Dark Eldar Bastion

Now, the progress of this build has been ongoing on my Project Log (http://www.thedarkcity.net/t8415-squidmasters-kabal-of-the-eternal-night), but with its completion I wanted to collate the entire thing and show it off in a singular place as well.

So, the Dark Eldar Bastion:



The build started out here. The base is the largest of the available GW craters, the idea behind this Bastion was that a raiding force back on Commoragh could open a portal right in their enemy's lines, and from their side raise a weapons platform straight through the portal and onto the battlefield. It could do its damage a lay down support fire for the raiding force, and once the raid was over it could be lowered back through the portal which would then close, as if the tower had never been there in the first place. The crater will house the portal.
The main stalk is a couple of pens and the plastic tubes from inside some till-rolls, the platforms are a couple of christmas tree decorations.
The outer plates are from a small hamster ball, cut up into individual plates and held on in this picture by blutack.



This was a tester I did before the build really got underway, showing where the lower platform spikes would sit and how the wires within would connect everything up.



The first spike goes on, and Lego is used to build a 'U' shape to make sure the other side is correctly placed.



The four lower spikes in place, and the beginnings of the undercarriage mechanics.



More undercarriage mechanics, and the first plates go on. A Warrior is shown here to demonstrate where the gunners will stand, and on the right the portal begins to take shape.



Most of the undercarriage mechanics in place, the pistons and other parts that would move the plates into position after deployment.



The last of the mechanics, and the entire lower tower complete with a Warrior again to show where the gunners will be.



Some plates on the stalk for texture, and the upper part of the tower starts to take shape.



The upper section mostly ready, and then blutacked onto the tower to show the final height and look.



Everything undercoated and ready for painting.



And here, the finished tower!




The final build actually came as a slight surprise, as some parts were definitely a case of "build it and see", but I must say I am happy.
In the original plan, it was a tower bursting forth from a tactically deployed Webway Portal. The idea here was that a raiding force back on Commoragh could open a portal right in their enemy's lines, and from their side raise a weapons platform straight through the portal and onto the battlefield. It could do its damage a lay down support fire for the raiding force, and once the raid was over it could be lowered back through the portal which would then close, as if the tower had never been there in the first place. I think I got the look of that right, the portal in the crater base being modeled to fit my existing Webway Portal.
The idea of the tower top was that it would actually be a sphere when deployed, but this sphere would then open to reveal the weapons platform within. I'm happy with how that turned out, the upper plates forming a fairly nice palm tree look that wasn't originally planned but satisfies me anyway.
The middle of the very top has been left void for now, the space blank so that additional gun emplacements or other upgrades can fit in if wanted.

I've still got the four gunners to go, who will need something similar enough to Heavy Bolters to work as a Dark Eldar equivalent.

If I were to do it again, I think I only really want to call one design flaw, and that's the size. The tower itself is obviously a lot slimmer (though thankfully matches the height) of the standard Bastion. As a result, I'm going with the fair ruling that measurements are made to the base (the entire crater) which actually gives it a BIGGER footprint than a standard Bastion. That's my bad though, but frankly I'm happy to take the disadvantage for the sake of looking cool. Aesthetics > sensibility every time.

So there it is people. Comments, thoughts, suggestions and criticisms are of course welcome.

Very, very impressive. This is what Warhammer modelling should be all about: not slavishly building somebody else's models, but carving your own path, scratch-building to your own concepts.

I love the concept: it is a good way of introducing a heavy, static asset into an army renowned for speed and mobility.

Your ability to see past the hamster ball astounds me: in the early pictures I was thinking it would look like a cheap toy, but those final shots are amazing.

I think I would have been tempted to make the pistons look a bit more mechanical, perhaps Boltgun Metal and lashings of oil, but then I have a more Steampunk aesthetic in my pirate vagabond fleet.

The crater base/shimmering portal looks great, just a hint of Stargate perhaps..?

All in all, a piece you can be VERY proud of, excellent work!

Great work! It's always nice to see people create fortifications for xeno factions, but I think this is one of the better ones.

Very nice! Love the idea of it bursting forth from a WWP.

Thanks for your comments chaps.