Thunderhawk Alternative - Few photos

I managed to get a few moments to take a few pictures of the GZG Ravager Light Carrier next to an old school Thunderhawk model - this is the first of the Epic models after they released the 28mm scale in the mid 90's. The newer versions, either from GW itself or Forgeworld are larger but this is the only one I have to compare against.

You can see the length difference - mostly due to the engines. The relative flatness of the GZG model is also clear but my moding skills have so far let me down in both trying to build a pod or trying to recast a section from the bottom of the Thawk to add on. I will carry on my experiments for a little bit longer - otherwise it is no more out of scale than the older model so will go as is.

Imperial Knights

I have always been a fan of mechs, battle suits and knights but while I think that GWs plastic Paladin models were good back in the day they now appear to be a bit static and lacking in something. So last night I took a knife to one and produced the following...

This involved the following items, Knight Paladin, Imperial Guard flamer, Tau Fire Warrior head, Skaven plague monk scroll, High Elf spear. The legs were cut from the waist and at the knee, with some trimming to make it look like it was striding. The toes were trimmed on one foot to lift the back off the ground. I hacked off the head and the Fire Warrior head was trimmed at the back and around the edge to fit the gap, while the battle cannon was cut lose and just had the flamer placed there. The chain sword was cut front and back and the spear placed there instead. Lastly the spear arm was cut and twisted a bit to put inline with the eye piece on the head. This is not as straight as I would have hoped, in part due to using superglue and not polycement. 

I now need to get a few more heads and start to knock up enough for a few units. I think I have around 7 or 8 bodies around so may do a little bit of ebaying too... I have an itch now.

You can also see some buildings in these pictures knocked up from some Hirst Arts blocks. Simple but effective and just about scaling right for 6mm. More on these another day... and I promise it will not be a few weeks away!

GW Litigation... again...

Well there is another news story on the BBC website about GW, and unfortunately it is about the same old ligation issue that seems to bug them on a regular basis. Now I have nothing against them suing and protecting their intellectual property, but it does always seem to bring out the wraith of the net. 

The current issue is around a book called "Spots the Space Marine" (see Space Marine run?) and GW asserting their rights over the term Space Marine (not Spot). The website of the author has a lot of support for her, generally referencing the fact that there are marines in space and space marines in literature right back to the start of the 20th century. There is also reference to some of the other suits that GW have been putting out over the last few years, such as around websites hosting their defunct rules, or sculptors more or less cloning their models. This is all very messy with people on all sides of the arguments, but always something to watch. 

My personal views are that GW are in need of protecting their IP as they have spent a lot of time and money over the last 30 years building up a very distinctive set of worlds, and while they are built from fantasy and sci-fi archetypes they are also rather distinct now and more developed than almost any other fictional world I know. It feels similar to the issues of knock of Transformers which can be detrimental to Takara/Hasbro. However they also need to build some bridges with their public, around the IP issues, pricing and Finecast. For all their faults the nature of GW and their high visibility is good for gaming, at least in the Uk and a decline with them would not really help the gaming world as I suspect it would be the start of a general decline. 

And for all the "evil" of GW it looks like DC and Marvel are carrying out a similar protection issue on the term Superhero at the moment. Most large corporations will be doing this sort of thing 24/7 without our knowing as the threat is ramped up as the company gets bigger so complaining itself may be cause for more lawyers coming at you.

Any one want to add their views on this one? Please be polite....

Kunitsa Conversions

As promised I have knocked up my planned conversions of the Kunitsa APCs to Space Marine type tanks. I was considering a step by step guide but due to the small number of steps I will make do with just a few words and pictures.

Raw parts - you can see the limited flash on the parts here which only takes a few moments to clear up. You can also see the two turret choices you get with the Brigade models, the missile turrets of a bit plain to me but the machine guns are fine. 

Kunitsa body and  Sherhen AA turret - Razorback. There was limited filing on the top of the APC to remove the door handles, then to angle the barrels down a little bit by removing the fixing under the turret.
 

Kunitsa body and Vikhr Katyusha turret - Whirlwind. This was even less work as it just needed the turret plug removing from underneath and the handles on the top hatches filed. 

Kunitsa body and Volk Assault Gun barrel - Vindicator. The barrel needed a little work to stop it from aiming too high, but this is simply a bit of filing till the angle is right.

 Kunitsa body and Rosomakha  turret - Predator. This was the trickiest to put together, with the sponsons looking a little small and a bit tricky to get lined up. The top turret again just needed the connecting lug underneath removed to make it lie flush on the top. 

These are a dead simple set of conversions and will let me fill out my Marine armored section really easily. I have three 3rd edition Predators in pre-heresy Thousand Sons livery (more on these soon I hope) and I can now put together a big enough section to support the infantry without always resorting to Titans. 

Thoughts on Space Marne Alternatives

Now as will be come apparent I have a fondness of Games Workshop and their worlds, but to be honest I have spent no more than £50 with them in the last year or two. And with 6mm miniatures from their Epic line I feel a bit worried at spending £3 a tank when there are alternatives out there.

So one option to get some Space Marine tanks out for less is to look at the Brigade Models Neo-Soviet Kunitsa APC which has a remarkable similarity to the ubiquitous Rhino. 


Not quite the same in style and a little undersized when you compare against the old plastic Rhinos but not a bad base for transport and tanks. 

Few ideas for these 

• Sponsons can be made from the pintle mounts - you get two with most models in the Neo line, one machine gun and one missile launcher so just save up the machine guns. 
• Smaller turrets for a Predator can be found on the Wombat APC Hybrid
• Short bore cannons for a Vindicator can come from the Volk
• Missile launchers for Whirlwinds from the Vikhr 

Now the detail level is lower on the Brigade Models but at around £2 in total per model, with parts left over, it is not a bad source.