Land Raider Crusader

Battle-Shrine 'Defensor'

Dozer Blade: Since there aren't any dozer blades made to fit Land Raiders, I had to make my own. This one was composed from two Imperial Guard dozer blades sculpted to fit together at an angle. The supporting structure (the arms on either side and some reinforcing behind the blades not visible here) was made from plasticard, lengths of plastic sprue, epoxy putty and plastic tubing - the dozer blade actually lifts up, clearing the gun barrels, allowing the front hatch to open fully and deliver its cargo unobstructed. The aquila decorating the front was a fiddly construction of many individual pieces of overlapping plasticard.

Turret: I always thought it odd that the most powerful weapon on the vehicle was mounted on a pintle and operated by an exposed crew member. In response to this, I decided to build a turret to mount the multi-melta in. It also gave me the opportunity to make the gun of a scale more befitting a land raider. I took a predator turret with twin-linked lascannons and removed the barrels. I cut out segments from the lascannon barrels and used epoxy putty and plastic tubing with drilled holes to turn them into multi-melta barrels. A few extras glued on and the turret was done.

Freehand Designs: The top features a design similar to that on the Land Raider though with a halberd instead of a sword. The latin motto is 'E Tenebris Lux'.

Embellishments: Scrolls, purity seals and censers from Dark Angels sprues decorate the hull. Not really visible in this shot, large shields with army iconography were mounted over the existing plating on the hurricane-pattern bolter sponsons.