Baneblade #3, Part the Second

I may have mentioned that my grandiose plans for superheavies are in part based on their sponsons. Guardsmen will know that one can stick with the basic HB/HF sponson and Lascannon turret on either side or one can double this or remove it entirely, augmenting the vehicle's AV. So each of my super companies - it seems strange to refer to a trio of vehicles as a company, but there we are - will have a vehicle with double sponsons, one with greater side AV and a plain vanilla choice. This factored into my decision to buy a Baneblade the other day. I initially picked up the Shadowsword box, but then I remembered that the third and final Shadowsword in my trio is to be the double-sponson chap. My third Baneblade, on the other hand, is to be the chap with extra side-impact crash protection (which means I should perhaps call him volvo?), so there we are. The spare sponsons will sit about until I go mad and get a third Shadowsword.

So what have I done? I replaced the angled hull rivets, which are limited to ugliness by the manufacturing procedure. I realised I had too few side armour plates, and knocked up a new long single piece out of 2mm plasticard. I then decorated that with some nice, simple squared plasticard, meaning this to depict ERA. I then replaced the upper side plates with a single piece of 1mm plasticard, and stuck some treadplate on that.



A significant benefit of this is that I now have lots of spare bits and bobs to decorate my scratch supers. I've pretty much run out of gubbins to stick to them. I still had gubbins, mind - but it didn't look right. I removed the screwed-up rivets from the turret, and also chose to get rid of the mount for the searchlight. I may yet reattach that somewhere; we shall have to see. For now, however, I have covered the gap with the name plate. I need to check my transfer sheets, but if it's possible, I'm inclining toward the name St. Dom, after a mate with his own religion. Technically, it should be God Dom, but I think the Ecclesiarchy of 40K would frown on that sort of heresy!



With two intentions, I replaced the engine hatches. First, I wanted the bits. Second, I wanted to get a slightly better view of the engine bits than usual. I also replaced the port hatch on the turret. Should I say port or left? It is a veritable land battleship, after all. Mm. I also replaced two hull hatches, and glued plasticard flaps over the gaps left when I decided to retain two viewing ports for the bits box. I don't like the replacement of the final s with z. It is to me as fingernails on a blackboard are to others.



I am now breaking for some food, and then will return to decorating the turret. I am toying with applying more ERA, and I need to replace the rivets. I always get carried away by these large kits! Enthusiasm just appears out of nowhere and I speed through things!