WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR II - RHINO DIARY 3
The real-life Space Marine Rhino nears completion...
As Games Workshop UK Games Day 2008 draws ever closer the team have
been working seven days a week on the Space Marine Rhino to ensure it
is ready for its public debut.
With the engine in and running
our team of crack engineers have been busy re-routing the exhaust
system to split between the Rhino’s four chimneys. With a custom system
in place the vehicle was thoroughly tested to make sure that all the
parts worked. Unfortunately at this stage we managed to blow the
starter motor, so everything had to be taken out again for repairs to
be made.
With the skirts and rear door now securely fitted, work
began on the finer details of the vehicle. Realistic looking headlights
were sourced and wired in, as well as indicators and stop lights hidden
beneath a metal flap on the rear of the vehicle allowing it to be
legally driven on European roads with the flap up, while also retaining
an accurate look and feel with the flap down.
The side doors
were fitted to the vehicle next using bolt fixings in the same places
as the tabletop model. On the left hand side the door was fitted with a
series of steps allowing access to the vehicle roof, while on the right
a flat ramp style door was fitted. These along with the rear ramp have
been custom fabricated to replicate the Games Workshop design.
The
roof of the vehicle has also undergone heavy modification. The flat
panel above the rear compartment was cut open and the large hatches
fabricated last week were welded in place as featured on the model.
In
the meantime the Games Workshop ‘Eavy Metal team put the finishing
touches to their masterful paint scheme for the Rhino, with a unique
Dawn of War twist. No detail has been spared on the tabletop model from
chips in the paint to mud splashes up the arches. The symbols and
colour scheme of this model will be used as the basis for the
life-sized Rhino design.
As a truck load of Gore Red and
Bleached Bone paint turned up at the workshop the team were busy giving
the vehicle a coat of rust-proof paint. Like the tabletop model, the
life-sized Rhino was given a base coat of black paint, before breaking
out the red of the Blood Ravens!
The Rhino will be making its
public debut at Games Workshop UK Games Day at the Birmingham NEC this
weekend on 14th September.
Check out the pictures on our Flickr page, and make sure you come back here next week for pictures of the finished Rhino!
