News Flash! New Bike STC Could Be On a Battlefield Near You!
I've always been a fan of space marine bike armies. They're just so tricksy. Unfortunately, the models
look horrible to me. I mean, really. They look like they're riding scooters with balloon wheels. Or
maybe like the bike that big rockbiter guy rides in The Neverending Story. I guess it’s the foot platforms
that really push it over the edge. So, being the guy-who-marches-to-a-different-beat kinda guy I am, I
wracked my brains to come up with an alternative.
First, some inspiration.
I'm a big fan of the movie Akira. Kanada's bike in particular is pretty cool, but I couldn't see a space
marine on such a low-rider. It would be too impractical to climb up out of it when you need to jump off
and beat face.
Your basic cruiser bikes look a lot like the existing marine bike, so it wouldn't be worth building a custom
bike to get a similar look.
Crotch-rocket street bikes don't exactly fit the bill, either.
I need something big. Something bold. Something impractical. Something over the top sensational.
Something that exudes "Space Marine."
That'll do it. The Tomahawk. With a Dodge Viper engine, it's so massive they had to put it on four
wheels. I won't try to completely copy this design, but this will be our inspiration.
Our bike will have a massive engine in the front with the marine in the back. He'll be hunched over the
bike since he's going so fast, not posing like the pretty boy in the picture.
Fortunately, the new Dark Eldar jetbike fits that description. We'll just need the basic frame which can
be found for a reasonable price at the aftermarket bits shop of your choice. Cut off the rocket booster in
the back. It may look cool now, but it is going to get in the way of our rear wheels. I also shaved off any
other jagged decorations that looked too Dark Eldarish.
For an engine, I'm going to use a Tau vehicle burst cannon. I cut off the barrels because I put a small
front fender on the bike, but you can leave the barrels on and have sort of a Bat Pod look. The engine fits
nicely in the space under the front of the bike.
Do this for both halves of the bike and put them together.
Now comes the fun part. Time to break out the epoxy. I'm using a couple different types of epoxy for
this project -- your typical Greenstuff for the bulk of the work and XXXXX for filling in small cracks.
I want the front cowling to resemble the Tomahawk, so I modeled a sort of teardrop shaped piece. Feel
free to get creative. For something more barebones (like the aforementioned Bat Pod) you could even
leave this as is. I also added a block of plastic and some epoxy to the bottom of the bike to give it some added heft.
Next up is the wheels. I tried several ideas here, but I finally settled on wooden wheels from the local
craft shop. I was skeptical at first, but they look fine once the bike has been decorated up.
The wooden wheels are not double sided, but that's ok since the Tomahawk has four wheels. I clipped a
U-shaped piece of paperclip and sandwiched it between the two wheels. I then drilled holes in the front
of the bike to receive the ends of the paperclip. I wish I had remembered to take a picture of this step, but
hopefully this explains it. Let me know if you need more details.
Repeat this procedure for the rear wheels. When glued in place, it even has a bit of spring to it like a real
suspension. Bonus!
Dress up the outside of your wheels however you like. I've taken a piece of Tau rifle and a piece of
paperclip to fashion the steering mechanism. On the wheels shown here, I've drilled little holes and
inserted the heads of pins to simulate bolts.
For the control panel, I used the scanner from the space marine Devastator box. The handlebars are just
pieces of a spear, probably a goblin spear. I've got a ton of those hanging around.
On the Tau components, I filled in some of the line details with putty so that it doesn't look so obviously
Tau-ish.
To repose the rider, you'll have to do a bunch of cutting, pinning, and putty work. I won't get into the
details here, but I will give you a few pieces of advice I learned from first-hand experience.
First, you can use a regular tactical marine for this project. However, you may find it easier to take bits
from various marine boxes. In my example biker, I used the "official" bike legs and assault marine arms.
I don't think I really had much benefit from the legs since I still had to cut them to pieces and repose
them. However, the assault arms were pretty handy. I used a right arm with a bolt pistol. I cut away the
pistol, turned his hand sideways, and attached him to the handlebar. The bent arm makes him look like
he's really leaning over the front of his bike. The official biker arms would be easy to use, but those arms
will make him sit up straighter. The marine will look more like he's taking a Sunday cruise.
Second, the marines don't really sit well on the Dark Eldar bike. I had to cut off their legs at the hips and
put a bit of a spacer in to widen the hips enough to allow them to sit properly. It may look weird at first,
but it's hard to notice when everything is done.
Make sure you tilt the head back so that he's looking straight ahead and not at his handlebars. You'll
probably have to put a small ball of putty under his neck to get the right angle.
The end result is a pretty long bike, so you'll probably want some fancy rounded rectangle bases. I made
mine from a rectangle base with a small round base cut in half for the front and back curve. I glued all
three pieces to a piece of plastic sign for added strength. If you don't like bases, that's ok. With four
wheels, it stands up on its own pretty well.
I've had a lot of fun on this project, and it still isn't completely done. I need to add some foot pegs and
then smooth out some of the rough spots. I hope it inspires some cool ideas in you. I'd love to see
pictures of your bike creations.
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