New Cult Russ - Gryphonne Pattern Vanquisher!

I'd finished this particular model a few weeks ago, but I've been super busy working on some other items, and never got around to posting the photos. This is yet another of my "vintage" kits that had been lying about the house for ages that I finally decided to re-purpose to the Cult. These kits are from the days when the plastic Leman Russ kit didn't include the vanquisher option, so the only way you could get it was through Forgeworld. This is the Gryphonne IV version of the turret on a Classic Russ chassis. Unfortunately it looks as if the turret has been discontinued, which is a real shame because I kind of like them more than the current plastic offering.

This particular Russ is set up as a dedicated anti-tank variant with the Vanquisher Battle Cannon and a Lascannon.  I'd thought about adding a storm bolter or heavy stubber to it, but didn't get around to it.  I may do it at some point in the future, but for now I kind of like the really stripped down look of the vehicle. It also can work as a command vehicle with the officer and extra cult icons and gold aquila on the front of the vehicle. This one also includes track guards, which is a rarity in my forces, but that's how I'd built the chassis lo these two decades ago!

For this vehicle I used the black and white technique with the same Alkidno Uretanovaya (A.MIG-022) top coat that I used on the Valdor tank hunter, though I think the highlights are a little better on this vehicle. As people have asked for full details on the paint scheme - here they are:

The hull and turret start with a pre-modulated primer coat - black panel shaded with white.  Then I used Ammo of Mig Alkidno Uretanovaya (A.MIG-022) thinned with their "Transparator" over the pre-modulation.  The chips were added with chipping color and open cell foam as sponges.  The streaks are dark brown oilbrusher which I applied in dots and then streaked with a brush dipped in odorless thinner.  The final step is the black wash.

The tracks use the Ammo of Mig rust set, I airbrush up from shadow rust through, dark, medium, and finally a light dusting of light rust. The exhausts get the same treatment. The tracks then get a drybrush of steel followed by tracks wash. The track pads get hit with Rubber & Tires (AMIG0033), and then the tracks get a light black wash.

The cult insignia and aquila are Alclad 2 pale gold with some washes.

The one drawback of these beauties can be seen in the photo below. That vanquisher cannon is BIG! So big, in fact, that it doesn't fit in any reasonable set of battlefoam that's commercially available. Custom foam would be an option, but then there's the problem that the resin turrets simply sit on top of the vehicle, and would likely fall off in transit resulting in damage.

My solution was to create a custom foam capable of holding the turrets when separated from the hull and store the hull in a separate battlefoam tray (my custom template below). You'll note that the template includes a lot of other extra spaces, and these are for heavy mortars and a few other fun projects I have in the works. Any of the standard Russ or 40K vehicle trays will do. I've also found since I'm including a lot of open hatches with painted tank commanders in my force, the thinner foam trays are too short for many vehicles (which I discovered after buying one!). Now I can use the thinner trays while simultaneously protecting the resin turret!

So, I'm pretty much to the point at which I could field a credible armored force as a Brood Brothers Astra Militarum detachment. This means I'm likely very short infantry, so I think I'd better get cracking on that. I actually have a veteran squad started, but I know in parallel I'll keep building more tanks until I'm out!