Thursday 26 March 2009

New Leman Russ or Just Great Conversion?

Get out your Salt Shakers folks - and then go get those of your neighbours because your gonna need ALOT of salt with this one.

I might regret posting this if it turns out to be a complete hoax, which is almost certainly is however I'm gonna bite and post it and let people decide for themselves. The picture in the below image was posted on Warseer by a new poster named HaveBlue09, in a newly created Photobucket account HERE in the The Dudes IG Rumour Roundup IV thread, the implication being that this may be a prototype or similar or indeed actually the model for a new Leman Russ kit.

Many people, myself included are taking it for a conversion based on a Baneblade chasis, which it obviously takes many components from. Assuming it is a conversion it's a damn good one and whoever did it deserves alot of praise, but there is the issue of if it is'nt.

I'll admit I'm not as 100% sure as I was that it is a conversion, as having looked a bit more closely at it I picked out on some of the points below in my comparison image. That said I still think it is very unlikely, not least because it's such a complete redesign on a Russ, while leaked pictures from the codex have pointed to no change in this tanks classic design.

9 comments:

Andrew said...

Well I don't think you need to worry too much about being flamed, you've made it abundantly clear that you aren't sure its real ;)
I have to admit, if it is a conversion, its very, very good and extremely convincing.
If its real then its a very interesting development - a kind of mini version of the larger tanks, although if it is real, I'd be sad to see it become so generic, I really liked the forward stance of the old one.

Darkwing said...

Conversion or not, it does look cool. Although I hope that they do keep the old Leman Russ design. I have no problem with them making a "new" tank, but I hope they don't retcon the Leman Russ and say that a new version is "what it always looked like".

Hoax or conversion, only time will tell.

Admiral Drax said...

Oooh.

Pretty. I like it.

But I hesitate muchly to think it could be Son of Russ.

MasterDarksol said...

Way to scare me off from buying a bunch of Russ's in preparation for the upcoming IG release! Now I'm going to wait until I'm SURE they won't be replaced by a shiny new model! ;)

Great observations, btw. I took it as a simple Baneblade conversion too. Now I don't know what that thing is either.

Matt Varnish said...

Regarding his name: Have Blue was the code name for the prototype of the f 117 steath fighter. It was way smaller than the real plane, the tails canted inwards rather than outwards, and it was painted in a strange camo paint scheme. It was used to test the aerodynamics of the sharp edged plane and to test the radar absorption qualities of various skins.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Have_Blue

Maybe thats a clue as to what the model is? Maybe its just a test model.. and was used to see if a mini baneblade model was feasible.?

Who knows?

Anonymous said...

If not a conversion, it could easily be a scratchbuild or kitbash. What some folks can do with plasticard verges on the miraculous.

Personally, I'll be sticking with the classic Russ if this does turn out to be real. Doesn't quite look "right" to me.

Cawshis Clay said...

The Leman Russ look has sort of grown on me as the icon of the imperial guard...it's so oddly different from any modern day tank it screams "40k setting" to me in the same way Termies do.
As for the model, I think it's a hoax with some clever cutting and scratch work. Really clever.

Unknown said...

I'm fairly certain its a conversion by someone who wants thier Russes to match thier Baneblades.

Here's a site I belong to that shows just how amazing some of the modellers who play 40k can get =>vhttp://z11.invisionfree.com/Work_In_Progress/index.php?act=idx

Do a search in the Imperial Guard section for the Dora railway gun scratchbuild. Or most of the titans...

Vandhir said...

Allthough the model looks great I wouldn't be happy if it's the new Russ. The Russ as it is is the icon of the army and changing it looks is the same as changing the basic design of space marine armour.