Chimera WIP Part 2

I continued work by cleaning out the old lasgun ports as these weren't going to be used.  I had tried filing them off without much success until I tried my scalpel with its new blade.  This made short work of the ports and I soon had that area level after also clipping off the necessary rivets.

I then started on the side plates.  I tried a test fit but didn't like the fatboy look it gave the tank, so that had to be rectified.  I used my saw to cut them down to around 3mm wide.  It was a bit fiddly with all of the edges but it worked out alright and only required a small amount of filing to make them level at the end.

Once they were done, I attached them and started adding on the extra bits.  The panels were glued into place along with the tracks and track guards.  I played around with different ways to mount the guards, but ended up preferring them at the rear of the tank.  I filed down the smoke launchers to give them a sharper angle and mounted them to the side of the turret in the same fashion as my other tanks.

I'm in the process of filing down what was the hatches that normally go on the rear to place them over the empty lasgun ports.  This way if the rules change in the future and I get back my firepoints then I have a reasonable way of representing them.  I'm also trying to work out how best to mount a spotlight.  I'd prefer not to use the big clunky IG version that currently exists.  I've looked at a SM version but am having difficulties finding a suitable method for attaching it to the turret as it's still to big to place anywhere else.  I am toying with the idea of placing it at the rear of the tank and doing the same with the ones that need to be attached to my rhinos.  I'll leave the dozer blade off for now to make it easier to paint the vehicle.

Eltnot.