=][= Chimera Variant Challenge =][=

[calgar101]

That is looking great Duz! I love the turret.

A bat rep would be fun to do.

[Mikhail the Valhallan]

That's a mighty looking vehicle duz! And I too like the bat rep idea, a trial by fire for our vehicles sounds fun!

[Inso]

Sadly, I'm not currently building or painting vehicles but I thought it would be OK to show a couple of images of a basic Chimera that I put together for my Tech Priest and his Servitors to ride around in.

 

It started life as a Meng "World War Toon" King Tiger tank:

 

but after some extensive modifications:

 

 

... and a bit of paint:

 

 

It has an automated, Heavy Bolter turret with a hull mounted Heavy Bolter. I thought the automation suited an Engineseer :) . 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Would a Necromunda gang-appropriated Chimera be appropriate here? I have a few unbuilt ones I could blow the dust off of, and I've had a couple ideas in that vein. 

[Mikhail the Valhallan]

A necromundan Chimera variant if you will? Sounds like exactly what were looking for to me?

[WarriorFish]

Would a Necromunda gang-appropriated Chimera be appropriate here? I have a few unbuilt ones I could blow the dust off of, and I've had a couple ideas in that vein.

Of course

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

[Etheneus]

Oh, this topic made me become a member so first time posting.

 

I have already done a Trojan Support Vehicle out of a Chimera and Galvanic Servohaulers kit. Have three more chimeras built but unpainted, thinking of making one a Hellhound.

 

Well, here is the Trojan

 

And my newly acquired second hand chimera that will be Hellhound or Salamander command vehicle, not sure yet.

[duz_]

Welcome to the B&C Etheneus glad you could tickle your fancy :lol: looking forward to seeing how you repurpose your find :tu:

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Nabbed some bits off eBay, which should be here in approximately a week, and plan on doing something similar to this for my Escher-owned Chimera. 

 

 

But with a more impressive display of laser weaponry. 

[calgar101]

Welcome Etheneus and enjoy the forum! It's a great place. I really like your Trojan youjave built and look forwards to seeing more builds.

 

You can't go wrong with impressive lasers Brother Chaplain Kage.

 

Im not happy with my turret, its essentially 4 autocaanons stuck to the Chimera turret which is a little small. I am going to look at ordering a larger turret housing and then paint.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

You can't go wrong with impressive lasers Brother Chaplain Kage.

 

I ordered 2 lascannons and 4 plasmagun bits because I'm not sure which option I want to go with. 

[calgar101]

Oh very nice. How about a double las/plas turret?

[WarriorFish]

Welcome aboard, the Trojan is great keep the ideas and pictures coming everyone this is all top tier hobbying! :tu:

[Zebulon]

I can’t help thinking that a bridge-laying Chimera could look really cool. However, I don’t have the base model or the skills to build one from scratch - I am just putting the idea out there in case anyone thinks it’s worth pursuing?

[calgar101]

Now that would be a wicked looking Chimera to do Zebulon.

[Mikhail the Valhallan]

well just some iconography, a head, and some more rivets and the front half will be ready to paint. I think Ill start the second half today so i can space out doing the tedious details.

and Zebulon, I'm liking the bridge laying chimera Idea more than I should, I want to do one now but Ill have to come back to that idea, and don't sell yourself short! I feel like I'm very much a novice myself and that I'm throwing stuff at a hull and seeing what sticks! Ill be sure to let ya know when I get on it!

[duz_]

Looking great Mikhail!

 

I wonder how the other commanders are coming along? I'm hoping to have my hobby area set up but next weekend so I can start painting mine then after some brief magnetising

[Zebulon]

Here is an image which I might use as basis/inspiration IF I manage to find a spare Chimera chassis. I am pretty sure I have a largely complete Manticore lying around somewhere which could provide a donor vehicle?

 

[Mikhail the Valhallan]

*throws Soviet reference vehicle in front of Valhallan player* yep that's a wonderful idea! I look forward to the possibility! Also the manticore's missile launcher bits might be the best start of all the Chimera chasis' due to the already bridgelike launcher mechanism

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

Being both a sci-fi and scale model nerd, I often look for inspiration in the real world fighting vehicles to help ground the fictional stuff in as much realism as possible. Knowing that GW takes inspiration from real world vehicles as well - the Rhino design drawing heavily from the M113 and/or the FV432 as an example - I was looking around to see if there was anything that approximated a Chimera, and I think the M2 Bradley is a decent fit with the same rough shape, turret location, and rear hatch. Early versions of it even had six gun ports so troops could shoot out of the vehicle, though it was four on the sides and two on the rear hatch (the side ports being covered by additional armor plating in later variants). I had to resort to a photo of a scale model of the initial version of the Bradley to show what I'm talking about. 

 

 

There's a even a similar shape to the upper hull with the odd, sloped angles like there is on the Chimera. But my brain has some problems with the Chimera design now that I'm really thinking about it for the first time. Mostly, where's the engine?

 

The driver and hull weapon gunner are both right up in the front of the Chimera, with the middle and rear spaces being taken up by the turret basket and transport space. In the Bradley, the engine is up front to act as even more protection for the crew from frontal attacks with the exhaust coming out of the top of the hull. Another pic of a scale model to demonstrate because I couldn't find a decent one of the real vehicle.

 

 

 

So, what's the point of all this besides showing off how my mind sometimes gets in the way of me actually getting work done on a model by probably overthinking everything? Well, I'm going to be making my Necromunda STC variant more like the Bradley by covering over the spot where the driver's hatch normally goes as well as the recessed spot on the side where the hull weapon is. Which I've mostly done already. 

 

 

I'll be moving the driver to the left side of the vehicle also, illustrated by a photo of the real thing this time. 

 

[walter h]

Being both a sci-fi and scale model nerd, - snip -

 

Try the Soviet BMP, it is closer in style,or detail. Edited May 10, 2020 by duz_
Removed excessive quoting

[Etheneus]

Not Bradley, not BMP. It's the less known Russian MT-LB, almost exact copy of it down to the gun ports.

[Ryltar Thamior]

Personally, I'd generally thought of the Chimera as being a T-34 in terms of overall shape - this comes across more clearly when you look at a Hellhound, due to the location of the fuel tanks; and while various details have been significantly changed because IFV rather than tank, some of them remain resemblant - like the bow hull firing position (admittedly on the other side of the vehicle), and the shape of the (smaller) turret. 

Now, in terms of making a 'rationalizable' vehicle out of it ... I agree that it's a bit of a problem, because not only do we have the lack of clear space for an engine unit due to the size and location of the fighting compartment and crew positions - but also the lack of exterior exhausts elsewhere on the hull. 

The only thing I can postulate is that the propulsion mechanism for the Chimera has to be located inside the hull itself. As in, engines *under*/*over* the track-units themselves. The wonders of 41st millennium technology, eh? This would also help to explain the otherwise quite curious elevation of the track return rollers etc. - as they're *much* higher up than you see on most comparable vehicles, implying that there's something going on in there between the return rollers and the road wheels. In fact ,quite apart from being flotation tanks, or additional stowaage, or fuel reservoirs - the extended projections on the side of the hull might be exactly where portions of the engine mechanism are housed. 

It's an interesting idea, particularly in terms of how it might lead to enhanced survivability of the contents of the fighting compartment ... but that is another matter. 

It's odd that there's no exhausts, so perhaps somebody might try and enhance the pseudo-'realism' of the above theory by attaching the exhausts from the side of a Taurox thereupon. A further potential support for my theory comes from the engine setup of the Rhino - wherein it would appear that's pretty much exactly what happens. We can tell this partially due to the location of the exhausts ... and partially due to this cutaway of a Predator I just found. Counting against it as a possibility is that it'd make little sense to have the actual main source of locomotive power for the tracks being in the *upper* rather than *lower* part of the vehicle's track systsem, as the latter's what's actually more directly in contact with the ground. 

The third possibility is that there's a surprisingly compact engine located effectively under the turret, somewhat behind the driver, and below the bow-gunner's station as well - it's odd, and there's not a huge amount of space under there .. not to mention the potential risks for the crew in case of issues with the exhausts. Kinda reminds me of a mate's vehicle - "This car technically has a muffler. It's in the boot. So keep the windows down if you're sitting in the back seat." 

A fan-art illustration of the concept that I just happened across - 

 

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

 

Try the Soviet BMP, it is closer in style,or detail.

 

I'm familiar with the BMP and have built a few models of them in the past. 

 

Not Bradley, not BMP. It's the less known Russian MT-LB, almost exact copy of it down to the gun ports.

 

Lesser known indeed since I've never come across it before. 

 

Personally, I'd generally thought of the Chimera as being a T-34 in terms of overall shape *snip*

 

I had no idea my post would spark so much discussion about the Chimera, but I'm always happy to see other people's input. :D  Unlike the Rhino, I don't think we can point at any one real world vehicle as the majority of the design inspiration for it. I'm just going with the Bradley because it's similar enough for my brain to accept it and get to work, as well as there being a ton of reference information about its numerous variants for me to steal from. 

 

Ryltar, I actually had that Rhino and the Land Raider cutaway posters a long time ago and completely forgot about the drive units supposedly being within the track sections. Honestly, I think that's just GW sticking with the very tall WWI style of tracks and shoehorning in an explanation later. You might be right about the possibility of a very compact engine given the hand-wavy space science of the setting and also how small the engine is in the Land Raider model versus the size of the vehicle. 

 

I'm going to explain my version of the Chimera as being a design so old that it uses less advanced technology that needs more space for a combustion engine and reduces the overall level of firepower with the lack of a hull weapon.