Here is what the inside of a Warhammer 40k Baneblade would look like IRL, as one amazing artist made this cut-away poster a few years ago for a promo.
You might be taking your time painting up a Baneblade during the pandemic. If you want some more inspiration, check out what John R Mullaney designed as the cut-away poster for the Baneblade the last, last time Apocalypse hit the shelves in 2013. He’s no stranger to designing art like this either.
This job evolved over several months. Given the brief of ‘Cathedral meets WWII Sub’ , this was the perfect excuse to visit the Submarine Museum in Gosport for reference to get the interior vibe right. Otherwise my main source of reference was Games Workshop’s beautifully in-house painted artwork – very gothic and dark imagery.
These details are over the top so sit back, buckle up, and take a deeper look into what a real-life Baneblade might look like.
What Would the Inside of a Baneblade Look Like IRL?
This job evolved over several months. Given the brief of ‘Cathedral meets WWII Sub’, this was the perfect excuse to visit the Submarine Museum in Gosport for reference to get the interior vibe right. Otherwise, my main source of reference was Games Workshop’s beautifully in-house painted artwork – very gothic and dark imagery.
With everything done completely by hand, some serious time, love, and imagination went into this piece. Check out each compartment of this fortress on tracks.
Breaking Down the Compartments
The main turret is actually where most of the crew is located. From two gunners to one Servitor-looking loader, it’s tight quarters.
Looking at the core of the tank, a Scribe Servitor writes down all of the navigational codes and litanies.
The lights are powered by some Servo skulls acting as batteries and a single gunner is crammed next to the demolisher cannon. That’s gotta be a pretty sucky spot to be in. But hey, anything is better than a Guardsmen on foot, right?
Lastly, in the next room over, a servo skull bolted to the gun acts as some optics for the operator next door. Looking at the doorway, you can see some flying servo skulls moving around the main body of the tank to make sure everything operates smoothly.
While the Baneblade is a massive war machine, it’s actually mostly run on servos and candlelight. Remember, however, that the Mechanicum cherry picks crew members for each of their tanks to make sure that the machine spirit would be pleased. Even with just a handful of free-thinking crewmembers on board, they’re highly trained specialists for their specific job.
Did you expect to see more crewmembers operating this massive beast? Which position in the tank would you want to be in?
About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, King of sprues.
