BCK's Thread of Stuff: Big Lelith

[Soldier of Dorn]

Y'know, I was completely burnt out of motivation to work on my ETL vow and was ready to give in and receive the mark of Censura, but seeing you finish like this has... not motivated me exactly, but given me the strength to power through, even if it kills me. Thanks for that!

 

It's turned out exceptionally well, Kage. Looks lovely.

[Ovidius Incertus]

Very awesome!   Well executed and a heroic effort to salvage an unfortunately misshapen lump of resin.  The weathering around the front hatch area look really good.  Is there any streaking coming off the ladder on the turret?  Seems like a natural place for some streaks.

 

I may have missed it, but what scale are those tracks?  Scales largely befuddle me and there is a dearth of 28mm scale gubbins and I'd be too worried any such conversion attempts of my own would end up a crap shoot (or in a bin of unused parts of the wrong size).

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Good luck with that, Psycho.

 

OI, the tracks are 1/35 scale.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

While digging around for something to do with my robots, I happened across this old thing I had all but forgotten about.

 

http://i.imgur.com/mYaPiu8.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/hJlAesj.png

 

When I was seriously considering a Vostroyan army some years ago, I bought a group of Leman Russ tanks and this Armageddon Basilisk from a guy I met at the LGS. They were all assembled -- not that well-- and primed. Since that Macharius is going toward some human group of soldiers allied to my Dusk Raiders, I thought this make make a good addition once I give it a similar treatment.

 

Shot of the back, and unfortunately, I can't find the rear hatch for it.

 

http://i.imgur.com/WGX2vnC.png

 

And without the armored top.

 

http://i.imgur.com/rELNvOU.png

 

http://i.imgur.com/MUn5UgM.png

 

But instead of running it as artillery, I was thinking of maybe making it into a tank destroyer. Given my unhealthy need to convert stuff to make it realistic or even plausible, one huge problem immediately became clear once I started looking at this thing: Where's the engine? Normally in the Russ tanks and Chimera variants, it's in the back, but the open compartment clearly shows it can't be there. Another problem is that the chassis is way too short for something carrying a gun of that size. A few real WWII tanks similar to the idea I have for this immediately come to mind. Note that all three of these are open topped.

 

The first is a German tank destroyer originally called the Hornisse (Hornet), but was later renamed to Nashorn (Rhinoceros).

 

http://i.imgur.com/1vYfIB8.png

 

I couldn't find a decent profile photo so I subbed this art piece instead. This mounted an 88mm cannon that was one of the most effective guns in the entire war, also used on the Jagdpanther and Elefant tank destroyers, as well as the Tiger II (King Tiger). It made its first appearance at the Battle of Kursk and performed well in a sniping role, taking down Russian tanks with ease from long distances.

 

Close, but I was thinking of something a little longer and meaner looking.

 

Next up is the Archer, a British tank destroyer.

 

http://i.imgur.com/SAzP3bx.png

 

It was built on the chassis of an obsolete Valentine tank, copying German designs with the gun at the rear of the vehicle to reduce the overall length, and mounted a 17 pounder or 76mm gun.

 

Not bad, but still... not quite what I'm looking for.

 

What do we have behind door number 3?

 

Why, it's the Sturer Emil (Stubborn Emil) also a German tank destroyer. This is a model of the tank since a decent photo of a real one eluded me (even though the sole surviving tank is at tank museum in Kubinka, Russia!).

 

http://i.imgur.com/zkcqOmi.png

 

Like a lot of German tanks near the end of the war, this was slapped together with the leftover chassis from prototypes that failed to be put into production; in this case, the Henschel VK 30.01.  (Another example is the unused Porsche Tiger I hulls that were brought out of storage and turned into the Elefant tank destroyer). Only two of these were made and both sent to the Russian front where one was destroyed and the other captured in Stalingrad.

 

That definitely looks a little more 40k, right? Notice the large gap between the road wheels and the return roller near the back of the tank? The hull was stretched to accommodate the massive 128mm cannon mounted on it, which is very close to the supposed size of the Earthshaker cannon at 138mm.

 

Now I just need to figure out how much converting I want to do on this, and whether to keep the crew compartment enclosed or make it open topped.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[lionofjudah]

As soon as I saw your desire to convert I thought the Elefant would be perfect.... the Sturer Emil I was unfamiliar with and had to do a google on it... 18 rounds of ammo was all they could carry!?? Im intrigues to see your drivers compartment and how you will go about stretching the hull. 

I honestly never thought about the engine being anywhere but the front in a chimera as the engine compartments of modern apc's are upfront. 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

With the driver's hatch and viewport and the gunner's station right at the front of the tank, unless the engine has a really low profile and is somehow underneath the crew compartment, I don't know where it could go.

 

As for the Elefant...

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZJCupFb.png'

 

I think something resembling that would be too much for a Chimera base conversion and imho, the Shadowsword is already pretty close to it.

[Dantay VI]

These look like awesome conversion ideas.

 

I would love to see this become a tank destroyer.

 

I tought Chimera engines were in the sides, like with e the Space Marine rhinos.

 

I am pretty sure that if you look at the legion 30K medusa's FW put exhausts on the side of the hulls to show that his is where the engines are located. That leaves space in the front for the driver & gunner, and room in the back for passengers/ big guns etc...

 

I'd sat, it looks pretty freaking awesome with the back off, so it can be easily reloaded from an ammo trailer, bit with the roof on for cover... Maybe open the top hatch and build a wee ladder for it?

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Removing the roof of the crew compartment would be easy enough.

 

http://i.imgur.com/wCZz8ba.png

 

Then stretch the body a bit, and elongate the crew compartment. However, if I go open topped, I might have to find a more detailed gun to put inside of it... or try to detail up the earthshaker.

Edited August 19, 2016 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Soldier of Dorn]

Open topped would look sweet, and would give you an opportunity to use your skills to detail the interior and gun more.

[Augustus b'Raass]

However, if I go open topped, I might have to find a more detailed gun to put inside of it... or try to detail up the earthshaker.

When has this ever stopped you from making awesome models. Also: Yay for more tanks. 

 

Also also: congrats on this thread's 100th page!

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Augs: Yeah, when has that ever stopped me, and thanks!

 

I just nabbed me a 1/35 scale 128mm metal barrel off of eBay for this thing, and the kit is mostly taken apart and soaking in Simple Green for paint removal. After thinking on it for a few hours, I've decided to leave the top enclosed. Once the barrel arrives, which could be as long as two weeks, I'll make a mantlet for it similar to to the Sturer Emil. Now there's the stretching of a Chimera to worry about.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Welp, this isn't the first time (or probably the last) that I said I wouldn't do something and then turned around and did it anyway.

 

http://i.imgur.com/vh5ZepH.png

 

As you can probably tell there were some... difficulties... in removing the roof and the decorative inserts that lined the interior walls, all of which you can see to the right. Even as careful as I was being with cutting away the roof, the resin broke more often than not. The giant holes in the sides are from removing the decorative crap, which was attached with a stupid amount of superglue, and a few spots just would not give. No worries though, 'cause I had planned on putting a thin layer of plastic over the outside of the walls anyway to reinforce them, which will also cover up the holes.

 

So yeah, that stupid amount of superglue I mentioned the original builder using?

 

http://i.imgur.com/X4lgCuE.png

 

I have no idea why it's a pink color in some spots, but this might give you an idea. There's a lot more on the back of the decorative pieces.

 

And beginning to stretch.

 

http://i.imgur.com/HUOmBWR.png

 

Just a quick mock up to see how the new size looks -- I'm adding 1.5" -- and also smoothing out the old Chimera nose while keeping the same basic shape.

Edited August 20, 2016 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Brother Aiwass]

I for one, like the holes on the gun shield, they look like some heavy battle damage.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I think the crew would be dead with battle damage like that.

[Black Cohort]

I think the crew would be dead with battle damage like that.

 

The crew when it happened maybe, perhaps you could have new panels welded over the holes to show rapid repairs to get it back in the fight ASAP.

[DuskRaider]

Hmmm... you could turn that into a pretty nifty diorama of sorts. Have some damage on the outside and maybe a dead soldier or two inside of it with some patched up dudes standing on drums or crates and shooting out of the holes while some relief comes to reload the breach. Could even have it be Astartes taking over for the now dead human crew or something.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

There might be a little battle damage to it, but those gaping holes in the armor are going away. I appreciate the ideas though.

 

I have a 1/35 German Maus tank kit I picked up on the cheap a long time ago for spare parts (it was a used, incomplete kit), and the Maus had a 128mm gun on it, so I decided to try out the crappy two-piece plastic barrel on the resin breech to get an idea of how the metal one might look when it arrives.

 

http://i.imgur.com/q4fiyFN.png

 

That looks much better! The metal barrel I'm getting is from the Jagdtiger, and the Maus mounted the same gun so they might be the same size.

 

Here it is on the mock up.

 

http://i.imgur.com/GRyOBm1.png

 

This test fit also showed me that I will not be able to use the resin crew compartment box that came with the Basilisk because it would be a real pain to make it longer, so I'll have to do even more scratchbuilding on this thing.

Edited August 21, 2016 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Flint13]

Damn dude, that thing already looks like a lil beast.

 

Love seeing step by steps along the life of one of these build projects of yours ^_^

[hushrong]

 so I'll have to do even more scratchbuilding on this thing.

 

Seeing another fantastic work in progress on armor put a smile on my face...then reading the quote above made the grin even bigger.

 

Cannot wait to see more my friend.

[Olis]

Besides the speed holes (that's totally what they are, right?) that TD is looking promising indeed. :tu:

[Dantay VI]

The holes look pretty cool.

 

Shame you cant put the card on the inside and make it look like ablative armour which has been blown off the main body.

 

Could you not use the shielding and on the back put a triangular sloped piece.

You could still use the roof but it doesnt completely enclose

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

As always, thanks for the kind words.

 

Damn dude, that thing already looks like a lil beast.

 

There's been a few tank destroyer-ish things I've liked in the model range -- all from FW -- but there was nothing that really looked like it should scare the crap out of other tanks. That's what I want this to be.

 

I was gone for most of the day, but I did manage a few updates: Added the new armor on the crew compartment, started to fill in that empty spot in the middle of the body, and to my great surprise, the metal barrel showed up today even though the estimated delivery was the first week of September!

 

http://i.imgur.com/XXXH1IG.png

 

This test fit has shown me that I will need to raise the height of the crew compartment so that the gun will have a little more depression, and to give a little space to the driver's compartment I'm going to build in front of it. The progress looks good so far, but to be honest, I've never done this much scratchbuilding and I'm starting to feel out of my depth.

Edited August 23, 2016 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Black Cohort]

It looks good. I know my scratchbuilding skills wouldn't even get me that far.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

I tried putting a Vostroyan figure in the crew compartment to see how it looks, and it's not good. (Converted Vostroyans will be my human allies.)

 

http://i.imgur.com/2MuRkGi.png

 

If this was still artillery, that compartment would be fine for simply slapping a shell into the breech and blasting off a round into the sky. Now that I want to make it into a tank destroyer, there's far too little room in the compartment itself, the breech of the weapon is far too large, and those big braces cradling the gun are also too big.

 

What's all this mean? I'm making a lot more work for myself... taking it back to the drawing board and all that. Completely new gun breech, braces, et, and a lot of reworking on the body itself. Omnissiah help me, what have I done?

Edited August 23, 2016 by Brother Chaplain Kage

[Augustus b'Raass]

"Hmmm, I'm starting to feel a little bit out of my depth... let me get rid of this feeling by making the conversion even more complex". 

 

Great problem solving skills there, BCK. ;) I'm quite confident in your already well-established abilities that this will turn out to be great. Also, you're insane. Also also, I love your updates. Also⋅3: That tank is looking killer! Carry on, good sir. :tu: