Defiler facing?

[Lykum]

What counts as the 'body' of the Defiler? Pg 72 of the BRB states that 'When firing at a walker, work out which of its AVs to use as you would for any other vehicle, based on the position of its body' (emphasis mine).

So what part of the crab monster is the body? The legs or the upper portion? My thinking is that the portion with the battlecannon is a turret. This would allow the Defiler to fire at his 6 o'clock while still facing forward with the higher AV. I know this is different than what you would see for a Dread, but they've only got 2 spindly little legs, not 6 King Crab claws.

Mainly this matters to me for modeling the guy. If it is a pivoting turret then I will model it to move. If the whole model needs to be turned then I'll just glue the sucker in place and save myself 30 min.

Edit:
Upon further reading pg 72 also says to pivot the entire model on the spot so the guns face the enemy. I am guessing this supersedes my previous post. Any thoughts?

[Nabterayl]

Edit:
Upon further reading pg 72 also says to pivot the entire model on the spot so the guns face the enemy. I am guessing this supersedes my previous post. Any thoughts?
You got it. Even walkers that clearly seem to have turrets, such as dreadnoughts and defilers, pivot their entire bodies, because all walker weapons are defined as hull-mounted.

[SombreBrotherhood]

Since the side armor is identical to the front armor, this isn't as important as you might think at first glance. When I've been forced to make the X to determine armor facing, I use the main part that all the legs attach to (the thorax, if you will) to see if someone is in the rear arc or not.

On a separate point, if you can magnetize or otherwise secure the torso portion to the thorax in a way that will allow you to separate them at will (pins, magnets), it makes transporting those dudes SO much easier.

[Lykum]

On a separate point, if you can magnetize or otherwise secure the torso portion to the thorax in a way that will allow you to separate them at will (pins, magnets), it makes transporting those dudes SO much easier.

I am a mediocre painter and sculptor, but I have become the magnetizing master. I just finished a Rhino that can switch to a Predator and swap between Las/Autocannon turret and Las/Bolter sponsons. The guns swap out, not the sponsons/turret so I didn't have to buy extra bits.

So yeah, a heavy magnet on Fluffy the Defiler's waist would make for cooler poses. Plus, I hadn't considered the transport aspect so I'll just suck it up and do it.

[SombreBrotherhood]

Unfortunately, I built one w/ glue, bought two others that had already been glue-built, and only came around on my fourth and final Defiler. If you don't want to mess with large magnets, I can offer a suggestion that worked well for me.

Once you assemble the thorax, note where the square grille (or the groin, if you will) of the torso hits it. I drilled a hole for a magnet on the thorax, and stuffed the hollow grille with putty and a matching magnet. The 2nd magnet went in the bottom of the vertebral column on the torso with its mate on the edge of the round torso mounting area. I was thrilled with the result I got.

[titan eddy]

How i play my defiler is i play were the legs r attached to because it seems like a base

[Lykum]

Once you assemble the thorax, note where the square grille (or the groin, if you will) of the torso hits it. I drilled a hole for a magnet on the thorax, and stuffed the hollow grille with putty and a matching magnet. The 2nd magnet went in the bottom of the vertebral column on the torso with its mate on the edge of the round torso mounting area. I was thrilled with the result I got.

My idea is to drill into the rounded sections level with the ground (the thorax is intentionally not level with the ground). This way the turret can pivot on a plane level to the ground and the pose changes slightly as it turns. I'm also modifying the egg beater CCW to be more like a demonic chain thing. Think the cube from Hellraiser. If it comes out good I'll post pics before I paint it.