Gauntlet's Gallery (Jan 17, 08) Latest: Milli-Tanker Bug

Gauntlet-

Banded Mongoose
So I reorganized my entire photo-bucket account, so its time to renovate my update topic... and its just easier to write a whole new one.

The topic will be updated by additional posts, but I will also update this first post as well... so it will be maintained as a continual library of sorts.





The Arachnids
-From the depths of their nests emerge the genetic perfectionism of one goal: Expand





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‘Classic Bugs’

-These models represent bugs seen directly in the films.




Warrior Bugs
-The basic and most versatile soldier of the Arachnid colonies, the lowly Warrior has been the constant adversary of the hive’s enemies.

Instructions:
-Okay here is how to make an 'authentic' Warrior Bug...

1. Take the torso and slice off the tail end, and shave in between, and then reattach. This shortens the torso to the proper proportion.

2. Attach a top jaw as the bottom jaw or snip off the two teeth of a bottom jaw and reattach only one. You will need to snip off and shave both ends to get this to fit well.

3. Snip off the connector from the torso to the hip socket, attach directly to the bottom of the torso, the lower half of the hip socket. Attach legs into the 'groove's and preferably cut off their ball joints before doing so.

4. Take the arms and snip off the claws, use the claws for 'tail fins' by attaching them to the sides of the rear torso... preferably on the line where you reatched the tail of the torso, as this makes the break less noticeable.

5. Take 2 extra legs and cut off their claws, trip off the tips of the claws. Attach the claws to the now clawless arms and attach to the Warrior Bug. The tips should be attached to the sides of the mouth just below the eye for feeder claws.

Finished!



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Hopper Bugs
-Swooping from the sky comes the Hopper, a smaller but ultimately more threatening cousin of the Warrior Bug.

Instructions:
-The only thing missing from the Mongoose Hopper Bug model was the stinger, a Warrior Bug's arm can easily suffice, just snip off the lower half and attach it to the end of the Hopper's rear. Other than that the only advice I have is to actually clip their legs at the joints and make new poses.



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Tanker Bugs
-Spewing liquid napalm isn’t just a neat party trick; it’s what gives the Arachnids their punch! The behemoths of the underground!

Instructions:
-Nothing to say really, but if you mess around with the ball joint you can make a Tanker stand up, personally I don't think it looks too great, a better method is to simply cut off the top half of the big ball joint, he won't be standing but you will get a more upright Tanker Bug.



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Plasma Bugs
-No one really knows just how the Arachnids came up with this one, but damn is it inconvenient to the Mobile Infantry!



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Brain Bugs
-Ahhhh it’s eating my Brain!!!!



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‘Other Bugs’
-These models represent the various mongoose/cgi show’s additions to the Arachnids.





Guard Bugs
-The Guard Bugs watch over important areas of the nest.

Instructions:
-This is a fun bug, build the basic body and leg structure of a warrior, use full legs for the arms, and use a Warrior top jaw for the bottom jaw. That will require some clipping and shaving but it is pretty easy once you get used to it. Finally take three arms and cut off their claws, fit these to the sides and the top of the rear for some shark-like fins!



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Rippler Bugs
-Swarming above infantry and crashing into fighter planes is just some of their many hobbies!

Instructions:
-Just add two extra arms to the model's side and you will get a more authentic 6 limbed insectoid!



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Blaster Bugs
-These bugs are effectively Arachnid ‘archers’ spraying an area with vaguely accurate fire.

Instructions:-You will need some sort of stag beetle model, toy, or figure... just clip off the regular legs and add some warrior legs and it will work. Overall my worth conversion if only because i used a odd product that I will never be able to find more of... thus these are the only 8 of their kind that will ever really exist. Bad Planning, also I didn't have enough legs to do six, so they are not as buggy as they ought to be!



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Fire-Fry Bugs
-The special forces of the bugs, the Fire Fry can jump into an area and quickly spray the enemy in superheated blasts of fury!

Instructions:
-This is a more complicated model, the first thing to do is get the requisite 4 warrior bug legs, and cut off 2 of their ball joints. Then assmble a warrior bug hip joint socket piece, with the 2 ball joints inside the 'front' sockets, pointing outward so they look smooth. Attach the other two legs to the 'rear' socket, and realize that we will be using the hip piece 'upside down' so that will reverse those orientations!

Now shave the 'tail' tip of the hip socket flat, and find an extra bottom half of a hip socket and cut it in half, or a semi circle. This gives you a little cleft or cubby hole area that you can attach your hip/leg section into.

This front half forms the head, and the little round bumps will be eyes, attach two warrior arms to the front sockets of this 'head'. The final two warrior legs can be attached underneath however you have room for them, you may wish to cut off their ball joints.!



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Scout Bugs
-Though hardly a threat, the Scout Bug or Cliff Mite has been known to kill a trooper or two.

Instructions:
-Take a top half hip socket from a warrior bug, place a ball joint inside the top, this makes a great big eyeball for it, or perhaps an acid filled pustule. Then add whatever leg like left over parts into the sockets.



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Mantis Hunter Bugs
-This creature keeps to the shadows, patrolling the outskirts of bug infested territory and picking off enemies one by one.

Instructions:
Take a warrior torso and flip it upside down, assemble a hip socket and attach clawless legs as antennae, place two 'wing caps' froma hopper for the eyes, and use warrior arm claws for the mandibles. Attach this to the warrior torso just beneatht he bottom lip under the bottom jaw area.

Now attach a bottom half of a hip socket to the topside (which is now the bottom side) and attach 4 legs without ball joints. Then take 2 warrior legs and cut off the claws, and take 2 warrior arms and cut them in half, and put them together for a double jointed arm of sorts... Thats it your done... and it is adorable!



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Mantis Assassin Bugs

-Lunging straight into a marauder is a matter of pride to Assassin Bugs!



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Spider Bugs
-Highly specialized for jungle warfare, they are used to collect specimens for the Arachnid research brood chambers.



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Burrower Bugs
-Every colony needs tunnels, and sometimes Warriors just are not quick enough, that’s why you have Burrower Bugs!



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‘Unique Bugs’
-These are bugs I have made which don’t necessarily have an analog within the current SST rule-set. The Queen in their books is far too mobile to be considered an option here!





King Crab Tanker Bug
-From the sands of Tarken the Arachnids have developed the King Crab Tanker Bug… the Skinnies have a report that a War-Chief was able to uproot one such creature with a single strike, only to be swallowed whole!



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Queen Bug
-The backbone of any colony, this ‘traditional’ Queen Bug is virtually immobile due to her egg sack. She can produce thousands of eggs a day and she is serviced by a horde of untiring Chariot Bugs.



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Mantis Tanker Bug
-The MI has a special name for it, “Green Satan”. This Tanker Bug is rumored to have the unique ability to camouflage, but so far SICON has yet to prove any such claims.



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Nurser Bug
-A specialized worker of the colony, most often seen in the Arachnid hatcheries. The Arachnids lay ‘species-neutral’ eggs which require a Nurser Bug's genetic defining injection to determine whether they hatch as a lowly Chariot Bug or a mighty Tanker!

Instructions:
-Construct a Brain Bug without the chariot bugs underneath or the stabbing brain stem sucker, then shave the eyes a bit flat and snip off the wierd hind legs.

Now add on 6 of the small legs that go with a Tanker Bug's rear, and two Rippler arms (you could substitute warrior arms) and use a Thorny Tanker antennae for the Brain Sucker, though if you are stuck for parts any claw will do.

Now attach six warrior arm claws where the eyes were. The final step is to use 3 or 4 ball joints as big eyes on top and over the Brain Bug's Brain Sucker mouth area, and that should be that, you have a silly Nurser Bug!



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Milli-Tanker Bug
-The Planet Axilon has a strange phenomenon; something in the atmosphere is preventing the Arachnids from giving birth to the large quantities they are used to. The MI seeing this weakness, has decided to garrison and assault the planet with Light Armored Mobile Infantry, to date the operation has been a large success with the MI outnumbering the bugs!

The hive, seeing that this could mean defeat, bred a new subspecies, a terrifying Tanker Bug with the role of disemboweling LAMI with Warrior Bug efficiency, faster, many limbed and possessing a keen sensory system the Milli-Tanker Bug was born!

Using its heightened senses it detects even passive radar signals, finding the command squads of a LAMI line and swarming over the battlefield straight into it! Unlike most bugs the Milli-Tanker hardly stops to finish killing an opponent, it simply rolls over whole squads of men, plunging its many claws over and over into their flesh. The disruption caused by this new efficient man-killer is turning the tide on Axilon!

Instructions:
-So this is a really fun bug to make! You need a Tanker kit, some warrior arms, some Rippler arms, and something suitable for the antennae... and of course an extra Tanker torso piece!

Just attach the extra torso where the head would go, this will require allot of finagling to get right! Attach the four legs as you see fit, and then attach at least 12 warrior arms on the sides! I ran out of parts, otherwise I would have added a total of 20 or so arms, though you could go with less and use warrior legs!

The real 'tough' part, is the head, take the Tanker head, and cut the 4 fiddly lip pieces flat, and attach the larger Rippler arm claws to these. Then attach another 2 arm claws over the eye, or rather under the eye brow! Use green stuff or hot glue to fill various gaps in the body and under the eye.

For the antennae I used steel wire, it isn't unbendable or anything, but after heating in a candle you can insert them/melt them into the head... This was not very secure, so I then added hot glue around the base and then poured regular glue over that repeatedly... they won't move out of the socket now unless you actually pulled with decent effort... so don't do that!



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Commentary:
-Fantastic- I love this bug, allot! Many of you really liked my Mantis Tanker, and of course so do I, but since a new Tanker kit is due out, it meant I had 1 Mantis Tanker and 2 regular Tankers... the Mantis due to its uniqueness will stay as a cool model, but the old Tankers were going to need to be replaced by the new model when it comes (assuming its as cool as mongoose keeps telling us!) So what to do with them? My army paint scheme is kind of all over... so this was a project to A. use parts, B. Bring the paint scheme closer together, and C. Make a old Tanker useful for years to come.

My army is now developing into 'sub-set' armies that can be used on particular terrain, for example, using my Mantis Tanker, my 3 Mantis Hunters, my 6 Hoppers, and 5 Spiders I have a pretty good Jungle army theme going, they all use greens and blues, and I can add the yellow/blue Guard Bugs too!

My other subset was Red, or the Fire Brigade as I call them... my Red and Black Fire Fries, my 8 Blister/Blaster Bugs, and my 10 Ripplers... they all share red in common... but the red is very sparing on the Ripplers, so this Tanker was to become a 'lynch pin'. He has dark gray underbelly, as all my Tankers do, he has black as both the Fire Fries and Blaster Bugs do, and finally instead of an outright red he uses a mix of red and copper to blend in both with the red land bugs and my copper Ripplers, thus bridging the paint scheme together.

The antennae are neon green, as more often than not that is the color of my bug's eyes and therefore since this has no eyes it made sense that the antennae be green. They really make the model actually...

I really like this guy, my only regret is that I'm not certain he gives off enough of a millipede vibe, but overall I am content...

The real question now is what to do with the last regular tanker... I may keep him as is for posterity as he is one of my oldest bug models!
 
Classics one and all. I've missed your stuff, it's good to see it again. What I wouldn't give to play on a board with your queen diorama.
 
Great stuff. I envy your ability to convert brilliant models. Simply the best imagination on the board when it comes to bugs.
I wish you made guides on a lot of them!

Your army looks very unified as the are conversions of the same kits. The paintjobs do not matter to it's unified looks, they just give seperate units! Simply excellent dude.

Carry on! :D
 
thanks- I do plan on adding write ups/instructions on how to make the above bugs when i have time.

If you have a preference just tell me and I'll do it sooner rather than later.

Also if you do any of my conversions for yourself, get pics of em! Itd be a hoot!


PS- Started adding instructions; Hoppers, Tankers, and a few others done.
 
Any specific feedback on the Nurser Bug guys?

I am planning on making a second one, and making a matching 'hatchery' terrain piece or two for objectives. So any changes you think might help the model need to be made now.

For example... what do people think of the 3 eyes? should I bump it to 4?
Do I need more tanker legs on him? *there is a supply issue.

And of course... color scheme? I was thinking maybe go from the brown to a grey?

- Also since we are getting new Tankers I was thinking of butchering the 'standing' Tanker and making it a new head and giving it tons of little arms on its chest and making it more of a mili-pede thingy... as for rules... I don't know maybe some sort of anti-communication bug, like Seekers from Gears of War.
 
I would like 4 eyes on it, something about insects, even numbers and organization.

The number of tanker legs is great, the rippler legs look a little thin next to them. Would warrior legs have more bulk? As for color, something to make it look less like a brain would be nice. The nurse bugs from the show really blended in to their surroundings so maybe paint it the color of the rocks behind it in that picture?
 
I reckon more eyes, and more pincery things at the front (mandibles?). :)
Make it all gribbly.
As for colour schemes, I'm not sure. I quite like it as it is. 8)
 
The concept has potential. The long front legs kind of kill the effect of the centipede/milipede. But I don't see anyway to keep it upright unless you stack the back full of REALLY heavy material or glue it to a larger base. The antenna are a very nice touch.
 
Thanks-


@ Paladin: Hmmm if I had the parts i could have used warrior legs, and they can be extended quite a bit, by placing 2-4 directly under the 'second' or higher torso, it may have been enough to keep him upright...

Then I could move the 2 front large legs to the center of Torso 1... Warrior legs would be the way to go for more millipede-ness... sadly I am out, and part of this project goal was to use up spare parts...

Which it did, i am now out of warrior arms too! Though now I have a bunch of clawless Rippler Arms...

I do have my Hydralisk Bug notably, I think I have decided that I don't like him, and will be hacking him to pieces for 2 possible alternatives...

A Rippler, where we reverse the torso, attaching the round behind pice to the 'neck' and giving it a very long stinger... the idea being this is a Rippler with a 5-10 point upgrade... the Stinger would be say a D10 Piercing 2 CC attack... that is One Shot!

Just like a Bee!

The other option is to play with another attempt at a land Rippler, I have an idea where again the Torso gets reversed.
 
Thanks-


@ Paladin: Hmmm if I had the parts i could have used warrior legs, and they can be extended quite a bit, by placing 2-4 directly under the 'second' or higher torso, it may have been enough to keep him upright...

Then I could move the 2 front large legs to the center of Torso 1... Warrior legs would be the way to go for more millipede-ness... sadly I am out, and part of this project goal was to use up spare parts...

Which it did, i am now out of warrior arms too! Though now I have a bunch of clawless Rippler Arms...

I do have my Hydralisk Bug notably, I think I have decided that I don't like him, and will be hacking him to pieces for 2 possible alternatives...

A Rippler, where we reverse the torso, attaching the round behind pice to the 'neck' and giving it a very long stinger... the idea being this is a Rippler with a 5-10 point upgrade... the Stinger would be say a D10 Piercing 2 CC attack... that is One Shot!

Just like a hornet.

The other option is to play with another attempt at a land Rippler, I have an idea where again the Torso gets reversed.
 
Gauntlet- said:
@ Paladin: Hmmm if I had the parts i could have used warrior legs, and they can be extended quite a bit, by placing 2-4 directly under the 'second' or higher torso, it may have been enough to keep him upright...

Then I could move the 2 front large legs to the center of Torso 1... Warrior legs would be the way to go for more millipede-ness... sadly I am out, and part of this project goal was to use up spare parts...

Which it did, i am now out of warrior arms too! Though now I have a bunch of clawless Rippler Arms...
Warrior legs would probably do it. Too bad you can't get units by bits. Your inspirational idea of using the tanker body to build the segmented body would be excellent with another 4-5 segments ending with a plasma bug head for the tail with pinchers hiding the eyes would be perfect.

Thanks for taking the time to share your bugs/ideas though Gauntlet, they are always inspiring. Makes me want to go home and paint/build my horde more everytime I come to your army threads.
 
Now see that idea would be a purely new millipede bug... fankly it would be your Flayer but much bigger...

somehow without the Tanker behind I don't think it counts as a Tanker :)



and I don't think I'll have 5 spare tanker torsos lying around any time soon. Hahahaha, but it would be really cool!

I am basically doing projects to eat up my bits and stuff so i can then reorganize/clean and purchase new items. I am in desperate need of some unified system for storing large bugs though.
 
Wow that's some pretty excellent stuff. Oh and those mounds will always look like something the dog left for ya' :p .

Errr... Long time no see eh? :roll:
 
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