The Teeth of the Hydra

Finishing up the Hydra conversion.   The basic plasticard shape looks good but a bit bland, I added raised plates and the inevitable rivets to enhance the "Imperial" look.

I used some castings of old-school Rhino hatches to add interest to the top of the turret.

 I think this ones ready for paint.
The Ultramarines Omnibus By McNeill, Graham (Google Affiliate Ad)

For those who can't wait...

Hat tip to Sam White over at the Apocalypse 40K Facebook page,  some pages from the 6E rule book can be found here

UPDATE!

A few more can be found here

Yet another Hydra Conversion

With 6 Ed around the corner and flyers figuring to be a big factor,I've finally decided to take a crack at a Hydra conversion.  Of course, there's no way that I'm going to take the easy route of just slapping a Aegis defense line gun, pedestal and all, onto a chimera -- it just looks wrong.

  Originally, I had planned to do a Half-track along the lines of my Manticore.  However, other folks have already gone there, and done it quite well so I'm going to take a different tack.  A ZSU-23-4 is an obvious choice, but the turret is a bit too modern looking to fit in next to my Medusas, the Ragnarok, and the Manticore.

Searching the list of Russian WW II vehicles, I find the ZSU-37, which has the right sort of aesthetics;  with a bit of modification to the front of the turret, the quad autocannon from the Aegis Defense Line should fit nicely.

Or the ZSU-37-2 for that matter:

In the end I opted for the ZSU-37-2.  First I created the following templates, I left them on the original drawing to illustrate the process

Here's the basic turret, flooring installed in case I decide to make the interior visible,  The magnet on the rear holds a radar dish from the Apocalypse command sprue in place.

 I cut down the pedestal for the guns to fit the space, some what trial and error.

 For the chassis, I obtained a basic chimera chassis from The War Store,  I built in the ability to slide an insert into the chassis.

The turret will mount to this box, with a Razorback top hatch.   I use a 25 mm base glued to the bottom of the turret as the pivot  

Still need to add some details to the turret, but here's the general idea:

Off with their heads?

I really like the way that my Storm Trooper conversions turned out, with one exception -- using the same head and very similar coloring to my Great Coat troopers, the melta-gunners are frequently going AWOL in the infantry platoon.   I also feel the need to give the ST's a slightly more armored look beyond the leg armor.  Solution?  Instead of the Pig Iron Militia Winter heads, use the Covered Helmet heads.  Side by side after the break

Tale of 4(ish) Gamers

 My FLGS is running a "Tale of 4(ish) Gamers"... The (ish) is because we actually have about 8 folks signed up to do Fantasy, and exactly 4 to do 40K.  I signed up to fill out the 40K side since we were short one gamer.  Not really wanting (or needing) to invest a bunch of money in new models, especially when I have too many un-built models around the house, I decided to go with Grey Knights.

Fortunately, I already have a couple of un-built Razorbacks, a Storm Raven, about 16  of the old metal GK Termies and 12 or so metal PAGK's lying around.

New 40K Flyers -- My take

 So the new flyers are officially out (or will be soon) So I just wanted to give my take.
I think it's worth noting that the rules for the new models for the Ork and Space Marines are listed as a Codex Update -- could this be the way of the future for introducing new toys to the Codices?  Hope so.

 
I Think that the Ork flyers are pitch perfect.  They fit right in with the current Forge World models like the Fighta-Bomma, and Orkiness aside, actually look like plausible flying machines.

 Hmmm.... great conversion potential here, "Da Vulcha" anyone?

Ecclesiarch Number 2 Ready for Painting

As the title states, Ecclesiarch #2 is ready for painting.  I decided to change the weapon loadout slightly by exchanging the inferno cannon for twin-linked heavy bolters -- I'll give them some rules out of the Sisters of Battle codex like inferno rounds to compensate.  I also added a little different 'bling' on the launcher.  Each of these should be a unique animal.  As you can see, I've started a bit on painting some of the weapons -- these aren't glued on yet.