[This post was originally posted to Otherverse Games & Hobbies as part of a series called Plastic to Painted, or P2P. You may see logos or references to this site and series]
I need to get something out of the way first and foremost
I haven’t read the updated Heresy rules, so I don’t even know if this tank is a legal unit. So for the purposes of this article I’m going off what past Ryan did and assume we’re still good? Ok? Ok. With that said when I built the tank originally I wanted something with higher armor that could provide close infantry support, but wasn’t a Dreadnought. As I dug around my bitz bin I found a spare Predator that I hadn’t even clipped from the sprue. I can hear young hobbyists asking the question through my monitor: you had a whole tank model laying around? Yes, I did. Just give it time, Younglings, as you will too at some point.
For us hobby veterans we call that a Tuesday afternoon. As I read the rules during the build process I immediately knew I wanted the giant, turret mounted flamethrower option. Couple that with the Death Guard’s ability to exchange all flame weapons for chem launchers for free and I had a recipe for success. What better way to fit the lore than to make spicy launchers extra spicy? Converting the flame cannon was easy enough as I had a couple extra bitz laying around from a Land Raider Crusader that I built a while back. Doing some quick modeling on that allowed me to attach it to the turret no problem. I also had a couple of heavy bolter sponsons from my Sicaran tank left over that I was able to attach as well. With the build complete I moved on to painting.
For painting: I primed the model white and added in the green accents and metallic bits. After that I added on the decals and began weathering everything with a sponge and a pot of Mechanicus Standard Grey. I’ll fully admit I went way overboard with this step but what’s done is done at this stage. Lastly I did a mix of spackle and ballast to cover the tracks and followed that up with various browns to simulate mud and debris.
Overall, I’m still happy with how it turned out. Sure there are a lot of modeling and painting issues but ultimately the point of this whole process is to grow and get better. If I could find one word that sums up this tank it’d be functional. Whether you arm it for true tank hunting, light vehicle killing duty, or some mix, the Predator is a workhorse through and through. It’s not flashy like a super heavy, and its weapons aren’t as good as a Kratos or Sicaran, but it can do just about anything it sets out to do.
It might not count for much on the tabletop, but in the end it has heart, which is what I like most about it.
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Ryan
A New England transplant that originated from parts westward, Ryan is a bit of a nerd that knows a little bit about a lot of things, all while claiming to know nothing about anything. Seemingly part Khajit a logistician by trade, he’s the kind of guy that can get you virtually anything if there’s coin to be had a problem to solve. Ryan began to learn the scrounging arts while serving time in parts east as a Loggie and has been perfecting them steadily over several decades. He has a problem with continually purchasing models, paints, and terrain that he doesn’t really need but his wife doesn’t seem to mind.
