Artscale: The prints and the Rhino

 I've been quite busy over the last few evenings. It hasn't been that long since my last post and already i have got quite a bit done. There's a bit of downtime between castings for my clients so i've been making use of that time and working on personal projects including the Artscale project.

The Prints

The cleaned up prints ready to be test fitted together.

The prints from the last post came out nicely and only needed a little tidy up. The Space Marine helmet doesn't look too out of place and follows the art aesthetic i was wanting to achieve. 

The enlarged shoulder pads follows the art aesthetic i was wanting to achieve.

I was a bit apprehensive when the prints first came out and thought they may not fit, but after putting them together with blue-tack i was much happier. The paldrons don't look too out of place and the smaller head seems to work fine on the torso.

Comparisson

The true/artscale marine next to a primaris.

After putting it together i was happy that i have achieved what i set out to do. The proportions look right and the height when put together is about right for a 1:56 scale space marine. It makes me wonder about how imposing a Primaris marine will look when it's made in True/Artscale. I'm hoping that Primaris or even original marine arms will fit. If not, then i am going to have to go back to the drawing board and start to model some arms. Looking at the picture above, i'm now itching to get the pieces cast up and put some bodies together.

While these parts were printing out i was also working on the Rhino. Now, as i had mentioned in the previous post, the GW model is to scale at 1:56 with the dimensions of 2.6 metres in length (as it states online). This size is way too small to fit even the standard GW size marines in unless they are like sardines. This means that there really needs to be some alterations made to scale it up to fit marines in. This has been a topic on many forums for the last several years. However, i had originally decided to eyeball it on my previous attempt.

The Rhino Transport

Being long over due, i decided to print out the centre section using my FDM printer so i set about creating the CAD file and then printed it out.

The CAD model created for the centre section.

The model being printed.

After a 14 hour print time the model was out and after putting it together with the sides it looked absolutely massive. Even after putting the True/Artscale marine next to it it seems like a bit of a beast.

The behemoth Rhino.

The Artscale marine blue-tacked together and standing next to the behemoth Rhino.

As you can see in the pictures this is without the tracks being attached and once they're in place this thing is going to be huge. It is meant to be a Razorback variant and i think it'll just look completely too big. It's pretty much Land Raider in size.

A Problem With Size

With this in mind i have to decide what i'm going to do now.

A GW Rhino next to the Behemoth Rhino.

When you compare the two next to each other it doesn't look too much bigger, but then again maybe something between the two sizes would look better. The problem is that when you put a True/Artscale marine next to a GW Rhino it really doesn't fit too well.

Artscale marine next to GW Rhino.

When you look at the two next to each other they don't look too bad in height, but when you factor in how much ground clearance there is before the floor starts, and having to have 5 marines in there... 10 for your standard pattern Rhino... then all of a sudden it falls apart. I think for now though i'll just go ahead with the Behemoth Rhino that i've already started and then see how i feel once a full squad of tactical marines is surrounding it.

Additions

One of the last things i want to talk about are some additions i'm going to make to the Behemoth. I never really liked the side doors i had made, though i liked the round aesthetic to them. I sat in front of my CAD program and decided to make something a little better than what is there.

The new side door.

I think this will work better, so i will finish it off and add more details to it and print a set out. I think it'll make a massive difference and tie the aesthetic together better.

I hope that in the next update i have a better handle on the Behemoth and some units to have standing next to it so i can have a better idea for us all to see if it fits or not. For now though, that's it... and i'll catch you in the next update.

Cheers.

John