Hinged Side Door for a Rhino

Well it was a busy weekend but I did manage to get a little hobby time in. I wanted to tackle a problem that had been vexing me for a while: how do I hinge the side door of a Rhino so it will open? After several attempts that all failed I came on this idea:

First off I drilled out the hinges on a standard Rhino door and slipped a thin wire through. I also applied a small 'v-bend' to the wire which I hoped would act as a bit of extra tension on the door. It looks like this:

After looking at the door action I decided that the front side of the door along the bottom edge between the hinges would require a little bit of a beveled edge to allow the door to swing fully down. Here is a view of the front of the Rhino door with the hinge wire and the beveled edge:

The next step (which is the tricky part) was to cut two angled cuts into the side of the Rhino to allow the hinge wire to sit flush with the side of the Rhino. The cuts are small but there is a fair amount of detail around so I had to be careful. Here is a view of the cuts that need to be made:

You can see that the wire will sit in these little grooves and along the inside edge of the step. This is where I applied the glue that holds the whole assembly together and allows the door to swing on its hinges (like it should). Here is the door glued in place:

A little contour putty to blend over the cuts and wire and you should never know that it is there. The best thing is the wire adds a bit of tension to the door which allows it to stay closed, partially open, or fully opened (or any position in between). Here are some views of the door in action:

I am pleased with the results and once the putty has dried I will snap some more pictures of the finished area. Thanks for looking!

Blood Angel Rhino with blood drop top

Well it was a busy weekend but I did manage to get some hobby time in. I needed to repair one of my Baal Predators which I managed to do with the help of some small magnets. That left me some time to work on a basic Rhino for my Tactical Squad. The Rhino assembly went smoothly and when it was done I felt it needed a little something more especially on the top. I added some Forgeworld Blood Angel doors but still felt it needed something more. After all, I see the Blood Angels as Gaudy Gothic.

I know that I have a Death Company Rhino coming up and for that I want to include a plasticard "x" on the top so I thought I would practice the technique a bit on the current Rhino build. While an "x" would not work I thought I would try and make a 'blood drop' that covers the top hatch a bit. For a freehand attempt at a large blood drop I think it turned out rather well. I even managed to line up the hatch lines so it looks like the top hatch still opens.

Here are a couple of pictures of the completed build:

Here is a close up view of the top hatch:

While I was at it I thought I should go ahead and include a Razorback option for it just in case:

That should be all of the 'rhino-based' vehicles that I need to assemble for my adventure in England. Next up on the build desk will be a Furioso Dred and then swarms of assault marines. Thanks for looking and comments are always welcome!