By VinceHoffman
Aug 19, 2016
Here are some more detail-oriented before and after shots of my Kodiak rebuild. They ought to prove useful to anyone interested in incorporating these game-accuracy mods into their Kodiak model.
In the first set of before/after pics you can clearly see the extra two studs of width added to the rebuild. The tires no longer protrude past the fenders. The roof was extensively re-worked to eliminate as many exposed studs as possible. The hatches were each re-worked and pushed outboard by one stud. You can now open the one hatch without hitting the cannon barrel. I carefully drilled a hole through the rooftop tile and the center of stud on the supporting plate beneath in order to friction fit the machine gun mount. Finally I totally re-worked the side window armored shutter to fit better.
Next is the cab interior which is arranged very differently from stock. As the Kodiak is not a tracked vehicle, it got a steering wheel in place of the control sticks. There is actually a gas and brake pedal tucked beneath the dashboard. I added ladder rungs and platforms on either side of the cab in order to access both the functional main hatch and the non-functional machine gunner's hatch. Reversing the cannon operator's seat and creating a recess to accommodate his legs in the engine room firewall created room for the machine gun operator's jump seat.
On the far left you can see I pushed the external hatch access ladder rearwards to its proper position and added another rung right behind the main hatch. The removable engine room hatch and surrounding rear deck were totally redone. Getting rid of the munitions crate the MB designers had used allowed for a near perfect reproduction of the in-game vehicle renders. Site rules do not permit the posting of reference pics here. Google "Halo Wars Kodiak pics", zoom in on them and compare. While it goes unseen, I detailed the engine room beneath the hatch as well. Finally I flattened the two studs wider rear deck to accurately reflect the in-game vehicle.
The last two sets of pics were primarily intended to show off the changes I'd made to the stabilizers. But you can also see the huge change I made in how the main cannon is mounted. This change is likely the single most important in my rebuild and addresses the stock model's biggest weakness IMHO. Also seen in these pics is my re-build's most glaring departure from game-accuracy! I managed to get the rear corner and rear central stabilizers pretty much perfect. They fold and stow properly and look right when deployed. However I gave up trying to get the large side stabilizers to stow inverted as they do in-game. I think my recycled "Mantis leg" folding mechanism and reworked stabilizers look much better when deployed. But they are more fiddly to fold and stow than the clunky looking but great working mechanism the MB design team came up with.
Well I hope you all enjoyed this lengthy walk-through of my rebuild. If so, please make a point of saying so in a comment. If you are actually interested in cloning my rebuild and have questions about just how I accomplished some part of the build, ask and I'll answer as well as I'm able.
In the first set of before/after pics you can clearly see the extra two studs of width added to the rebuild. The tires no longer protrude past the fenders. The roof was extensively re-worked to eliminate as many exposed studs as possible. The hatches were each re-worked and pushed outboard by one stud. You can now open the one hatch without hitting the cannon barrel. I carefully drilled a hole through the rooftop tile and the center of stud on the supporting plate beneath in order to friction fit the machine gun mount. Finally I totally re-worked the side window armored shutter to fit better.
Next is the cab interior which is arranged very differently from stock. As the Kodiak is not a tracked vehicle, it got a steering wheel in place of the control sticks. There is actually a gas and brake pedal tucked beneath the dashboard. I added ladder rungs and platforms on either side of the cab in order to access both the functional main hatch and the non-functional machine gunner's hatch. Reversing the cannon operator's seat and creating a recess to accommodate his legs in the engine room firewall created room for the machine gun operator's jump seat.
On the far left you can see I pushed the external hatch access ladder rearwards to its proper position and added another rung right behind the main hatch. The removable engine room hatch and surrounding rear deck were totally redone. Getting rid of the munitions crate the MB designers had used allowed for a near perfect reproduction of the in-game vehicle renders. Site rules do not permit the posting of reference pics here. Google "Halo Wars Kodiak pics", zoom in on them and compare. While it goes unseen, I detailed the engine room beneath the hatch as well. Finally I flattened the two studs wider rear deck to accurately reflect the in-game vehicle.
The last two sets of pics were primarily intended to show off the changes I'd made to the stabilizers. But you can also see the huge change I made in how the main cannon is mounted. This change is likely the single most important in my rebuild and addresses the stock model's biggest weakness IMHO. Also seen in these pics is my re-build's most glaring departure from game-accuracy! I managed to get the rear corner and rear central stabilizers pretty much perfect. They fold and stow properly and look right when deployed. However I gave up trying to get the large side stabilizers to stow inverted as they do in-game. I think my recycled "Mantis leg" folding mechanism and reworked stabilizers look much better when deployed. But they are more fiddly to fold and stow than the clunky looking but great working mechanism the MB design team came up with.
Well I hope you all enjoyed this lengthy walk-through of my rebuild. If so, please make a point of saying so in a comment. If you are actually interested in cloning my rebuild and have questions about just how I accomplished some part of the build, ask and I'll answer as well as I'm able.