with not being able to move up and down, they look like they'll never even hit anything. It's a good concept, don't get me wrong, but it just went way over the top. Just my 2 cents.

[heretic??ME??]

I do like it but seriously where is the Land raider?? the extra armour just hides the LR. Other than that madness and mucho killing power.

[plasman]

Thanks Madmike for the awesome new episode of Pimp my Landraider. :P

[fivepointedstar]

I agree with BTJ on this one. The side missile are non- funtional as they will explode on contact with ground debris, or splash down before airborn. My idea to make it look better is to take the side missle sponson off. And take the manticore missle axels an cut in half- these would make 4 half missle pods, then mount those next to main missle pod. would look cooler with all missles on top of tank.

[Brother Morgan]

Fair comments guys! I'm not going to answer each comment individually, but here are some thoughts.

 

The side missiles are lower than I liked and originally intended but this is Warhammer 40k. Practicality goes out of the window to a certain degree! Can 10 Terminators really fit in a normal size Land Raider?

 

Fluff:

 

"The venerated Hades Land Raider is heavily loaded with deadly missiles that allow SM Commanders the tactical advantage of long range heavy support on the field of battle. Thunderhawk and spacecraft support may not always be available, so the Hades was developed to give SM a "Shock and Awe" ability from land based technology. When launching missiles, the Hades always fires the bottom side missiles first that will enable the vehicle to shoot and scoot without impairing its off-road ability. If the enemy locates the Hades, the Admantium armour allows exceptional survivability. Once per battle, rather than firing the usual 2 missiles, the SM Commander can request ALL of the remaining missiles to be launched at 1 target within his line of sight. The devastation wrought from this request is truly a game/battle changer."

 

I agree with AGPO that the vehicle requires anti-personnel weapons which is why I chose a twin heavy bolter turret. Retro fitting pintle mounted storm bolters is an easy task and I'll finish off the rest of the build before I make a decision on this.

 

Enough writing, time to finish the model.

 

Regards Brother Morgan.

[Brother Morgan]

Final update to show completed rear:

 

http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff118/philmorgan75/20120122_8.jpg

 

Many thanks for your comments over the past month, I'm now moving onto my next project - An Imperial Space Marine Outpost.

 

Regards, Brother Morgan.

[Greyall]

Motherf...this is laxative even for Chaos Marines.

 

I can live with floor-leveled missiles, it's the giant skull on the front that I'd remove, but that's a small remark in such a grand project. Well done.

 

Those tracks are awesome.

[blackbabyjesus]

Can 10 Terminators really fit in a normal size Land Raider?

 

Nope, even the crusader can only fit 8...