Imperial Tankers

This is something I've been working on for awhile, and now she's mostly finished (aside from some odds and ends and random stowage)



She started as a 1/12 RC Airsoft tank, which was rescued from Good Will in rough shape for 7 bucks.


I used bits and bobs from all sorts of things, including gum container covers for the hatches, a mint tin
for an extra storage container, extra guns from a 3¾" Snowspeeder toy I had kicking around, a 1/6 scale
WWII German Zeltbahn, some 1/24 scale decals, and lots of paint.










And the crew.


From left to right: Engineer (backpack has since been repainted, it was a last minute addition), Commander, Pilot, and Co-Pilot.

They've been done up for awhile in anticipation of this, all in WWII German Pea Dot style.

This should really help make for some interesting photos. The only challenge now is preventing my 4 year old from destroying it.

That. Is. Awesome. Excellent work. Did you build that tank from scratch, or are some of the parts from existing tanks? Really impressive. (By the way, I'd like to see your entire military collection some day -- it has to be pretty amazing.)

Good luck with the 4 year old. (I can remember when my brothers and I were in grade school we used to use our all metal Tonka trucks (with GI Joe passengers) as Demolition Derby vehicles -- we'd run them as hard as we could into each other and see if we could damage them -- barely a scratch on those damn things [back when toys were quality made]; oh, we lost some windshields along the way, but other than that... tough stuff for sure.) Good fun, but I don't think you'd want that to happen to your tank.

Stryker2011 wrote:That. Is. Awesome. Excellent work. Did you build that tank from scratch, or are some of the parts from existing tanks? Really impressive. (By the way, I'd like to see your entire military collection some day -- it has to be pretty amazing.)

Good luck with the 4 year old. (I can remember when my brothers and I were in grade school we used to use our all metal Tonka trucks (with GI Joe passengers) as Demolition Derby vehicles -- we'd run them as hard as we could into each other and see if we could damage them -- barely a scratch on those damn things [back when toys were quality made]; oh, we lost some windshields along the way, but other than that... tough stuff for sure.) Good fun, but I don't think you'd want that to happen to your tank.

Thanks! For the most part the tank is salvaged from an older model RC tank. They're a bit harder to find, but this is what it would've looked like brand new.


I'm hoping to get this bad boy out with the rest of my custom painted troopers soon.

I did similar with some of my toys when I was a kid, too, some smashin' and bashin', throwing GI Joes out of the hay loft with plastic bags as parachutes...

Hah! I did the parachute thing, too. Lot of fun. My older brother and I would often get in trouble because we’d manage to find a way onto the roof or the 25’ tree in the back yard. Good times until my idiot brother climbed to the highest point he could get on that tree and the limb broke — I laughed my ass off as he fell, smashing into some of the limbs on the way down. ‘Course it wasn’t so funny as he laid there crying — broke his collar bone and arm. I got my @$$ beat for laughing. That was pretty much the end of our GI Joe parachuting.

Beautiful, intricate, and gritty -- nothing surprising given your previous work, but I always love to see your new creations. Nice mustache on the commander, too. I'm imagining Tom Selleck cast as an extra...

GubernatorFan wrote:Beautiful, intricate, and gritty -- nothing surprising given your previous work, but I always love to see your new creations. Nice mustache on the commander, too. I'm imagining Tom Selleck cast as an extra...

Haha thanks a lot, really appreciate it!

Finally, the tank is finished! Wouldn't have been surprised if it was made of Canadian paper towels, hockeytape and floor polish.

You know how much I like your gritty nitty interpretation of the Imperial army. That co pilot with the yellow on the helmet reminds me a bit of an Imperial agent I once repainted, they look great in alternative color schemes.

I am a fan of that mustache too. As Gubernator said, he could have been an extra from a crowd scene without a single line and 4 seconds screentime in the original movies, a scene that secured him a large fanbase, spawning 11 comics books, 3 books and 8 action figures. The actor would live from signing autographs on conventions an be a guest character in Rogue One.

Ovy wrote:Finally, the tank is finished! Wouldn't have been surprised if it was made of Canadian paper towels, hockeytape and floor polish.

You know how much I like your gritty nitty interpretation of the Imperial army. That co pilot with the yellow on the helmet reminds me a bit of an Imperial agent I once repainted, they look great in alternative color schemes.

I am a fan of that mustache too. As Gubernator said, he could have been an extra from a crowd scene without a single line and 4 seconds screentime in the original movies, a scene that secured him a large fanbase, spawning 11 comics books, 3 books and 8 action figures. The actor would live from signing autographs on conventions an be a guest character in Rogue One.

Haha thanks a lot! Trust me, there was plenty of floor polish applied as sealer

I think I remember that agent you did, grey and yellow? Liked that scheme a lot!

You'd probably like my Mud Trooper Sgt. too, with his snazzy eyepatch and pea dot.

Oh wow, very beautiful! I love it

Adeno wrote:Oh wow, very beautiful! I love it

Thank you very much