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How to convert SM bikes into Jetbikes?


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Rough idea.

 

Remove the wheels (obviously).

Use some sheet plastic to close off the wheel wells.

Couple retros from a Drop Pod on the bottom of the wheel wells for lift.

Engine from maybe a Land Speeder attached to rear wheel well, facing back, for thrust.

Maybe trimmed out bits of sheet front and back as control surfaces/'wings'. 

Do you have spare bikes already and are looking to convert, or are the bikes yet to be purchased, as there are a couple of really good third party bikes out there.

 

Either way, I'm on holidays and am looking to kill some time. I've got a ton of bitz, let me have a scrounge....

 

Cheers,

Jono

Have you searched for any example or tutorials?

 

There's quite a few conversions that people have made over the years, all based on the SM bike. Examples here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. I know there's also one that uses a Storm Talon engine here on B&C, and there just loads more if you do a Google image search.

Imperial Jetbikes is a funny subject for me. I've never really liked any of the bike-to-jetbike conversions I've seen (including the ones linked above; well built and executed but I just don't think they look "right"), and I'm not especially keen on the Forgeworld ones either.

 

In fact, the only one I actually like is Sammael's. Pretty pricey to build a unit of bikers riding those but damn would that look great.

Imperial Jetbikes is a funny subject for me. I've never really liked any of the bike-to-jetbike conversions I've seen (including the ones linked above; well built and executed but I just don't think they look "right"), and I'm not especially keen on the Forgeworld ones either.

 

In fact, the only one I actually like is Sammael's. Pretty pricey to build a unit of bikers riding those but damn would that look great.

Samael is a beautiful model, if only for the jetbike. I know that's why I bought him years ago. Now I've stripped him, dissassembled him, and am planning to mold the bike to create Bullock pattern jetbikes (new version), as I've been told FW might not bother with them (#notarumourjusthearsay)

 

I do get where a lot of these are getting inspiration from the old conversions of bullock jetbikes from RT/2nd ed era, but I think that 40k has gotten a lot closer to gothic aesthetics than goofy 80s sci-fi of the time, so I agree wholeheartedly with Halandaar on that one.

 

I think a problem that many of these jetbikes converted from bikes is they don't look bulky enough anymore - on the ground, a Space Marine bike looks massive, when it is in the air and is essentially a mini-jet-fighter, it looks spindly. Another problem with the aesthetic of these I find is that the rider is too close to the nose - it looks unbalancing at the best of times.

 

 

But you didn't come here looking for my rants about aesthetics :lol: Id' look into that last-but-one conversion, with StarWars-like rods sticking out in front. However, I'd try and use some plasticard to make a kind of plough or wedge shape. You might then find that the rods look a bit spindly themselves - in that case, try adding some more plasticar in a thick box shape (possibly even diamond-shaped when seen head-on), but keep the same kind of rod design to add depth to the design. Then have the heavy weapons slung from under the box, or sticking out from the middle of the prow. I haven't ever tried this, but I think it could be made to work :)

I think it depends on how much of the SM bike you keep; if you just have the seat and handlebar arrangement, there's both more potential, but also more work/cost. I think that the work/cost reasons are primary drivers for many of the conversions you see, especially given that the HH Visions artwork (the inspiration for many of them) mostly look like regular SM bikes at their core anyway.

 

I did find this conversion too, which I really liked, but as it uses a BFG Imperial Cruiser prow (which are now silly expensive to get hold of), I wouldn't like to try making a squad of them.

 

Others I found (like this one here) looked rather more involved and had parts from specific kits that I think would be too hard to come by for making a squad of bikes.

The forgeworld ones are awesome IMHO, but they are too :cuss ing expensive.

 

When I get to making jetbikes, I think I'll combine the JP exhausts with the Sons of Tarvitz air intake and add a couple of stabilizers instead of the wings.

 

That last one looks awesome but also a lot of work.

Shameless personal plug. Note, I do have plans to make my own Jetbikes and something unique as a counts-as ground bike (more on that when the time is right) that will be available through my studio. In fact, I've already started talking with a colleague in my college course about commissioning some preliminary sketches. Reading this feedback, I suspect I might come up with some designs that will appeal to many people. I hope to have enough progress done on them (concepts and preliminary 3D models) so I can show what I'm considering sometime in Summer 2017.

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