$10 Land Raider...& Predator

[Black Bear]

So I haven't really been in the hobby since early fifth edition, but I recently decided that even if I am not playing I would like to finish painting up all the models I currently have.  So going through my stuff I opened up an old shoe box and found a land raider I had bought for $10 back when I planned to make an ork army. 

 

Now you might be wondering why did it cost only $10?  That was because it had 5 layers of paint on it, was missing the heavy bolters and one set of lascannons.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151003_120108.jpg

 

Here is one of the doors before I stripped it of paint.  In the top right of the door is supposed to be a skull and crossbones, but is just a lump of paint.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151003_120048-1.jpg

 

Here is the door in the stripped land raider.

 

So after stripping the land raider I thought about what I wanted to do with it.  I had the crusader/redeemer sprues and being Black Templar it made sense to make it a crusader/redeemer.  On it I wanted to have an epic picture, but since I can't paint to save my life and the only two people I know who can don't want to I had to figure something else.  Now years ago I had purchased some decal paper so I decided to try printing large decals to put on the side.  I've always loved the 3rd edition box cover so I decided to try that.  I printed many different sizes to try to come up with the best scale, and having found one acceptable got to work.  

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151013_223536.jpg

 

After spraying the entire model black I painted the sides white.  I really underestimated how much I needed to water down the paint and it took a bit to get it to the correct consistency, but I got it done eventually.  Not painting for years had really dulled what little skill I had had.  I wasn't worried about streaks or brush lines as they would all be covered soon.

 

I started with the right side, what would be the passenger side in an American car.  I had hoped that with decal softener I could make the decal settle over the bumps and protrusions on the land raider, but the decal proved too thick and didn't really set well.  I will have to redo this side.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151013_223600.jpg

 

Here it is with the unfinished sponson.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151013_223610.jpg

 

Seeing what happened on the right side I scraped the left side mostly clean and it worked a lot better.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151014_000650.jpg

 

With the same unfinished sponson.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151014_081533.jpg

 

And that was as far as I got with my $10 land raider.

[AlphariusOmegon108]

woah, thats fantastic!

[furstyferret]

You could have at least painted that fresco on each side... just kidding

I'll keep an eye on this project, it'll be interesting to see where it leads.

[Kassill]

This give me hope! I have 2 land raiders in about the same, if not worse, condition that have been rolling around the bottoms of my model bins for quite some time now (1 was my fault from painting it up in my awful scheme back in 06 when I first started, then repainting on top of it when I switched to chaos a year two later.... And the other is from a friend who wanted to loot his for his Orks)

Keep up the good work

[Black Bear]

So I pulled off the left side and tried it again.  The results were better after smoothing the sides out some more, but I inadvertently pushed the decal up a little under the hole for the sponson.  Luckily it will be below the sponson so I should be able to fix it with a little paint and it should be fine.  

 

 http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151014_223919.jpg

 

I will use the original lascannon sponson bars for the flamer bits, but the back plate extended too far to the rear.  I cut the plate off, shortened the connecting bars , and reglued the plate closer to the main axis enabling the flamer to sit in the correct position on the bars.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151015_002009.jpg

 

I also found out I was wrong about the twin-linked heavy bolters.  They did come with the land raider, but I had repurposed them on the $5 rhino I bought to make a razorback.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151014_224346.jpg

 

The rhino itself was another vehicle I had scrubbed the paint off of and was repainting when I quit playing.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151014_223956.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151014_224012.jpg

[Black Bear]

Well for better or worse the hull is done minus a few decals.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151018_222927.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151018_222943.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151018_223016.jpg

 

In the pic above you can see how something had been glued onto the vents.  I tried to remove as much as the glue as possible and this is what I'm left with.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151018_224340.jpg

 

I added a sheaf to the top ramp.  I admit I was having problems working the putty after so long a time.  Eventually it cured a little too much when I was finally able to get what you see in the pictures.  It is not bad but it is not good either.  It really is just a little too thick, but I was tired of messing with it and called it good.

 

As you can clearly see I couldn't keep my hand steady when trying to delineate the white and black boundary, but it will just have to do.  Something I never mentioned was that the opening mechanism for the ramp was broken and the ramp slides back and forth when opened.  Thus we turn to the powers of science, i.e. magnets.  Over the years I have found that super glue sticks the best to human skin.  Thus I now cannot open my phone with my thumb and must type in my password.  First world problems indeed.  

 

I was planning on starting on the sponsons but I needed some plastic tube.  So thinking, I donned the shoes of walking and headed into town to visit the local model shop.  When I got to the location of said shop there was just an empty building.  I thought "Oh no, whatever shall I do?"  So I checked my phone for the store and sure enough they had moved to a new location.  So I went there and saw that they had moved to a new store 3 times bigger than the old store.  But this building was empty as well, for it seems that they did go out of business anyways.

 

So I started messing with the hurricane bolters a bit and realized I didn't care for the large armour plates that come with the new plastic kits.  So I dug out the ol' metal bitz and took a look at those.  To this day I believe that the metal bitz are the superior design, but fail due to being made of metal.  So I took the metal octagonal plates and attached them to the hurricane bolters.  You can see the old color scheme I was planning for the land raider pillbox on the plates.  Basically I plan to paint the red area black and the black areas white.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151018_223513.jpg

 

I'll probably put the sponsons aside for now and work on the turret assault cannons and top hatches. 

[Black Bear]

Alright so I got magnets installed on sprue crossing the hatchways so I can now magnetize the sponsons.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151021_000713-1.jpg

 

As it is the $10 land raider the hatches and weapons were either missing or completely useless, especially as I wanted both the multi-melta as well as storm bolters up top.  So I took a trip to the local gamestore and the proprietor allowed me to browse through his vehicle weapons bin.  So $8 later I left with two hatch rings, two gunner lower bodies, a gaurd storm bolter, and some other goodies for razorback above and a dreadnought currently being worked on.  He unforntunately did not have a multi-melta.  

 

So taking all the pieces I set about to put a couple of gunners on the raider.  The gunner arms I had had been broken in half at some earlier time.  When I saw this I came up with the idea to have the gunners waving about pistols as I didn't have another set of arms.  The storm bolter gunner was pretty straight forward, and I liked the guard bolter as it seemed larger and more imposing.  I chose to use marine biker heads--at least I think they are biker heads--for the built in comms relay on the side.  Add in an assault pistol arm cut and angled out a bit, some guitar wire extending from the back and we get one gunner ready to go.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151021_001016-1.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151025_161229-1.jpg

 

It still needs a few small details done, but for the most part I am pleased with what my meager skills have wrought.  

 

The multi-melta gunner was a bit different.  I needed to come up with a multi-melta and I actually had one from I believe a Land speeder.  I had originally inteded to use on a dreadnought but then the Assault in Black Rock sets came out with dreadnought multi-melta arms.  I had a protective plate from a guard heavy weapons team that fit around the multi-melta pretty well.  Digging through my bitz bin I found an old tau head that didn't quite fit the top gap of the plate.  Taking my flat micro file I filed small grooves into the sides and bottom of the head so that it slid around the armor plate and fit flush with the top.  A little putty closed the gaps on the side and made it look like it was meant to fit.  

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151021_001034-1.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151021_000949-1.jpg

 

The thing I realized after I had already glued the plate in place is that I should have glued it behind the multi-melta's side tanks.  

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151021_191400.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151025_161336-1.jpg

 

So they got painted up.  I wanted the rings to be white to contrast with the black vehicle with black hatches to help emphasize the rings.  With everything going on above them I don't know if it really works that well but I like them.  I also painted up the radar dish and pinned it to the hull.  I kept most of it the same bone color as the plate it rests on but made the arm holding the dish and feedhorn black.  The multi-melta itself was kept mostly black with the "grip" on the front being white to complement the white hatch ring.

 

The TLAC were kept simple with ironbreaker being applied with a wash of black ink over the silver.  Remember when GW sold Black Ink?  Man that seems so long ago.  

 

 http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151025_161435-1.jpg

 

So basically we end up with this:

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151025_161202.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151025_161146-1.jpg

 

I still need to add decals, and I am hoping to get a mechanicus decal to apply to the multi-melta gunner when I make some servitors for my techmarine.  I had started to do some work on the sponsons themselves but still have a bit to do on them.  And I suck at painting the window/gems so I just swipe my blues across them in layers and call it good, so please don't burst a blood vessel on my poor painting.

[Black Bear]

So I must admit I actually had no idea how much the paint range had changed for citadel since I have been gone.  After having finally taken stock of my current paints and looking at what was now offered I picked up a few more pots.  I redid the tracks with nuln oil and necron compound as well as the assault cannon.  And the gunners got some more detail work done to them.  I also found a very simple way to make the eyes in a way that I like using girlyman blue.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151028_010709-1.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151028_010757-1.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151028_010731-1.jpg

 

Here are the gunners.  I tried something new with the pp but I didn't like the result, so I gotta fix them.  This was also the first time I ever had any problem with the decals.  You can tell there is a cloudy look to them.  I don't know if they are just getting old or what.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151029_001743.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151029_001615.jpg

 

And here is proof that I am actually working on the side sponsons.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151029_001305.jpg

[Canadian_F_H]

That's awesome! Love the 3rd edition box cover!

[ElectricPaladin]

The mural effect is amazing. I've got the stuff I need to print custom decals... I should try that, myself.

[Black Bear]

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151031_111354-1.jpg

 

Here we see the wild nerd has marked his territory to warn other nerds and nerdlings to not tresspass upon his holdings.  It is also an attempt to impress and woo the female.  Sadly these markings usually drive the female of the species away.  Many times the females can be heard leaving the area with the distinctive distress call of , "Oh my gawd, you play with little army men?!"  

 

All joking aside here are the sponsons getting sprayed with matte coating.  Them being magnetized made it a very easy job indeed.  

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151031_111611-1.jpg

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151031_111528-1.jpg

 

Here you can see the top of the sponson came unglued.  I had to glue it back on better after the picture and it now sits on correctly.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151031_111519-1.jpg

 

Apparently the new sponsons are deeper than the older ones.  I didn't realize this until I finished the sponsons and attached the magnets, finding that the hurricane bolters stick out a little bit from the hull walls.   

 

All that is left is decals and the sponson sensors.  Speaking of sensors I lack the pair needed for the flamers, and I could just magnetize them, but I dislike having something so small be loose for the land raider so I will probably just use a spare pair of side sensors.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/20151031_112623-1.jpg

 

If I cut the arm off I think it will look close enough to the real sensors, as well as the fact that these sensors are not located on the flamer sponsons means it isn't doubling up the same bit.  

[Black Bear]

Alright it is finished barring a last coat of lacquer to seal everything and some 'ardcoat on the lenses.  

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/10%20Dollar%20Land%20Raider/2015-11-03%2001.00.51.jpg

 

Got the smoke launchers added on front, a ladder on the starboard rear and the frag launchers--which I almost forgot--from the old metal kit.  You can see on the starboard hurricane bolter that while I did reglue it, it slipped out of position while I was at work and ended up forming with a small gap between the hull side and the top plate.  I still need a couple of crosses on the front white panels but currently all the crosses I have are too big or too small, so the fresco will have to do with declaring allegiance to the chapter for now.

 

Overall I am pleased with how it turned out.

 

I recently went to the local store to pick up a few bitz for a project I have been planning to do for the last 13 years.  As you can tell I don't procrastinate at all.  Ever since I read about how serfs greatly outnumber the marines on marine ships and that they actually help repell boarders--don't know if this was retconned or not--I wanted a small group of serfs.  I had gotten a box of chaos warriors from a friend and they are short enough compared to a marine to seem a human.  Add in some dwarf heads and empire white wolf knight--at least I think that is what they are called--arms and some guard weapons and we have chapter serfs ready to repel invaders.  I always felt that swords were for the knights, i.e. the marines, so they would use hammers and such. 

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/W%20I%20P/2015-11-02%2020.01.22.jpg

 

But while I was at the store someone was selling a small box of space marine vehicle accessory sprues.  While most were the hatches accessory sprues, in the bottom were the predator side sponsons sprue and the land raider twin-linked lascannon and heavy bolter sprues.  Now I have a rhino left over from a sister's immolater I used parts from on the land raider pillbox.  So all I need is come up with a turret.  I always like the old bubble turret; I think it is being called a deimos pattern now.  So I decided to try to make my own turret.  

 

First I used a ping-pong ball, but it was a little small at a diameter of 1.5 inches.  So when I went to wally-world I looked through the toy and sport sections and found some 2" fishing bobbers.  So splitting one in half and a little plasticard gave me a frame to start working with, but I think it might be a little too big.  I plan to look for maybe a little smaller bobber, but I don't know if they make a 1.75" bobber.  If they don't I will probably go with the 2" bobber.

 

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/W%20I%20P/2015-11-02%2019.59.38.jpg

[Black Bear]

So I have done some more work on the predator turret. I couldn't find a smaller ball so I went with the 2" bobber. I realize that the turret is almost as tall as the chassis but I'm gonna roll with it. Here it is sitting on the razorback chassis. I used a small ring of 3/4" pvc to help get the width of the hatch column. also had the lascannon too low for my taste on the turret.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/W%20I%20P/fb7fce91-f18f-4b59-8b22-f29881af53f8.jpg

So I pulled it off and reset it up higher--maybe too high--allowing it to swing above hatch rings. The lasconnon shroud needs a lot of work still, but I got the hatch column smoothed out to my liking; just need to work the beveled edge a bit. The lasconnons themselves are just tacked here; still have to put them on.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/W%20I%20P/42412a33-c3fa-4dbe-a552-798313716074.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/W%20I%20P/b5963d02-d9d0-42e8-9085-623feb0f1f79.jpg

Here the turret is setting on the freshly built chassis. This is actually the first time I ever put a rhino chassis together. Yay for all infantry armies. I wanted a dozer blade but have never really liked the marine bars. Luckily I was able to pick this up for cheap and I gotta say I like it so far.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb311/BlackestBear/W%20I%20P/3869896b-f01a-485c-bfcf-b0abe372a465.jpg

On the port side of the turret you can see a small hole. I am planning on attaching a spotlight at the point, although I am debating on how I want to do it. A part of me want to drill a larger hole perpendicular to the floor. This will allow me to put a flat circle to plant the foot of the spotlight and have it sit in a cylindrical spot in the turret wall. The other part of me wants to cut the foot off the spotlight and post it on a rod. I'm wanting to add something behind the hatch but I'm not sure what exactly. I just really don't like what forgeworld did, so I'll have to try to do something within my skillset, which as you can tell isn't much.

Hope to have the turret and her sister predator built over the weekend.

So comments are welcome. Leave them if you want to.