Reclaiming a Razorback

[ShinyRhino]

Greetings, Brothers and Sisters.

 

A while back I purchased a large lot of Marine vehicles via eBay. One of the vehicles included was an older Razorback. It was painted in what I assume was the old Ultramarine Blue GW spray. It was not assembled all that well, and I decided it had to be stripped and refurbished. However, I don't like the mini-size of the older Rhino chassis. I dug around in the Librarium and found this article that inspired me.

 

So, I set out to refurbish my Razorback...

 

Stage 1: Pre-planning

 

:his is what the razorback looked like when I got it (minus the turret, which I tore off and stripped before starting this WIP project. I needed a Rhino for a game one night.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/prefront.jpg

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/preleft.jpg

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/preright.jpg

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/pretop.jpg

 

 

 

As you can see, it was in rough shape. The exhaust vents were broken, paint was thick, and the front dozerblade was a mess. So, on to the disassembly!

[ShinyRhino]

Stage 2: Choppy, Choppy!

 

The second step was to rip this old machinery down to its component parts. I got out my trusty jeweler's saw, and an extendable utility blade. I then proceeded to cut the sidwalls away from the main body, this is the result:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/chopped1.jpg

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/chopped2.jpg

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/chopped3.jpg

 

 

I also removed the dozer blade. It was damaged beyond repair, and had been wedged into the front of the chassis, causing gaps in assembly. Some cutting and tearing later, and it looked like this:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/chopped4.jpg

 

 

Here's a shot of the interior, just for completeness:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/chopped5.jpg

 

 

As you can see, it was a tough breakdown. There was lots of damage to the hull and sidewalls. Thankfully, this will not be visible when I reassemble the tank. So, on to paint removal!

[ShinyRhino]

Step 3: Off with the paint!

 

This paint just HAD to come off. The yellow on the hatch hinges was thick, as was pretty much everything else. This was much easier now that I'd chopped the tank up. I pulled a large pasta sauce jar out of the recycling bin, and dropped the parts in it. I then filled the jar with Simple Green (you can read about it in Brother Narthecium's thread here.

I let everything soak for about a week, resulting in this:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/simplegreen.jpg

 

Not a lot of the paint came off. The yellow and all the silver was gone, but I have found Simple Green has a tough time with Games Workshop sprays. So, the next step was to use some Easy Off oven cleaner. I removed the Simple Green from the jar (saving it in another, the stuff can be reused several times), rinsed all the parts and the jar, and put the tank back in. I then sprayed a generous amount of oven cleaner in the jar, basically filling it with foam. Please wear gloves and a mask when using this stuff, as it'll eat your skin and lungs. Here's the result:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/ovencleaner.jpg

 

As you can see, not a whole lot more paint came off. But, i was able to reduce the overall thickness of the paintjob to a point where I could reprime it without major issues.

 

I'd also previously stripped the pewter turret using the same methods:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/razorbackparts.jpg

 

The turret was assembled with what looks like epoxy, so I spent several hours chipping and chiseling that off with a pocket knife.

 

The next step will be thickening the chassis, and then reassembling the turret (which is apparently missing hatch parts that I'll have to replace with something) to allow it to rotate. Stay tuned for the next step sometime soon!

[Mal]

Hmmm the case of the blind 2 year old tank building skills.... how I know it well...

 

All things considering, you kept the main body in one piece, so the de-construction could have turned out a lot worse.

(I have a Russ im trying to break down... its been built using more polycement that plastic!! Ohh and the body is backwards!)

 

I'll be looking forward to how you handle this one... I have a couple of older rhinos laying about... could make use of them....

[ShinyRhino]

No photo updates today, unfortunately.

What I'm stalling on at the moment is how to make the turret rotatable. Anyone done such a thing with this particular model?

My idea is to drill a smallish hole in the underside of the turret. Find a thin screw or bolt, and epoxy that into the hole. Then, place a thin plasticard "washer" (or two) between the turret and the baseplate to avoid scratching the pewter when it turns. Lastly, I'd put another thick card washer underneath the baseplate, and affix it all with a nut.

 

I have made some progress on replacing the hatches that are missing. The current Rhino kit hatch covers that take the form of two hatch doors fit closely enough that I can carve out a tiny bit of the hinge area, and it'll fit on the Razorback's hatch area. I'll just need to cut out a middle joiner hatch from thick card to complete the effect. i hope to have pics of this up soon.

 

I also dicovered that I'll need to put some sort of control sticks or something in the gunner's hands. The tops of his hands are completely smooth, which makes it seemlike he's not actually holding the grips of the gun. Probably another job for thin card and some spare wire.

[ShinyRhino]

I've made some progress on this bad boy. I spent a night chopping, filing, and cutting, so here's what I've got so far:

 

Step 4: With Knife and File...

I took knife and file to the revered Razorback. I cleaned up the body, and the sides:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/bottomandsidescleanup.jpg

 

First, I chopped the old headlights off. They were goofy, and misaligned on the body. I used my jeweler's saw, Xacto blade, and files to remove them, and file them down smooth.

I also removed the ammo box or whatever that thing was on the back side of the right track wall. I'll be replating the track walls after I reassemble the tank, so the box had to go. I may add it back on later, but I'm not sure. I do know that if I do, it won't be in that particular spot.

Then, I flipped the hull over and chopped off the hatches and door. I have no idea why this model was made to be double-sided like that. It's not like you could flip the thing over and use it upside down. So, the hatches and door were removed, and will be put into the scenery bits bin. Our local shop is in need of a couple "Vehicle Destroyed" crater markers, maybe I'll make some with these bits.

I'll be replating the bottom of the Razorback with a thick piece of card. A smooth bottom makes far more sense than inverted turret hatches and a door that opens into the mud.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/loadingrampcleanup.jpg

 

Here you can see I removed the rear hatch as well. I wasn't a fan of the one that was on there. I'll make one out of card, so it sits flat against the hull.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/rodandnuts.jpg

 

These are the rod and nuts I'm planning to use to allow the turret to rotate freely on its mount. I got these at Lowe's for a dollar or two. Let's see how I did it...

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/turretunderside1.jpg

 

First, I flipped the turret over, and marked the spot to drill with a small notch. This is to make sure I was perfectly centered before I fired up my Dremel.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/rodandturret.jpg

 

Next, I drilled a hole in the correct spot, being VERY careful not to drill too far, and punch a hole through the turret. Then, I test-fitted the rod. It fit very well. So, I removed it, put a drop of superglue in the hole, and tightened the rod into place. The screw teeth dug into the soft pewter, and ensured a good fit.

The rod was 3" long, so I had to cut it down. I cut it AFTER inserting it to allow myself plenty of grip. Little fiddly bits are harder to screw in.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/shortrodturret.jpg

 

I recommend you use a metal-cutting saw blade to cut the rod. If you use nippers or shears, you might crimp the screw teeth at the end of the rod, making the nut impossible to get on. I made this mistake myself. I didn't have a proper metal-cutting saw, but I held my breath and used my Citadel jeweler's saw. Amazingly, it cut the steel rod! Just be VERY careful, and go slowly so the blade doesn't snap and hurt you.

 

After the rod was inserted, I cut two "washers" out of thin plasticard (very thin, the card used to be a For Sale sign I bought at a hardware store. These are all the pieces I used to make the turret work:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/partslayout1.jpg

 

The washers are necessary to allow the turret to spin in place, without scraping the pewter and the paint that will be applied to it. You can glue the card in place, but I don't plan to. That way, should it wear out, I can replace it. I didn't go for pretty here, I just roughed out a crude circular shape. No one can see it when the turret is assembled.

 

I placed the large washer around the nub on the underside of the turret:

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/partslayout2.jpg

 

Then I put the base over the turret, and the small washer over that. I drilled a hole in that card with my Dremel bit, to ensure a good fit. It was so good, that I can screw and unscrew the card from the rod. Finally, I capped it all off with a nut, tightened semi-snug, but not tight!

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/partscombined.jpg

 

The turret rotates freely in place now. No grinding of metal on metal, and all done for just a couple dollars.

 

Next step will be assembling the turret and gunner, but I have to get some epoxy or glue more durable thanplain superglue, as I don't like the bond of superglue for metal on metal.

[Wolf89]

Wow big project and lots of interesting work done. I think it's better to have the newer vehicles since they block LoS more, but maybe this one is meant to hide behind a rhino? ;)

 

The moving turret work is most impressive and slightly different how I would do it, but your way seems quicker and more efficient.

 

Hopefully more pics to come. :P

[Lion in the Stars]

The old Rhinos were 2 sets of identical sprues. One sprue was half the hull, another was the track sponson.

 

Well done on the moving turret. I should have done something like that on my old RB.

 

The hatches on those old RBs were a 3-piece unit, that sort of acted like gunshields for the gunner. They were 2 half-circles, and a square/rectangular piece.

[Prometheum5]

Looks good so far, it will be interesting to see just what can be done to the old model with some TLC. One thing you might want to keep in mind, most all armored vehicles have underside escape hatches for when the vehicle is overturned and the crew has to get out ASAP... same idea as the roof-hatches on school-buses.

[Brother Cambrius]

i've been here, but I didn't have any paint stripper to use so I simply painted over the white paintjob but came out very well in the end. I've currently got another 2nd ed. Rhino that's in a poor state missing the hatches. If anyone knows where I can get some let me know. :) Keep up the restoration brother and I lok forward to seeing it complete.

 

Cambrius

[ShinyRhino]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I hope to have another update by the end of the week. This one should include the mounting setup for the gunner, and a display of how I replaced my missing hatches with current-gen Rhino hatches and some thick card. I might even get to affixing the gun to the turret, and drilling the barrels of the las/plas.

 

@Cambrius: You might want to keep an eye on eBay. I got a large lot of old Rhino bits there a while back. My lot included a lot of handrails, front facings (like the one I chopped off the back of the Razorback), three hatches (which will be handy for refurbing the other 3 old-gen Rhinos I have), a top door or two, and various gubbins. It was a cheap lot, too. People don't put a lot of value on the old parts anymore!

[ShinyRhino]

An update!

I finally sat down and worked on this old boy again.

 

Here you can see the bottom plate I added under the chassis. Very plain, and very simple. I'll add some rivets at a later stage to make it look properly welded on.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/bottomplate.jpg

 

 

Then came the gap-filling of the front and rear edges of the hull. There were small gaps in the assembly. Not sure if they're supposed to be there or not, but I didn't like them. So, I filled them in with small strips of plastic card. This pic shows the card extended out beyond the body. I'll trim it back to flush once the glue has had some time to set.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/backfiller.jpg

 

 

I'd been trying to figure out exactly what I wanted to use to space the tracks from the hull. I finally settled on using some lebgths of old sprue. The sprue is 3mm thick, so it adds a total of 6mm to the whole chassis. I wasn't worried about looks or neatness, because the gap will be covered over by new armor plating.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/leftspacers.jpg

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/rightspacers.jpg

 

 

Not a major update, but it's coming along nicely. i stil need to decide if I want to cut the treads and drive wheels off, and put some card under them to create some more height, or not. I'm hoping to get away with not doing so, and maybe bulking the individual tracks with plasticard tread details or something.

[The Emperor's Champion]

I'd forgotten how terrible the old Rhino is. My brother and I worked for ages trying to get one to be assembled properly back in the day, and it wasn't til it became dedicated to Nurgle and enhanced by green stuff that it was nice to look at. Now it looks nice and solid and easily identifiable as an old Rhino that is possessed by some demon of Nurgle.

[ShinyRhino]

Yeah, it is a beast of a model. So many things structurally wrong with it. But, I hope this cleans up nicely and will look good on the table.

[ShinyRhino]

Step 5: Hit the Gym, Runt!

 

One of the ket problems with the old Rhino chassis is its miniscule size compared to modern 40K vehicles. Some see this as a boon, allowing a smaller target on the table. I think it stinks. I want all my Rhino chassis to be about the same size. To this end, I decided to widen the body. As the tutorial linked in my first post shows, this is most easily done by inserting material between the track walls and the hull.

I had no clue what PVC board was, or where to get it. I thought about tracing the outline of the body on some 1mm plasticard, and glueing 3 layers together for each side. That would require a lot of glue, and a lot of card. There's also the factt hat the old Rhino body tapers at the front and the back. Rigid card just wasn't going to follow that contour.

Then, I thought about inserting little blocks of card, instead of something the size of the whole body. Not a bad plan, but very fiddly.

On a whim, I measured the thickness of some outer-edge sprue parts. 3mm exactly! Success! I glued the sprue in "rails" along the sides of the body, as you can see in my previous post. I always use Testors Plastic Cement when assembling plastic to plastic. I just don't trust superglue enough for this sort of work.

After the rails had dried for a day or two, I applied glue to the outsides of them, and set them carefully on the first track wall. It is important to note that before applying glue, I dry-fit the pieces and traced a line around them with a pencil. This allowed me to make sure the tracks were level with one another, and that the sides were symmetrical. Can't have a wobbly Razorback, now can we?

I assembled one track wall at a time. I gave the first one a couple hours to set while bound to the hull with a rubber band (not too tight, or you're likely to create torsion on the pieces and cause them to slip out of place). Then I repeated the process for the other side.

Here's the result:

 

Front.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/spacersfront.jpg

 

Left.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/spacersleft.jpg

 

Right.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/spacersright.jpg

 

Rear.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/spacersrear.jpg

 

And a measurement of the space created. It's just about 3mm exactly.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/spacersruler.jpg

 

 

The rails create a very sturdy construction. There were some small bulges and gaps here and there due to the very rough surface I was working with on the hull and wall sides. Remember when I ripped the thing into parts, and a lot of plastic was torn and such? I filed and scraped it down as best I could, but it was far from smooth or pristine. No worries, though. It looks good enough, and the gap will eventually be covered in plating.

[ShinyRhino]

Step 6: And It Shall Be Sheathed in Steel...

 

The next step in the process is re-plating the body of this honored vehicle. I decided to use 1mm plastic sheeting to achieve this. I wanted to cover over the gap created when widening the body, and also make it look like the Techmarines (me!) had been armoring this bad boy for ages.

 

First, I got my plasticard. It is actually old spacers from some 3-ring binders. I used to work for my university's recycling program, and always came across cool found items like this. I'd saved it for a couple years, thinking I could use it someday for my minis. I was right!

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/plasticard.jpg

 

I needed perfectly straight cuts to ensure the plating looked good. I brought out my trusty scrapbookingpaper cutter I'd bought for just that purpose some time ago.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/papercutter.jpg

 

This things works great for cutting plasticard. One swipe across the card with some moderate pressure, and you can simply snap the stuff at the scored line. No need to go back and forth with the blade. In fact, I discourage that method, as inevitably, the card will move and leave you with an oh-so-slightly uneven cut.

 

I measured the track walls, and added 3mm to the measurement to cut strips of the proper width. Then I cut each section of plate. A little plastic cement, and several plating sizes later, I was nearly done!

 

Front.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/plated1front.jpg

 

Side.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/plated1side.jpg

 

Top.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/plated1top.jpg

 

 

I also added a "door" plate to the rear of the chassis. I'll be adding some rod and other bits to make it look like a proper hatch later.

 

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z43/goalie20/Warhammer%2040K/Razorback%20Rebuild/plated1rear.jpg

 

 

There are still four more spots I have to cut plates for. All those little spots you can see on the top, where the reinfocrment bars are. I just wasn't able to decide if I wanted the plating to be the same width as the rest, and inset from the edge, or flush with the edge of the bars, and maybe a half-millimeter wider than the rest of the plating. I still haven't decided.

 

In the rear shot, you can see that the plating overlaps the edges of the track walls. I also need to close this gap, and make it less obvious. i think I'll probably just glue another piece of card over that to close it up. Maybe not all of it, as it's a tough fit, but enough to hide the plate overlap.

 

Then I need to add rivets to the plating, to make it look like it was truly added on. There are a LOT of options for this. I will not be using the PVA glue method. I've narrowed it down to one of three options:

 

Use plastic rod (from old-edition banner poles, actually) cut into small discs.

Drill holes and insert the tops of some small nails or brads.

Drill even smaller holes and buy some dollhouse nails. These are tiny brass nails used in dollhouse making. I'd have to bring the tank to the craft shop with me to make sure they're of the right scale, though.

 

I think I'll test each of these in the presented order to see which I feel looks best.

 

Comments and suggestions welcomed!

[ShinyRhino]

Brief text update.

Last night I covered the final gaps in the top armor, and plated the last curve of the tread walls underneath, as I needed the extra support for my plan to wall-in that area to hide the cutting scars and plating gaps on the inside.

I quickly tested a single rivet made from a sliced-up banner pole. Not too bad a match, but it might look odd on some of the smaller plate pieces. I'll have to figure out a way to mock a couple up on the plates to see how big they'll end up being.

 

The turret is ready for priming. I just have to disassemble the rotation mechanism so i make sure I paint all faces of each piece.

 

I also plan to slap a plasticard lip under a standard Rhino top door so I can swap the vehicle out as a Rhino when it won't be used in my list as a Razor.

When I filed down the rough edges and old glue, I scraped a bit much of the edges of the hatch hole, so I'll have to remeasure. Plus, the old Rhino top doors are smooth on the underside! not the best for modular gaming pieces.

[Iago]

so you made it as wide as the MKII rhino? but not as high.

I like the way its comming along!

cheers

[ShinyRhino]

so you made it as wide as the MKII rhino? but not as high.

I like the way its comming along!

cheers

 

I don't have a MK2 Rhino built, so I'm not sure. But it looks to be about that wide fromt he ones I've played against.

I struggled with the decision to keep the treads as stock, or raise them. I decided to go with stock. I just wasn't confident in my ability to get them off the side walls without mangling them beyond repair. One thing I WILL be doing is putting some thin plasticard details on the oh-so-boring tread links. Maybe a V shape on each link, or something. I thought about checking the scrapbooking section of the craft sotre for a neatly-shaped paper puncher. Scrapbookers use them to make little paper punchouts of various shapes, like stars and hearts. but I swear I saw one that was an eagle. THAT would be neat. Each tread having a little Imperial eagle shape to its grips.

Heck, even parallel lines would be fine. Anything to improve over the smooth treads. That addition will give it a miniscule amount of extra height.

[Mortifis]

I just so happen to have one of each on hand to compare.

 

Width:

Main body is about 5 or 6 mm smaller.

Each track section is about 2 or 3 mm smaller, if you don't count the running boards.

 

Height:

From the level of the top hatch on the Mk1 to the level of the top hatch on the Mk2, there's about 6 mm difference.

 

Length:

Back track to front track, the Mk2 is about 12 mm longer.

That's not counting the Ram Bar on the Mk1

 

Overall, dimensions are only marginally bigger. Because the Mk2 is the same height all the way across and is that bit taller, it gives a much more "solid" feel to the tank.

 

If I get bored tomorrow, I can post comparison photos.

[Wolf89]

Some really good stuff, can't wait to see more.

 

I also really like the idea of using that plastic from those 3-ring binder separator things, I'll have to find me some laying around here somewhere.

[Colonel Shofer]

I am using a Mark 2 WW plate for mine (with a slightly modified top, from a container, epoxied onto the underside of the turret, for rotation). Can be a WW too. ;)

 

http://www.gcmlotdr.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Razorback/DSCF0001b.jpg

 

http://www.gcmlotdr.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Razorback/DSCF0003b.jpg

 

I will then use the Rhino for my up-and-coming CSM force ;)

 

Size comparison, with a base plate, I made, to bring it to Mark 2 height and base contact width.

 

http://www.gcmlotdr.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Razorback/DSCF0006b.jpg

 

Keep up the good work :P.

 

CS

[ShinyRhino]

Thanks for all the support and feedback, everyone.

 

I'll be updating tonight with more pics. I've completed all the rivets, and added some extra flashy bits to make it look less flat. I think the only thing I have left to do on the body is close up the rear plating with a piece of card, and make my track tread additions. I just can't decide what design to use. I need something that is easy to cut, and easy to replicate.

 

@ColonelShofer - That's a nice set of Rhinos there. What is the one on the far right? Some sort of command tank?

[Colonel Shofer]

TY :)

 

I have a few more Mark 1s (Vindicator, Predator, Annihilator and two more Rhino/Razorbacks (HB and TLL each).

 

Yep, the Damocles Command Rhino will also be able to be a Rhino/Razorback, too (HB and TLL).

 

I am modding them all to the same style. The open hatches will have twin-armed pintles, for one or two items, as required.

 

I may be on the rivet path too :)

 

CS

[ShinyRhino]

The rivets really spruce up the old Rhino chassis, IMO. But, I'll leave that to everyone's opinions tongiht when I get them uploaded to my Photobucket.