3D Print: The Lancer Battle Tank by Culverin Models

Here’s a project that just didn’t quite come together.

One happy bit of news amongst the constant <waves arm vaguely at the world at large> is that Culverin Models has returned to trading. You may remember them? Lots of dieselpunk vehicles and such for 28mm games. Seemingly made completely in-house, with a clear house style, rather than merely a 3D printing outfit? Never the best technically, but always having a good mix of cheap and cheerful. So when they came back and had a sale in the run up to Christmas, I impulsively opted for their new Lancer. The Lancer is a tank with roughly the same footprint as a Hydra, with a very strong inter-war vibe. While I picked it up for use as a Leman Russ proxy, and the turret guns are very russy, it needed some weapon swaps to be one.  And for the most part, it's pretty good, but it didn’t go smoothly.

So here's what happened; I noticed the drive wheels were a touch misshapen and this caught me on a bad day. Not in any immediately obvious, or ask for a refund kinda way, but in an Autism-triggering cannot-be-unseen kinda way.  So I tried to fix it. What I ended up doing was filling the gap  between wheel and hull, obscuring the area with bits, thus concealing the imperfections. But I may have made it less good in the process, and I did consider shelving this project. Then I realised/remembered that none of my 3D print projects ever went smoothly, and that picking such a thing for relaxation in December was probably not the best idea.  

Anyway, I'd planned to modify this into something approximate to a Leman Russ Vanquisher, yes I am something of a hypocrite, and this would mean the mounting of a kitbashed HK missile, lascannon and heavy stubber somewhere. I'm not happy with either, especially the HK, which I had to move, although the coaxial lascannon works OK. The two mini-turrets, the elements that had drawn me to this, were initially gonna be plasma cannons, but I decided against it, at least for now. Two entirely serviceable flamethrowers were included, and glue wasn't mandatory, so I took the path of least resistance. I can add different weapons later if I wish, and 11th Ed is supposedly happening next Summer… TBH my heart wasn't in this.

I think as a gaming piece this is OK, but its not my best work. But it happens I suppose. And people on the interwebs seem to like it too, so maybe I'm being too hard on myself.