The Titans of Siren (update 5/04/10 )

[Dr. Yo]

The fans from Brazil are on hold at the moment-I got distracted building this 'grav battleship' from the Grav Armor game. Its one of the Titan
class of heavy tanks, described in the rules as a 'land battleship' akin to
the ancient T-35 & Neubaufahrzeug tanks of 20th century Earth. I've
always had a fondness for the multi-turret, even though the tactical
utility of the type is suspect. Anyway-under construction.

Starboard side

3/4 above,foward

turret fit,V.1.0

I wasn't happy with the forward sub-turrets, so those have been
substanially modified. The rear deck may get a multi-tube AA missile
launcher as well. The title will be explained in the 'completed' post.
( that is to say: I had a play on words for the title, but haven't fleshed
it out yet. )

[Scotaidh]

Looking good, Doc. I think I might have an idea where your pun is going, but I'll wait and see.

It looks good and chunky - me likey!

[Dr. Yo]

Some progress.

Turret
option 2 with fwd. masers
Turret
option 1 with fwd. machine cannon
Under
side-AG components

The forward turrets are stuck on with a bit of silly putty-still not sure what
combination I want to go with. The big deck between the main turret
and the drivers compartment will also get a vls missile pack, perhaps
six or eight hatches. I had considered a big AA missile launcher on the
rear deck, but decided that was probably overkill.

[Dr. Yo]

from Sideshows: Minor battles of teh* Revolution by Chein Ahn
Dalou

Even near the end of the war, Siren was remote from the great battles
of the Panumanic Revolution. For some ambitious members of the
revolutionary armies, this made it an ideal target for an easy propaganda
victory, with none of the cost ( or atrocities ) that had dogged the
largely successful rebellion.

Officially an "Imperial Reserve" , held by the family of the Su-Baern
Gaotis since 2794, Siren is a terrestrial world of lush forests, jungles
and blue oceans, originally named Serene. Surveyed by the Empire
in 2756, it saw the first attempt at settlement in 2760. Within three
months, more than 70% of the 3000 scientists, technicians and
entrepeneurs were dead, victims of what one biologist later called
"The hungriest life in the Galaxy" . From the 200 meter armored
fish that inhabit the deep ocean, to the two meter spider analogs
that show a disturbing level of cunning, nearly everything on the
planet is omnivorous, with a marked preference for live food.

The Su-Baern Aevin Gaotis requested the fief in late 2790, after
hearing tales of the wildlife, and slowly set about making a small
corner of it habitable for human life. A modest tourist trade, largely
bored and thrill-thirsty arrivistocrats from the more central worlds
managed to keep the colony solvent, and fund the Su-Baern's true
passion, early Martian pottery. In the years following, various members
of the family kept the planet largely undeveloped, requesting Reserve
status, in spite of the lack of any immeadiate threat to the ecology
from either development or local space conditions.

The then-current Su-Baern, Dennit Gaotis-Stern, was something of
an amatuer naturalist, and like his grandfather, a military enthusiast.
On a world where the the equivalent of the cockroach is a long as
the normal human forearm, a natural affinity for heavy weapons has
become almost second nature to the small populace. ( 96,452 at the
last pre-revolution census ) The Gaotis family had long used surplus
military equipment to keep the local wildlife in check, and the typical
'family car' on the planet was usually an armored personnel carrier
of some sort. The "Suba Den" purchased the damaged Titan 2c from
an Imperial auction in 3024, and set about turning it into a sort of
mobile laboratory, while keeping the bulk of its armament intact.

For the next thirty years, the Frank Buck was a familiar sight
at the various small outposts and settlements of the deadly world.
Then came the Revolution.

___________________________________________________________

Who actually gave the order to "liberate" Siren is lost to history. Legend
has long held that the surviving officer of rank in the force tracked
down the bureaucrats in question, and simply dropped them on the
surface of Siren, naked. In his biography of Col. Jules Tang, Conray
regards this as unlikely, though the Colonel's movement shortly after
the debacle are open to interpretation. On the morning of February 2nd,
3054, Col. Tang was only the commander of the heavy armored support
accompanying the 5000 revolutionary militia on their way down to the
surface. He is reported to have been quite happy with his vehicle and
crew, though less enthusiastic about the "Revolutionary Display" of
the paint scheme. The following images depict the "Red Liberty" as
it appeared shortly after landing.

If this is a little confusing, the slim foundation for this backstory can be
found here.

Red Liberty (full view)

Close-up1

Close-up2

In a week or so, the whole thing gets a new paint job, the turrets get
swapped, and it will re-emerge as the Baron's Frank Buck

* Yes, its spelled that way in the future.

[Butters]

Gee whiz, Doc, you DO have the active little imagination don't you?!

[Dr. Yo]

Gee whiz, Doc, you DO have the active little imagination don't you?!

I strive to be entertaining, thats all.

[Butters]

Gee whiz, Doc, you DO have the active little imagination don't you?!

I strive to be entertaining, thats all.

"That's all"?! You wrote several pages on the story (history) of your Dictator! You sir, have an imagination like Paris Hilton likes little dogs! Like Stephen King likes to pen a 'nice little read'.

In fairness, I'm not picking on you, I just envy your spare time/imagination!

[Dr. Yo]

I do appreciate the compliment, Butters. I'm a bit mystified that I've
gotten as many views as I have, and so few comments, but there you
are.

I didn't get around to re-painting this weekend as Igot caught up
in a MaK build and a secret project for WF, but hopefully before
next monday.

[Dr. Yo]

Repainting is about 80% done. The Buck needs weathering above,
and metalizing below, along with beaucoup fittings, etc., but its in
good enough shape to show a couple of pictures tomorrow. Then its
on the shelf 'til after WF.

[Dr. Yo]

And here we are: The Suba Den's Frank Buck

3/4 front left

3/4 front right

Detail, Bow

Detail,
main turret area

Changes from the initial version are the main turret, two forward sub-turrets, removal of the missile deck, and a nose plate/brush cutter.
More back story later in the day.

[Old Wombat]

Trez chik, Doc!

Love the paint scheme!

[Dr. Yo]

Thanks Wombat-Its really not quite finished. I think it needs some
more struts on the skirts, and a lot more stores and stowage, and
plenty o' weathering. The paint was a combination of three shades
of green, mostly RLM colors from Polly S, the two lighter greens
masked with a cross-hatch of Silly Putty and oversprayed with the
dark green. The vivid outlines of the blotches were hand-drawn with
a Gundam marker that Kywell gave me ( one of several ) some years
ago.

[davidlgreen]

i really like that top turret dr yo. wadja use?

[Dr. Yo]

David- First my apologies for not replying sooner, I simply did not
notice a new reply in this thread until this evening.

Anyway, the second turret is fabricated from some disposable
camera bits, the film cartridge, bisected and folded over. The
big antenna on the back is actually the underside of some deck section
from a Dragon 1/700 Arliegh Burke. ( I think its the helo deck ) I
cut the edges from both sides and tacked 'em together at the back.
The bustle is an 'epic' scale Games Workshop Imperial tank body
with some of the detail cut away. Finally, the pulse laser is a Nebel
Werfer barrel from a very old Fujimi weapons set.

[wraith1701]

A little off topic- Kurt Vonnegut fan?

[Dr. Yo]

A little off topic- Kurt Vonnegut fan?

Not off topic at all-the thread title is a deliberate pun. Like a lot of his
work, but haven't read any of the more recent stuff.

[Scratchawan Learner]

I know that this is an idiot question Craig, but hell, when has THAT ever stopped me? What scale is this tank in? I really like the design. I too, am a sucker for multi turreted designs, regarding armored vehicles. Just curious, that's all. Also, if it's 1/72....? A kit would be REALLY cool. Preferably this kit would allow for some customization options... I like the way you scratchbashed this. Nice job on the turret, and the small details. Excellent work, as always.
Scratch

[Dr. Yo]

Not an idiot question at all, Scratch-and I apologise for the tardy response-I haven't looked in here in quite awhile.

Anyway, yes, it is 1/72 scale. A kit, well, I could try getting the
Dwarfstar folks interested ( I could certainly see doing other
builds from GRAV ARMOR ) but I wouldn't hold my breath-Its
pretty obscure and my track record for getting kits to market is
pretty abyssmal. ( In fairness, I haven't taken a dime of anybodys
money, either. )

And thanks for the kind words-much appreciated.