POLEMOS - Urban Combat Vehicle (1)

After the initial failed design I went back to the drawing board and started anew.

By now I also have a name for this vehicle, in good old Dei Greci fashion.

The POLEMOS is named after the divine personification of war. 

The pre-Socratic philosopher Heraclitus described Polemos as "both the king and father of all", with the capacity to bring all into existence and to annihilate.^[8] For Heraclitus, Polemos "reveals the gods on the one hand and humans on the other, makes slaves on the one hand, the free on the other".^[9] The fragment leaves it unclear as to whether Heraclitus thought of Polemos as an abstraction, a god, or a generalization of war, and this ambiguity is perhaps intentional.^[10] Heidegger interpreted the polemos of Heraclitus as the principle of differentiation or "setting apart" (German Auseinandersetzung).^[11]

I think this fits the bill, doesn't it?

The hull is now a lot lower than in the initial design

 

And about 1.5cm wider.

 

 

Here you can see the build-up of the fenders

 

Well, I guess I'm all out of practice, as I never had to use that much putty before...

 

Here you can also see the deck layout.

 

Ah, nice!

 

I'm quite pleased with the new design.

 

So I started to work on the weapon system.

It's a multi-purpose weapon system (similar to the BMPT's). And it will consist of an Auto-Cannon, an automatic Grenade Launcher (AGL), and a missile launcher.

 

The AC and AGL will be mounted in one gun housing.

 

  

In addition, the POLEMOS will have two machine guns for rear close in defense.

These will be remote-controlled.

 

Scratch built MG's.

 

And the mounts for the main weapon system.

 

As you can see the two turrets will be able to operate independently, enabling the POLEMOS to fight several enemies at the same time.

 

 

The missile launchers are mounted on the outside of the gun mount, and here you can see the re-load position.

 

And that's already it for today :)

I hope you like this new member of the DEI GRECI family.

As usual I look forward to your C&C.

Cheers

Klaus

New Project

I hope you all had some enjoyable holidays and spent a lot of time with the family and friends.

Maybe you even had some hobby time?

Yes, I did :)

But, after the completion of Hobbs, the funny dragon for my wife's Christmas present, the ATHENA didn't make it back onto my desk. I just couldn't muster the energy to continue with her.

But the hobby itch was back :)

So I decided to start something new.

For this I (and hopefully some future projects) I need some new, large (tank) road wheels and tracks.

In the past tried several road wheels and tracks, and while they worked for the ZEUS, HERCULES, and PONOS, I wasn't really satisfied.

Again, I used a soda cap as base and created the inside from plastic card.

It is a large road wheel *lol*

But I'm confident it will fit my purpose rather nicely.

So I decided I will build a mold and cast some more road wheels.

To make this work, I also need some new tracks. Probably not as fancy as the ones for the ZEUS or PONOS, but almost 2cm wide tracks.

So I cut the basic shape from plastic card.

Made sure they all fit together nicely.

Then I added some details.

In the meantime the silicone was cured and I could remove the road wheel.

Looks alright to me.

Final details for the tracks.

And another mold :)

So now that I had my basic items for a new tracked vehicle shaped out, I looked at the actual project.

The idea is an urban combat scene, with Imperial Guard fighting Orks in the streets of a Dencaran city.

Most likely it will be a kind of ambush setting at dusk (so lots of potential for cinematic and  light effects).

None of the tanks I have created so far are really suited for urban combat.

Well, most tank fans will argue that no tank is suited for urban combat - Syria seems to prove this point on a daily basis.

But it is a good setting, and the image of a tank in the streets is quite strong. I still remember the scene of one of the Arnheim movies where a Tiger tank rumbles through the street.

With this said, you get the idea. I'm looking to build a special Urban Combat Vehicle.

With the Grozny lessons learned the Russians have designed such a special vehicle, the BMP-T - "Terminator" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMPT

I also like the idea of the Israeli heavy APC Achzarit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDF_Achzarit , based on captured T-55 tanks.

These two vehicles will be the base of my little tank.

I used the road wheel as a base for the plan.

And quickly cut the first pieces.

The hull is taking shape.

With fenders in place.

But ugh....

Not what I wanted :(

It is too narrow and too high.

I had the lessons from the HERCULES in mind when I built this one. The HERC is actually too squat, with the body itself being quite nice, but with the added width of the tracks, he became almost square. So I wanted to build this one slimmer.

But not that slim.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

But that's a story for tomorrow :)

Stay tuned.

Cheers

Klaus

Dragon completed :)

I was lucky yesterday that my wife went out to meet some old friends, so I had the chance to finish the little dragon!

 

I added some yellow dot-pattern to the borderline between the yellow and orange areas.

 

I also completed the base.

 

Painted the mushrooms as well as the little worm (lower right corner).

 

I also added a small amount of pigments to add a real dirt feeling to the ground and feet.

 

 

So, done!

 

I really hope my wife will like it :)
Cheers and Happy Holidays!

 

Funny dragon (3)

@Malevengion - yes, I know Hobbs (I love Kelvin and Hobbs), and you're right, the colors and pattern make a good Hobbs lookalike :)

@torg_or - thanks! I hope you'll be back in the hobby soon! It's the hardest part about breaks and hiatus' - the coming back :)

@Tallghost - THANKS MATE!

Last night I added first details with brush.

I worked mainly on the stripe pattern, adding stripes and dots inside the sprayed stripes as well as separately - directly on the skin.

 

I also gave the face some additional stripes.

 

I'm pretty satisfied with the way the pattern turned out.

 

For the eyes and nostrils I'm trying to add a glow effect (this is still in progress)

 

The surface of the teeth is actually a bit rougher than the rest of the model, so I'm not quite happy with the way they turned out...

 

I'm really on a tight schedule with this, especially as the first pre-Christmas activities (like company party, Christmas Market with Gluewein etc.) are already in full swing.

 But I still hope to have him finished and coated by the 24th.

Cheers!

Klaus

More funny dragon

I decided to keep updating you on the progress of the funny dragon, to get myself back into the habit of maintaining the blog and hobby rituals.

It also reminds me to take photos while working.

So I added some mushrooms to the base,

 

and I completed the front paws.

 

This is the final version of the grin :)

 

 

Next I primed him white.

 

I have to admit it is quite different to work with white primer instead of the usual black primer.

 

But for the bright yellow base it is the better choice :)

 

Once the yellow cured I applied the orange section to the back - so he has a yellow underside and orange top.

 

 

Towards the spine he received another coat of red.

 

And then I added a stripe pattern with Mahogany

 

 

 

 

Plus a layer of white to the belly....

 

Tonight I will start working with the brush and add first details.

Most likely the claws will be black, the eyes too - but with a little blue glow to them.

I hope you like today's update and don't mind the detour from "real" modeling.

Cheers

Klaus