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Greetings fellow humans, two posts in a week eh? Well, I need some advice – I’m a bit excited, but also need a sanity-check, because my Dreadtober effort has hit that ‘is this working or not‘ point. I think it is going ok, but I want to share a few WIP shots with you & sound you worthy specimens out. I’ve taken some liberties in the definition of ‘Dreadnought’, and assumed that a Dread-sized robot counts, (though this would works as a ‘Dread, an exo-suit, or whatever). I have one built, and another in progress – this is where we are today:
I really hope that the inspiration behind this is clear, but if not, you need to check this out… do it now people – you have 20 seconds to comply.
(Dakka dakka dakka!!! Poor Mr. Kinney) Better? Good :-)
I have to admit, ed209 was the very first thing that popped into my brain when I saw the gun arms on the Kastelan robot kits, and I’ve been planning this idea over ever since. I haven’t seen anything in this vein on the interwebs, and I’m actually really surprised about that… I mean, those guns are just perfect, right? A bit of fettling with the Sentinel legs and some jiggery pokery with the Kastelan body gave me what I consider to be a reasonable approximation of everyone’s favourite Enforcement Droid… Here are a few more angles for you to consider:
Ok, so I know it isn’t an exact replica of ed209 – the canopy is too small, the legs are a bit skinny front on, and there is too much going on up top to be considered a faithful reproduction… I think that there is a touch of the classic Space Crusade Chaos Dreadnought in there as well(?), but hey, this is the grim dark future after all…
That said, I’ve deliberately avoided any obvious Imperial iconography, so no skulls, eagles or other Gothic jizz-jazz. I may play around with some Kastelan armour on the legs to smooth them out and beef them up a bit from the front, and I’m toying with the idea of shortening the upper arms a bit, but I think that the essence of ed209 is in there… What do you folks think? Am I barking up the right tree here? You know the score peeps, comments & feedback are always welcome… you now have five seconds to comply :-)
Leadballoony - It's a lead thing 
The first thing that came into my mind was the Old Space Crusade Chaos Dreadnought. And that is not a bad thing. The ED209 thing only after you pointed it out but that says more about my fondness of the old Chaos dread than anything else.
Over to some (hopefully) conscructive criticism – I think the legs and body works really well. The engine block is so cool. You might want to add something underneath the canopy. It feels a bit unfinished at the moment. The main “problem” is the arms. I would rotate the gun so the mag points either straight up or straight down. That would help alot, I believe. The guns are pointing in a strange way at the moment. the second thing with the arms is the shoulder joint. It still looks a bit too much like an arm glued on in odd way. I would try and cover it up with som armour, wires and stuff like. In order to incorporate the arms more into the whole of the robot.
Hmmm…. yeah, good points made re. the arms… looking at ed209, the upper arm is short, and seems to be perpendicular to the body, with a flappy shoulder plate thing to protect the joint… Time for some surgery I think ;-)
Oh, and the guns to rotate around the wrist, so mag down is no problem ;-)
Awesome! Now go comply.
Looks like an ED209 straight off the bat son :)
For me, the problem is the canopy comes to an abrupt stop at the front. Underneath needs something added…chin turret perhaps?
Also, and this is a tricky one to fix, is the aesthetic of the two elements i.e. legs & body are too dissimilar. Bulking up the legs (as you mentioned) and/or making the body more mechanical looking would fix that.
You might want to change the pose a little too if can be arsed. Lift one leg, so that it looks like it’s walking? Change the orientation of the body and/or arms?
But overall, this Dread looks ace! Great concept in the works.
Well done :)
Cheers dude :-)
I see what you mean about the chin… slight problem is that the waist rotates, and a chin thing would stop that happening. Leg pose changes are also a no-no… they are all glued to hell and back! Good point on the different aesthetic between top & bottom…
Let’s see how it looks after playing with the arm positioning & leg armour – fingers crossed!
I thought Ed straight away! Which is a good thing and then when you sent me to YouTube I had a RoboGasm! Haha. Great stuff mate. The gun arms look terrific. I think the legs do look a little skinny from the front but not from the side. I know that’s not very helpful. I’m loving the whole project though man and I have faith in your skills to make it all work perfectly. Oh and the Dreadtober thing (which I know you’re not technically apart of) does state that this year the model doesn’t have to be a dreadnought just that kind of size. New rules this year I think. Ask Tommy Gun. He knows all about it. Keep up the great work and two posts a week excites me hehe.
Cheers dude – a bit of tweaking needed, but glad it hits your robo-g-spot! (eeew!!!)
You’re right, I’m not technically doing the Dreadtober ‘thing’, but it’s a great excuse to do something I’ve been planning for ages :-)
Thomas above said it all !
I really like it.
Haha – thanks JB :-)
I’m handing in my Robocop Fan Club card for not spotting that the Castellax arms are so perfect for an ED before now.
I speed painted a Space Crusade chaos dread as an ED homage a few years ago, although keeping the weapons separate and magnetised compromised the look a bit.
https://sho3box.com/2012/11/21/ed209a/
But if I added those Castellax/Castellan arms…
Food for thought.
I think that the legs in your model are currently too spindly Alex. They could do with being chunkier, full of noisy servos like in the movie.
Hehe, cheers mate – I’m sure we can let you off your spotting fail, and allow you to keep your RFC membership ;-)
Yep, I hear you regarding the legs – I’ll be working on them over the next few evenings. Loving your SC Dread btw! Being magnetised, (smart move), it should be easy for you to try out a new pair of arms… I think that would look superb!
First of all, man, I must say this is inspired. Kudos to you! I tend to concur about the head/canopy; as soon as you fill that space, it will look amazing.
Legs are too skinny maybe, when you see them in proportion with the bulky body. But I strongly believe that is just a creative decision. You can add some armour plate (I’m thinking in old Space Marine Dreadnoughts) and it would be OK, bulky like the rest. But you can also leave them as they are, reenforcing the insect-like look. Nothing screams Rogue Trader as much as any Hieronymus Bosch concept :D
So whatever you decide about the legs will be OK.
Looking forward to more!!
Aww, thanks Suber, kudos humbly accepted ;-) I’m sure you are right – it’ll work out one way or the other… it’s not like they’re terrible as is after all! I am looking for that extra little something though – planning to experiment further over the weekend :-)
Excellent idea – and nice to see ED209 demonstrating the approved Imperial technique for fulfilling the role of ‘good cop’.
I actually really like this, it reminds me of some of the older dreads from GW’s early history and I can quite imagine some magus finding the designs for ED209 in a vault somewhere and – after showing his superiors that clip – being granted immediate sanction to build a fleet of them for the arbites public relations division.
In terms of constructive criticism there is something slightly awkward about the pose and I think it’s the fact that the upper body looks quite sleek and fast whilst the legs are quite static. Part of what makes ED209 sinister is the way it moves, like an animatronic dinosaur, an effect emphasised by that big, blunt low-slung head (in fact now I think about it doesn’t it look like a tiny Warhound?). So perhaps a big blocky head, slung beneath that curved canopy, would make it look more aggressive and ready to lunge?
Thanks mate – yeah, ed is a bit Warhoundy isn’t he! Good shout!
I’m not sure what can be done about the ‘head’ tbh… there aren’t too many bits that I can think of that fit the bill… I’ll see what inspiration comes up over the weekend mate ;-)
Mate, I think it looks great… I immediately thought of ED209 and about 1 second later the old Space Crusade dreadnought. The legs could be bulked up to make it look more like ED209 but they don’t have to be, it’s not an exact copy after all! Great stuff.
Thanks Warbs, much appreciated. I’ve given myself the weekend to experiment :-)
Poor Mr Kinney…
Great conversion on him, both for the ed209 (which looks ace) but also the classic robot.
Cheers Joe – I’ll be more settled on the final design by Sunday :-)
He reads loud and clear as ED209. You say it isn’t a perfect replica, but I think it’s a beautiful 40k interpretation! I agree that the legs are a bit skinny on the front. The Mechanicum walker (the Dali looking one, not the spider-tank) has some armor plates on its legs that may come in handy to add some extra bulk. It will also be easy just to greeble it up with plasticard strips and pipes!
Cheers mate, jolly nice of you to say :-) There are some leggy bits in the Kastelan kit that might do the trick too… we’ll see ;-)