The Heretical People of Bulwark

Some of you might have seen my plans in my Project Log here.

I finally ordered a Chimera-box and will begin this project that burned under my nails for so long.

The Chimaera will be built to be usable as a Devilfish and/or Chimera (or with special rules as an Gue'vesa Transport).

Since I am planning to build up a whole Gue'vesa Army that will follow the codex of the Imperial Army, I decided to put a Thread up here.

I will be following this topicvery closely. I have seen some of your sketches and can't wait to see them in model form.

Well, the Departmento Munitorum is quite slow in delivering my chimera, I hope I get it this weekend, but for a start, I painted a few 'Human' models



yes they are inspired by Tael's work in his HeroQuest thread.

Okay, it has taken long enough, but finally, here it is:



Im more than a Chimera, Im more than a Devilfish, I'm a Chimaerafish (anyone got this reference?)

cutting of the Tank-tracks


left and right track (to be engines)


Vehicle-body



Tracks on the body (not glued yet)


today I, hope to, start the plasticard work.

---

Update 01.October.2010

I started cutting out pieces out of plasticard and did not follow my own advice, to use a template.

So, back to the drawing board:

-Template:

not completely finished and not in scale, just for planing purpose. I'll do the in-scale template later today at home just before cutting out the pieces.

Okay, update time:

1. the cut out plasticard pieces, they still need some work on a few parts before I assemble the engines.


2. I drilled a hole into it for the flight-stand (luckily the drill I have, has exactly the right size for the flight-stands and my magnets).


3. Then I Glued that what would be the tracks of a normal Chimera to the body.


4. Sideview:

---

Edit:

5. Added the 'roof':


6. Flight-stand front (not glued).


7. Flight-stand side.


8. Turret and Door added. (Turret with half Tank commander)


comments and critique are welcome.

Nice to see this project coming along. I am curious how you will make the engines. At the moment it looks to me that they will have the same length as the tank itself.

How will you close the gap where the tracks normally would be? The standard track guards from the old vehicle sprue might do the job, although you would need two sprues (There are not enough parts to cover the whole upper part of the tracks)

The Burst Cannon looks a bit too small, although the angle of the picture can be deceiving.
I used a biro to make the chin mounted pulse cannon for my devil fish



Sorry, but I do not have a better picture. Maybe it will work here, too. (Given that the pulse cannon is too small and the angel does not deceive here )

Keep going!
-Shavaun

Hm, I think the size is just right, only the barrel of the gun sticks out, that's why it is 'so short' the actual Bolter that should be in there is even shorter.

After all, it is a Stealth APC, it should not have a to significant silhouette.

The gaps on the tracks will be closed with plasticard, I'll add panel-lines on them to give them the Tau look.

I still did not get bold enough to work more on the engines, I am still pondering on how to do some of the parts.

Been dabbling occasionally on a hovertank idea for IG. Never made much headway beyond a mere thought, so quite eager to see how this pans out Che. My first feeling, and after a quick skim of the thread, is that you should remove as many rivets as you can, then bore small holes and place inside recessed rivets. Would look more 'tech, and naturally cleaner panel sections.

Not unlike the recessed rivets in this image as part of those new panels etched into the modern Chimera kit :



Admittedly this is a lot of work, but certainly appear to have been built with more sophisticated techniques.

- Tael.
Chimaera, I see what you did there, chuckle.

it surely will be, but I will try it out, I guess it will give the whole thing a completely different look.

Hi Che'

Looks pretty slick I must say, ultimately your call.



Was fun editing that, made me think about the idea for my own ends all over again.

- Tael.

That really looks far more 'Techy',

just for your information, that little bit in the rear, had to stay on, because there is one of the two pin's that connect the Tank body with the visible part of the track-thing, but I will insert some sort of engine mount just like on the piranhas in there so it will be invisible.

All cool, I cut out the ramp section to emphasise the body work. Overall just a visualisation of what I was inferring. Looking forward to future work in progress Che

- Tael.

Oh man Che! I am glad you finally got the kit. It's been long enough.

Okay, the progress on the tank looks great and I highly agree with Tael's suggestions about removing the rivets. I would also suggest the placement of some vents at a few places to give it a more futuristic look, but I don't know if you have anything like that available. Koto bits are a great investment!

As for the engines, here are some images of the Stargate Atlantis Puddle Jumper that would fit your theme well:





I think adding some engines near the back of the tracks would be effective. I mean, you would even have two engines on each end, pointing down. That way it gives more of a inference of flight.

this is one of my earlier concept, it is not much in scale and not much up to date anymore, I'll make the engine as long as the body.

I 'shaved' off the rivets, now it looks like the Chimaera has chicken-pox.



I am planning on that, I ave some XV8 jet-exhausts, those things from the Chimera Tank-track and some Marine Backpack exhausts.

---

---

Hear the Engines roar!

Side-view of the Engine-Prototype


Front


Rear


Engine next to the Chimaera, it's on the wrong side, what do you guys think about the size?


What do you think, would the drone fit here?

Short update on the Engines,




currently the different parts of the engine are now held together by tape, while I try to find out a way to connect them stable permanently.

It begins to look more and more like a Tau engine,

Hodwy Che this seems to be a interesting project One thing I would suggest is where the tracks go on the Chimera is to trim te supports and mount them flush with the sides, Unless you have a Plan there that is I may steal some of these ideas depending on what I do with my new stuff.

Che if you build (or use scrap) to make multiple supports on the inside it really helps to hold it together. They don't have to be pretty either, just enough to brace 2-3 other pieces. A little bit of plastic glue will go a long way to holding the pieces together once the entire thing is glued (even if the long pieces only touch at a corner). I've made quite a few pieces that join at weird angles and they've never broken.

After that, the greenstuff in the cracks actually seems to help quite a bit too.

Hey Che, Daan here.

I see you have build scrap build Tau engines. thats really cool. I was 'thinking of making some myself, but I step away from it.
I looks like you got a good plan on how to build them. they appear to have the right shape, although there quite long. But I think that's your plan, so your good there. I would like some better pictures on them if you could. how thick is your plastic card?

looking forward to more pictures and maybe some: "engine final position" picture?

cheers, Daan

ps: I like the concept of a "chimera stealth APC" I love dropships!

Thanks for the replies guys, I was a little bit busy.

Here are some pictures of the engine from different angles:



This piece (actually 2 pieces) of plasticard makes the engine quite stable:

This piece of plasticard is only temporarily in place, it does not fit yet:

Preparing the attachment of the engine to see how it looks.


And now here is where I noticed a failure in my Plans:


I'll have to cut a hole into the engine so I can move it closer to the body.

Have you thought about removing the outer track guard panel and just affixing the engine directly to the main hull? The track area just looks odd with an underslung engine pod to me.