Dreadknight From Scratch

[Tupenzero]

So I am stoked about the new GK release in about a week and a half. There is one sour grape in the bunch for me though: I don't think the Dread Knight fits aesthetically. I realize that they make sense from a fluff perspective, but I just think that they look like a really big termi. I think they would look better as a mini titan. Somewhere between a sentinel and a warhound. You can agree with me or not, but I have decided to build one from scratch that is more imperial angular-tastic.

Here are some shots of the legs.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/afd067b8.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/1ca49ba8.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/a1ef36c1.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/c19eaef6.jpg

I hope you all like. More to come later.

[Rapture]

Interesting. The legs look good but I would like to see something added to the top of the foot to attach it to the shin. It looks a little tall for me, but it is hard to tell without seeing the finished product.

I hope you are going to attach a little baby bouncer to the front so that people can identify it as a Dreadnight.

[fuzzbuket]

Nice! very , very pretty! are you going for a mech, GW or dreadnought look? i am intriuged!

[Drew da Destroya]

Have you ever seen a Knight-class Titan? They're 1-man mini-titans... obviously a bit bigger than the Dreadknight, but I don't think it's by much. They do mount Warhound weapons, though, so no good in regular 40K. Still, you could use some design elements in your own build?

This page has a decent scale picture of one... it looks scratchbuilt, but the blog says something about a resin cast.

http://ghostnebulae.blogspot.com/2011/03/can-you-kill-knight-titan-with-500pts.html

[Tupenzero]

The legs, as is, are about 4" tall. The torso will be pretty squat so I am guessing that it won't be more than 6-7" tall. As far as the baby bouncer on the front, I don't think I'm going to do that. I'm thinking a little more protected. As far as the connecting the shin to the leg, I will be putting a set of pistons on it. I intended to do that, but haven't quite gotten to it yet.

It will be a bit more dreadnought-like, fuzzbuket.

Destroya, I have not seen those before. Looks cool, and about the resin casting, it's not hard to do. In fact some, the beige pieces on the knees of this guy are resin cast pieces that I did.

[Lane]

Nice work, both design and construction.

It's going to be a bit taller than a Dreadnight, measured one and it was 4.25" tall.

The standard model looks like it can be built without the leg armor so it should be easy to modify.

[Dunamis]

Thanks for calling and letting me know you put this up! I like!
The reverse joints on the legs are, IMHO, a major improvement on the GW design.

My only concern might be scale. If I understand the fluff the Dreadnight is supposed to be an answer to Greater daemons, and thus comparable in size, so 6-7" might be a bit on the largish size.

Unless, of course, you are going up against a Forge World GD, in that case it would be perfect!

[Tupenzero]

It'll be more like 6" tall so it's maybe a bit big. As far as I'm concerned, It'll be on the correct base size and most likely will be a mobile gun platform, so scale compared to a GD will be less likely to be an issue. If I did it again, I'd make it a bit smaller, but I think I had some crazy notion that this thing was massive, which is not true.

I have pics of the upper body so far and I will post as soon as I get to a place where I can unload them from the camera.

Thanks for all of the input.

[Tupenzero]

Here is a pic of the new pistons for the lag to shin connection as promised.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/9bcd1139.jpg

here is the hip connection

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/1c071776.jpg

The right leg fell off on the trip to work and so I am just holing it on. I got a lot done last night.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/e4c6c9e2.jpg

[Tupenzero]

front

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/999078ad.jpg

back

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/57c8a819.jpg

top

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/fa65b129.jpg

[fuzzbuket]

NICE! fantatsic conversion and plasticard skill!

[Tupenzero]

got the arms mostly done. Still need weapons, but that can be tomorrow.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/78096672.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/966c3ac2.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/adabc16d.jpg

[Tupenzero]

Sorry for double posting here, but I was looking at the pics a bit and had to mention that the join lines on the fingers are actually smooth and not as broken as they look. There is CA in the joins and it's sanded smooth.

I was also thinking of doing some greenstuff work and make some plates/armor for the fingers to make them look a bit more mechanical.

Thoughts?

[Tupenzero]

weapons are done. Will work on hands more when putty is dry. I just need to flatten out some of the surfaces to make them look less organic.

Gatling Psylencer

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/911139cd.jpg
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/ecf6e046.jpg

Heavy Incinerator

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/da16a477.jpg
http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/47b22a54.jpg

[Dr Cthulhu]

Hello sir:
I wanted to ask: What ar the sizes of the square tubings for the legs and where did you buy them? Here in Puerto Rico I have no local hobby shops that sell this type of stuff (every time I ask, they look at me like I'm from another planet!) Also, what are the sizes of the round tubing? Ive wante to do some scratchbulding but have been unable due to not knowing the sizes for these things. any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Tupenzero]

All of the white plastic is evergreen brand styrene plastic. I will give the measurements and the Evergreen product number. You can see their full line on their website, but I don't think you an order directly from them.

http://www.evergreenscalemodels.com/

So the rectangular tubes are in 2 sizes.

The larger of the 2 is .250" x .375" and the item number is 259
The smaller is .187" x .312" and the item number is 258

As for the round tubes there are many. I will try to id them all.

The two that make up the pistons on the lower legs are:

3/32" diameter item number 223
5/32" diameter item number 225

*NOTE: With evergreen plastics round tubes, if item 1's item number is exactly 2 less than item 2, then item 1 will fit snugly inside of item 2. It makes for easy pitons and other things.

I used the same 2 for the Gatling psylencer plus the 7/16" item number 234 and 1/2"( item number 236) as the round housing.

The construction for it was 8 pieces of 223 arranged around one 225 shaft and then sanded flush. I put another piece of the 223 inside the center 225 to make the little spindle part that sticks out of the front. Then the whole thing just slides into a short piece of 234. I also cut a ring off of a piece of the 236 and glued it to the far end of the 234 housing to give it a lip.

The insides of the fore arms have a piece of 7/32" (item 227) slice lengthwise to give it some interesting surfaces.

I also used 9/32" (item 229) for some of the hip assembly.

I think that's all of it as far as the tubes. I did also use lots of .020" x .080" (item 124) strips for various things. 1/32" diameter rod (item 220) to cut little slices for rivets. .060" half round (item 241) for trim on the shoulders and on the arms. And plenty of .080" channel (item 262) for detail on the arms, legs top, and front hood.

I hope this was helpful. I will have some in progress painting pics up soon.

[Tupenzero]

Dr. Cthulhu, I posted something earlier this morning in response to your question, but it looks like it has to be approved first or something. I don't know what that was all about but hopefully my long-winded list of parts will show up soon.

I am finished painting it now and I am working on the basing. It'll be tomorrow before it's dry, so I'll take a pic then.

[Tupenzero]

So it still needs a head for the hole in the front but I will add that as soon as I get my hands on the termi box. Here it is painted. I don't claim to be the best painter in the world, but i think it turned out alright.

Also the finished height is right at 6".

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/P1010635.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/P1010638.jpg

[Grailkeeper]

are you going to have termi legs hanging down at all?

[Tupenzero]

Not planning on it. That is part of the aesthetic I was trying to escape with my version. I wanted it to look more dread-like and less exo-squad like below.

I just think it leaves the pilot too open.

http://tfarchive.com/Exosquad/phaeton.jpg

[fuzzbuket]

nice! i love the gold: it looks amazing!

[SotonShades]

I almost don't want to say anything about this model as I feel it is a little too Imperial Guard asthetic, and not Marine-y enough for Grey Knights. I agree with you about the Dreadknight model is too far in the opposite dircetion, but I just don't feel yours is quite right either.

However, it has been undeniably well made, and whilst the paintjob isn't exactly Deamon winning, it is nice and crisp. Would you consider doing some freehand on all that flat surface area to liven up the model a bit? Well done on the model over all, just not for me.

[Tupenzero]

I'm glad you did say something. And I think I will probably do some freehand stuff on some of the panels. I do agree that I may have overshot the aesthetic goal. I saw a porche and said "I think it should be more like a VW bug" an them I ended up with a VW Thing. I really do appreciate the openly constructive criticism. It does look a bit IG-y and I'll be the first to admit it. I used a lot of IG bits and I'm a vet IG player of many years, so I'm a little wired for it. If I did it again, I would probably add some different armor plates. I think that would make a big difference.

Thanks again

[Tupenzero]

so I did some freehand on a few of the panels, but I'm trying not to overdo it. I also realized that I forgot something very important; Purity Seals! I will add those tonight. I sculpted a bunch last night and I will add them once they are painted.

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/a172063f.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/2eafdbea.jpg

http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm163/tupenzero/40k/Dreadknight/5a8eea9a.jpg

[snikrot]

i like the model except for the feet they just look like they should be bigger

[Tupenzero]

Final pics up on Beasts of War.

http://www.beastsofwar.com/rama/minirama-scifi/scratch-built-gk-dreadknight/#comment-15032