buut anyways, it was a kewl looking contraption, regardless. It was all inspired by this concept art, of a vehicle thing that wound up never existing as a product. Its looks were so awesome that if I COULD make one, then of course I SHOULD. Heres the pic or the concept art:
cool, huh? now who wouldnt want to make a model of something like that?!? Its a fixed sideview, so I had to guess and interpret on some of the details. Does it have wings? That is recognizeably a drone in a cradle of some sort right in front of the riders knee. But the question is: is it centermounted, with a narrow assembly over it? Or is it a drone closer to us than the rest of the bike, like on a wing that we really cant see? I went for a wing.
I had wanted to do this model for a long time, but there were some problems, and one of the most daunting was the rider himself: out of all the tau warrior arm parts, there were none that looked like a guy riding a bike, with hands out just so... Then the Piranha model kit came out, and thats what started things going, as it had arms that were perfect for this. So, over the time of this project, the concept drifted pretty far off of the artwork, and pretty much became a thing of its own. and here we go!
Since I was going to cannibalize from a prianha kit for the arms anyway, the whole thing was up for grabs now, since it wasnt complete anymore. So the wings would obviously be the piranha wings, which were pretty small to begin with. so they were butted together, and filed away to make room for the big gun.
And here we go. The wings were just about perfect, with only a few cutouts here and there for the railgun part, shown. I fitted the gun so that the muzzle was was partially midway. Originally, the wings were going to point the other way, with the rider sitting in the narrow section, but after holding the gun up to the wings, I could tell right away that was how it was gonna be.
I bought an eldar Viper jetbike, after doing some research in the parts catalog, and seeing things that I could use. Mainly, the seats and hull. Here we see the other seat (vyper is a 2 man bike), and normally it oriented like this. The other seat was the same, and where the drivers legs would hang there were two foot pedals. Perfect, eh? Well, sorta, Eldar like their flutey curves, and I had to juggle and cut things around a bit to get what I wanted.
I flipped the chair around, as seen in the original seat, so that the lower back area was where the riders crotch goes now. the rest was cut off so the rider could lay belly down on it, and super luckily: the footpedals were a perfect match for one of the firewarrior leg parts.. almost like it was meant to be!
As we see, the fit is pretty much perfect. He looks like hes goin 400 mph in a rice burning crotch rocket motorcycle, doesnt he? 
The seat frame crams right into the nitch at the rear of the wing, handilly getting rid of that little oddity. I love it when things fall together like this, and I wont have to go and fill in gaps all over the place
Next came the hull. After several attempts and various options looked into, this is where the design really split from the original art. So here we have the original Vyper hull, which was far too tall and broad to fit comfortably on the wings, and in fact looked rather silly. Looking carefully at the lines, I decided to cut it as shown.
And ended up with this. It looks much MUCH better now, doesnt it? Plus, I was rather proud of myself in ending up with a form that fit the wings PERFECTLY as well. The hull was now so log that it would hit the gun , so the hood was notched to make room. This made everything look more integrated as well- not just slapped together, so, bonus!
Here is the wing-hull fit. Pretty slick, huh? Also notice I salvaged the dashboard from the piranha kit, and after quite a bit of sanding and fitting, got it to look like a part of the bike. The riders hands can presumably be on some controls, and everything looks to be in order so far, right?
Heres the same 'placed together' mockup shown above, but from the shot that matters: the concept art angle. Technically, I really should put the drone antennae on the underside somehow, but those are stock shield drones. See how the wing is just as un-apparent in this view as well, and how my interpretation of the drone arrangement is justified?
And heres a side by side comparison. While not exactly a match, I believe the spirit is still there, and clearly evident.
And, unfortunately, Things stopped there. Honestly, I simply cant think of how/what to do next. Suggestions are definately encouraged!
2 comments:
Amazing work man. Very well done.
I am inspired.
I know it's been a couple of years since you posted, but if you're still in a rut all that really can be done before painting at this point is maybe adding a Tau insignia or two.
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