Not the limo you are expecting...

Something unexpected today. Or at least I hope so! Do you remember I told you last week I had a spare head from a Hybrid? Well, let's unveil the secret of my crazy idea (for it's totally nuts!)

I should have mentioned. I also have a spare complete Sentinel

But you wouldn't expect me to do yet another walker, specially considering that I built one just some weeks ago. Would you?

I had several different ideas, but not a clear path to tread. Oh, I forgot, my first plan was building a troop transport, just like the one I made for the Mutants. But oh, I had already done that. I wanted a new challenge. Hence the Sentinel stuff. As the Genestealer Cult is based on miners, I thought I could build a drilling beast, somehow combining the Sentinel cockpit with the Hades Breaching Drill from Forgeworld:

What a monster we could get from here

But honestly, the price did convince me to refuse this option. Gasp!

My second take was some kind of truck or industrial caterpillar, a dump truck for the mine. But putting the bits together I really didn't come to any fruitful result. What I got instead was another different idea. If there are some Hybrids with portable mining lasers, why wouldn't they have larger lasers on vehicles? With that new approach in mind I begun to give basic shape to this:

Sentinel cockpit, Humvee rear part and Tiger gun. Oh, and cardboard. Lots of cardboard

A little bit crude, but it will improve

The main problem was that, when I was assembling it all, it reminded me more of a tank than an idustrial vehicle. Well, a hunched, ugly tank, but nonetheless a Warhammer 40,000 tank. I added more bits to try to break that profile, emphasising that it was carrying a mining laser cutter, not a battle cannon.

When in doubt, add wires. Wiring solves anything

It could still be a Mechanicus tank, but let's not go that way

Brick shape and hard edges. It screams Imperial manufacture

I took every bit imaginable from any possible kit

I painted it yellow, so there would be no doubt about its nature (well, unless you try to convince me it's an Imperial Fists or a Lamenters tank):

Now it's beginning to really take shape. At least in my mind

As it is supposed to be a laser drill and to take the heavy part in mining, opening new tunnels and stuff, it of course had to look really torn and dirty, so I did extensive weathering:

I said extensive indeed

The front reads Fodinae Conlegium, i.e., Mining Guild in Gothic

I pity the fool who has to purge and clean those engines

Yeah, I'll laser drill your as*, you mot*******er!

So this is as far as I got with a lot of random pieces and some cardboard. Not exactly the first idea that came to mind, but something not really far from it in fact. It has been enormously fun to build, not really knowing what the result would look like in the end. Now on a retrospective I think I could have gone another way with the laser drill itself, adding a large coil, or maybe something like an articulated arm, more crane-looking. But hey, it is done, so it stays this way.

Gaming wise I simply have no idea of what it is going to count as. Not that I care, it's a ridiculously tiny vehicle with a ridiculously big laser cannon, so it fits perfectly in Warhammer 40,000, that's the only thing that matters :D

Well, after this break I think I can go back to painting more Hybrids. I have them all already glued, so it should be easier than the previous batch. Coming back soon with them!