The Mycenaean Assault Tank

[Stercus]

Excellent work. It’s a beast of a tank.

[rabid_stoat]

Thanks for the encouragement guys. I'll make sure you do see the finished product!

 

 

Today, I've further trimmed down the sides of the cockpit well, and cut out the upper side panels.

 

I haven't had the chance to get much else done, but thought I'd share anyway. At the moment I think it looks a little front heavy, but it should have a turret mount behind the cockpit to offset that.

 

I certainly don't hate the look so I'll continue on with this. 

 

 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The tank is coming together well. I'm glad you took time to do what Games Workshop's own sculptors rarely do: Ask yourself, "Where will everything fit?" and try to answer that.

[rabid_stoat]

The tank is coming together well. I'm glad you took time to do what Games Workshop's own sculptors rarely do: Ask yourself, "Where will everything fit?" and try to answer that.

 

Thanks. I'm trying to focus on that, though I can't promise I won't go overboard at some point - knowing when to stop is invaluable but not always easy.

 

 

Glued a few parts of the cockpit together tonight, but not much else got done. It takes a bit of time to test fit everything but I'll get there. Seems I only just get home and I'm eating tea and prepping for bed. I'm also trying to actually capture each step to show the process.

 

I am still hoping I'll be able to avoid armoured canopies - while more practical these would obscure so much detail (not added yet, sadly) - by using the old 'not open-topped because of the power armour' argument.

 

So, the cockpit bulkheads are in:

 

And I'm building the interior detail. No true marine is ever far from his bolter:

 

And I carved up the lower frame of the lascannon mount. The piping on the Centurion lascannons gets caught up on this otherwise.

 

Tomorrow I'll try tackling much more of the cockpit interior.

 

[rabid_stoat]

The last couple of days have seen some small progress - the cockpit detail is coming along for a start. I stole the seat backs from my Stormraven and Stormtalon gunships (I'll paint the canopies so you can't see inside anyway) and some detail from a drop pod interior:

 

 

 

I think I found the primary hull weapon as well - for this initial version anyway. Flamestorm Cannons! Twin-linked of course. Or more likely three actually, I have a second set somewhere...
 

And I finally (!) attached the first sponson to the tank wall. Still some detail to add to the lower mount plate, and probably some layering to the upper one for that matter. Also test fitting a different upper turret option.
 

 

Lastly, I added the 0.25mm detail layer to the chamfer along the upper hull edge (on one side anyway). This seems to work pretty well.
 

 

I think I've got a pretty good feel for the look of the thing when done now. Its a hedgehog of weapons, but so are most Astartes tanks.
 

[Chaplain Killmer]

I always liked the idea of having a servitor strapped on a weapon externally. I know it would not be as resillient but it could be a nice model enhancement.

[rabid_stoat]

I always liked the idea of having a servitor strapped on a weapon externally. I know it would not be as resillient but it could be a nice model enhancement.

 

Apologies for the delay in response Chaplain, I had a few things to chew through on this project and didn't want to just post a text reply. I think I've worked it all out now.

 

I considered servitors or space marines on external seats behind the plasma arrays. While this would be very interesting it'd be a bit too Mechanicus for an Astartes tank.

 

So I went looking for alternatives, and found this little sub-assembly:

 

 

It bolts onto the weapon mounting as follows:

 

 

I like the way all those exhaust vents match up. 

 

 

Ever watch Macross? Remember all those bits where the pod doors open to reveal ALL THE MISSILES!!!!!?

 

To make it all fit I had to stretch the forward arm of the weapon mount, adding another hydraulic arm. Still some detail to add here, because you will actually see some bits past all the guns.

 

 

 I've made some progress on the rest of the tank, believe it or not, with steady progress on the hull sides and rear section. A lot of plasticard and rivets. Oh, and test fitting two belt fed semi-automatic cyclone missile launchers. I'd welcome your thoughts on these?

 

  

So the final weapon load-out probably looks something like this:

 

[Vulkan81]

This thing is a monster!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wish I had the time and talent to come up with something like this!  Great work

[Blindhamster]

very impressive modelling skills, I am always in awe of people that can do such impressive things with plasticard.

 

That thing is an absolute monster! I'm interested to see it finished (paint and all!)

[rabid_stoat]

This thing is a monster!!!!!!!!!!!!  I wish I had the time and talent to come up with something like this!  Great work

 

I promise you that you can do this too - it really is pretty simple work. I've made things harder on myself by scaling everything up and have by now spent enough on Ebay and Forgeworld bits to buy at least a squadron of Land Raiders, but starting smaller should be both cheap and easy. Time consuming true, but mostly I work on it a bit every weeknight or two while listening to movies.

 

very impressive modelling skills, I am always in awe of people that can do such impressive things with plasticard.

 

That thing is an absolute monster! I'm interested to see it finished (paint and all!)

 

Thanks, though I'm certainly no expert . I think I'll have the baseline variant done soon. I've counted something like 11 variant hull and weapon sections I'd like to build so 'finished' is a fairly complex concept with this project.

 

Not too much progress the last few days. I've clad more of the rear and added a few details. I'm getting very close to being able to paint the H hull section, if only I can work out what sort of side hatches and detail I want.

 

 

 

And I got bored and worked on the interior a bit. Despite promising myself I would NOT detail the interior I wound up doing precisely that, at least to the extent of starting on the troop bay.

 

 

 

 Space marine seats and lockers:

 

 

Seven to a side, so at least 14 marines I guess, not counting any left standing. There's a thought, maybe I'll add a central roof console with grab rails, like a metro train. I really like that idea now I've had it!

 

[Ovidius Incertus]

Looks positively roomy in there!

 

How do you plan a beast like this?  Do you use CAD or something?  And how do you keep such precise cuts and straight lines?  I mean, the uniformity on those seats and lockers is just downright impressive!

[Crizza]

Holy moly :D

This is realy awesome.
Just imagine a Crusader version with Vulkan mega bolters :D

[lionofjudah]

[Brother Pheidias]

Amazing work, no doubts there.

Very late in addressing this, but I have to speak up on the sheer variety of weapons and different styles of similar weapons. I like my tanks to feel like they have an actual purpose, and as a superheavy assault tank, the armaments seem too random. Also, while less is sometimes more, I would like the sponsons to have fewer, but larger weapons. Also, consistency in design makes me happy, which is why the new Hovertanks really bother me a lot :D

 

[rabid_stoat]

Looks positively roomy in there!

 

How do you plan a beast like this?  Do you use CAD or something?  And how do you keep such precise cuts and straight lines?  I mean, the uniformity on those seats and lockers is just downright impressive!

 

I'm afraid it is nothing so advanced  - I sketched it out on paper and traced the basic shapes onto plasticard. In part it was planned out years ago, but I'm also making new breakthroughs as each piece falls into place.

 

I've broken down the process of making a bit of detail below, but in brief: I use a ruler.

 

Holy moly

 

This is realy awesome.

Just imagine a Crusader version with Vulkan mega bolters

 

Thanks. It is funny you should say mega bolters, if you look on page one you'll see the muzzles of 4 Avenger bolt cannons i sourced from Ebay.  There's a reason I kept the weapons detachable - or 'swap outable'...

 

 

[Bjorn Firewalker]

The interior looks great! The sponsons' many weapons would be better mounted on more sponsons and/or a gun turret or two, in my opinion.

[rabid_stoat]

The interior looks great! The sponsons' many weapons would be better mounted on more sponsons and/or a gun turret or two, in my opinion.

 

Thanks - I'm pleased with the interior, but am yet to tackle the important bit: the door hinges. That will be a test.

 

I've been thinking a lot about the weapons - It is possible that the plasma batteries don't work as well as I'd hoped, but I'm going to stick with them for now and see how they look painted. I can always swap them out later.

 

 

 

Progress - adding detail to the weapon sponsons:

 

 

 

I then removed the drop pod missile launchers, originally installed to provide close in light infantry defence. Upon reflection I agree with Brother Pheidias that they do rather complicate the weapon layout. I'm keeping the Aiolos/Cyclone missile launchers however.

 

It is Very Painful tearing out something you've already built. It. Really. Hurts.  

 

 

 

[itasiah]

This is outstanding! Thanx to share it :)

[rabid_stoat]

So its been seven months or so since my last post, but I've not been completely idle - not all the time anyway. I've kept poking away at the Mycenaean or at least thinking about it. 

 

I feel I rambled a bit in the previous couple of posts so I'll be fairly brief here. 

 

I've largely finished the outer hull structure. Still a few details left to tidy but I may be able to get that part painted some time fairly soon! I've also done most of the structural work for the actual assault tank/APC version of the tank, including all the hinges. A lot of detail work remains.

 

Rear quarter view showing side doors:

 

 

Rear upper armour plate:

 

 

Engine block detail (note the reactor access plate similar to an Imperial Knight):

 

 

Radiator/hatch and surface detail:

 

 

Armour plate atop the sponson (protecting a super high power searchlight):

 

 

Sponson detail (the weapon mount itself will have to be redone):

 

 

Upper assault compartment roof and prow hatches:

 

 

Prow showing the upper and lower prow hatches and multiple headlight arrays:

 

 

Open lower prow hatch (hatch armour is approximately 350mm thick - standard Land Raider armour is 95mm), also showing hydraulic rams:

 

 

Assault compartment headlights and ramp hinge:

 

 

Upper assault compartment roof hatch - open:

 

 

Upper assault compartment prow hatch/firing position - open (Marines can fire from this position in support of their disembarking brethren. Jump pack equipped marines can also launch directly from the upper deck):

 

 

Upper assault compartment floor detail (There is a lot of details left to add to this compartment):

 

 

All hatches open:

 

 

Scale/fit test (The seats are definitely small for a marine but broadly feasible. The Centurion does fit though - and he's a few millimetres taller than most):

 

 

Group shot of the three main components (the inner hull is held in place with magnets and the upper deck helps):

 

 

Upper assault deck and inner hull section side by side (The inner hull will be the base for at least one other variant, yet to be built):

 

 

[Naryn]

My jaw is on the floor.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

My jaw is on the floor.

I second that.

 

If the Mycenaean must engage flyers or enemies firing from a rooftop, will you open the top hatches and have simply embarked Marines blaze away? Or will you add Icarus stormcannons and/or Skyspear missile launchers to the tank?

[rabid_stoat]

 

My jaw is on the floor.

I second that.

 

If the Mycenaean must engage flyers or enemies firing from a rooftop, will you open the top hatches and have simply embarked Marines blaze away? Or will you add Icarus stormcannons and/or Skyspear missile launchers to the tank?

 

 

Thank you both!

 

Bjorn, I've gone back and forth many times on the subject of AA armament since starting this project. I just don't think there's really room for heavy AA (certainly not the Skyspear launcher, without modification) as the very large roof hatch leaves little spare - the actual top space available is comparable to a Baneblade otherwise. I also don't want to make the tank much taller - its already very tall compared to most Marine vehicles.

 

I can probably fit an Icarus stormcannon but not the associated radar systems.

 

I believe the tank should be highly capable against urban upper floor targets. At the moment I expect the APC version to be the 'dakka' version, with multiple assault and bolt cannons. Anything that can't be effectively destroyed by the array of assault cannons would likely be assaulted by jump pack or even regular Astartes infantry carried aboard.

 

Flyers are trickier, but I don't know that a dedicated weapon system is necessary. I can't imagine a tank this size with a high priority cargo and mission would go anywhere without AA platform escorts or air cover. I may add a radar scanner to the FW turret though - I can gussy it up to look like a Modern AA gun system with a radar tracker. 

 

And as you say, they can also pop the top and blaze away!