Late out of the gate, but might make a run at it

[proditor]

I ordered one of these:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Char_B1

1/72nd scale, and I'm going to scale-o-rama the sucker.  Other changes in the works as well.  I'm going to try and hit the deadline, but the 2 weeks left might not be enough time.  Regardless, should be a hoot.   

[puddingwrestler]

Scaleorama it to 1/35 and you'd have a nice retro demake of Commander Shore's hover chair from Stingray

[proditor]

Tempting, but I'm going the other direction.

By a lot.   

Discovered that after ordering the Trumpter Char from Squadron, that I already have the old Matchbox Char Bis 1/ Renault FT-17 combo in the stash.  The treads on the more modern offering look light years better, so I planned tonight using the matchbox kit as my guide.  If this works, I'm planning a blizzard of activity this weekend.

If not, I'll plan on a slight dusting of activity later.   

[proditor]

AND I'M A CUTTIN'!!!!

Okay, we start with your standard Matchbox Char Bis 1.  Sides assembled normally, but I split the sucker in half roughly down the middle.  Then I widened it.



That took a little while, and as the missus played Final Fantasy whatever number they're on, I decided to get to the sprucing it up bits of this sucker to whit:



I mean, doesn't everybody add a bridge, conning tower with stack, catapult and crane to their tanks?

[proditor]

Construction has moved at a fast and furious pace!  The scale has been set at 1/700, so it matches my steampunk battleship.

And, it has a name.  This is the USLB Miantonomoh.  (United States Land Battleship)  The model is going to reflect her time as part of the Martian Polar exploration force.  To that end, she had been (partially) unarmed, and a scout plane, Crane, and catapult had been fitted.

And now some pics.  First up is a size comparison with her scout plane.  After that are various views, the last being the end of construction.  Not sure if I'll get to paint tomorrow, I have some putty curing on the superstructure.  But, should be done by next weekend at this rate. 

[puddingwrestler]

You'll need to do something about the hinges and hatches; at present those hinges around almost the size of the plane
A fiendish plan, and I see you could nto wait until the landships GB got off the ground.

[Weaver]

Ooh nice one - I like it!

Couple of small points strike me:

1. If the vehicle is rolling on solid ground, then how are the conspicuously float-equipped planes landing? (Any number of steampunk explanations are possible, of course)

2. Shouldn't the crane be at the back end of the catapult, so that it can position the plane ready for take-off?

Oh, and cheers for the name - I sometimes think that whoever decided to give US hardware Native American names was mainly motivated by revenge against the English-speaking world...... :)

[tanktastic43]

I'm liking this. Can't wait to see how this ends up. 

tt43.

[nev]

Interesting.....

[proditor]

Thoughts.

1) Rivets and Hatches - I may leave them just as they are.  It seems fitting to think of 3 guys holding a torso sized rivet in place while three other guys manhandle a giant rivet gun in place to send the sucker home. 

2) Crane/Catapult - Yeah, that's been bugging me too, but the layout works better this way in terms of space usage.  I'm going to try reversing the catapult and see if that will work as the crane is sitting nicely over the large flat hole that was originally for the Char's radio.  If it looks like it won't work, well the crane is long enough to stretch there, and I can claim inefficiency as this was a conversion, and not part of thr original hardware.

3) Floatplane - I at first thought that the plane on the Arctic Snow Cruiser had floats, but, yeah, not so much.  The thought is that this is a collapsing float.  Similar to the idea of memeory metal, you run a charge through it and it's a float.  Run a different charge, and it's a ski.  I'm going to add a drawing to the final write-up.

Paint - I'd like some thoughts on this.  My current idea is to use up some more of that amazing metallic red i got for the Edison, but cross/band the center in white.  Similar to the Arctic Snow Cruiser's bright colors.  The idea being that they'd want this thing to be CLEARLY visible in the event something goes wrong and they have to send a rescue party,  Also establishes it as a non-belligerent.  Thoughts?

[ysi_maniac]

 
I DO LOVE Land BattleShips!

I cannot wait for final result

[proditor]

Well, I got her into her knickers.






And lastly, I flattened out the float, and bent up the tip on the scout plane.  Unfortunately, my camera likes the exhausts more, but hopefully you can make out the gist of it.



Paint this weekend, fingers crossed.

[ChernayaAkula]

This is insane! 


I love it! 

[NARSES2]

How big is that gun ? 

[Mossie]

Crazy!