The Bishkek 2nd Manticore, Part 1


The best purchase I have made in the last 12 months is the book you see pictured above. This book is so inspiring and jaw dropping, I cannot put it down, even after having read it 4 or 5 times over already. And so, with a Forgeworld Manticore catching dust in the cupboard, I decided to give it a go: can I make a tank look as good as in the book, using the advice from the two masterbuilders who wrote it? It will be a multi part story and I will keep you up-to-date as much as I can.
The first thing to do is building this thing and super detailing it. Meaning, you have to do something special with it. I copied many things from the book, it still was great fun! And I
did some stuff on my own. Here's a rundown of the work so far:

total side shot. At this point everything is still tacked together.
I wanted to open up the sides of the Chimera, they always seem a bit boring to me. So I added a spare wheel hanging inside and a bunch of pipes, they could be fuel lines and electric, patched together on the battlefield after sustaining some damage. On the left is a spare track. I added rivets to this side as well.
Here's part of the damage, a missile hit but didn't explode.
I opted for the heavy flamer but redid the nozzles. The GW ones are just too flimsy to drill into.
Here's an added foot step for climbing onto the front of the tank
here's the front, it looks crooked because nothing is glued yet.
I wanted some imperial insignia but not the usual side stuff. So I raised the cupola and bent an eagle to glue it around. The top part is a standard turret from the basilisk. Not sure if I am using this guy, just put him there for reference.
here's a shot from above. It also shows added handles to the little doors, extra rivets on the inside of that burner and an extra handle on the turret.
The other side. More piping and a barrel, possibly a water tank since the Bishkek 2nd are a desert army. Note the long antenna which came out nicely.
More modest battle damage
and more lines
The biggest change on this model is the added stowage basket, connected to the back of the turret. I really like how this came out. I never liked the jerry cans glued on the side and putting them all in the basket will look way better. I saw this done once on a Leopard tank in Fine Scale Modeler Magazine.
Note the magnets in the rocket launchers. Because the Manticore can only shoot one rocket per turn and only shoot 4 times, I thought it would be nice to be able to take them off after they were used. This way you don't have to keep track.
The rockets...
And last but not least: the dozer blade

Now its painting time....

Mike

Comments

  1. wow i like the add ons, where you shown how to do thouse in the book, or did you just know what to do?

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  2. this post has given me many awesome ideas, maybe I need to pick up this book!

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  3. Thats great so far!

    I am tempted by this book, as a person who is terrified of painting tanks.

    Looking forward to following your progress

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  4. Great post and very very interesting model(love it)..

    i also was tempted by that book but now i'm wondering if i can find it in my language(italian)?

    anyone knows something about this?

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  5. You've done an excellent job on that manticore, love all the little extras.

    I'm the same as you with the book, I just love it. I just haven't had the courage to give it a go yet.

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  6. Looking great so far, some very nice additions! I'm looking forward to see what else you learn from the book.

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  7. I recommend this book to everyone. You could see its influence at GD UK this year in the Vehicle category. It helped up every ones game!

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  8. Very cool! Can't wait to see it when it's done!

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  9. I wish I could drive that thing to work.

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  10. I just posted my experiments with the forge world powers in the book. I weathered the tacks of a vanquisher as well as used the pencil trick to edge weathered metal. It really is an amazing book. I wish all of the other FW books were like it!

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  11. Drathmere: why don't you post a link with your blog in the comments here so we can all have a look. Thanks!
    Mike
    Santa Cruz Warhammer

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