VITAL STATISTICS		click to enlarge
Game System:	Warhammer 40,000
Army:	Imperial Guard
Type:	Rough Rider Bike
Build Time:	2 hours
Dok's Rivit Rating:

DESCRIPTION

Paul Scott Direct Sales

Paul: I've always been a fan of the Imperial Guard Rough Riders, and with the release of the new Cadian plastic sprues, I decided to take a different approach to these warriors of speed.

THE BIKE

To start with take the Eldar Jet Bike main body and clip out the engine block. Use Green Stuff to fill in the gaps at the back this leaves and smooth them over. File the front of the body flat so that the control panel from the Space Marine bike can be added more easily. Clip the handlebars off the Space Marine bike control panel and then re-attach them, having taken a couple of millimetres out from each. Then glue the panel on to the now flat front of the bike.

Take two missiles from the plastic Cadian Heavy Weapon sprue - these will form the front steering column forks. Cut away the warhead and then trim off two of the opposing fins, leaving two opposing fins remaining. Once done, glue the missiles, tail fins down, to either side of the underneath of the Space Marine control panel to finish the steering column.

To create the headlight, use the grated speaker from the top of the vox caster backpack from the Cadian Infantry sprue. File the back flat and glue it to the front of the control panel. The mudguard is made from a shovel, again taken from the Cadian Heavy Weapon sprue. Remove the shovel blade from the handle, turn it upside down and glue it between the front forks.

The hardest part of the bike is the rear suspension. You will need to take the thin teardrop-shaped heavy stubber mount from the new Tank Accessory sprue . This will need to be cut in half (this is particularly tricky and care is required). When you have done this, place one piece either side of the rear of the bike so that you have a set of forks for the rear wheel.

Now glue the heavy weapon wheels to the forks you have made on the front and back.

Finally, take one of the Imperial Eagle symbols from the Tank Accessory sprue and gently bend it round the front of the bike on the steering column beneath the headlight on the control panel. The bike is now complete.

THE RIDER

Take a pair of Cadian legs from the Cadian Shock Troop sprue and cut them right down the middle, creating two loose legs. Reposition them so they fit astride the bike and fill in any gaps with Green Stuff. This takes a certain amount of trial and error to get the final position to look natural.

The pictured rider's head is from the old Cadian heavy weapon gunners head, although there are plenty of really nice and completely suitable ones on both the new Heavy Weapon Cadian sprue and the Shock Troops sprue.

There will be gaps around the waist of the rider where his legs were adjusted. These can be partially hidden using more Green Stuff and further disguised by using grenades, water bottles etc. from the Cadian Troop sprue.

All you will need now are arms and hands that can hold the handles. I found that arms that stretch out are best, in particular those of the sergeant. The hands from these will need to be replaced with ones that are open. There are plenty of these to choose from on the Cadian Heavy Weapon sprue. All you need to do is clip at the wrists and reposition as necessary, and your Rough Rider is complete.

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