My Deoderant Stank

For those who remember, there are few things more iconic from Rogue Trader days than the famous "deoderant tank"...

The modern kits are great in general in terms of detail and breadth, but in the early days there were just two tank kits released by GW: the iconic Land Raider and Rhino. Both were (and remain) absolutely stunning, which is why they still exist in an updated format.

However, GW recognised that people wanted more tanks. In fact, the rulebook included rules for all sorts of different vehicles from skimmers to crawlers to flyers and they actively encouraged people to build their own vehicles and scenery. 

In one famous article in White Dwarf, they showed how to make a hover tank out of a deoderant stick, a medicine spoon and assorted bits from Zoids kits.

When I first played my RT-era Harlequins in a game against Kraken he observed that the rules give benefits from leaping out of transports, of which I have none, and that I should consider getting a Wave Serpent. I said that I didn't want to do that as my army was only from stuff available in RT days and Wave Serpents didn't exist then. He then reminded me of the deoderant grav tank and it suddenly clicked: I should get one and paint it up to join my Quins!

Rogue Trader rules even included a rule that allowed Harlequins to field vehicles stolen from other armies!

Although it's still possible to get deoderant sticks of the right size, I realised that getting the right Zoids bits would cost a fortune, however whilst looking for the bits on eBay I found someone selling a 3d print of the whole thing for only £15, which I felt was a bargain.

I decided to paint it as close to the "original" scheme (Codex Grey with yellow and white markings) and then add checks and flags to represent the Harlequins just spraying on a bit of colour (I wanted to leave enough of the original scheme visible however to reference the original).

And here it is in all it's redecorated glory!

I am incredibly pleased with it and it's generated a lot of love over on Instagram.

However! Kraken was quick (and correct) to point out that I had cheated somewhat as I'd used a 3d print. Additionally, I'd also discovered that this tank is much smaller than a Wave Serpent so it can't fairly proxy as one of those (though is about the right size to be a smaller Starweaver transport). And as I still wanted a transport that could carry a dozen or so Quins around the battlefield in style, I searched the house for appropriately sized (and stylish) bottles...

Yes: Minions to the rescue! 

I glued the cap on at the other end of the bottle to form a rounded prow (and leave a jet-shaped opening at the back) and I added some spares from my bits box (including lascannons from a Razorback) and green stuff copies of some of the 3d-printed parts from the kit I'd bought online (made using blue-stuff to cast them). 

This tank has generated even more love on Instagram than the first tank, which surprised me slightly, as I think the former is cooler. It may be a function of the sheer number of checks I painted on (well over 1,000 I confidently estimate).

It has featured prominently in a fantastic game I played against Winters a few months ago which was incredible as it had all my old models but also went right to the bottom of turn 5

And I still have more old lead Eldar to paint and add to this list...watch this space!