DogmaRaiderville - Comm. System
Games & Gaming => Project Logs => Topic started by: DogmaRaider on December 25, 2007, 08:39:28 PM
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Warseer: http://warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2206055
Bolter and Chainsword: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=126241
Work in Progress: http://z11.invisionfree.com/Work_In_Progress/index.php?showtopic=10259
40K Online: http://www.40konline.com/community/index.php?topic=152264.0
Librarium Online: http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/showthread.php?t=110616
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Bolter and Chainsword Blog: http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?automodule=blog&blogid=276&
Librarium Online Blog: http://www.librarium-online.com/forums/blog.php?u=19072
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Believe it or not, this project started out as a Christmas present to two of my friends but then grew on me. Unfortunately besides growing on me..... the project also grew. I started it back in very late November but since it was a Christmas present I didn't want to reveal it on forums where my friends read... that would ruin the surprise. Please bear with me while I catch up to where I am now with pictures and details. BTW I posted this project on a few different forums so you may see it elsewhere.
From Apocalypse we've seen a lot of super heavy vehicles for many different factions; some redone and some new ones. While I'm an Imperial Guard player with an a surplus of super heavy vehicles (among others...) (http://warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42048), I look over at the Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines and I don't really see any. I mean yes they can take the Baneblade and dress it up to look like a SM or CSM vehicle but IMHO it just really doesn't "fit" in the army alongside a Land Raider. Now I'll admit to you from the beginning that I know squat (no pun intended) about the SM or CSM regarding vehicles but I wanted to give them something special that they could use in a super heavy vehicle capacity on the battlefield.
Taking this concept, I looked at what they had already; the Land Raider. The Land Raider is an awesome vehicle and combines awesome firepower with trooper protection and delivery in the same vehicle. So why not take that concept but a bit further. First, let's start with two Land Raiders. Now let's chop off the front of one Land Raider and the back end of another and marry the two sections. Now we have a double length Land Raider which sort of looks a little weird so let's go ahead and fix that.
Next let's make our elongated Land Raider wider so it doesn't look like a driving coffin. Ok so now we have a wider longer Land Raider but it's really doesn't look quite right yet. The tracks really don't look right. Now doubling the width of the tracks doesn't them really doesn't look right either (at least in my mind); it looks like a brick driving around. Ah but what if take a regular unstretched Land Raider side and put it centered and in tandem with the already extended tracks..... something like this.
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I think we're on the right track here (pun intended)...time to get some parts. Conveniently the Land Raider Spearhead deal works perfect for two Land Raider Exterminus's (name for now anyway, suggestions are welcome!). The first Land Raider Exterminus will be bumped up to a Land Raider Exterminus Crusader taking advantage of all the extra parts and bits. My other friend is a huge Thousand Sons fan so his Land Raider Exterminus will be of the Chaos variety. In fact I'm going to call his project Ahriman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahriman_(Warhammer_40,000)#Ahriman)'s Chariot.
In addition to the kits, I also purchased some additional bits from Forgeworld to put some nice detail on it as well:
Land Raider Reinforced Armor (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/QUATERMASTERS_STORE_IMPERIAL_ARMOUR_3.html&WD=raider%20armour%20reinforced%20land&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.html#aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d025aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d025)
Land Raider Prometheus Command Tank Conversion Kit (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eforgeworld%2eco%2euk%2fcgi%2dlocal%2fsh000001%2epl%3fREFPAGE%3dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww%252eforgeworld%252eco%252euk%252facatalog%252fQUATERMASTERS_STORE_IMPERIAL_ARMOUR_3%252ehtml%26WD%3draider%2520armour%2520reinforced%2520land%26PN%3dQUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29%252ehtml%2523aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d025&WD=raider%20doors%20terminator%20land&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29%2ehtml%23aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d040&WD=raider%20doors%20sons%20land&PN=CHAOS_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES.html#aIA_2dCSM_2dA_2d021&WD=prometheus&PN=SPACE_MARINE_TANKS.htmlaIA_2dISM_2dT_2d001aIA_2dISM_2dT_2d001)
Imperial Eagle Land Raider Doors (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/index.html&WD=eagle%20imperial&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.html#aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d008aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d008)
Terminator Land Raider Doors (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/QUATERMASTERS_STORE_IMPERIAL_ARMOUR_3.html&WD=raider%20armour%20reinforced%20land&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.html#aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d025&WD=raider doors terminator land&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.htmlaIA_2dISM_2dA_2d040aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d040)
Thousand Sons Land Raider Doors (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/cgi-local/sh000001.pl?REFPAGE=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2eforgeworld%2eco%2euk%2facatalog%2fQUATERMASTERS_STORE_IMPERIAL_ARMOUR_3%2ehtml&WD=raider%20armour%20reinforced%20land&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29%2ehtml%23aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d025&WD=raider%20doors%20terminator%20land&PN=QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.html#aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d040&WD=raider doors sons land&PN=CHAOS_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES.htmlaIA_2dCSM_2dA_2d021aIA_2dCSM_2dA_2d021) (x2)
As a substitute for the Helios Land Raider Kit, I choose to buy the Space Marine Whirlwind Sprue instead because the missile launchers on that kit look much more impressive.
Ok so the table is set and the pieces are in play. Look for an update in the next couple of days! As always, comments and suggestions are always welcome!
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Ok time for an update. Below you'll see the current set of items that we'll be working with. I have pictures of the FW kits but we'll worry about them later when we actually need them.
Working Inventory (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/709-6/workinginventory-2007-12-30)
Let's start by creating the interior panels of the Exterminus. Now the inside of a normal Land Raider has two access points through which troops or an internal panel can be displayed. To easily make the Exterminus larger, we're going to cut and combine the interior panels of the Land Raider such that we will have four panels on side instead of just two.
One thing to keep in mind is that we want to ensure that the spacing between the all of the access points is the same. As will be shown later, we want the two inner access points to line up just as if it were the original internal internal panel. This way, we can combine the elongated track structure and an external standard Land Raider panel. I know it's confusing now but believe me it's really hard to explain. Just bear with me while I create the basic structure.
For easier identification, let's designate the two left panels of the Land Raider kits the left front panel and the left rear panel. Below the cut details for the left rear Exterminus interior panel. You can see that it's made just aft of the divider on the front ramp. The cut is made all the way through and is the easier of the internal panel cuts. Save any left over internal panel material. We'll be using it later elsewhere on the model.
Left Rear Panel Interior Cut Location (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/732-4/interiorcutleftrearcutlocation-2007-12-30)
Left Rear Panel Interior End Result (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/735-5/interiorcutleftrearendresult-2007-12-30)
Be sure to save the front ramp structure that we cut from this panel. We'll need it later...
Left Rear Panel Interior Left Over Bit (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/738-5/interiorcutleftrearleftoversidepiece-2007-12-30)
Now that we have the back panel cut, let's go ahead and cut the left front interior panel. This cut is more complicated as it goes through one of the posts that previously connected the internal and external Land Raider panels. We don't want to cut through the post all the way; let's save the post for a later point that we can use to connect panels to together.
Left Front Panel Cut Location (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/716-6/interiorcutleftfrontcutlocation-2007-12-30)
Below you see the depth to which we want to make our cut. It's just past the rail structure used to hold the sliding Land Raider doors. At this point you want to stop cutting.
Left Front Panel Vertical Cut Depth (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/725-5/interiorcutleftfrontverticalcut-2007-12-30)
Now you want to cut horizontally into the cut that you previously made. Again you just want to cut through the post to the point where your previous cut finished.
Left Front Panel Horizontal Cut Depth (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/719-6/interiorcutleftfronthorizontalcut-2007-12-30)
All the cuts for the left panel are now complete. The effect is we've cut out a rectangular chunk separating the back portion where the engine would have attached from the remainder of the interior panel.
Left Front Panel End Result (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/722-7/interiorcutleftfrontresult-2007-12-30)
You want to perform the same process on both sets of interior panels for the right side as well. When you have everything cut, you can assemble the two pieces into one interior panel shown below. These two panels will form the basis of the chassis that we're building.
Interior Panels (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/698-6/interiorcuttingresult-2007-12-30)
Interior Panel Detail (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/751-5/interiorcuttingrightfrontresult-2007-12-30)
Here you can see the one the Exterminus interior panel's that we created alongside a regular Land Raider and Leman Russ track structure.
Panel Size Comparison (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/703-6/tankscale-2007-12-30)
Remember back when we were cutting the panels and how we wanted to make sure that all the access points lined up correctly? We'll because of the locations of the cuts, everything is lined up perfectly. This will allow us to connect the external and internal access points together.
Access Point Alignment (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/706-6/tunnelthroughtoexternaltrack-2007-12-30)
We'll this wraps up this update. We've made some real good progress for this week. Next week we'll look into cutting the external panels. At that point the whole Land Raider Exterminus structure should be much more recognizable and defined. As always questions and comments are welcome!
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I have nothing to say other than I'm just extremely impressed and thoroughly amazed.
Damn dude, you're getting beyond good at modeling tanks.
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I have nothing to say other than I'm just extremely impressed and thoroughly amazed.
Damn dude, you're getting beyond good at modeling tanks.
Thank you very much but let's wait until I get to end to see what it looks like first....besides, I've only every completed one tank for 40K though I did a bunch of plasic airplanes and boat models when I was a kid.
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Alirghty time for an update. My apologies for the lateness of the post, I was distracted by a movie. Just to review, this is what we have so far. For today, we're going to be working on the outside of the Land Raider to match the interior panel. So we'll start off with two standard Land Raider exterior panels. First let's cut the left exterior panel
Left Exterior Cut (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/759-5/leftexteriorcut-2008-01-06)
Left Exterior Cut Result (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/762-5/leftexteriorcutresult-2008-01-06)
Left Exterior Piece Detail (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/765-5/leftexteriorpiecedetail-2008-01-06)
And we want to do the same for the right exterior panel.
Right Exterior Cut (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/771-5/rightexteriorcut-2008-01-06)
Right Exterior Cut Result (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/774-5/rightexteriorcutresult-2008-01-06)
Right Exterior Piece Detail (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/777-3/rightexteriorpiecedetail-2008-01-06)
You'll notice that regardless of the side, cut line is actually just in front of the Crux Terminatus symbol on the side of the LR (the really small one) straight down. It's ok if the cuts are not exact. Where you're cutting will eventually be hidden inside the elongated inner track anyway so not to worry.
Our next step is for the left and right exterior pieces that we just cut, we have to cover the access points. They're not necessary and we'll also need them filled in to serve as glue points for the exterior Land Raider track we'll be putting on the outside. To do that will require two steps. First we'll worry about the large area of the access points. To fill that we'll need to cut some rectangle plasticard 2mm thick which best fits the thickness of the access point area.
Plasticard Rectangles for Access Points (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/792-5/plasticardrectangles-2008-01-06)
The first time I tried this, the angle corners of the access points made it extremely difficult to match with the plasticard. To eliminate this problem, I used a chisel Xacto blade to square the corners. This made it much easier and faster to fit the pieces properly.
Access Point Square Corner Cuts (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/783-5/accesspointcornercuts-2008-01-06)
Access Points with Rectangular Plasticard (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/786-5/accesspointswithrectagularplasticard-2008-01-06)
Now that we have the majority of the access point filled. we need to go ahead and fill the latch and hinge slots. To do that we employ the same technique with small strips of 2 mm plasticard. Instead of trying to cut each tiny cube and it in the slot, I glue the strip into the slot and then use the same Xacto chisel blade
Latch and Hinge Slots Filled (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/789-5/latchandhingesslotsfilledwithstrips-2008-01-06)
Now that we have all the plasticard we need cut to fill the access points go ahead and glue all the plasticard pieces in place. Do not glue the interior and exterior pieces together yet. We'll keep those separate for now. Below you can see the result of our work for today. The inner track is coming into better focus now and you can see better how we're going to proceed.
Exterior Inner Cut And Access Point End Result 1 (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/799-5/exteriorInnercutandaccesspointendresult1-2008-01-06)
Exterior Inner Cut And Access Point End Result 2 (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/802-4/ExteriorInnerCutAndAccessPointEndResult2-2008-01-06.jpg)
This coming week we'll start to work on the external track units and start to do some thinking on how to connect everything. As always, questions and comments are always welcome!
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Ok my apologies for the delay. I actually had to do a bit a design work before I could post anything.
Our next step will involve the use of those small bits of internal panel that we cut off to make the larger internal panels.
Internal Side - Initial (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/870-5/internalside-initial-2008-01-24)
The plan moving forward for these bits is to eventually glue them to the external panel we have on the larger track piece. To do that, we frist have to remove all of the internal detail so the pieces lay flat. I used a simple razor saw to cut raised portions flush with the rest of the panel
Internal Side - Detail Cutting Off - In Process (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/867-5/internalside-detail-cutoff-2008-01-24)
Internal Side - Final - Both Sides (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/858-5/internalside-detailcut-final-both-2008-01-24)
Internal Side - Final - Front (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/861-5/internalside-detailcut-final-front-2008-01-24)
Internal Side - Final - Rear (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/864-5/internalside-detailcut-final-rear-2008-01-24)
Now that we have the internal sides cut flat, we can begin to see our internal and external tracks taking shape.
Internal and External Tracks (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/887-5/tracksidemockup1-internalexternaltracks-2008-01-24)
The next set of pictures actually gives you a very good general idea of the actual shape of the Land Raider Exterminus. You can see the larger inner tank tread with the accompanying outer tank tread.
Track Side Mock Up 1 - Combined Outside View (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/884-5/tracksidemockup1-combinedoutsidesideview-2008-01-24)
Track Side Mock Up 1 - Front View (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/881-5/tracksidemockup1-combinedoutsidefrontview-2008-01-24)
Track Side Mock Up 1 - Combined Left Front Elevated View (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/878-5/tracksidemockup1-combinedoutsidefrontleftelevatedview-2008-01-24)
It looks pretty good so far. Unfortunately the celebration is short lived. Our next task is much more labor intensive but can be optional. To make the model much more interesting and more configurable for my friends uses, we going to connect the external and internal hatches with a connecting tunnel. In the normal Land Raider model, this is already done for you. However because we've moved the internal and external edges apart we have to do this ourselves. Now again, this an optional step. You could just simply glue the doors and weapons straight on and it would work just fine.
I'll try and post again on Saturday morning. I've already figured all the measurements for you guys and even starting gluing bits together but it's getting kind of late here on the east coast so I'll post again on Saturday morning. See you then! As always comments are always welcome.
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I got all the measurements for the post but rather than confuse the heck out of everyone with the measurements and quick post now, I'll wait till next week in order to outline the tunnel. That way I'll be able to properly prepare blueprints and such for a much easier explanation. I have the floor of the hatch tunnel done for the regular Space Marine Land Raider Exterminus but I want to get the ceiling and side walls done as well. I'm still debating over Ahriman's Chariot. Look for a post next week!
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Nice to see an update and to see that this project is continuing on the path of "Silly Awesome". Can't wait to see more pics as it gets fleshed out.
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Now remember everything we're doing here is optional. Technically you could just seal up the hatches and not have to worry about this but what fun would that be? After some cardboard trial and errors, I found that the following measurements are perfect for creating a tunnel between the two hatch sections.
Floor Panel Dimensions: 21 mm x 25 mm
Angled Panel Dimensions: 26 mm x 25 mm
Side Panel Dimensions: 3 mm x 25 mm
The magic number in this instance is 25 mm. From the edge of the lip of the external hatch lip to approximately flush with the door on the internal track. In the internal tests, this held the sliding doors in place while keeping them firmly on the track just like the standard track setup.
This is also the first opportunity that I've had in this project to add detail. I could just cut the plain plasticard pieces but that would just be a crime. For the Space Marine LRE, we're going to go with a practice design mixed in with some crypt and stone like elements (candles, etc.). I'm trying not to go too overboard and this portion of the model will hardly ever be seen but still make it look nice. To facilitate this I need to make some green stuff molds of detail pieces I already have unfortunately I'm out of green stuff so I've put it on order.
Stepping away from the hatch tunnels for a second I also have started to think about the track covers. While I wait for some supplies to arrive for the hatch tunnel, I'm going to switch back to exterior of the tank. To do this I used a jewelers saw and very small drill bit to drill holes to allow the saw to turn.
Track Tops - Hole Alignment - Left Side (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/900-5/tracktops-leftside-holealignment-2008-02-03)
Track Tops - Hole Alignment - Right Side (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/903-5/tracktops-rightside-holealignment-2008-02-03)
Track Tops - After Cutting (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/894-5/tracktops-aftercutting-2008-02-03)
Track Tops - Final (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/897-5/tracktops-final-2008-02-03)
As you can see, I cut holes where the sharp corners are which allowed the saw to turn. Later on we'll use these top track sections as part of the coverings. The external regular sized track section will remain as it is. The internal longer track top section will be split in half and elongated with additional detail later.
Next time we'll be putting the detail on our internal hatch tunnel sections for the Space Marine LRE and starting to get the "soul" of Ahriman's Chariot. You also may have noticed that I've slowed down on this project as of late. Currently I'm trying to juggle this project along with my Imperial Cadian 1st Gatekeepers project. This week I spent more time on the Cadians that this project. The size and scope of that project make this one look like a taking a single Forgeworld Ripper Swarm model and putting it together. But don't worry, we will not forget this project and I will continue to work on it! As always, questions and comments are always welcome.
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Well it has been a LONG time since I last posted and with Christmas coming up we need to get moving on this! Now that those sideline distractions are out of the way, I can finally proceed.
Instead of designing the inside panels, I took a different route and start to put together the outside track subassemblies. To do that we have to insert spacers that support the back of the inside of the track side. My internal supports measured 20 mm in length and I cut them out of plasticard tubing. I positioned them as best I could to ensure that all points were touching on both sides to provide maximum support.
Outer Track Sub Assembly - Interior Detail of Spacers (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1074-3/outertracksubassembly-interiorDetailofspacers-2008-11-01)
With the spacers in place, I then used a magnetic gluing jig that I have to line up the two side pieces and glue them together.
Outer Track Sub Assembly - Gluing Sides with Jig (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1069-3/outertracksubassembly-gluingsideswithjig-2008-11-01)
Additionally I glue guide rails that I cut using a table saw that I have to the precise widths. The inside lower rail is 1.75 mm and the raised outside rail is 3 mm. Simply cut the pieces and line them up and glue. The length of the replacement rails will vary depending on how you split the inner sides up.
Outer Track Sub Assembly - High Front Profile (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1070-3/outertracksubassembly-highfrontprofile-2008-11-01)
For added stability, I also glue in spacers which provided added backing for the tracks and stability for the whole assembly. I know its probably overkill but I wanted a solid rugged feed to this assembly. I also wanted to provide an additional mechanism for lining up the two sides of the assembly; only two original posts from the pices remained after the internal track side was split. I glued the spacers to the inside track rail from one side to another. I did this on every side a track piece would be mounted to ensure that tracks were spaced correctly. I then glue the track pieces on.
Outer Track Sub Assembly - Front Right Profile (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1062-3/outertracksubassembly-frontrightprofile-2008-11-01)
You may have noticed that the front track piece (L1 and R1) have been cut to show two tracks. This was done because I'm going to attemp to utilize those pieces later. The Reinforced Land Raider Armour from Forgeworld covers up the majority of these tracks making them unnecessary. By cutting them I hopefully will be able to us ethem later when I put the tracks together for the innner larger track pieces. In total I provide myself 16 extra track lengths that I don't have to recreate from scratch.
And that brings us to the end of this post. The outer track subassembly is coming along nicely. My next step now is to go ahead and attach the Reinforced Land Raider Armour to these track sides and magnetize the sponsons. Ironically ShortsonFire79, who is also now building his own very nice Land Raider Exterminus, has already provided a good summary his post #29 (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=150399&view=findpost&p=1755280) of his Exterminus project thread (http://www.bolterandchainsword.com/index.php?showtopic=150399) on Bolter and Chainsword.
Outer Track Doors and Sponson Inserts (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1061-3/outertrackdoorsandsponsoninserts-2008-11-01)
I'll be looking into magnetization of the sponson's and Forgeword Land Raider Imperial Eagle (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.html#aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d008) and Terminator (http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/QUATERMASTERS_STORE_SPACE_MARINE_VEHICLE_ACCESSORIES_29.html#aIA_2dISM_2dA_2d040) doors tomorrow. I'll post again and the end of the day detailing my progress. We're definitely back to stay this time!
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Never try to post at 2:00 am in the morning. You'll just end up falling asleep on your keyboard. Then I woke up 4 hours later and went to work which destroyed the rest of my mind and taking me out of commission for yet another day.
Looking over my post from Saturday, I wanted to elaborate on the tread rails and how to recreate them. They're actually made of two pieces of plasticard I've provided a diagram below. I had issues finding 1.75 mm plasticard; you certain could build it up with smaller strips. I ended up cutting down a 2 mm thick piece with the table saw.
Track Rail Blueprint (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1078-3/trackrailblueprint-2008-11-03)
Next I've moved on to the sponsons. The first order of business is attachment to the main body of the sponson base. I want to magnetize as much as possible and this is no exception. The Forgeworld Reinforced Armour presents a problem when using ShortsonFire79's mounting technique. To achieve the same result, I had to manufacturer a brack out of plasticard with holes in it to hold the magnets. Also instead of using the sides, I've choosen to mount the magnets on the top and bottom.
Sponson Magnetization - Magnet Brackets
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1284-2/sponsonmagnetization-magnetbrackets-2008-11-03) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1087-5/sponsonmagnetization-magnetbrackets-2008-11-03)
Here you can see and example of how it would be mounted. Just as with ShortsonFire79's solution, the magnets can be attached to the outside of the entrance casing. The manufacturer bracket allows for the magnets to be in close enough proximity and holding the sponson in place. Four magnets may seem like overkill but the hurricane bolters that I have are of the old variety; all metal. Given that much weight, I think four magnets will be enough to hold it in place.
Sponson Magnetization - Magnet Brackets Mounting Example
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1285-2/sponsonmagnetization-magnetbrackets-example-2008-11-03) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1090-5/sponsonmagnetization-magnetbrackets-example-2008-11-03)
Sponson Mangetization - Gluing In Progress (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1093-5/sponsonmagnetization-magnetbrackets-gluinginprogress-2008-11-03)
Last item on the agenda are the Forgeworld Land Raider doors that I plan to use on my kit. I've seen several warnings about the size of the doors in relation to the opening but I never imagined they would be THAT off. Using the doors as is would be a crime so we have to to fix it. I have several options that I could consider from beefing up the exist doors or using the existing plastic doors and mounting them to the outside. Looking at the plastic door solution, I'm not too thrilled either.
Forgeworld Land Raider Door Gape Detail
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1283-2/forgworldlandraiderdoorgapdetail-2008-11-03) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1084-5/forgworldlandraiderdoorgapdetail-2008-11-03)
After looking at the options, I've decided to create my own Land Raider doors and use the existing Forgeworld Land Raider doors on top of them; projecting out. I love control and this gives the maximum amount of it. So we'll start off by creating a template to cut from. From the template that I cut out below it appears that a 31 mm x 36 mm rectangle with a 45 degree angled cut at 4 mm from the edge should do the trick. It fits snuggly around the edges and the seem looks good.
Door Magnetization - Card Board Door Template
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1282-2/doormagnetization-examplecardboarddoor-2008-11-03) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1081-5/doormagnetization-examplecardboarddoor-2008-11-03)
It shouldn't take me long to create the doors; I'm thinking a day max at best. Look for another post perhaps on Thursday for the next update. I should be able to get the doors finished and the Forgeworld Armour on. This will allow me to proceed on to the more exciting areas of architecting the central core of the Exterminus. As always questions and comments are always welcome!
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I've completed the sponson magnetization. Using four magnets per side makes the bond extremely strong and will hold the heavier sponson assemblies.
Sponson Magnetization - Complete
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1287-2/sponsonmagnetization-complete-2008-11-10.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1104-5/sponsonmagnetization-complete-2008-11-10.png)
Remember the gaps in those doors, we'll I've engineered some new ones which solve the problem although I am not convinced as to their appearance. Particularly the three pointed claws at the top of the door. I'm looking into ways of making them more prominent as they are on the existing plastic doors. I most certainly will do some more detail work later to spruce them up a bit. For now there adequate to allow me to continue.
Imperial Eagle & Terminator Honors Doors - Detail
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1289-2/imperialeagleandterminatorhonorsdoors-detail-2008-11-10.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1110-5/imperialeagleandterminatorhonorsdoors-detail-2008-11-10.png)
In addition to completing the sponson magnetization and doors, I've also been working on the reinforced armour. Fitting and gluing the rear and side pieces was easy; simple pinning and super glue. The front portion of the reinforced armour, the part that covers the tracks for added protection needs special attention. Normally the armour is supposed to wrap around the track and terminate on the other side. However because of the Exterminus's stepped track design, the inner track being larger than the outer track, I'll be cutting part of the armour off and saving it for later use.
Reinforced Armour - Cuts and Rebuilding
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1288-2/reinforcedarmour-cutsandrebuilding-2008-11-10.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1107-5/reinforcedarmour-cutsandrebuilding-2008-11-10.png)
As you see above, I've cut the armour straight down away from the outer edge. This preserves the two inner angled corners and end caps, rivits and other detail which is hard to reproduce. I'll be using it later. In its place I've built up some plasticard to continue the current design straight; this will connect with the inner track on the side. You can see this in the mock up of the right side track that I did below. Even with the gaps in the armor I must say this is starting to look impressive.
Mockup - Right Side Track
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1290-2/mockup-rightsidetrack-2008-11-10.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1113-5/mockup-rightsidetrack-2008-11-10.png)
In the interest of time, I'll be skipping the detail items such as the doors and sponson weapons till later. I'm still stuck on the tunnel but I don't want to waste time on interior design work now. I'm going to move on quickly to the central core construction, engine and front ramp construction. I'll also try and make my posts a bit shorter; I tend to get long winded.
As always comments, questions and suggestions are always welcome.
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Time for a monster post! I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday nights and have a ton of stuff to report on.
To begin with, I cut up and composed the engine. My initial design of the engine works along the premise that it would be significantly but not over larger than the existing Land Raider. Current Land Raiders have four exhaust stacks but given the size of the Exterminus and the need for increase engine power and width of the fuselage, I drew up a design that calls for six exhaust stacks.
Let's start with the back panel piece of the engine assembly. In the next two paragraphs, when I say left and right sides, I'm looking from a perspective of standing at the rear of the Exterminus look back toward the engine.
I started by cutting a single left and right stack off each engine piece. To start off easy, I cut down through between the stacks first. I then continued and cut into the main engine cowling but only to mark a good starting place where the start of the main cut will be. I then switched to the miter box to ensure the cut was straight.
Engine Construction - Back Panel - Cutting in Progress
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1292-2/engineconstruction-backpanel-cuttinginprogress-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1177-5/engineconstruction-backpanel-cuttinginprogress-2008-11-13.png)
For the start of the cut on the bottom of the engine, if you look near the bottom pipes of the stacks, you'll see a square notch cut out of the engine cowling. For the cut of the left side piece, I aligned the saw with the right edge of the notch and conversely for the right side piece I used the left side edge of the notch. That particular edge of the notch and the joint placement of the two engine stacks that we're bisecting makes a very nice straight cut. You can see the finished result of the cut below along with the very nice close-up of the joined pieces.
Engine Construction - Back Panel - After Cutting and Final Result
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1291-2/engineconstruction-backpanel-aftercuttingandfinalresult-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1174-5/engineconstruction-backpanel-aftercuttingandfinalresult-2008-11-13.png)
Now that I've split the back panel pieces of the engine, I need to turn my attention to the front engine panel. This is the engine panel that mounts into the sides of the Land Raider. Just as I did before, I split the two joined stacks at the top first cutting a little bit below the stack level to start my main cut. As this piece is too big for the miter box, I clamped it to the edge of my desk to continue cutting.
Engine Construction - Front Panel - Cutting in Progress
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1293-2/engineconstruction-frontpanel-cuttinginprogress-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1180-5/engineconstruction-frontpanel-cuttinginprogress-2008-11-13.png)
To make sure the cut lines up correctly on both pieces, I placed the back panel piece on the front panel piece and lined my saw up directly against the freshly cut edge of the back piece. I think drew my saw back which marked a line on the front panel piece itself. Taking off the back panel piece revealed the line which I then cut along with my saw straight through. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a picture of how I actually determined the position of the cut but think of it as using the back panel pieces you just cut as a straight edge to draw a line of the front panel pieces.
The end result of all this are four matched pieces that fit together perfectly with very nice clean seams.
Engine Construction - Front Panel - Final Result
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1294-2/engineconstruction-frontpanel-finalresult-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1183-5/engineconstruction-frontpanel-finalresult-2008-11-13.png)
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Mock Up - Engine Detail
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1299-2/mockup-enginedetail-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1215-5/mockup-enginedetai-2008-11-13.png)
You can see the results of the engine above when I add it to my mock up Exterminus. Because I've cut the engine, I've also committed to a fixed size for the width of the Exterminus. One of the critical numbers you want to remember is 74 mm. That's complete width, including the tabs that fit inside the floor guide rails, of a section of Land Raider Exterminus flooring.
Now we're ready to cut up the flooring. Luckily this actually quite easy given that you only have two panels of flooring. Now one panel isn't enough to cover the width of the Exterminus hull but cutting them and combining them together do. Since I'm such a nice guy, I've already figured out the math for you.
First we'll be cutting four total pieces; two from each floor plate. For the front pieces near the assault ramp, the dimensions should be 68 mm x 37 mm. For the rear pieces next to the engine the dimensions are 40 mm x 37 mm. The width of 37 mm is dictated to us because of the width of the engine assembly; 37 twice is 74. Be sure to include any of the tabs and not just the visible flooring. You can see the result of the cutting below.
Floor Plate - After Cutting
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1297-2/floorplate-fourcornersaftercutting-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1209-5/floorplate-fourcornersaftercutting-2008-11-13.png)
Now that I have the end caps of the flooring, let's create the sub-flooring to connect the two. Obviously these floor pieces don't comprise the total length of the flooring required so we have to produce a mid-flooring piece to bridge the two. In turning over the pieces of flooring, one can observe a inset lip. We can use this lip to assist us in bridging the pieces.
Floor Plate - Inset Lip
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1298-2/floorplate-insetlip-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1212-5/floorplate-insetlip-2008-11-13.png)
Using a 1 mm thick plasticard sheet, cut a rectangle 69 mm x 79 mm. You'll find that the 69 mm edge fits nicely into the inset lip area of both ends. Combining all of the floor pieces and this bridging piece yields the following.
Floor Plate - All Four Pieces with Bridging
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1296-2/floorplate-allfourpieceswithbridging-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1206-5/floorplate-allfourpieceswithbridging-2008-11-13.png)
You may have noticed a rather large dip in the flooring because the bridging piece is not level with the remainder of the flooring. We'll come back to this piece in at a later time and correct this issue with some diamond place plasticard.
Tomorrow I'll continue building up the core by finishing up the floor and starting the assault ramp. As always questions and comments are always welcome!
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Ok let's finish up the flooring. Remaining is adding in the side rails that will provide support and gap filling on the sides and the diamond plate on the top. For the rails I've found that 1 mm x 2.5 mm x 75.5 mm plasticard strips worked perfectly. For the diamond place plasticard on the top (I used Plastruct 91687 HO Scale 1:100 Diamond Plate) I cut out a piece of 71 mm x 75.5 mm. You can see the individual pieces and the final result below.
Floor Plate - Individual Pieces, Diamond Plate, Side Rails and Final Result
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1302-2/floorplate-individualpieces-diamondplate-siderailsandfinalresult-2008-11-15.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1228-5/floorplate-individualpieces-diamondplate-siderailsandfinalresult-2008-11-15.png)
This completes the floor plate. For now we'll set it aside and create the front assault ramps. Now previously I cut did a mock up of the Exterminus experimenting. You can see below that I used the full both front door pieces. I didn't like this look as to me it makes the Exterminus entirely too wide though in the future it would make a possible basis for a vehicle landing craft.....
Mock Up - Previous Assault Ramp Door Width Preview
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1303-2/mockup-previousassaultrampdoorwidthpreview-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1231-5/mockup-previousassaultrampdoorwidthpreview-2008-11-13.png)
Previously I looked into a few different designs. When I was doing my thinking I had to take into account both the assault ramp and the rear engine as one directly correlates to the other in terms of width. After some rough drawings, I came up with an assault ramp design based around a door with five full teeth. This design also works out perfectly with the rear engine and also gives the Exterminus enough width to make it look logical and not overly wide.
To cut the assault ramps, I turned again to my miter box which is now one of my new best friends. For the top part of the assault ramp, I found that splitting the third tooth from the left and right of top assault ramp piece respectively. Each tooth itself is 6 mm wide including the inclines so measuring and marking 3 mm from either side is no problem. When your done, each top assault ramp piece should be approximately 30.5 mm wide not counting the rods used to allow it to rotate. Total width of the top and bottom assault ramps should be 71 mm.
Assault Ramp - Bottom - Cutting In Progress
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1300-2/assaultramp-bottom-cuttinginprogress-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1222-5/assaultramp-bottom-cuttinginprogress-2008-11-13.png)
The bottom assault ramp is slightly different. Measuring 30.5 mm from either edge shows us that the cut will be approximately at the inclined point of the third tooth instead of the middle. After cutting both pieces the center tooth will be replaced by point instead. You can see the final result of cutting below.
Assault Ramp - Final Result
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1301-2/assaultramp-finalresult-2008-11-13.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1225-5/assaultramp-finalresult-2008-11-13.png)
Now I do have a set of Imperial Eagle and Terminator Honor top assault doors. I ran through the plastic doors provided in the Land Raider kit as a dry run. I don't intend to cut the Forgeworld door at all but instead build around them. I'm looking into a way to build around them right now.
On Sunday I should be able to get a few items done and perhaps show a mock up of the floor with the engine and the assault ramps. There's actually not much left except the tunnels and a few miscellaneous interior items before I can start gluing up all the major assemblies. With some luck by next weekend I may be ready to proceed with designing and building the removable top. Stay tuned.. same bat time... same bat channel.
As always comments and suggestions are always welcome. Especially if anyone has any ideas about using these Forgeworld assault doors.
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I've been doing some thinking about the overall design and version without making the tunnels for the side doors is possible and probably is easier in the long run. Instead of making the inside a long continuous rectangle, you could think of it as an elongated widen Land Raider but with alcoves where the central external doors are. It would be much easier and would cut the complexity and construction time. I'll be giving this method a try when I move on to the Chaos Tzeentch Land Raider Exterminus. For now I'll continue on with the tunneled version.
Here's a UPDATED ascii rendering... these are so awesome....
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Happy Thanksgiving! Now its time for an update. When I cutting the assault doors I must've been working on two hours sleep because I made the same error on both doors. The cuts on both top and bottom doors, for some reason I made them short. I found this out when I was mocking up the Exterminus.
For the bottom assault door, I added a piece of 2.0 mm x 4.0 mm plasticard. If notice on the back of the bottom assault doors, There are indents for the teeth of the top assault door. To preserve this, I cut out a 2.0 mm section of the 2.0 mm x 4.0 mm plasticard and replace it with a 1 mm thick plasticard piece. With the plasticard in the middle, this brings the total width of the door to 65.0 mm not including the rods use to allow it to turn. Actually I'm quite pleased with how it came out.
Assault Door - Bottom - Construction and Final
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1336-4/assaultdoor-bottom-constructionandfinal-2008-11-27.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1349-3/assaultdoor-bottom-constructionandfinal-2008-11-27.png)
Moving back to the top assault door, the problem with using the Forgeworld door still remained. To work in the Forgeworld door, I added plasticard extensions to existing plastic door. Just as the bottom assault door, this top assault door is also 65.0 mm wide.
In retrospect I don't consider what I did to the bottom a failure. In a way it helped me because what I didn't realize until now is that the teeth of the top assault Forgeworld doors and those indents on the backside of the bottom assault doors didn't line up. To correct this problem, I cut a strip of plasticard and made my own teeth out of 2.0 mm x 2.0 mm.
Assault Door - Top - Final
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1356-4/assaultdoor-top-final-2008-11-26.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1357-3/assaultdoor-top-final-2008-11-26.png)
Added the Forgeworld top and bottom assault doors to the mock up, its really starting to look like something.
Mock Up with Front Doors
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1348-4/mockup-withfrontdoor-2008-11-26.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1352-3/mockup-withfrontdoor-2008-11-26.png)
The next challenge will be constructing a good looking front armor plate (where the assault cannon turret would sit) from all the pieces that I have lying around. I've started to do some thinking and I want to try and combine the Prometheus kits. There are some interesting bits and pieces on the front that I want to incorporate into the design.
Front Armor Panel - Ideas and Thoughts
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1344-5/frontarmorpanel-ideasandthoughts-2008-11-27.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1351-3/frontarmorpanel-ideasandthoughts-2008-11-27.png)
One item in particular that I have in mind is using both headlight pieces. Think those set on the sides with the turret sharing the middle with what I'll call the targeting optics on the Prometheus kit front would look pretty good. What ideas do you guys have for the front of the Exterminus?
I'm definitely liking how this is coming together. As always any questions and comments are always welcome! Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Moving right along, I started on the main front armor panel. To start off, I did a thin cardboard mock-up of the front panel. I just used part of a Quaker Oats Snack Bar box.
Mock Up – Front Armor Panel with Top Assault Door
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1385-4/mockup-frontarmorpanelwithtopassaultdoor-2008-11-30.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1387-3/mockup-frontarmorpanelwithtopassaultdoor-2008-11-30.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1387-3/mockup-frontarmorpanelwithtopassaultdoor-2008-11-30.png
In the picture above moving left to right the widths of the first plastic piece are 26.5 mm, the first cardboard piece is 11 mm, the next plastic piece is 26 mm and the final cardboard piece is 10.5 mm. This configuration maintains the 74 mm total width of the engine piece that we manufacturer earlier and keeps the LRE square on all four corners. This is very important as being off on any of the measurements means your LRE central core is going to be crooked causing more headaches than it already is!
You can use the configuration above to create your main front armor panel without any problems. However as with any design, before I started cutting my first piece of plasticard, I changed my design. One of the main considerations was having both optical hoods (for lack of a better name) on either side of the armor piece. If you look at a regular Land Raider, the optical hood that I'm talking about if found on the left side of the main front armor panel.
Now I have two different types of these optical hoods. The first type is the standard one found on the front of the Land Raider now. The second one is the more detailed one that exists on the front armor panel of the Prometheus Land Raider Kit from Forgeworld. I love the extra detail on things and have decided to put two of these optical hoods on my LRE. Each optical hood will flank the main front armor panel on either side with the turret cut-out offset to the right (when looking at the panel from the front) and perhaps one other small piece of detail to the left of the turret cut-out. This modification required me to change the widths of the plasticard fill-in pieces to 8 mm and 13.5 mm respectively with the larger of the pieces being placed to the right.
This configuration will cause some problems with the hinge positions so I'll have to cut out and move those as need but it shouldn't be too much extra work. To start off, I cut out and replaced the hinge cover closest to the turret cut-out with plasticard. I preserved the hinge cover as I'll be using it later.
Right Front Armor Panel – Hinge Cover Cut Out
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1395-4/rightfrontarmorpanel-hingecovercutout-2008-11-30.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1397-3/rightfrontarmorpanel-hingecovercutout-2008-11-30.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1397-3/rightfrontarmorpanel-hingecovercutout-2008-11-30.png
Moving right along, the next step was to add the right most plasticard piece to supplement the width of the armor. Initially this piece was supposed to be 10.5 mm wide however with the added optical hood detail item I had to increase the width to 13.5 mm. I started off by gluing small plasticard straps which work as backing pieces to support the plasticard front.
After measuring the thickness of the plastic front armor plate provided by GW, I found that its not precisely 1.0 mm wide but instead around 1.25 mm. As 1.25 mm plasticard is virtually non-existent from what I found, I instead added an addition 0.25 x 2.00 mm plasticard strip to the backing straps which boost the armor level flush with the GW plastic.
Right Front Armor Panel – Build Up
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1391-4/rightfrontarmorpanel-buildup-2008-11-30.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1396-3/rightfrontarmorpanel-buildup-2008-11-30.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1396-3/rightfrontarmorpanel-buildup-2008-11-30.png
Now the picture above shows that the front hinge is still present. Unfortunately during the gluing process I glued the assembly I was building to the wrong front armor plate. You'll remember I have two of them as I'm building the LRE with two LR kits. After taking the picture and realizing my error, I gently ripped the piece off and glued it to the correct one. I have to learn to keep these extraneous parts out of the way while I'm working.
Put the right piece of the main front armor panel to allow the glue to dry, I then moved on to the left side piece. Now here we have to first cut out the front optical hood detail item. As I want to look like the one on the Prometheus front panel, I need to make some minor additions and modifications in plasticard for both to look the same.
Left Front Armor Panel – Optical Hood Removal and New Panel Backing
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1381-4/leftfrontarmorpanel-opticalhoodremovalandnewpanelbacking-2008-11-30.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1386-3/leftfrontarmorpanel-opticalhoodremovalandnewpanelbacking-2008-11-30.png)
https://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1386-3/leftfrontarmorpanel-opticalhoodremovalandnewpanelbacking-2008-11-30.png
To cut the optical hood out of that piece, I carefully measured, marked and then gently scored and cut the piece out with a combination of Xacto and razor saw work. The end result was a very clean polished cut with minimal damage to both pieces. After removing the optical hood, I went right back to work again putting in backing straps and 0.25 mm spacers for the eventual addition of a plasticard front piece to fill the gap.
Tomorrow I'll go into detail as to creating the remaining pieces for the front main armor panel, creating a Prometheus-style optical hood (btw if any one has a better name for whatever that is, please let me know... it kinda sounds funny), and setting up the locations for the hinges for the top front assault door.
As always questions and comments are welcome!
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Time to go into detail... literally. Most of the major structures are complete except for the top panel and the tunnels. I'll be tackling those this weekend; my last opportunity.
But first a little back tracking. The magnets that I glued in to hold the sponsons seemed adequate however Falk on Warseer advised me that I should make something more substantial. After I was able to take one of the magnets off quite easily with a pair of pliers I was convinced as well. To build a bracket, I first built a template from plasticard. This isn't a waste of time in my case as I'll be making at least 4 more of the Exterminuses.
Magnet Holder Bracket
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1448-4/magnetholderbracket-2008-12-08.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1452-3/magnetholderbracket-2008-12-08.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1452-3/magnetholderbracket-2008-12-08.png
After cutting a piece of 2.0 mm x 9.5 mm x 20 mm plasticard and drilling the holes, I put the magnets in sealed one end with a plasticard strip. Placing the piece back in the same locations as the original magnets and we're back in business. Thanks Falk!
Now I'm going to concentrate on some of the minor detail pieces that we've overlooked. First we'll go back to the inside. In a normal Land Raider, two of these bays are reserved for the hatch doors and GW provides you a detail piece and a set of doors. If you remember I have four bays in the inside where you would normally mount the computer or utility detail pieces.
In order to get the coverage I want, I'm going to have to skin and rebuild some of the detail of these inside pieces. This presents a unique issue in that the detail is on two sides of the same bit.
Inner Panel Detail Skinning - Cutting
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1444-4/innerpaneldetailskinning-cutting-2008-12-08.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1451-3/innerpaneldetailskinning-cutting-2008-12-08.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1451-3/innerpaneldetailskinning-cutting-2008-12-08.png
Now I started this process just as I did with the optical hood however there is a snag with this one. The winch detail on the one side is recessed so much that the placement of the saw on the first piece I cut went through into the detail. It also went through the wrench and jack hammer detail section as well although not as bad.
Inner Panel Detail Skinning - After Cutting and Cleaning
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1440-4/innerpaneldetailskinning-aftercuttingandcleaning-2008-12-08.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1450-3/innerpaneldetailskinning-aftercuttingandcleaning-2008-12-08.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1450-3/innerpaneldetailskinning-aftercuttingandcleaning-2008-12-08.png
Above you can see that immediately after the cut, you can see that some of the backing material in the wrench and winch detail sections. Using a new sharp Xacto blade and knife, I cut the remain backing around the detail. You can see the results in the final picture above.
For the second piece, I directly cut the detail off the face side. Even when doing this I still ended up cutting into the detail on the winch side although it wasn't nearly as bad. This time I only had to remove the background of the winch detail.
Inner Panel - Final
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1436-4/innerpanel-final-2008-12-08.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1449-3/innerpanel-final-2008-12-08.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1449-3/innerpanel-final-2008-12-08.png
After both pieces were clean, I cut some 0.5 mm plasticard backing and glued them in place. For the detail that I cut off, gluing on piece of plasticard solved that problem. The final picture shows all of the pieces in place in the interior pieces of the Exterminus.
Tomorrow I'll be decorating the Christmas Tree but I should have something possible on Wednesday or Thursday night. Until then, questions and comments are always welcome!
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Oh man where does the time go. The holidays really cleaned my clock along with moving of my web hosting so I had to take a bit of time off from the Exterminus. But now we're back and with a vengeance. Hopefully there should be no more interruptions as I move forward.
Starting off, we went right back to work with the engines. I've already completed the outside engine minus now we have to look back inside to complete it. Looking at the engine parts we have, some minor cutting and patching will be needed.
Internal Engine Construction
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1622-4/internalengineconstruction-2008-12-17.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1632-3/internalengineconstruction-2008-12-17.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1632-3/internalengineconstruction-2008-12-17.png
The challenge here is to place the cut such that it looks sensible as an engine but fits the width of the interior. After some study, I started cutting one of the engine pieces vertically 22 mm from the left and 4 mm from the right hand side. These cuts combined provide the best of both worlds but leaves two small sections open. Two small pieces of plasticard seal up these holes nicely. This gives the internal portion of the engine an overall width of 71 mm on the bottom edge.
Moving on, in the normal Land Raider kit you get xx set of pressure doors to put on the inside. Now as we have four different possible interior openings that we need to provide doors for, I'll have to manufacturer two sets of doors. Luckily we can easily just "borrow" the design and measurements from the existing ones, rinse and then repeat.
Internal Toothed Door Construction - Work in Progress
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1618-6/internaltootheddoorconstruction-workinprogress-2009-01-18.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1631-3/internaltootheddoorconstruction-workinprogress-2009-01-18.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1631-3/internaltootheddoorconstruction-workinprogress-2009-01-18.png
Now I've put off making the tunnels that span the interior and exterior doors. To start off with, we'll take the easy route and make the ceiling. I don't subscribe to the methodology that just because something won't been seen often that we can skimp on the design or the implementation. As I've never the ceiling of an assault door tunnel, I'll just have to wing it from here.
To start off I cut a piece of 1 mm thick plasticard into a rectangle of 24 mm by 21 mm. I then took 1 mm mm square rod and give the rectangle a border. This setup provides an internal width of the tunnel ceiling. The internal area of the ceiling is 22 mm x 19 mm. Now I'll put some detail on it.
Tunnel Construction - Ceiling Tile with Light Fixture Detail
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1630-4/tunnelconstruction-ceilingtilewithlightfixturedetail-2008-12-17.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1634-5/tunnelconstruction-ceilingtilewithlightfixturedetail-2008-12-17.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1631-3/internaltootheddoorconstruction-workinprogress-2009-01-18.png
I started off in the center with a tiled piece of plasticard which looked a lot like lights. For those interested it was Plastruct PS-42 (.180 square tile) and the width of the piece was 5 mm.
On the sides of the "lights" that I build up two pieces of U-shaped channel plasticard whose width was 1.5 mm and a length of 22 mm (Evergreen StripStyrene Item No.261). To finish it off the horizontal ceiling sandwich, I added two pieces of 5.5 mm x 22 mm Plastruct 91681 HO Scale Tread Plate to the sides.
If we add up all of the widths of material, you'll see that it comes out to 19 mm exactly so no wasted space or gaps. The overall look I think is pretty good for my first try. Maybe when I do my Grey Knight ones I'll give a bit more thought but I think this is sufficient for now. The next post or two, I'll cover the remainder of the tunnel sections and their assembly.
On a final note, during the Christmas season, given how many future projects I hope to take on, I purchased a new camera. After some review, I choose the Nikon D90. I'm still learning all the features but I think that and a new photographic setup are going to go a long way in making better pictures for the threads. Any photographic advice is appreciated!
Nikon D90 Camera
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1636-3/nikond90camera-2009-01-18.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1633-5/nikond90camera-2009-01-18.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1633-5/nikond90camera-2009-01-18.png
Thanks for hanging in there! Staying on track is tough with a full time job, looking for a house and other activities! I actually am much further ahead but have to catch up on the posts. Hopefully I'll have one mid-week sometime.
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Alrighty with the Super Bowl playing in the background let us continue! We left off last week with the building the ceiling of the tunnel. Today we move on to the frame and the sides of the tunnel.
To start off, we need to start making the actual tunnel. After some thought, instead of attaching the component parts directly to the inside of the interior of the Land Raider track assembly, I've decided to spend the time and build a frame for it to mount in. This makes it easier to handle, takes all the guesswork out of alignment.
Tunnel Construction - Individual Frame
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1667-4/tunnelconstruction-frame-individual-2008-12-17.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1668-3/tunnelconstruction-frame-individual-2008-12-17.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1668-3/tunnelconstruction-frame-individual-2008-12-17.png
I've scanned my blueprints ahead of time which you can use as a pattern. The entire frame is made out of 1 mm and 2 mm square rod. In looking at them, I've designed them to be as minimalist as possible as everything still has to fit within the body of the Exterminus.
Scanned Blueprints for Frame (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1688-3/exterminus-frameblueprint-2009-02-01.png)
Using the measurements from the ceiling tile, built a floor tile in a similar fashion except I used a single solid rectangle of diamond plate plasticard. Let's face it; its the floor. Its not going to be exciting.... LOL. You can also see that I've attached it to the frame as well. Put a second frame on the other end and for the first time you can see the basic shape of the connecting tunnel. Now we're starting to get somewhere!
Tunnel Construction - Top and Bottom - Panel in Frame
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1682-4/tunnelconstruction-topandbottompanelinframe-2009-02-01.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1683-3/tunnelconstruction-topandbottompanelinframe-2009-02-01.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1683-3/tunnelconstruction-topandbottompanelinframe-2009-02-01.png
Moving on we can see below that I've gone ahead and started the side panels. Just as with the ceiling I created a 1 mm border lined panel except the dimensions in this case are 26 mm by 35 mm. Now the next part I'm not so sure of; I have to fill them with some sort of detail.
Unfortunately I'm torn the detail pieces that I came up with. As I only have the two kits to work with, I don't really have any other detail pieces that I can use from other sections of the Land Raider kits. If I had my choice, I'd rip apart a Drop Pod kit and use some of those bits and panels to make interior panel. As I don't have that option or the time, I've cobbled together some minor pieces that my friend can use to provide additional detail if he wants to. Again this section of the model most probably won't be seen that often as its designed to be a "working" model and not a show piece.
Tunnel Construction - Side Panel Construction
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1672-4/tunnelconstruction-sidepanelconstruction-2009-02-01.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1673-3/tunnelconstruction-sidepanelconstruction-2009-02-01.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1673-3/tunnelconstruction-sidepanelconstruction-2009-02-01.png
Here are some more pictures of the tunnel as it stands.
Tunnel Construction - Side Panel in Frame
(http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1677-4/tunnelconstruction-sidepanelinframe-2009-02-01.png) (http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1678-3/tunnelconstruction-sidepanelinframe-2009-02-01.png)
http://images.dogmaraiderville.net/d/1678-3/tunnelconstruction-sidepanelinframe-2009-02-01.png
Alrighty the Steelers have won; I guess that's good?! I more of a hockey fan myself; go Rangers! We still have some more pre-Christmas content to put up. Hopefully we'll be able to get that posted next time then we'll move on to some assembly and finally design and development of the top. I might revisit the fron too; I don't know if I'm satisfied with it. Later!