Yeah, MechaNovember. Last Year. I did say I had some backlog to post up, didn’t I? This is an original Rhino kit from WAY back in 1989 that had been through at least one rebuilding, and a lot of abuse until I decided to rehabilitate it as a Plague Marine Rhino back in the mid-oughts. It’s been through at least two partial repaints since then but never managed to get to the finish line until the end of last year when I managed to managed to use the momentum off the back of completing that Flesh Tearers Razorback to get to the “just fucking finish it” mentality on this Rhino kit.
As a kit that had been built and rebuilt a few times, not to mention copping a fair bit of converting, it’s got a lot of parts from random kits such as cut down (original) Necromunda Bulkheads replacing the original side hatches, plasticard on various parts of the hull, corrugated card in a few spots, a huge strap-on …barrel from some Verlinden aftermarket armour kit on the rear, an undead shield, GorkaMorka dozer blade, (metal) Chaos Terminator trophy racks, a chopped-in-half Plague Marine from the mid-90’s as a crewman rocking a pair of twin-linked linked (Ork) Bolters from the late 2nd edition era as well as a Puppetswar Shoulder pad and an Anvil Industries opposite pauldron and backpack for that slightly cut down vehicle crewman look.
The wooden parts were used to give a consistency between that particular line of Plague Marines that had a lot of wooden furniture on their weapons. The door on the front as well as the top hatches came from some random plastic model kit, while the front hull panel was from a metal Warhammer Siege palisade that I got, damaged in some purchase or trade. Finally, the Nurgle Icon is from an Icon Bearer model, while the Iron Wariors Icon is etched brass – and I added a friendly nod to the Imperial Fists in the form of a Primaris helmet on a wooden mount.
I tossed up whether to go with hazard stripes, as I typically would for Iron Warriors but decided in the end not to add them, letting the rusty iron and reddish wood tones play to both the Iron Warirors Legion as well as to the copper armour of those Legionaires that had decided to follow the path of the Plague Cult. I wanted the vehicle to both fit in with and stand apart from my other Iron Warriors vehicles.
Finally a shot of the Rhino alongside some of the Iron Warriors Plague Marines that will be riding this thing into battle.
Azazel's Bitz Box. 
Wow, what a great Rhino. I love how everything is cobbled together out of various kits but it all works. Do you remember where the wooden bits came from? I never would have thought to put those on there myself, but you are right, Nurgle does seem to like to use a lot of wood and even if this isn’t Nurgle it still works. I also like how one corner of the APC isn’t glued down, like perhaps it suffered a hit or perhaps it was somewhat infected by Nurgle at one point and then reclaimed by the Iron Warriors through their extreme, vile but effective methods (only topped by the Death Guard in their pre-Heresy days?). I wonder if some extra attention at rusting or otherwise weather that one section might not be in order if you ever revisit this “just fucking finish it” model again?
I like the idea of a vehicle not just having a history (and thus show in the model) of being warped/repurposed/cobbled together/whatever from the Imperium through to rag tag Chaos bands, but also being passed through different Chaos groups with it still sporting various marks and bits of heraldry.
LikeLiked by 5 people
Thanks Ann. It’s in use by the Plague Marines within the Iron Warriors. In one of the books from the late 90’s or early 2000’s there were some stories about an IW called Honsou, where the IW’s used Khorne Berserkers within their ranks. The IW leadership didn’t think much of them as they were weak and had fallen to the worship of Chaos – so that’s pretty much how I treat the cult forces within my IW force. They’re tolerated, and left to do their own thing as long as they (largely) follow the greater IW force’s orders.
I wouldn’t want to weather that section in the typical (rusty) manner, but perhaps some darkening or bluing of the steel could be in order – though in hand it’s a more subtle detail that takes people who have seen it by surprise (hey, hang on, your tank’s got a hole in it? what?) which I’ve kinda enjoyed.
My next MechaNovember latecomer that I’ll get posted in a few days is very much something that was warped, repurposed and then cobbled together, so I hope you enjoy it as much as you did this one. 😀
LikeLiked by 1 person
I really like that, although it comes from variouis components it all really works well together.
Cheers,
Pete.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Thanks Pete – Chaos is often (along with Orks) definitely a force that beenfit from some cobbling.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s one fine looking piece of machinery. If I was still painting Necromunda stuff, I’d be looking at this example pretty heavily. Would be a great Mad Max/Post-Apoc piece. Sweet work man, glad you were able to get it past it’s last stages and share with all of us!
LikeLiked by 4 people
What? You’re off the Necromunda? But I’m about to finish some Necromunda models! Now I’ll have to bin them all!
😉
LikeLiked by 1 person
That just means I won’t be stealing the show!
Yea, just got fed up with the rules. Maybe someday though or if I find a copy of alternate rules that I like just fine.
LikeLiked by 1 person
There are lots of sci-fi skirmish-type rules out there. I’m possibly not the best guy to recommend one right now as I’m even more out of touch with tabletop gaming than usual. Having said that, I have both Rogue Stars and Black Ops that I purchased after seeing positive reviews – both are inexpensive, minis-agnostic rulsets from Osprey so they’d be a pair to look into. 🙂
LikeLike
A true rustbucket! Love it! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, John!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh man I love this!
I can almost feel the influence of the malignant machine spirit brooding beneath its shell, great work!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks mate – glad it comes across nicely. 🙂
LikeLike
Amazing work, I love it. The add-ons like the barrel and wooden planks are ace touches- I was going to ask if the front panel was from one of the Orc (Ork?) kits from Warhammer Fantasy, think I got one myself instead an Ork bits lucky bag a few years back.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It took me awhile to find it, but here it is – one oif the siege mantlets from the Warhammer Siege line from 1999.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s awesome, works so well on the rhino. I miss when White Dwarf used to have these bits pages in the back of them!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yeah, I still lobve the old catalogues. As for the wooden panels, I’m sure you can get similar enough ones in plastic from Warlord, or Renedra, or someone like that…
LikeLike
Oh that poor tortured machine spirit… lovely to see such a perfectly imperfect relic of the long war!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Hahaha! Thanks Alex, you made my day!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awesome.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Cheers, TIM!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow, you always do a great job with tanks but I love the personality of this model. I think it is because we aren’t used to seeing anything Chaos look cobbled together but the effect here really works well. Of course, the painting is really nice and the wood is especially vibrant and well-done. Very cool and inspiring work, mate! Another example of you making me want to paint something I have no business or time to do 🙂
LikeLiked by 3 people
Thanks Kuribo! Hopefully it can help to inspire you to do something you can use for The Wasteland that incorpoorates wood amongst the concrete and twisted I-beams. And toilets.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great Rhino model that really tells a story of having been used and patched up over the centuries
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks Dave. After all, nothing deflects bolter rounds better than Wood. Well, maybe Nurgle-touched Wood is a bit more reslient than regular wood, anyway….
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great work, Azazel. The cobbled together look is spot on, especially the corrugated and wooden additions, and that big red strap on… barrel!
It really looks like it’s been through the wars and someone has been busy with the BDR (Battle Damage Repair).
LikeLiked by 2 people
Cheers mate. Glad you like it, and Im glad that the cobbled together look works well without it looking too much like I just glued a bunch of random crap to half a rhino kit. Especially since it IS a cobbled together model… 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Stunning work as always, I love the “Mad max” feel you’ve given it!
Cheers Roger.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers, Roger. I’m looking forward to eventually getting to my Orks and their Speed Freeks, where I’ll be going for a much more explicit “inspiration” from the Mad Max films. 😀
LikeLike
Love it, there is a machine which has been lost in the warp for a long time and emerged looking better than ever! Like the way you’ve managed to balance the Iron Warriors elements with the Nurgleyness – it looks like it belongs to the IW whilst still being very much an engine of the Plague God.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thank you, Wudu! I’ve decided that it does need a bit more IW to it – so I’m going to add some thin hazard stripes to the edges of the running boards. And then weather them. Not so much as to be overwhelming or on the nose, but enough to tie it in a little better with the IW models as well as the IW Plaguemarines I’ve got who also wear a few hazard stripes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great stuff mate…love it, and the plague marines are really nice too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Cheers, Warb. Hopefully at some point this year I can get the big table cleared of junk and get some updated army shots. 🤔
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really nice work there ,you haven’t lost your touch mate !
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks Pat. I did this one last year though, so we’ll have to see hwo nmy next vehicle comes out before saying that for sure. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Pingback: Iron Warriors MK.IIIc Pattern Predator (MechaNovember ’19) | Azazel's Bitz Box.
That looks superb. I never would have thought of using wooden bits for a Rhino but it works surprisingly well.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you – the idea literally came from this line of Plague Marines, many of which have wooden furniture and repairs on their weapons.
LikeLike
If you don’t mind, I’ll like to grab one of these images for one of the examples of the next painting challenge: Sixty Days of Monsters & Machines.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Go for it, Ann! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. 🙂
LikeLike