Well, it's been quite a while since I had time to do any building, and just as long since I posted anything. Real live was causing lots of trouble.
Well, I got older too and now wear glasses *lol*

Nevertheless, I was following the WIP's here closely, and I never lost interest in building.

Finally I have some time again, and I thought "let's start with something big!" - reminds you of my Scarabeus project, right? :D
Hopefully, the Zeus will fare better and get completed.

OK, to make a long story short, here's the plan:

:lol:
The idea is to have a vehicle that carries a large array of weapons, as well as a troop of infantry, and maybe a fast attack vehicle.
In the Hull it will sport a centrally mounted Demolisher:

while the engines are to the left an right.
Behind it it will carry two Vanquisher turrets B)
*When I say big, I mean big* :lol:
In the sponsons there will be a Lascanon/Flamer combi, as well as it will host the infatry there - a rough ride.
Then the actual huge monster turret will have the main armament - not sure if it will be Volcano cannon (but that would probably need another engine itself), Plasma Blastgun, or a "normal" Baneblade gun. B)

So quite some titanic plans, huh?

Anyhow I started building the first itmes - namely the engine controls. As you will see I took a large dose of Captain Nemo and quite some Steampunk elements. I think this makes a nice mix with 40K and gives the Zeus the right feel.
You can see all images in my album, but here are some to get you started:
Here are the elements of the left enigne section:

Since I won't be able to get to them later, I had to paint them immediately:


Behind the engine section will be a platform - from which to access the Vanquisher turret:

and beneath it will be soem ammo storage:


For size comparison, here are the pieces with a Chimera:


And these are now the pieces of the right engine section



So, what do you think?
Cheers

Klaus

its a good thing to see so far.

can,t wait to see lots and lots more. :D

Welcome back, buddy! :vryhppy:

As usual, you are going to make something that makes me :drool:

picks up jaw :blink: youre off to a great start :thumbup:

nice one, looks great so far. how come you didnt finish the scarebus thingy?

Woah. You sir, just got written into my Little Black Book. Expect to hear from me with commissions next time I need a vehicle interior.

Excellent looking interior. I think you've captured the Victorian Gothic feel perfectly. Reminds me of those old films like 20,000 leagues under the sea and all the other Jules Verne type stuff.

I agree, I really like the styling and victoriana you've given this. Very reminiscent of the Nautilus! I wouldn't be surprised if it was commanded by Captain Nemo actually! :D

Amazing interior peices... I love em all... Almost wish you could have a mission where folks actually had to use them in a game...go to panel 1 then panel 2 then control switch 3... by turn 4 you could fire the thing... :thumbup:

Thanks for the positive feedback :thumbup:

Well, what happended to the Scarabeus? To be honest, the concept is no longer sound to me, and many of the pieces are by now below my standard of building. It was a great (and huge) learning project, and as that it will always have a nice place here in my "office". But to finish it and get it up to standard, it would take very long :scratch:

So, back to the Zeus and Captain Nemo :lol:
First I worked on the turret basket for the Vanquisher turret:

It is made of the lower part of a pills bottle



Then I continued with the pieces for the left gallery:

with heavy use of miskito netting :lol:



So this is the status for today

Cheers
Klaus
Edit: The pieces are not glued together yet, just taped - so don't worry if some items don't seem to fit correctly

Looks beautiful! Can't wait to see more, and if I were you I would go for the plasma blastgun, it looks cool and gives a perfect excuse for a plasma reactor! :thumbup:

UPDATE:
I added the Demolisher gun and a small ammo rail :lol:



More images in my Dei Greci blog (simply click the signature).
Cheers
Klaus

This is very nice, and as usual you have some intriguing little inventions.
Keep us posted.
:thumbup:

Which track style will you use?

A. All cover up bogie (Chimaera, Leman Russ, and LandRaider)
B. Modern tank track and suspension units partly covered up like Bradley (the track units has return roller)
C. Tracks with big roadwheels but no return rollers (T -34, M 113)
D. Modern tank track and suspension units with return roller but no sideskirts (Postwar American armour, think of M41 rolled out in bankok in 19th september 2006!)

great work, I can't wait to see more

@lord of the guns: I will have to use the WH40K all cover up bogie style for the Zeus.
The reason is that I want to use sponsons, as well as I want to use the area within the tracks for the infantry transport :blink:
PLUS, with the cover up bogie style I won't need to worry about casting wheels and rollers - all I have to do is cast tracks, and only for the limited visible part B)

I love that Demolisher post :) Absolutly nice work! Can't wait to see more ! :thumbup:

its coming along very nicly! I love the demo cannon and the ammo rail. Great idea :D

Keep up the good work and keep us posted

I spent some time reworking the ammo rail a bit:


Then I started to paint the Demolisher



And then mounted the pieces in their final place:


B)

(all the in-between detail photos are here in my photobucket )
So what do you think?

you should get a job at gw or forgeworld!!!

fantastic job. i love the gothic style of your future model. i appreciate particularly computer
see you soon

I've gotta say that's just absolutely amazing. stunning paint work.

Yeah, Nice job! :thumbup: It has the look of what I call: BattleFortress :) Stunning details, cool ideas, etc :) Keep Up!
We want more B)

I was finally able to paint the little ammo car


and add the complete rail system into the ZEUS


All details in the blog
Cheers

Klaus

Beautiful interior. I'm hoping the exterior looks as good. Scratchbuilt superheavies often look to plain or clunky.

Query: Is the flamer in each sponson an Inferno/Hellhound type? If so, have you considered a towed trailer mounting the prometheum tank, like the real-world Crocofile flame-tank?

Hello rabid_stoat, I'm not sure about the flamers yet, but I'm reluctant to pull a high-explosive tank behind my ZEUS :lol:
Way to vulnerable... but I'll have to think about it.

In regards to the external look, I really hope it won't look clumpsy - I try to keep some of the Malcator and some of the Baneblade lines.
Here's the plan:

Lots of room for rivets :drool:

I absolutely love it so far... one thing I would like to point out from your diagram in the last post...I think it has to many weapons... Not from a kill everything point of view..but more so interior room for ammo, power generators for the large weapons etc... Most of the time large beasts like this would either sacrifice weapons for troop or vehicle carrying OR drop the transporter roll for maximum weapons. Just my thoughts....

I do have to say that your plastic card work is AMAZING. and I do really love this model so far.

Hello Jade Lancer,
thanks for the positive comments.
You are right in regards to the weapons load and ammo. That is why everything is so complicated, and why I started with the interior.
Firstly, the ZEUS hull, is two stories high (85mm, so two IG soldiers high) which gives me some room for storage.
Secondly, the infantry will be located within the tracks area - thats why I use the all around track.
So right now I'm working on the Vanquisher turrets, with a basket beneath it, which will then have a small ammo elevator coming up :thumbup:
It allready looks very sleek.
The Main Gun and it's turret will then sit on top of it (a 3rd storie), but you are right, I still need to figure where to place the Plasma Reactor - but looking at the Forgeworld images ( Shadowsword interior ) I should be able to cramp it all in there, don't you think?
The base plate of the hull is about 270mm x 210mm (sans tracks), and the forward 75mm are taken by the engine and demolisher :blink:

I'll try to get a more detailed floorplan later.
Thanks
Klaus

Looks great, love the detail on the interior. I assume it'll still be accessible from the finished model?

If it was me I'd be tempted to swap out the heavy flamers for some sort of las-variety weapon, perhaps twinking multilasers or something? Just think it might be worth trying to theme the weaponry, so you have two types of projectile weapon, then the rest would mostly be long ranged las- type. Wouldn't want the finished thing to look too christmas-treey. If you get me ;)

I love this. I really love the idea... how much bigger is it going to be than a Baneblade (when done do a size comparison)

Thanks for the kind remarks.

Well, obviously I can't state how big a Baneblade is, but the ZEUS will be considerable bigger.
Height 140 mm (5.5")
Length 340mm (~13.5")
Width sans tracks 210mm (8.some")
With tracks 310mm (12.some")

In regards to the weapons.
The idea was to have the main weapon as Titan killer, the two Vanquishers as Anti-armor weapons, the quad rocket launcher as "mass control" weapon :tongue:
and the sponson weapons as close range anti-infantry. In addition there are some hatches from where the crew can fire Autocannons or machineguns, plus 6 firing ports (2 on each side, 2 on the rear).
So I think I'll keep the double flamer, but exchange the LasCan with something better suited and better matching the flamers.
What would you suggest?
Bolter, Autocannon, machinegun?
Thanks

Heavy bolter for sure. 3 hb shots will be plenty to keep those pesky infantry away.

Well, as mentioned prior, I worked on another ammo elevator, that will deliver the ammo up to the Vanquisher turrets:


And to get a better feeling for the final lines, space left I finalized the side walls:


Here are some size shots:


huge, huh?
:lol:
and the forward plates mounted to close off the engines:


That's what I call a nice business end :tongue:

Oh, I just saw in the Imperial Armor Vol 1 that the Stormsword mounts a 2 Heavy Flamers, 2 heavy Bolters combo in the sponsons - so who am I to argue the Imperial Armor :thumbup:
Cheers
Klaus

Hi Klaus!

Very interesting, and very inspirational work You have there! I think I'm fallin' in love with Your Vanquisher turrets, and their surroundiings :) The only thing I can sy about that project at the moment, is: I hope I can see it finisehd soon :) Keep it up! The interior is very cool in painted, the outside scheme will be the same as on Your last models?
Macal

Well, I continued with the outside, so I can start messing with the weapons :lol:

Here's a first shot at how the side for the tracks will look alike:

to hold the weight and width of the planned tracks, I have to cast my own wheels:

Since I need 22 of them, this will take some time (by now I have 5), so I continued with the sponson.

Here's my Flamethrower:


mounted in the sponson


more detail shots are in the blog :thumbup:
Cheers

hmmm...I thing the most "boring" /takes the most time/ -part of the tank modelling, is the making of the suspension/tracks, wheels assemblage, and painting. But this one very important part of it :)

I like the style of your wheels, but they will be visible after the side parts are put on? What kind of track'll You use?
In this period, Your Monsta is very impressive, but I think It'll be much more inpressive by and by :) :thumbup:

Keep it Up!
Macal

Hi all,
I just updated my blog
with the progress on the second sponson

and how they'll fit on the hull/trackskirt sides.

Now I'm working on the tracks, and I need your help deciding which is better.
Here's track A:

a bit WWII Tiger style.
Here's track B:

a bit more 40K style.
which style should I use for casting?



They are going to look pretty much like this on the wheels:


So, A or B?
Thanks
Klaus

B!

Hmmm thats tough but i am likeing B more as well. A looks cool as well though but I like the more modern look of B. To me B looks more sensable with the full tread, less debris getting thru it to the wheels? My 2 cents

I'd prefer B.