AT70 BloodPact tank scratch built

Here it is folks, my first attempt at scratchbuilding is done minus the rivets.  It's a Blood Pact AT70 to be used as a "counts as" Leman Russ.

Overall pic, showing off the brass etchings.

Front hull.  Barbette is built up around an IG large road wheel.  Lascannon is magnetized.

Scratchbuilt driver's hatch and viewport.  Still need to fill in the hole from the compass.

Up close and personal.  Spare tracks attached to the front hull.  Hmm, the barbette armor looks a little off center, I'll trim some away from the left.

Side hull with sponson.  

Right rear angle showing off the scratch built shelf, exposed road wheels and brass etch.

Side shot with sponson removed and armor in its place.  The plasticard filling the gap is not quite level, I'll have to adjust that so it looks more like an access panel.

AT70 Detailing

Years of sifting through 40k hobby forums has paid off in the form of obessive detailing on the AT70.  I tried to make it look like its bigger brother, the AT83 (also known as the Mortian pattern tank).  Critiques, comments and suggestions appreciated.

AT70 Reaver with stowage, exhausts, engine access and spare fuel tanks added.

Slightly different angle.  Fuel tanks made by cutting two pieces of large tubing and cutting four strips of thin sheeting to wrap around them, mimicing the AT83 at the bottom of the page.

With the turret rotated you can see the filled gap between the hull and the engine deck.  Use brownstuff instead of greenstuff, as brownstuff can be filed and sanded to smoothness afterwards.

Here you can see how I've used the forgeworld leman russ engine filter to mimic the engine deck of the AT83 Brigand.  The engine cover from a leman russ was cut in half and placed to either side with a strip of plasticard placed on the cut side to complete the frame.  Rivets to be added.

And here's the size comparison shot which was requested last time.  The front of my AT70 still needs detailing, but the aft is done bar the rivets.

Building a Blood Pact Tank

The basic outline of the Blood Pact's AT70 Reaver is finished!

Showing off the Forgeworld Turret and modified driver's compartment.


I tried to match the outline of the Macharius and the Mort tanks. (Yes I know there's only one track guard in place.)


Aft section shows off the forgeworld engine filters to match it to my Mort style AT83 Brigand.


Close up. I'm thinking of creating horizontal slats on either side of the engine and an access door below the rear filter. This would approximate the Mort style AT83. I'd love to add some external fuel tanks but the one from the IG sprue seems too large.


To do: add rivets, hatches and front barbette armor, replace main guns with plastic tubing for battle cannon, add magnets for side sponsons, main gun and barbette weapons, add engine details, get married.

Real live encroaches on the blogging and gaming world: I'm getting married this week! Please excuse any lapse in posting. :)

Painted Blood Pact Tank! (#6)

Finally painting is complete on my AT83 Brigand for my Blood Pact (counts as Leman Russ, model by Mort). I've lost track of how many hours I've put into this bad boy, but between building, spraying, painting, washing, inking, painting again... It's been a real labor of love.


Demolisher cannon, hull lascannon. Note the scroll on the starboard side.

Front view shows off the blood stains on the khorne icon. This angle nicely shows the rust in the recesses of the tracks.


Port side.


Aft, where a great deal of weathering took place.


Said weathering. Achieved with the sponge that comes in blister packs.


Weathering where the commander and crew climb in the top hatch and access the rear stowage.


Weathering where the gunner and driver climb in.


Weathering, periscopes, airfilter and smoke launchers.


Magnetized weapons swapped for battlecannon and heavy flamer.


Mmmm, heavy flamer.

Weathering a blood pact tank. #5

When last we saw our intrepid AT83 Brigand, she was bright red like a fresh strawberry. I am experimenting with picking out the details and I like the way the wash of Devlan Mud has dirtied it up. After all, blood doesn't dry red. It dries a dark rust, a brown, and sometimes a black. The wash interacted with the spray paint in an interesting way, spotting up in places and generally taking on a texture that implies pooling and clotting. I couldn't have done it better if I planned it.


Tracks blacked in, turret, hull and hull gun lined with one coat of Devlan Mud.


I love the spotting on the bottom of each of the three armor blocks. The clumps of mud on the road wheels and lower hull are painted black as a base coat.


Close up on the turret to see how the wash has picked out the rivets. Some of its texture may be seen in the glare at the bottom of the frame.


Here's a close up of the texture. To me it simply screams out that the tank is soiled by something more sinister than simple red paint.

Any weathering tips you might have, please post them or links to them. This is my first big vehicle project and I can use all the help I can get!

Paint on Blood Pact tank, #4

Finally, it's starting to look like a Blood Pact vehicle! After several poor airbrush experiences I went to the art store and picked up some Montana brand spray paint. They have a ton of colors, are good quality and come with the ability to switch out the spray nozzle. This allows for wider or smaller, higher or lower pressure. After a couple pictures I'll show you the technique I used.

AT83 Brigand: Counts as Leman Russ, here with Battle Cannon, Lascannon and coaxial Storm Bolter.


The brass-etch chaos star blends nicely on the flank I think.

Ok, I don't have a step by step guide but here's the process I used:
1: Prime entire model white with airbrush.
2: Get frustrated with airbrush and buy rattle-cans.
3: Spray all parts of model black on the underside to pre-shade.
4: Spray entire model dark red.
5: Spray all parts of model bright red (ketchup) from the top to pre-highlight.

Here's a look at the side of the model. You can see it is quite bright towards the top and fades to a dingy red towards the bottom.


See the difference here; the top of the turret is bright red, the sides are dark and the top hull is bright red.


I played a couple games and didn't like using my officer model as a Kommissar so I got to building and converting. It was an unholy conjoining of game necessity and conversion inspiration. I'll leave you with a sneak preview of what's to come:





(Melta gun is from the Chaos Raptors. Being metal it's quite short and works well in the smallerm human sized hands of the Blood Pact.)

Finished Building a Blood Pact Tank #3

Something had been bothering me about the Mortian tank for a while. The commander's hatch was split down the middle so when it opened one side was propped up against the gubbins next to it. (Air filter?) I just didn't like the way this looked and so I put off building this part until inspiration struck. Some German tanks in WW2 had a swivel hatch. The idea being that the hatch pops up and then swings out to the side in order to maintain a low profile. If an enemy tank sees a hatch open, they know you're vulnerable. Here's a model of the hatch system:



And here is a real one swung open next to the tank commander on the right.


Now here's my beautiful Mortian tank acting as my AT83 Brigand; note the hatch. A chaos marauder gave up his shield, the leman russ sprue gave up a handle, mix some plastic rod and brass rod and simmer until done. I've also magnetized the battlecannon so I can pull it off and leave the short barrel to be an Eradicator nova cannon since the Conqueror cannon is now redundant. The dozer blade is also magnetized.


Close up showing the brown stuff and the bit of plastic rod. The brown stuff is smooth, the picture just makes it look otherwise.


And swung open with the painted commander (who needs to be tapped down into place.)


Top view.


What do you think? Any comments and critiques welcome, you won't hurt my feelings so comment away!

Blood Pact Tank Built #2

Some glue, some resin shaving and filing and here the rough draft of the Mortian tank I'll be using as an AT83 Brigand (Leman Russ) for my Blood Pact.


The poll results are in:

AT83 Brigand crew member should be:

The driver.	3 (21%)
The Tank Commander, sitting down low.	8 (57%)
The Tank commander, sitting up high.	1 (7%)
none of the above, you have two more forgeworld tank crew, use them instead!	2 (14%)

Votes: 14

Tank commander sitting low is the winner! That was my favorite as well. I'll be working on him and a modified turret hatch for him later. For now, scroll down to see brass etch and lots of tank pr0n. :)

Much fiddling and wondering where to put the stablight and anti-tank mist (Searchlight and smoke launchers. Terminology from Dan Abnett's books.) I also broke out my Forgeworld brass-etched sheets I picked up a while back to use on the Blood Pact troopers' shoulders. (Ignore the date stamp, it would seem I am not smarter than my camera.)


Here's a side shot so you can see the brass and other extras. Turret is sporting and Eradicator Cannon and storm bolter.


Oh, did I mention I received a little package from www.kjmagnetics.com and magnetized it? Here's the side sponson.


My first go at adding stowage. I'm quite proud of finding a place to put the pick and shovel. The tarps and bags don't look half bad either. Pick pic:


Shovel pic: (I love the way the turret chaos star turned out!)


And swapped for sponson.


Taking a break from the Eradicator loadout, we have a closer look at the turret, this time with the Executioner Plasma Cannon.


Demolisher Cannon.


Exterminator Autocannons.


Battlecannon and Vanquisher cannons still need some magnetizing. I also need to build a lascannon and heavy flamer for the front hull mount, as well as plasma and heavy flamer for the sponsons. It's a good day to play badguys!