In case you were wondering, some of the parts to make my groovy Rough Riders were sculpted by Rob at Curious Constructs.

Saturday 5 April 2014

Taurox Conversion: Lowering ya ride, part 1

Knowing that new Guard goodies were on their way I started putting a fund together so I could join in on the Guard loving. Selling a Tau codex and Warhammer Fantasy rulebook ensured that I would have some new toys to play with on release day. 

This morning the new Scions and Taurox hit the stores. Our local GW man, Dion at Warradale, had told me that he only got three Taurox kits in and many people were after are ALL of them. My response was a sarcastic dig at GW as usual. "Three at your store? I was expecting GW to send out a total of three to all of Australia - they must be getting generous these days!"
I set my alarm and got down there at 0800 to make sure I didn't miss out. Being first in line, I managed to grab a Taurox, Scion box and I also pre-ordered the new Guard codex for next week.

On to the Taurox! 
When I first saw the Taurox I thought it was a little 'aesthetically challenged'. Since then it has grown on me but there is still something odd about its proportions. I'd like to get one into my workshop and lower it!



This is what I had in mind: 


-Lowering it by cutting down the front treads and raise the back treads. I think it is as 'sleek' as the ugly transporter will get.

This picture log will remind me of my steps if I decide to tackle another one or three, but also someone out there might like to have a go themselves (or more likely improve on my attempt).

Starting with the front end... cutting down the tracks.
Bottom cut.
Setting up the the top cut.
Top cut done.
One side done.
Both sides done :) 
Normally the shaft slots into the inside of the track like this.


 On my cut-down version I had to trim the insert down to fit.


Tacked together you can see the 8mm gap between the top guard and where the track will be.

To bring the track up I cut out the gearbox.

And cut down the edges of the shafts (the long bit on the sides).
Here is is sitting in place.


Before building the tracks I cut off this inner lip, so the tack links would fit in behind the track guard.
Here are the tracks glued together.
The tracks now sit at about the right hight from the guard above.


 That's the front half done!

Comparing back to my original plan it looks about right. 

I'd still like to tidy the detail up with some green stuff but now on to the back section....

14 comments:

  1. You should only lower the front and paint it black with a red stripe.
    Like this: http://www.blogcdn.com/ca.autoblog.com/media/2012/06/a-team-van-replica-008.jpg

    ;-)

    Looks good so far. Looking forward to seeing it done.

    Cheers.
    HellHenni

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    1. Bahaha! Yes I totally should! Progress is coming along well, but the back is proving to be way more work then the front!

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  2. Much better, the vanilla kit looks ridiculous like something I would buy from toys r us for an 8 year old.

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    1. Cheers. Starting this project I thinking "Man I hope I can pull this off, otherwise I should have brought a Chimera!"
      At this point I think it could still go either way.

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  3. How I want to look through the Scions kit and fondle its bits - I'm a ways off getting my own according to the missus - I need to start saving my coffee money.

    The mod is taking shape - I was worried you weren't going to get there at the start based on the first dry fit - but then you modded the gear box part and pulled it back.

    How hard would it have been to fit wheels at the lugs holding on the track units? Is there enough space for that or not really?

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    1. If it wasn't for my recent sales I wouldn't have secured the funds for these either. The Ministrant of war mush be creative these days!

      It is going to be incredibly easy to fit wheels to these kits. I hope I see someone change the upper guard bit on the front into a proper curved wheel arch. I'm just waiting for the rest of the conversions to start hitting the internet.

      There is so much that is cool about this kit, like the completely detailed interior for example. It's just a bit of an ugly duckling.

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    2. Glad it's not just me having to find some funds, Muppet!

      Ackland - I love where you're going with this. I didn't realise it was detailed inside (although that's the kind of thing that scares me into NOT buying a kit!)...

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    3. "Men, the Admiral has ordered us to weld the all the doors shut on our transports"
      "But Sir, how will be use them?"
      "We will be riding around on the rooves, all the better to shoot the enemy!"

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  4. Very nicely done sir. A very brave effort. Still cant stand that ugly arse kit tho.

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    1. Thanks Dai. The Scions have such pretty armour that the rest of the guard force them to ride around in an ugly transporter. Imperial Justice!

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  5. I just stumbled onto your blog. Looks great!

    I know this is post is over a year old, but I was wondering, the before and after photo's you've shown, are they photoshopped pics or has someone already done this sort of conversion before?

    I think it looks a whole lot better lowered, no matter how terribly impractical it would be on the pretend battlefield :)

    Cool!

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    Replies
    1. Just answered the question when I began to read part 2 :)

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