This is Ugly Duck I. Ud1 is a light weight very fast tank that uses a gravity reduction unit to fly. This machine weighs around 4.5 tons, but if the "parking break" is off the wind can blow it down the street. Most of the main onboard systems are redundant for safety and long duration missions. Space operations are not recommend but the combination of ion engines and other systems make it possible. The crew of two ride in a very confined space were they are suspended by a system of airbags. Information is displayed on the crews visors as there is no direct vision to the outside. Only a few people are willing to crew these small tanks, but the people that like them really like them.
This model is called Ugly Duck because that is how the shape came to me. The marshland setting seemed like a natural location too. The main body is made of polymer clay that was baked solid in an oven.
I wanted to show an unusual location that armor models don't normally hang out in. I modeled the marsh after the local wetlands near my house. The base is made of dirt and clear resin with gloss paint. The grass is from a cheap cleaning brush.
This model is 1:35 scale and about 6" long, very compact.
I made the driver and gunner out of kit parts and sculpting.
Many of the details are from kits but the added armor, main ion engines, and the tail/wings are carved from styrene sheet. The gun is an electric plug a friend gave me.
