Command Vehicle Chimera Conversion, Part 7

I decided to match the driver's hatch openable, so that means I need a driver. In order to get his height right (and make my intended hatch fit, it meant that I had to seat him a bit lower. So I carved a hatch like the one on the left into a much smaller seating ring (center), to which my driver could fit.
The next problem to overcome was that I needed to make the turret sit a little higher, so that when it traversed, it wouldn't bang into the driver's hatch (which was ending up being a bit higher than I originally planned. So I took one of the hatches left over from making the front grilles (left) and trimmed it down to just leave the ring itself (right), which then I had to shave down a bit so it didn't look too high.
The next step was to fill in the various gaps I had created with green stuff (well, in this case, brown stuff. I also needed it to fill out my driver's hatch, which I wanted to be more complex than just a circular hatch.


Next I laid out the turret pieces. I wanted to use a Predator's turret, but the autocannon was a bit too long for what I wanted, so I lopped it off and replaced it was an autocannon from a Imperial Guard Heavy Weapons team. The "grittier" look of the IG autocannon makes it look more IG anyway compared to the more high tech look of the Space Marine autocannon. I used an old Leman Russ hatch, the SM "scanner" thing from the Command Vehicle sprue, along with some other antennae you don't see here, and put in a coaxial heavy stubber. This is a command vehicle after all, so the turret is going to look pretty busy. Also, for the left side of the turret, I glued together a pair of ancient Leman Russ Hunter-Killer Missile containers.
To attach the Hunter-Killer Missiles, I wanted to be able to have the containers down and locked for when the vehicle is travelling, and then swivel up into a firing position when needed. This necessitated some surgery--so I used a couple of pieces from the ancient Leman Russ sprues and paper clips to make the hingle-bolt. The parts I used are mounts for the old Leman Russ' Hunter-Killer Missile container and searchlight.
Here is the assembled turret--I put on some smoke launchers and a second antenna. The second antenna is the IG antenna from the command vehicle sprue--frankly, I hate the Aquila shaped antenna, so I replaced it with a small dish from the SM vehicle accessory sprue. I just pinned it in place so it can rotate.
Here is the turret with the Hunter-killer missile rack in locked and deployed configuration.
By now it should be pretty obvious what the inspiration for my command vehicle is. Here, the driver's hatch is just sitting there--I don't have it attached yet, as I'm still trying to figure out how I want to do it. I still have lots of bitz to add, but I'm getting closer to completion.

Primer

A few months ago Bell of Lost Souls had a post on Priming. Good article, and worth a read.

But I don't have the patience to put all that into practice, for example watching the weather too closely--if it's not a blizzard, downpour, or foggy, I'll prime my models. Regardless of whether the temperature is scorching hot or below freezing, I haven't had problems.

The main issues I've had have been with the the paint itself. I'll admit that I haven't used primer most of the time--I just grab a can of flat black spray paint that looks good and give it a try--cheap usually being a deciding factor. I know that priming models is important, but even so, I hesitate to buy a $6 can of paint just to prime my models.

Still, after reading the aforementioned article, I felt compelled to buy some "real" primer and give it a try. So I went to the hardware store and bought this for about $6. Expensive, but still a lot less than the $15 that GW expects us to shell out for a can of their stuff.So I gave it a try, but something was defective with the can itself--I'm guessing the feed tube on the inside disconnected from the nozzle. The result: in order to get any paint out of the can I had to hold it upside down, and to clear out the nozzle after sprayings I had to hold it upright. Probably just a fluke, but it was annoying nonetheless. As for a primer, it worked pretty well.

Continuing my experimentation with various brands, I tried this one:Cheaper than the Rustoleum at about $4. I had used some Krylon stuff before, and didn't remember anything bad about them. Well, the paint really stinks--even after a half hour plus outside, bringing supposedly dry models in from the porch really stank up the house! I was also less than pleased with the result--for a "flat" black, the result was really more satin. Paint also didn't adhere to it well--watering down the model paints at all made it practically bead on the surface, almost as if the paint was waterproof.

Annoyed, I went out to Lowe's to get something on the cheap. I bought this:
You can't get more cheapo than this. It cost me a whopping 98 cents (well, $1.04 because I live in Taxachusetts).

The results? It works great. Now it might not be "primer", but it gets the job done just fine. And I'll end up painting about fifteen times as many models for my dollar than if I used GW's primer.

Command Vehicle Chimera Conversion, Part 6

Just a little bit more done on the hull this time, shaping and filling it out with more plasticard bits, filling in gaps, etc.

Command Vehicle Chimera Conversion, Part 5

I built up the front of the hull a bit, putting in some ventilation grilles for the engine and headlamps, both from parts stolen from Rhinos.

Also painted up the interior, which allowed me to permanently attach the right side.

The interior is a light green--basically I looked at pictures of some real tanks/IFVs out there and picked the light green as the interior color.

Guardsman "Roughshod" Grant

Thanks to all who participated in the poll in naming my Guardsman Marbo. I realize that the winning name was "Ash 'Gundog' Thorr", while "'Roughshod' Grant" came in second place, but that failed to take into account the most important vote--mine. :) Ash 'Gundog' Thorr seems a little too weird for me the more I think about it, while 'Roughshod' Grant sound a bit "tougher" to me.

In any case, I should reveal where all the names came from. A commenter was correct in that they are all anagrams, but no one figured out what it is an anagram of. The answer is that it is an anagram of the names of two Medal of Honor winners, Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, and Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart, who both were killed during the Battle of Mogadishu in 1993.