My Issues With Land Raiders

[Grand Master Ezikiel]

Hi there. I'm Grand-Master Ezikiel, long time lurker. I'll try and be as quick to the point as I can be and have prepared some pictures.

Simply, my problem is that the vertical armour plates on either side (inside and outside) of the track extends further than the track does, thereby severely limiting the total ground clearance.

Here is my image demonstrating:

As you can see, if the Land Raider was to enter soft ground, it would sink in until it's hull rests on the surface, immobilising it as it's tracks spin uselessly.

This is my only issue with the warhammer designs, as they are inspired mostly by the first world war. They work just fine given the super technology used to make them, save for this little simple mistake.

My solution would be to make wider tracks that overlap the hull plates.

Here is my second image to illustrate my point:

On the right is an unaltered Land Raider. To the left is my terrible photoshop job wherein I scaled the tracks to cover the plates.

Hopefully this shows you what I'd like to do. What I'd like now is some help or advice that can aid me on actually doing this. Mostly I'm interested to see if someone has done this before and can give me some pointers on acquiring suitable track pieces or perhaps some alternative GW product that would work. (Baneblade track links?)

Thanks!

GME

[ShinyRhino]

Wouldn't that track design sieze up under the weight of the tank, as the tracks made contact with the underside of the hull plates?

[Grand Master Ezikiel]

Wouldn't that track design sieze up under the weight of the tank, as the tracks made contact with the underside of the hull plates?

 

Realistically, they wouldn't actually be in contact with the hull plates. The important thing here is that the track is simply wider than the hull plates to make sure the tank gets a bit more usable ground clearance.

 

If I have to, I may install new bogies and wheels to lengthen the suspension. Ideally, however, I'd just like something I can apply OVER the standard tracks. (the normal tracks thereby spacing the widened tracks from the armour)

 

I will need to rebuild the top of the hull where the tracks are, either to enlarge the track guards, or simply have the tracks run externally.

 

Edit: Also, the current track design pretty much suffers from the same thing. Wedged between the side plates it could easily drag against either side. In real life this would detrack the vehicle and maybe even cause the track to cut into the hull at high speeds but would probably just tear the tracks free of the land raider.

[ShinyRhino]

I hear you on the design issues. I don't think there's a single tracked vehicle in the 40K universe that is actually operable in a real-world environment. I'm sure GW's designers went for aesthetics over function every time.

[Montuhotep]

If you don't mind shelling out a bit, Machinator makes some tracks he calls 'Liberator' (size 0 in this case) that might fit the bill - still inside the hull plate and the side plate but the 'humps' on each track link would grip the ground better, or even the Oppressor pattern if you don't mind go a little spiky with your tracks:

Blood & Skulls

[Grand Master Ezikiel]

I hear you on the design issues. I don't think there's a single tracked vehicle in the 40K universe that is actually operable in a real-world environment. I'm sure GW's designers went for aesthetics over function every time.

 

The biggest problems really are the lack of ground-clearance around the tracks.

Even crazy wannabe designs such as the Leman Russ make sense in a world-war-one/inter-war period style of design. These are supposed to be made with lost technology, advanced in construction but easily maintained. (How else would they keep some vehicles running without the SDKs, for example), but the lack of ground clearance is a fundamental flaw that would see these vehicles made useless at every turn. ("Whoops, I drove into six inches of mud and bottomed out. Woe is me!") It's at least the most glaring flaw for me.

 

 

If you don't mind shelling out a bit, Machinator makes some tracks he calls 'Liberator' (size 0 in this case) that might fit the bill - still inside the hull plate and the side plate but the 'humps' on each track link would grip the ground better, or even the Oppressor pattern if you don't mind go a little spiky with your tracks:

Blood & Skulls

 

Oh hi. I'd seen the 'Blood and Skulls' store before. Sadly I really need tracks large enough to overlap the side plates. The problem isn't the track themselves, but the fact that if the tracks sink, the sides can get caught. Having extra large spiky tracks would only work on very hard ground for a few more inches of ride height. I really need the sides of the hull plates covered to be happy with the Land Raider.

 

I think Machinator has done a similar conversion to my idea, mayhaps he'll drop by. if not, I'll have to PM him. His tracks look great and I'm sure some are wide enough, but I'm still open to alternatives.

[Subtle Discord]

Yes, tracks in general on 40k vehicles are comical. I never could visualize enough clearance on the Rhino to figure out how the heck it loops through the hull. Oh well, suspension of disbelief gets another point.

 

Ah tracks... I think I'm going to build some soon'ish. I've really wanted to, for quite some time, but they are daunting with all the repetition. It's always been what's held me back. If you're willing to do some scratch-build, anything is possible. Tracks are even quite straight forward, but it's all that repetition makes them a pain. If you're willing, learning some basic resin casting will be invaluable to taking much of the repetition away.

 

A few options that don't involve building something completely from scratch come to mind;

 

1) Take the current track set from the 'Raider kit and literally split the track parts down the middle. With a plastic shim down the split and plastic and/or Greenstuff to fill the gaps in the 'tread', widen them to the desired width. You'll need to solve the problem of the links with the eagle on them, but replacing that shouldn't be too hard. The 'Raider tracks can be reversed, so you can make one set and cast a pair, if you're willing.

 

2) Add shims of plastic inside the 'Raider itself, lift the tracks away from the hull more, creating more clearance. If you don't go too far, you won't need to add any detail like bogies and wheels, just an added gap that makes the tracks look thicker. Adding visible bits would take it to the next level. This could be combined with other ideas, naturally, but you want to balance it with not making the tank too much taller. The 'Raider is already quite a brick.

 

3) Shave all the tread off of the current tracks, turning them into flat panels. From there, attach a new 'tread plate' that is thicker and wider. This is my personal favorite, since you get the best of both worlds, height and width, and I think it would add a nice look with a stair-step in the track making them look really heavy. Also, you have complete control of how the new tread will look, giving you some great options. (Chapter symbols instead of eagles on certain links anyone?) The added look comes at the cost of added work - links will need to be made longer, to reach each other, since it's being wrapped around the existing treads. So, from scratch you're looking at a lot of links, but again, with some modest casting skills/supplies, a lot of the repetition can be removed. Make one and cast several.

 

Either way, very do'able, but just how much effort and/or how many Land Raiders do you want to do? If it's just one, even complete scratch build from styrene ('Rader Tracks are thankfully rather simple) would not be too bad. Beware the urge to make a sister vehicle and/or a formation. I started wanting to build one really cool armoured Predator, and it turned in to something much more. If you want more than one of something, $100 in casting supplies can do some amazing things, and defeat a lot of repetitious work.

[Montuhotep]

The problem isn't the track themselves, but the fact that if the tracks sink, the sides can get caught.

In which case the size 1.0 tracks will work perfectly. You'll need to add some strip to the top of the sides to deal with the extra height due to track placement, but it'll work.

Machinator has indeed done some, including for me, here are my ones mounted on my Helios conversion - as you can see, they overlap by a fair way.

[mactire]

you also cant fit 8 marines in tda inside a land raider or 10 pa marines in a rhino dont own a stormraven but i guess its the same problem :) just my little joke.

[Grand Master Ezikiel]

The problem isn't the track themselves, but the fact that if the tracks sink, the sides can get caught.

In which case the size 1.0 tracks will work perfectly. You'll need to add some strip to the top of the sides to deal with the extra height due to track placement, but it'll work.

Machinator has indeed done some, including for me, here are my ones mounted on my Helios conversion - as you can see, they overlap by a fair way.

That is precisely the look I want. I'm not to fond of that track design, where the weight of the tank rests on the track links, but I can just use a different track type. Indeed, I think this will be my chosen route.

Looks very good and instantly makes the vehicle look like it 'works'.

Ace!