Some might call it sacrilege, but modifying a classic model, especially a rare one, can be deeply satisfying, and specially worthy of note of the example in question has seen better days. At 1000 Facebook likes I promised to reveal something special, and here it is, a WIP Chaos Land Raider Achilles based on the original Rogue Trader era Land Raider of legend.
The original tank, the jewel in a neat RT era haul, was in a dire condition. Huge chunks of the tank had been melted (probably with a lighter), the tracks were damaged, and there was this weird gunk covering parts of it...Nurgle's Rot probably. Only about 60% of the tank was usable, and less than half the visible bodywork was in a good way.
There is little chance of finding spares, so I decided to bite the bullet and commit RT Heresy: I converted this vintage model and made a modern version of it. The first task was to strip the tank down and chop away the horribly melted sections and replace them with plasticard fabrications. The basic hull was easy to do with multiple flat sections, and the usable parts of the floor, front plate and engine bay.
The Tracks were harder to replicate, but I think I've done a convincing job. Strips of plasticard and plastic rod were used to replace melted and missing links and pins respectively.
A recent idea was to have a Heavy Bolter turret on top, a weapon option available to the Achilles. I didn't have one on a pintle mount, but I did have a spare turret from my Blood and Skulls Chimera review, and the hull plate to go with it. With a lot of trimming it fit flush on top. It also helps bulk out the hull, which is small compared to the modern iteration of the Land Raider.
The engine combines elements from several eras, neat slim pipes of the modern age, but with an archaic vibe about them. They were actually Lascannons from my home made Lascannon guide, but cut down and given additional bracing.
Creating the main gun was an interesting challenge. I had intended to make a completely custom tank armed with an Earthshaker, to count-as a Legion Basilisk. But something this venerated deserves more than that, so it became the Quad Mortar-armed Achilles. The main barrel is from the Baneblade/Shadowsword kit, with four smaller tubes glues together. They are removable, should I decide that I want to run a custom tank.
Both sides were badly scarred, so the only real option was to re-skin the side panels. Whilst they look plain now, once trimmed and given rivets, they will fit the aesthetics of the tank.
Once this relic is brought fully from the land of the dead and dying, I will look forward to pulping everything in the name of Tzeentch.