Modelling For Hippos Ishoo Twenty-Nin: Grot Tank with Rokkits

I've been busily painting the Kill Tank and Stompa for the last few weeks, and tackling such huge projects led to a bit of burnout. With things so huge, it takes so long to achieve anything visible that you can tend to feel like you're standing still (just applying a coat of yellow to the Stompa body took almost an hour - and it took three coats!). So I decided I needed to tackle a smaller project with more immediate results. And it turn out that despite my promises, I never did do an MFH on making Grot Tanks. So to kill two birds with one stone, here's Grot to build a Grot Tank!
NOTE: Lies! All Lies! I did Grot Tanks in MFH17, ut forgot to tag it so when I went back I didn't find it! Oh well, now we have a second Grot Tank ishoo about a different weapon fit...

And there you have it hippo fans! This is a pretty quick little project - I started this Friday afternoon and it was finished before lunch on Saturday. In the past, I have built one of these from raw materials to completed starting around 1300 and ending about 2200 during the Descent of the Hobbyists on the Hoodling's Hole. Obviously there were food breaks in there, and the odd bit of chat, but it's not hard to build one of these in a day, and it does not require very much material - you can probably get three of these from a single sheet of 1mm plasticard, plus a it more .5mm card, rods, rubes etc.
Anyway, I'll leave Grot Grot and Mek Grot to sort out their differences and get back to the modelling table - I've got an idea for a Skorcha armed Grot Tank banging away at the sides of my head trying to get out...

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: Now THAT'S. gun!

Time for a tiny little bijou update-let I think!

I've finished and installed the main cannon. It's so huge that any attempt to just paint the inside black will look ludicrous. So I'm going to install a shell inside the barrel. With a happy face on it. 

I've also added a tank commander converted up from a nob with some mek boy parts. He's magnetized because I fear he'd break otherwise, and also be a right pain to paint. I have started work on the ork who will fit in the other hatch and operate the rokkits.

And here's a special bonus pic of Scale Reference Cat giving an idea of the size of the left over wands I made for Son Of Hoodling's Harry Potter Party. One of them has a Hagrid's Beard core. The one with the Cheese and Tomato core chose a young wizard on Saturday, much to said wizards confusion.

Pudding Wrestler's Perfidious Projects: My tank is BLAST!

Time for an update on the Kill Blasta (I think). I have not worked on it all that much of late - the weekly descent of the Hobbiests of the Hoodling's Hole has been lightly interrupted by Lego these last few weeks, but I have been spending some time either before work of after dinner most days.

This side is the more complete side. I have plated and detailed the upper hull, and plated the lower hull (not detailed yet because I have to work out the suspension). I have not added rivets to most of it yet, sort of planning to do that all at once in one big orgy of riveting.

Here's a detail shot of the exhaust mechanisms on this side.

This is the rear hatch which allows the 12 boyz carried in the armoured bowels of the Kill Blasta to spew forth and hit things. There'll be hatches on both sides and one above the main gun too. The four tubes top right are the rokkit lancher, and are just mocked up at the moment.

The main gun in only blu-tacked on at the moment, so I've removed it for a clearer look at the engine.

I've basically worked out how I'm doing the drive sprockets, road wheels idlers etc for the suspension, but I'm still working out how to make all the track links. Probably slowly.