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M61A1 Cerberus Shock Battle Tank (SBT) . The Cerberus SBT is a high-speed hovertank central to the Combined Arms Rapid Assault (CARA) doctrine of the United Armed Services (UAS). Canadian example shown. . SEE THE VIDEO!
VIDEO NOW!
ABOUT THE CERBERUS:
This project is truly a labour of love. I've had this tank on the brain
since I was about 14. There was a science fiction art book in the
school library that had a robot hover tank. I was in love. The concept
of a catamaran hull, forward mini-turrets, air defence gun and main gun
all rolled into one gave me nerd wood. Over time I drew my own version
and developed the concept through my teens. Having played RPGs,
eventually the hovertank found its way into my games as the ultimate
land weapon system.
In my late twenties I developed an interest in military technology and
started to learn how things really worked. Many of the elements you see
in this MOC are real-world applications found on actual armoured
fighting vehicles. Of course, as a matter of scale and practicality,
one would never find them ALL in a single vehicle. But, being science
fiction, the only thing stopping me was my imagination.
The more I drew and finessed my designs for the Cerberus the more I
wanted a scale model of the tank. I looked into this and soon realized
that scratch building a custom model requires a ton of skill and effort.
Being both ham fisted and lazy, this was not for me. I then considered
3D modelling my tank. Again, skill, effort, expensive software and the
ability to find the 'any' key was not for me. I moved on.
Years passed. Hair receded. I joined the army and went back to school.
During my third year of university I bought a few of the new Star Wars
Lego sets on a lark during the Christmas break, poured the pieces into a
pile and built a robot. The Zen-like experience of creative
concentration got me hooked and I was now an AFOL. I started searching
out the Lego sites and exploring what was possible with all the new
pieces invented in the decades since I'd ever built anything with Lego.
Bulk orders of Lego from eBay came next.
It was while sorting through some of that bulk Lego that I picked up two
tan panels from the Droid hovertank set. Like the Dawn
of Man scene in 2001: A Space Odyssey, I had an awakening. I was
holding the forward slopes of the turret for my hovertank. The angle
and shape was perfect. Visits to Bricklink and hours of research showed
me that it was possible to build a MOC of my hovertank. I was set.
Of course, reality then set in. My hair was never coming back. That,
and to get the scale right would require a LOT of Lego, mostly tan in
colour. To have the most building options and greatest faith to my
design would require searching out a LOT of uncommon or outright rare
pieces, many expensive. With this in mind I budgeted and started
collecting, all the while keeping my eyes on the Lego sites like MOC
Pages, watching and learning from master builders.
A year and a half later I'd scavenged up enough from Bricklink to start
building. The build itself stretched out over the better part of a year
as I found, continuously, that I was always short of some key pieces
that held up finishing the project. But, finish it I did.
Build notes will follow in the next photoset/video showing the internals.
Hope you've enjoyed my foray back into Lego.
EDIT: forgot to mention that this is one of four variants that I'm photographing. More to come.
Better resolution pics on my Flickr account.
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