These warmachines use a revolutionary rotor-blade steam engine that allows it to take off into the air and land vertically or even hover on the spot, becoming the first technological marvel to achieve the ability of flight. The first Gyrocopter was invented and then improved upon by Dwarf Engineers, and due to its rarity only a trusted member of the Engineers Guild is allowed to maintain and operate one. The inventors of this machine were first inspired by observing wild Dragons swooping down from mountain crags. They combined the idea of wings with that of engines used to drive drilling machines and flywheels from grinding machines, which would eventually be the basis for the steam engine that powers the rotors. After several centuries of constant calibrations and revision, the first proper prototype was met with great success. The earlier models were made mostly of canvas and light-weight metal, but as time went on, the newer variants became far more heavily armoured, and sported an improved hull and weaponry SOURCE
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I was truly inspired by the vintage gyrocopters like the ones above and much less from the more recent ones, with their single-piece bulky armour all around the body of the machine. The former give a more edgy sense of danger when seeing our little heroes trying to stir them around on the battlefield. The latter already has a pretty MOC here:
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And here comes my first LEGO rendering, pretty chubby indeed, left and picked up over and over again for many months and which ended up being more of a construction cargo and less of a battle-fit one.
I love the colour scheme of this one, purposedly asymmetric to provide a sense of repaired and stitched tissues after prolonged use, like in this classic model. Of course, some classic dwarf symbols could not be missing. Yet, I love the rock load this guy can release!
Here comes my second model, much leaner and more elegant.
I think it well reflects the sense of instability of this means of transport and I wanted to reproduce more classic, oldgame versions of the same, of course always taking bits and pieces from here and there and not reflecting the actual releases of Games Workshop and reshuffling elements (like fabric blades, front cannons, hand-granade, etc.).
Please, also enjoy some details of the engine and the backside of which I am particularly proud, incl. the releasable bombs hanging. By the time these pictures were taken, I had not inserted any icon or symbol, which is on the other hand available in the current version (stored somewhere too uncomfortable to be reached now in the cave).
To follow from Panicus lab: the chaos dwarf gyrocopter (been on hold for months now)!
#warhammer #lego #fantasy #custom #MOC #diorama #WHFB