WH40K Steam Tank

[rockpaperscissor]

Armorman posted a bunch of new models to his Warhammer 40K goodness thread back in June, and I fell in love with the new "Steam Tank". It doesn't look like it's part of the WH40K universe, even though it's part of Patoroch's line of 40K kits. It has much more of a steampunk look about it. I'm a fan of all things steampunk, so I thought I'd add this one to my collection.

As usual, I did a complete recolor starting with the BW parts pages that are included in every one of Patoroch's kits. Keeping with the Victorian Steampunk theme, there will be a lot of wood and brass accents. I also did something with the livery to make the model uniquely my own. That'll be revealed in the next set of build photos.

What you see is parts 1-4. Of course, each complete "part" has a,b,c,d,e etc components, so thus far I've assembled 23 individual pieces.

[murphyaa]

That's the Imperial Steam Tank from the Warhammer Fantasy line. I used to have one back when I played that game.

[rockpaperscissor]

Thanks, Murph. I googled images of the Imperial Steam tank, and this one looks like a much simpler version. Most of the images are extremely ornate with scalloped sides. This is great though. it'll fit right in with my growing 40k collection. Thanks for your interest.

[rockpaperscissor]

I actually have simple Imperial Steam Tank paper kit designed by kiromonk back in 2010. It's very much like the google images with ornate scalloped sides. The cannons are very simplified though, just 2D side views. Also loaded with dashed fold lines - probably designed with Pepakura.

[Don Boose]

Definitely steam punk. Looks great so far.

Don (too)

[rockpaperscissor]

Work on the Imperial steam tank continues. I decided to make the vehicle "my own" with a custom livery. The Imperium of Man eagle insignia on a red panel is flanked by my family crest (3 battle axes on an ermine field) on blue panels.

A couple of years ago, my wife gave me a Christmas gift of 6 months access to Ancestry.com. Unfortunately, I waited until 5 months of the subscription elapsed before I started delving into my ancestors, and only had time to investigate my direct paternal line. I was able to get all the way back to my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents - Sir Richard Weekes of Devon, England (B. 1475, D 1500), and his wife, Alice Kelley (B. 1468, D. 1497). There is an alternate Weeks family crest, but that one comes from a different county. So, a shoutout to all my ancestors! You literally made me what I am today.

This next group of photos should prove (I hope) to be the most challenging part of the build. The front wheels are made up of 3 layers of cardstock, each laminated to 0.5mm cardboard. These pieces had to be very carefully aligned so that the cut out spokes would match up as perfectly as possible when the triple decker assembly was finally glued together. I'm pretty happy with the way they came out.

When dry fitting the side panels, (that I had spent much time coloring/texturing), it became obvious that they were never going to fit correctly, so I had to redraw them. I started with the B&W kit part, changing the dimensions and angle of each section until I had a perfect fit. It took me 7 iterations of tweaking until I was happy with the dry fit of the redrawn part. From the corrected B&W side panel, I made new B&W planking pieces that run around the top of bottom of the side panel. I copied and flipped these parts for the other side, and then textured everything once again with color, brass rivets, insignia, and woodgrain. It was well worth the time and effort, because I think it looks great, and I'm eager to get on with the rest of the build.

[rickstef]

Hi Don,

I have been following your build, and had a question about a potential texture.
Have you looked a hammered steel plate as armor plating? or cast iron texture?

Rick

[rockpaperscissor]

Thanks for your interest, Rick. Good idea. Hammered steel would have looked pretty cool, and would have been appropriate for the steam tank. Perhaps I'll make use of it in an upcoming project. I have used rusty cast iron texture in the past on other projects.

[g0rb]

This is such fine meticulous work, done with exceptional care. Love the ancestral touches too, that is super cool.

[rockpaperscissor]

Many thanks for your kind comments, Chris. I hope to have some updated photos soon. the rest of the build is moving along without difficulty. I like the look of the crests on the side panels of this vehicle. It really adds to its medieval appearance.