Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Dwarf Juggernaut

When I first saw the dwarf landship of Paul Robins among the 1991 Golden Demon winning models, I was totally amazed by the quality and the originality of his entry, trying to identify all the miniatures he had used to achieve his masterpiece. The multiple boar heads ornementing the cabin roof and the sides of the ship, the swivel guns, the head of the Tzeentch Demon as figurehead, the step-ladder and the cannon of the Marauder Miniatures dwarf siege gun, and so on...

Paul Robins - 1st Place Diorama - Dwarf Landship. "This scratchbuilt landship has been completely rigged out with ropes and pullies and a host of other details. Paul has even fitted out the interior with a bed and a library of books on the wall of the cabin. It's this attention to small detail, as well as the humour of this piece, that made it a winner". (White Dwarf issue 140)

The funny thing is at that time, I didn't know that the core of this ship was a real model, edited in the eighties by Games Workshop: the Dwarf Juggernaut, a steam-powered warmachine, which preceded by a decade the Empire steam tank (now we know that the human race stole our technology ^_^).

And guess what, thanks to Thomas from Germany (thanks again!), I am now the proud owner of a dwarf juggernaut. Of course, since I have only one model, I won't try to convert it, even if, if I remember well, I had bought some swivel guns and other artillery pieces with this idea in mind... Anyway, here is a couple of pictures of what I've just received for my 40th birthday.



Needless to say that there's a lot of preparation to do before considering painting this monster: I don't know when I can start working on this model (I have to finish my unit of warriors first), but I hope the final result will be worth the time (and the money!) spent on it.

12 comments:

  1. รงร  c'est du lourd en terme de collection !!

    avec la boite originale en plus !!

    ben mon cochon...bon anniversaire :P

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  2. I have one of these in my bits box http://silverswordandstone.com/blog/category/new-products/page/8/ Dwarves have been doing it for a long time :D

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  3. Hello,
    I have one of these ... mine is a biy further along (Built, undercoated and the first couple of colours). I couldn't bring myself to convert it either. I still can't decide if that is the right decision. Are we archivists or model makers? In a way it seems a shame if those of us who have them all build indentical models. I may at least change the cannon at the front ... The steam gun it comes with does not look man enough for the job!
    A have a favour to ask. Do you have any way of reprdocing the crank handle? This part was missing from my model. (Along with a wheel but I was able to reproduce that having one to copy).
    Best of luck with this project. i hope to draw some inspiration to finish my own.

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    1. Well, the crank handle is probably one of the last pieces I'm going to paint. So, if I find a way to reproduce it, I'll let you know!
      And I agree with you about the steam gun: it's really the weak part of the model and I'm also considering replacing it by a more convincing cannon.

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  4. What a find! Tell me more about this Thomas, from Germany.

    I've been looking through your posts, and you, sir, are a magnificently talented painter. What's more, you paint old school miniatures. Consider me subscribed.

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  5. Well, he's collecting OOP dwarfs and was the previous owner of the juggernaut ^_^
    And I'm happy you appreciate my painting job.

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  6. I used the original dwarf flame cannon as a gun replacement on my one. Seems more suited really. Plus there is just enough room for the gunner and one of the crewmen from that same set as well. I need to rebase it (I was never satisfied with it when I first built it back in 2002). I shall then post it up on my blog; The work of Shaitan.

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    1. Well, I'd be happy to see the result: I haven't started to paint mine...

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  7. It is a big task but you don't need me to tell you that. I painted every piece separate and assembled it in stages. I did the same with my Chaos Battering Ram. Think it would be a nightmare painting it whole.

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  8. I've finished it. It's posted up on my blog now.

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    1. I've seen it! Great model, but for a a reason I don't understand, I wasn't able to post a comment. You made a terrific job!

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  9. Thanks mate. No matter about the comment. Glad you liked it. Will be good to see your completed one. Not enough finished examples of them out there. Hope you don't take as long as me. I first got mine back in 1996 off some guy I knew from school and had to track him down. Not so easy back in the pre facebook, mobile dark ages. Swivel guns would be a good addition. I considered it myself but just didn't know where to put them after I had fixed the flame cannon.

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