Assault Gun Leman Russ (Chromnax Pattern) Conversion Guide

[Brother Anderson]

Hello!

 

I've had a couple of requests for a tutorial on how I build my turretless Leman Russ assault guns, it's been a long time coming but I'm finally putting pen to paper (or indeed hands to keyboard!).

 

Overall it's a pretty involved conversion but no one step is that complicated, it's a bit of a process but I reckon the result is worth the investment. If you end up building one of these please tag me in the post you make to share it: it would make my day! This tutorial is based on my own notes so may be the ramblings of a madman, if there's any more detail that'd help please let me know and I can make edits.

 

The ingredients you'll need:

 

Solar Auxilia Leman Russ (specific version only matters for the weapon you want it to have)

2mm expanded PVC

Milliput

Baneblade hull, with parts for demolisher cannon and front turret (These can be purchased on eBay for around $15, plus if you've built a turretless version of the Baneblade you'll have these spare)

Plastic Glue

Super Glue

Sharp hobby knife (fresh blade highly recommended)

Hobby saw

 

Step One:

 

To begin with, you'll need to assemble the hull sides as normal, including the tracks. It's also a good idea to glue together the underside of the tank, but hold fire on gluing those parts together just yet.

 

 

 

Step Two:

 

Using a saw cut the hull top in half, cutting perpendicular with the line of rivets in the first image, then assemble the rest of the rear hull as normal. Make sure not to remove the two bits on the sides that stick out as these will hold the Baneblade front to the engine deck of the Russ.

 

 

 

Step Three:

 

Assemble the front hull as normal until you reach this stage:
 

 

This comes with a lip for attaching the upper front hull, this will need removing using your hobby blade. Once removed, you're free to glue the sides, underside, rear and front together.
 

 

The inner hull will have these wheel caps which will need to be removed:

 

 

Step Four:

 

Cut the baneblade hull to separate the front glacis from the rest, then assemble the front glacis with the ball mount (without gluing the demolisher bit in unless you're building a demolisher armed Russ!) and trim the side without the ball mount. Test fit this, but do not glue it in yet. The longest part of the Baneblade glacis should rest on the jutting out bit that was mentioned earlier.
 

 

Step Five:

 

Next measure out a plate in 2mm expanded PVC to be in line with the left edge of the ex-Baneblade glacis, matching the diagonal angle of the top section. I like to use spare sprue as scaffolding to ensure a flat mounting. At this point I normally glue some scrap expanded PVC to the underside of the hole in the top hull: this makes it easier to plug later.
 

 

Step Six: 

 

Next up is the "sponson" weapons: the easiest solution here is to cut down the front of the baneblade mini-turret but an alternative would be to glue a rectangle of expanded PVC; from there you could add other sponson weapons from your bits box. If you're planning on using this in a HH force, a blanking plate of ePVC works great. 

 

 

 

Step Seven:

 

Now is a good time to make some plugs for the holes in the hull: these are where parts would have gone on the baneblade model. Don't worry if your parts aren't flush, we can cover any gaps with milliput and/or greebles later on.

 

 

Step Eight:

 

Next up is the main gun, in this example I'm using the battle cannon but many guns from either the IG or SA Russ kits will fit. Exceptions are the IG Executioner and either exterminator variant. This is as simple as sawing them off at the base of the cannon and gluing them together.

 

 

Step Nine:

 

You're now safe to start gluing things together! Glue the Baneblade glacis in first, then fill any gaps/rough edges with milliput. Finally, fit the heavy bolter "sponsons": if the latter doesn't fit you can always trim it down later. 

 

Once everything is in, steal rivets from the Baneblade hull and glue them in 5mm increments on the ePVC on the top of the vehicle.

 

 

Step Ten:

 

Add a pintle weapon of your choice from the Solar Auxilia upgrade sprue, in this example I've used the multi-laser but replaced the barrel to represent a lascannon. Add whatever greebles you think make sense: for example for Punisher cannon armed variants I like to include extra venting fans to exhaust all the fyceline smoke coming off that rotary cannon.

 

 

And you're done!

 

Edited April 24 by Brother Anderson

[calgar101]

Love this! I've been wanting to convert some Thunderer siege tanks for a while now, and then I got thinking about a Thunderer subtype Leman Russ; Thunderer Siege tank is armed with a demolisher cannon, Leman Russ assault tank is armed with a punisher cannon.. I've not worked out names for the other weapons yet. It is awesome to see what was swirling around in my head, in reality. How I was thinking to do this was not the method you have done and probably more effective than what I was planning. 

[W.A.Rorie]

@Brother Anderson Is excellent tutorial!

 

your conversion looks amazing, well done

[Brother Anderson]

Thank you very much both!