Mk-7 Armored car (demolisher)

[markoseugene1]

Hello! This will be my first WIP thread so forgive me if I dont answer all your questions in my explanation.

I have always loved the Imperial Guard. I used to be a grunt in the infantry so I guess I identify with the IG more than other armies. My current force, the Cthonian 345th, is over 3000 points but I found it wanting. Every infantry battallion needs an armored car!

Thus, I decided to build the Mk-7 armored car. I have done vehicle conversions in the past but nothing this ambitious. I started with a Russ chassis and turned it around backwards:

I then went about slapping a rather large amount of plasticard on all the nessecary areas. I had a vision of a heavy armored car. My army needed a Demolisher so I figured I could make the Mk-7 a \"Wheeled Demolisher Assault Gun.\" For inspiration I used my extensive library of WW II vanguard series manuals on german armored cars. Fitting into my army would be no problem: the Cthonian 345th is based entirely on the German army during WW II.

For the second stage I added the next 2 sets of wheels and more plasticard. I wanted to count the vehicle as a demolisher in non-friendly (tournament) games so I was sure to have a place for the lascannon. The front half of the vehicle is take from a 1/35 scale model kit. Once the piece had been applied I covered it almost completely with plasticard.

Next I started adding detail, a whole lot of it. Picture speak louder than words so here they are:

So what do you guys think? Its obviously not finished yet but the basic design is there. I was planning on making the turret low profile. Like real armored cars, the attributes of my vehicle should be diminuitive compared to a battle tank. What do you think, is that a good idea? C&C welcome as always.

 

[freakinacage]

looks brilliant. you should have use auto levels on some of those photos though!

 

[Dragonsreach]

Edited you original text so that the images show in the thread.

Nice work and good use of spare hull bits.
As you say very reminiscent of WW2 German Greif armoured car.

 

[DaN]

<grumble grumble> Always gotta be someone outdoes you <mutter mutter>

Lookin\' great - I\'ll be putting starting a WIP thread of my own, based on this;
http://www.coolminiornot.com/forums/viewthread.php?tid=28353

I\'d appreciate your input

What are you going to use for the main gun in the turret?

EDIT: Also - seems a shame those stowage boxes(?) on the side of the hull cant both be hinged in the same direction (if you see what I mean)

 

[markoseugene1]

armored car

Dan: For the main gun in the turret I am going to use the hellhammer bit from the Baneblade kit. I have the 1/35 scale cannon but I wanted the vehicle to appear more \"40Kish.\" Good luck on your own pursuit, it looks promising so far.

freakinacage: thanks and yes I know the some of the pics look bad. I will be correcting that at a later date.

Next up are the thousands of rivets all over the vehicle....its going to take awhile.

 

[markoseugene1]

Let the painting begin!

I accomplished my goal of building it before my last semester at college started.

After the hull was complete I went about making the turret. I wanted the demolisher cannon to be huge and menacing yet still fit in a smaller armored car turret. I took a dangerous journey into the cavernous area of my bits box (actually it could be called a \"bits closet\") and found the perfect piece: the hell hammer cannon from my baneblade kit. After some cutting it fit into the standard Lemand Russ turret perfectly. I bulked the turret out with plasticard to make it look more reinforced:

Next rivets were added to the entire vehicle to give it some detail. The I did a final stage of putty to fill in gaps and make the whole thing appear more cohesive and complete. I also added tow hooks, chains, gas cans and a myriad other detail to the entire armored car. Most notable among these details are the \"improved comms\" added to the left side of the car and the HK missle to the right.

For size comparisons:

Oh, and I know the pics are not that great but you get the standard idea right? I will post outstanding pics once it is fully painted.

And the finished product, ready for Minutorum officers to paint it:

 

[freakinacage]

cool. cant wait to see this progress

 

[DaN]

Cool, but... What\'s holding the HK missile? Is it just resting on a launch rail?

 

[markoseugene1]

Originally posted by DaN
Cool, but... What\'s holding the HK missile? Is it just resting on a launch rail?

Well, the imperial guard special weapons sprue does not come with any other parts for the HK. Additionally, on real AT missle mounts nothing else is needed besides the launch rail.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Standard_Missile.jpg/800px-Standard_Missile.jpg

The rail has hooks inside it that secure the missile until it is fired. Plus, its much more fun to paint a missile rather than a box that carries it. :]

 

[DaN]

Aye, I was just thinking of the TOW launcher on the Bradley - that thing is cool

 

[markoseugene1]

Need some painting advice

I really want to bring out all the detail in this vehicle so I need some advice from the intrepid mini painters at CMON. Do you guys think I should keep my army color scheme seen here:

Or do a more muted gray color, seen here:

Or do neither of these colors and go for a muted yellow-brown color. It is the same color used on early war panzers. This is the hardest part, deciding what kind of color scheme would look best. Thanks in advance.

 

[DaN]

I think it would be fine in your current colour scheme, although it would also suit the German panzer grey.

Are you gonna do it fairly new and clean or quite battle damaged and weathered?

 

[markoseugene1]

Originally posted by DaN
I think it would be fine in your current colour scheme, although it would also suit the German panzer grey.

Are you gonna do it fairly new and clean or quite battle damaged and weathered?

Well, herein lies the problem. If I paint it in my army color scheme it will be difficult to do really good looking battle damage. My current scheme is really busy, meaning it has a lot of colors: ochre, dark brown, green etc. Rust, paint scratches and the like dont really show up unless it is weathered quite heavily. With a single color tone, such as the grey or yellow-brown the weathering and battle damage would come out quite nicely. So, it will basically be a question of do I want it to have the pretty \"assault camo\" scheme on my other vehicles, or do I want to weather the crap out of it. Weathering looks pretty good, as seen on the TigerI above; but the camo scheme also has its benefits. So you think the grey would be the best choice? Thanks for the feedback.

 

[DaN]

How about something two-tone or with a fade...?

(ie. Simplifying the scheme you have now)

I tried to google some examples, but I\'m too tired and lazy

 

[Euphorion]

This is s sweet model

It resembles the German Sd.Kfz. 231 armoured car (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rFdgewK-RE)
I think painting it in a nice grey would suit it very well... and there aren´t so many grey armoured cars in 40k out there I think, so you are likely to be first.

 

[Obar]

You could make it a commisariat vehicle or something and paint it how you like

 

[rextalon]

Originally posted by markoseugene1

Originally posted by DaN
Cool, but... What\'s holding the HK missile? Is it just resting on a launch rail?

Well, the imperial guard special weapons sprue does not come with any other parts for the HK. Additionally, on real AT missle mounts nothing else is needed besides the launch rail.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/Standard_Missile.jpg/800px-Standard_Missile.jpg

The rail has hooks inside it that secure the missile until it is fired. Plus, its much more fun to paint a missile rather than a box that carries it. :]

Normally a missile is secured with shear bolts. When it\'s fired the thrust will shear the bolts off or a charge can be fired that releases it from the rail. However, I think DaN has a point.

Normally, as in your reference photograph, and on aircraft, your missile wouldn\'t need to worry about small arms striking it before it\'s used. On the ground it\'s a whole other matter. All someone would have to do is shoot your missile with any infantry carried weapon (in the right spot) and it would essentially become useless.

The Bradley fighting vehicle has a box surrounding it\'s missiles to protect them against ground fire prior to launch. Additionally, a low mounted missile may create hazardous back blast. At that level you should have something diverting the blast upward.

Two tiny pieces of plasticard should do the trick. If you put one rectangular piece along the side to protect it from small arms and one square bit at an angle across the back, you could divert the exhaust gases.

 

[Thunderhawker]

One tiny flaw in your theory/idea - I don\'t know about you, but if that were coming at me, I ain\'t shooting at it with small arms. My butt is running or looking for something bigger.

 

[markoseugene1]

rextalon:

All good points. I think I am just going to leave it and paint it a dull green color, like camo green.

The Bradley is a modern IFV. If you look at pics of some BMP series vehicles, they have the AT missle in the open, like my vehicle, but placed on the turret.

Irregardless, your point is very true, any suicidal cultist with a lasgun could shoot the warhead and blow it up. Although, the HK missiles in MY army have an admantium coating. Thus, they can endure any number of torments, including atmospheric re-entry. lol

 

[DaN]

Hehe, MY tank has it\'s own teleporter and ejector seats nyyeerr