Firstborn Templars

[Terminatorinhell]

These land raider mods make me want to rehab the ones I had back in middle/high school. Though I'm not sure how I'd fix them. 

[Brother Christopher]

  

On 9/5/2023 at 8:44 AM, Firedrake Cordova said:

As for the targetter, I think go with whichever looks best to you? On the Predator, the sensor is integrated into the mantlet for the autocannon?

 

I'll leave this decision for later, once I get most of the work done. Right now, I'm leaning towards a targetter mounted on the side of the base of the barrel.

 

On 9/5/2023 at 4:22 PM, Terminatorinhell said:

These land raider mods make me want to rehab the ones I had back in middle/high school. Though I'm not sure how I'd fix them. 

 

Hah, I know the feeling! I must caution you, though - while these kinds of projects are pretty cool, they are also very time-consuming and, overall, I wouldn't recommend it. Particularly in the context of the advancements in 3D printing. Having said that, if you feel oldschool - go for it!

 

***

So, after doing some dry-fitting and mock-ups, I decided to abandon the last idea for the modifications to the side of my LR.

 

I decided to go with a layer of reinforced armour shaped somewhat similarly to the original Repulsor.

 

 

Each side will be comprised of 3 layers of 0.5 mm plasticard. This week is pretty brutal when it comes to work but despite the extremely limited leisure time, I'm trying to squeeze in as much time for this 40k project as possible.

 

I'd love to finish this mid-September. I estimate that I should be able to finish the sides during the next sitting. After all, the most difficult (and time consuming) part, i.e. making the design decisions, is done. I also have the 'base' for the side armour - I just need to fit some Rhino doors, make the door frame/cowl thing and... a ladder (probably the most unnecessary and time-consuming thing here).

 

Once I have this, I'll move on to the final assembly stages: I'll glue the top and sides together and move on to the final touches, i.e., putty work (this time, quite extensive).

 

All in all, right now, I'm feeling quite... relieved? Or complacent? I do feel that most of the heavy lifting is behind me. I must admit, I'm quite happy with my professional workload - in a strange way, it pushed me to be less hesitant than usual and 'care less' - with these kinds of projects, it really is uncharacteristic of me to approach stuff as 'rashly' as I did here. In a way, I trusted my intuition and hoped to fix problems later; luckily, there weren't too many of the latter.

 

I'm quite excited to see this finished.

 

Thanks for reading!

[Terminatorinhell]

Well I think for my land raiders I would try to see if I could find new 3D printed weapons and maybe replace tracks with printed ones. I have to see how badly I messed up. And lots of gap fixing. I hate the door mechanic on them too

[Brother Christopher]

@Terminatorinhell That sounds all too familiar ;) I think that these are typical problems with Relic Land Raiders from decades past. Good luck, should you wish to proceed!

 

I managed to get some more work done. The reinforced armour side panel are ready:

 

 

And I figured 'why not' and did a little targeter/scope thingy at the front:

 

[Brother Christopher]

So, I've finally managed to get this done. As usual, it took way longer than I expected.

 

All in all, I'm quite happy with it. In retrospect, a proper Land Raider would've been a better tank but, hey, now I can use a count-as Repulsor.

 

 

More photos here: https://imgur.com/gallery/O35hvNg

 

I'm looking forward to getting the tank primed. This should help with much of the apparent issues stemming from the contrast between the grey and white plastics and green stuff.

 

I'm still planning 2-3 conversion/scratchbuilding projects but after that, I'm done with this aspect of the hobby. While I enjoy - or even, perhaps, love - scratchbuilding, I feel I've had my share of it for a lifetime. Hobby-wise, I need to transition to other things to waste my time on.

 

The remaining projects include a "flagship" Land Raider (a mode of my earlier conversion)  that needs refining (I've learnt so much in the meantime that I feel it's warranted to update this project with my better technique and, hopefully, superior details), my custom Rhinos that I intend to use as Impulsors and Stormtalon conversions.

[Firedrake Cordova]

I think it looks great! As you say, a coat of primer will help tie everything together, visually (obviously, it's really easy to see which bits are scratch-built when they're a different colour...)

 

Looking at the other vehicles you've done, they look great to me - you've definitely got some very impressive scratch-building skills!  

[Brother Christopher]

As always, thanks for the great feedback! I appreciate it.

 

Right now I've become quite fixated with the notion that I messed the turret up. After putting the whole thing together I 'realised' that the proportions are off and the turret is too high / not as sleek as the one on a proper Repulsor Executioner.

 

I'm quite angry with myself for coming to this realisation this late. I mean, the turret used to bother me at the beginning (I felt there's something wrong) but I trusted the template I used for it and hoped that once everything is done, it'll come together nicely.

 

Now I feel it didn't... Feelings aside, I see no reasonable way of fixing it without having to rebuild the entire thing. So I will have to live with this bulky mess on top of my LR ;) Maybe if I give myself more time, I'll unsee what bothers me.

 

Hopefully, some time this month I'll get around to writing an in-depth post in which I'll describe my thought processes about the alterations I've made. Right now, unfortunately, I can't find the time for that in my pre-holiday period. There's just too many things to deal with right now :(

[Firedrake Cordova]

3 hours ago, Brother Christopher said:

Right now I've become quite fixated with the notion that I messed the turret up. After putting the whole thing together I 'realised' that the proportions are off and the turret is too high / not as sleek as the one on a proper Repulsor Executioner.

Looking at the GW model, the cannon sits very low in the turret - I think if you removed 1-2mm off the bottom of the turret, it would bring it closer to the GW model. Having said that, it looks like a tank turret to me - if you look at NATO tanks, the turrets aren't short.

Edited September 12, 2023 by Firedrake Cordova

[Brother Christopher]

Man, you're such a positive force in this WIP subforum! I think that I'll try to trim the bottom part a bit. Looking back at my WIP photos, it should be doable - i.e. at the bottom, there should be a single 1 mm plasticard sheet that is added to the main structure. If I'm able to remove it, I should 'shave off' a total of 1.5-2mm (together with some details) from the bottom which isn't much but I really, really think it'll make a difference.

[Sir Clausel]

I honestly like it as it is. Dont see that its too big. Is it bigger than a normal repulsor executioner turret ? Maybe but this is a land raider executioner ! I think it fits just fine :)

[Brother Christopher]

@Sir Clausel I appreciate that, I really do! A third party's perspective is very helpful.

 

I butchered the bottom of the turret and managed to shave the 2 mm off - it somewhat helps with my subjective problem with the design. Maybe it's the feeling of doing something instead of nothing or maybe the 2 mm makes an actual difference - who knows? Right now I'm not very fond of the front view; from the sides it's okay. I suppose it's a matter of too steep slopes of the turret.

 

I don't want to come of as complaining, though. It's just that I wanted to 'improve' the model and feel a bit illy of failing to do it to my satisfaction :D But feedback from outside helps me see that I might be a bit nitpicky. All in all, this was a very cool conversion project.

 

I'm also considering modifying the turret further in the future by adding some power cells/coils/vents on one side (inspired a bit by the Falchion tank). I will reserve the final decision in that regard for later, once I get some of the model painted.

 

I'm planning to prime the model today and start painting it for the Call to Arms event.

[Brother Carpenter]

Can't wait to see it painted!!

[Brother Christopher]

9 hours ago, Brother Carpenter said:

Can't wait to see it painted!!

 

This can happen sooner rather than later. Since I pledged the model for the two ongoing hobby challenges (12 Months and Call to Arms), I am quite determined not to fail.

 

However, life has a funny way of hampering my plans and efforts. My time window for painting the tank is quite narrow. I'm going on holiday next week but my plans have changed due to a family emergency (nothing major!) which forces my hand and leaves me till Friday to finish this. I think I'll take half a day off just to get the model to a satisfactory standard and that should do it for the challenges.

 

Maybe I'll revisit the model in October to get more done...

 

I am annoyed by this development but there are way more important matters than painting 40k tanks. I've already started working and did the base colour, highlights and metallics on the hull. This time pressure is unwelcome but appears to yield amazing results.

 

To be honest, I don't have too much experience with painting vehicles. Applying the base coat with a brush is extremely annoying but the rest is great. Even though it's subjective and I know it's not true, I feel that it takes way less time to do work on a large vehicle than on an infantry model.

[Brother Christopher]

Long story short, with the right motivation and a deadline to meet, I am able to quickly paint a model. Sacrifices have been made but I think that for now, this will have to do:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luckily the "I've built a rubbish turret" drama above proved to be overblown. I think the model looks good, I give it a solid 8/10 ;)

 

I am planning on revisiting the model after dealing with my real-life issues and holiday. After all, there's a huge blank space perfect for a freehand attempt...

 

I'm looking forward to gearing your feedback.

 

Once again, thank you for all the amazing support.

[Firedrake Cordova]

It looks great to me (you are correct that the "turret drama" was overblown ). It's impressive that you managed to paint it by brush!! (I once tried to paint a Rhino with one of the old red-handled "large" brushes, and enjoyed it so much I stopped to watch cricket )

 

The litanies, checkerboard, and heraldic shields are nice touches.  

[Llagos_Tyrant]

On 7/24/2023 at 5:18 PM, Brother Christopher said:

Some minor updates are here! It has been a while, a bit longer that I'd perhaps want. But with real-life stuff being as it was, as well as how GW handles 10th edition, as well as a large portion of my collection, to my dismay, I really struggle to put time and effort into finishing my miniatures.

 

Even though I've mostly accepted my collection for what it is, I can't shake the feeling of futility while sinking hours into paint - as many members of the forum stress time and again - inferior models instead of the Primaris stuff. 

 

With that lifted of my chest, I shall continue to plod through the mistakes of my youth and SHALL FINISH MY CRUSADE. After all, selling all those miniatures seems like too much of a hassle and, hopefully, they'll look nice on the shelf.

Loving the models in this thread, but also wanted to pick on this and share my empathy. I had always wanted an Ultramarines army so during 9th I started collecting an all firstborn force. I'm about halfway through having the 1st and 5th company and the motivation to keep it going to full companies is hard to keep up when it feels like new units are rolled out and firstborn are slowly phased out.

 

At least with the Ultras there are some units I can maybe use for HH, but wanted to just say I feel your pain. Really feels like it makes it a personal project/project for 'historical 40k' via previous editions.

[Brother Christopher]

Here's an update - over the last two months, I feel I've been mostly working on my scout models. I really wanted to 'rush' things and get the models done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Terminatorinhell]

That land raider looks absolutely mean now. I love how it came out. I'm trying to rehab some myself, I'm nowhere near as fancy though. 

 

Those scouts are great, the old ones had so much character lol. I just painted two of them up and now I'm like "who gave the hobbitses scout armor?" 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work on the classic scouts - the camo came out really nice  

[Brother Christopher]

On 1/8/2024 at 3:41 PM, Terminatorinhell said:

That land raider looks absolutely mean now. I love how it came out. I'm trying to rehab some myself, I'm nowhere near as fancy though. 

 

Those scouts are great, the old ones had so much character lol. I just painted two of them up and now I'm like "who gave the hobbitses scout armor?" 

 

Thanks mate! I intend to revisit the LR in the future and add some more touches; I had to 'rush' it for the Call to Arms competition. I intend to add some kind of freehand on the side(s) but don't have the time to do it and am still looking for inspiration.

 

Yeah, well, with the scouts... you're right :P The 'scale creep' was pretty brutal for these, especially - I imagine - when you place them side-by-side with Primaris models. Luckily, my guys won't feel that bad, even though they just might be from the Shire ;)

 

On 1/8/2024 at 7:00 PM, Firedrake Cordova said:

Nice work on the classic scouts - the camo came out really nice  

 

Thanks! These were my first attempts at something like this and I guess the camo pattern turned out pretty okay for the time and effort.

 

And here's another scout armour model finished.

 

 

 

 

[Firedrake Cordova]

Nice work. The cloak lining in the first image looks almost velvety due to the contrast.  

 

I like the litanies you added to the cloak

[terminator ultra]

all your eyes look amazing

[TheArtilleryman]

1 hour ago, terminator ultra said:

all your eyes look amazing

How many eyes does he have? 
 

 

 

@Brother Christopher Did you ever paint the scratch build rhinos? I’ve been through the whole thread and can’t see a picture of them finished… I could just be blind of course. Maybe because I don’t have enough eyes … 

Edited January 17 by TheArtilleryman

[Brother Christopher]

15 hours ago, TheArtilleryman said:

@Brother Christopher Did you ever paint the scratch build rhinos? I’ve been through the whole thread and can’t see a picture of them finished… I could just be blind of course. Maybe because I don’t have enough eyes … 

 

Unfortunately, the project is indefinitely postponed. Over the years, GW changed so much in the gaming landscape that I can't find the motivation/justification to finish the Rhinos. I had had ideas to further modify them and use as Impulsors or Gladiators but at the moment, with my backlog, I can't be bothered.

 

It saddens me to say and admit this but I guess it's the truth :( In terms of conversions/scratchbuilds, I want to finish/refurbish my custom Land Raider and paint my Thunderhawk. I've even came up with a justification for abandoning the project altogether. If it comes to that, I think, I didn't really waste my time on a dud project but instead honed my plasticard skills: these Rhinos were experimental in the sense that they were the first models that I've used my current approach to building the core structure, as well as adding fine details.

[Firedrake Cordova]

It saddens me to read that.  

 

You've clearly got a lot of skill when it comes to scratch-building things, and it's been interesting following the Thunderhawk and Land Raider projects.