Noticed that TAS asked about Vanquisher "command" tanks.
As most of my Russes and Chimeras are from the SM-2 era, I've been toying with some ideas on how to represent the two now mandatory command vehicles, the Vanquisher and the Salamander. Frankly, I don't much like an idea of different-looking command tanks if only for the reason that in real life I fear they would be "bullet magnets" very quickly, but converting is always fun so here are my two cents.
First the Leman Russ Vanquisher, "old skool". This one is easy - one day I tried old metal Predator turrets on Russ hulls, and surprise surprise, they fit very well! A bit longer barrel and a very nice, T-55eque round turret with obviously more room for the commander to, well, command. The downside is, of course, that you need old Predator turrets, but they are quite easy to replicate by casting.
Other option would be to build them by yourself - not as difficult as you may think! Few years back I made some originals I was about to use to cast my own Predator turrets and sponsons to get a) Preds from extra plastic Rhinos and b) to get tanks more resembling the old WH40K plastic Predator. Still haven't got around to actually making the molds, but maybe one day...
But I digress. Turrets I made from sawed-off round screw heads with piece of plastic rod, or if you want strenght, brass rod or thin brass tube. This is superglued to the screwdriver slot for barrel, a Rhino bolter hatch is added to the top (in this case, Imperial hatch sprue certainly works better) and the gaps are green stuffed, although any filler will do.
Total work time about 10 minutes a piece. I think all will agree that if you need Vanquishers only for command tanks this will be very acceptable amount of time.
Additional quick-to-make embellishments fitting for a Vanquisher would be, for example, a bore evacuator (or the fat thingy on the middle of the barrel in modern MBTs if I'm wrong on the English terms) from a piece of thin plastic or metal tubing, and some sort of gun shield/recoil mechanism from green stuff. This is especially important if you have new, detailed Russes - the plain Predator-style turret will look somewhat out of place there. ?
Then the Salamander. Those build from the artillery hulls are very, very nice, but the only real idea I have is to build a taller cargo compartment ? la M577 to a bog-standard Chimera, as I don't want to have totally dissimilar transport vehicles in one Company. Green stuff is your friend, but does any of you more talkative friends have better ideas for poor ole Chimeras?
Lastly, for the Executioner I recommend the new-style plastic WH40K plasma pistol, instead of the old round "Black & Decker" one. Not sure which version you guys were referring to in earlier posts, so apologies if I'm stating a known fact here! The new version is available, thinner and more "to scale", especially after some cutting!
_________________ -Janne Korhonen ODERINT DUM METUANT
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