This time through I chose to focus on the mainstay of a flexible marine army: the transports. The Razorback offers a cheap and reliable vehicle with some decent ranged combat options. Though it doesn't have the ten-man capacity of a Rhino, it more than makes up for it with the 36" range of the heavy bolter. Throw in the fact that tactical squads can combat squad and deploy the flexible arm in a transport and you've got a lot of options for a very reasonable investment.
Assembly
This is the second and third time recently that I've assembled a Rhino chassis and it's easily one of the best kits I've worked with in a long time. Everything just fits. There's no fiddling or guessing here, this tank was built to be built. It's a good thing too; it serves as the foundation for the Rhino, Razorback, Whirldwind, Predator, and Vindicator tanks all at once.It's just a shame the Razorback turret doesn't follow suit.
The heavy bolter turret is in five pieces. The two half bolters end at the top with a tab that's meant to "plug in" to the underside of the cover. While this sounds simple, this requires spot-on gluing and positioning on an already awkward assembly. If this doesn't line up properly, the turret cover will not fit.
My Solution
When this problem reared it's ugly head on my second Razorback, I cut the tab off of one of the bolters, but only as far as the slot it as meant to occupy. I essentially split the difference between the top of the bolter and the top of the tab, which gave me an even surface. I was then able to put the turret cover into one of the tabs, while leaving the other as a support. This solution works well, as the top piece covers any corrections you may have to do.
Harmony and Variety
A big problem a lot of hobbyists run into is how to introduce variety into their models without breaking too far out of the mold and causing a distraction. It's a tough line to tread, because you don't want to be boring, but you do want coherency.My Solution
Here are a few items that I was able to mix up while still keeping the tanks as a unified whole.
- Reposition the Logo
But still keep it in plain sight. I made sure the large Howling Griffon icon appeared on the left, right, and back sides of the tanks respectively. - Mix up the extras
I have been adding bits to my tanks to give a more urban feel, and I kept going here without repeating myself. Antennae, radio bands, weapons, and more were glued on for interest. - Numbering
Numbering is a great way to visually separate two identical models. Not only does this serve your aesthetic goals, it also makes gaming easier when you can name a vehicle by number. - Positioning
Perhaps the easiest way to add variety, just switch the left and the right. In this case, the radar dish and the hatch switched places. Just make sure it doesn't affect the usability of the model (ie: true LoS from guns.) - Color
Sometimes just a little bit of color mixup can really make a difference. In this case, I let the black from the side panels bleed over on the front panel of the second razorback. - Freehand
In a universe as rich in iconography as Warhammer, it's easy to add any number of appropriate and varied images via freehand.
Beautiful Scars
For me, the thing that really sets a vehicle above and beyond the norm is the damage and dirt. It adds much needed variety to the large flat surfaces, and helps to immerse the model in the narrative you are creating when you paint an army.
The formula I use for armor pocks:
I start with a line of light color, in this case I used Dheneb Stone, as I find foundation colors easy to work with. I don't worry about keeping the line ultra thin at this stage, and just let the paint flow as it wants to.
I go back over the first line with a dark color (Scorched Earth here.) I push the bottom of the dark color just to the edge of the light , so the dark sits just above it. The light color always needs to be on the underside of the chipped paint in order for this illusion to work, so it looks like the edge of the damage is catching the light. I then push the upper section as high as I want the damage to spread, although I've found jagged edges covering a smaller patch of the model works best.
And there we have the last of the Rhino-Chassis models for the Griffons. Only a few key sections remain before the project is complete!
