Many years ago now I made an "upgrade" kit for the original Rogue Trader Rhino. I always loved that model, but wanted something a little more Dwarf-like for my army. I didn't want something over the top with runes galore, but something that still kept to the original "Squat" aesthetic with a more rounded front. On a rainy weekend I set about making said kit. It wasn't originally meant to be one that I would release, but rather a kit that I would use for myself. I never planned it to become as successful as it did and I had to discontinue it because I couldn't keep up with the orders. Occasionally I cast up some for friends or fellow FB group/forum members when they ask for it, but mostly I just use it for myself.
When I decided to start my Dwarf Marine project it seemed like the perfect fit, and so I set about finding as many cheap RT Rhinos as I could. What this meant is that there was a lot to do to clean up and prep them for upgrading.
A step too far
One of the Rhinos that arrived seemed to be in great condition so it got dropped in a vat to remove the paint. When it came time to clean off the old paint work it became clear that the model had been subject to a major hack fest in the past with entire sections of the side panels missing and being reinforced by foam and cardboard. The previous owner had clearly done a good job of patching it up, but the dip had meant that it was destroyed.
What remained was the following...
All that remained useful from the poor RT Rhino.
The midriff
As you can see the entire mid section of the sides were completely removed. As well as this the main section had been glued together at the extreme ends of the tabs and the gaps filled in with plastic or cardboard. This isn't actually that uncommon with RT Rhinos, but the two halves of the body section wouldn't budge at all.
The main body was cut, removing a section about the size of the gap caused by the previous builders handiwork. As the other side of the hull was missing a large section this had to have a strong bond.
After gluing it together with polyurethane cement it was reinforced with some extra bits of plastic sheet that was laying around. As this wasn't going to be enough to hold it the top section was going to have to do a lot of the holding it together.
Making things a little more sturdy
In the above picture you can see how mangled the opening was by thick glue from the previous build that couldn't easily be removed. It had to be sanded completely flat to receive the front section of the upgrade kit. The front detail bit was also solidly attached to the hull so it was decided to leave it where it is instead of using the one from the kit.
After the front was fitted the top section was then attached and this made for a strong frame. The flimsy body would now be good to receive the sides and not twist.
Access ramp
The upgrade kit was designed to square out the back of the RT Rhino making for theoretically more space to house your imaginary forces. Personally, the aesthetic is something that's always been appealing too, so it made sense to include it.
The back, like the front was quite battered and there was a lot of harsh sanding that was needed to be done. This would also give the glue for the sides a better purchase. The two doors from the original RT Rhino wouldn't budge without the kind of force that would inevitably cause more severe reconstruction to be done. With that in mind I elected to leave them there and fit the back section around it.
After a bit of sanding, cutting and jiggling the rear ramp had a good fit. I decided not to do any filling at this moment as it would be better to do it at the end so the minimal amount of filling would be done. No point in doing more work than necessary. It would only be covered up.
Choosing your side (couldn't help it)
The sides came next and apart from the gaping hole in the side the exhausts seemed to not budge, at first. With a little coaxing with a blunt blade i was able to pop them off from both of the side panels. There was, of course, some clean-up that needed to be done but it wasn't too bad.
The upgrade bits fit in-between the the missing section quite nicely and with a little CA glue they help in place quite firmly. The bigger problem was the back of the panels.
As you can see below they needed to be clamped in place due to how warped the plastic was. There was a lot of hard poly cement lumps from when it was first built (again, a common issue with old models) that had to be cleaned up first.
The backs of the panels held well together, though certain sections of the wheels were completely missing their detailing. Even though the backs of the plastic panels were now seated properly there was a lot of built up hard glue that needed to be sanded back.
Finishing up
Once that was done they were good to go. Last thing was to sand back some blemishes on the rest of the body, fill in the gaps on the underside and add the new exhausts from the upgrade kit. Once that was done we had a good looking, repaired/upgraded RT Rhino ready to go.
The last thing i added to it was the Twin heavy bolter alternatives based on the
Heavy Takedown turret that I sell on my website. The turret is magnetised so it can be replaced with the hatch should you wish to have just a Rhino instead of the Razorback variant. One other piece of GW plastic was the hatch and the salvaged RT Rhino was done.
That now makes for two Razorback for the Dwarf Marines and i have plenty of other Salvaged RT Rhino bits to make into more dedicated transports for the force. Next up though, vehicle wise, will have to be the Landspeeder Storm. The salvaged model is currently in the dip and will hopefully be done before I move this weekend coming.
For now, that's it. Its been a long old post, but i hope someone found it useful or at the very least interesting. I really enjoy converting these models, so i will be doing more for the force, guaranteed.
Catch you in the next update.
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