Zoids Raynos Tallyessen

1/72 RZ-039-T Raynos "Tallyessen" (Lady Blood Special)

History:
The Tallyessen is a one of a kind Raynos built for arms fortune heiress, Lady Blood. Its distinguishing characteristics are its high speed turning and vertical flight abilities combined with a more powerful punch in forward facing weaponry. The improved flight abilities stem from the mounting of two large nozzles capable of vectoring thrust in a multitude of directions, allowing the Tallyessen to achieve an almost 360 degree sphere of movement on its central axis. This gives the Tallyessen the ability to acquisition and stay with almost any target type on the battlefield, ground or air. While able to keep up with other targets, the Tallyessen is itself, a hard target to keep in sight thanks to its maneuverability. On the rare occasion that the Tallyessen is acquisitioned in an enemy's sights, it can make use of four rockets mounted on the tail. Two rockets face back and two face to each side. With a quick boost from any of these rockets, the Tallyessen can achieve a quick jump forward or to either side. Thanks to these rockets being mounted on the already movable tail, their sphere of motion is even more pronounced. These amazing turning abilities come at a price to the Tallyessen's straight line speed which drops significantly from a standard Raynos' Mach 3.3 to Mach 1.2. The only limit to the Tallyessen's maneuverability in itself is how much stress the pilot's body can take from such extreme G forces.

Although lacking the rear facing weaponry of a standard Raynos, the Tallyessen carries more than enough forward firepower. The three 30mm cannons have been replaced with a 20mm vulcan, that while carrying smaller ammunition, flies at a much higher muzzle velocity, allowing for longer range shooting. The smaller ammunition also allows more of it to be carried and the nature of a means the entire amount of ammunition can be fired without the barrel overheating. This lower punch, higher range weapon works in tandem with two medium range 40mm cannons capable of shattering the armor of many small Zoids and weakening some larger types as well. Finally, the Tallyessen carries two medium range heat seeking missiles for situations when the kinetic weapons won't do. To aid in pilot safety during attack runs, the clear canopy has been replaced with a screen type canopy with armor plating, thereby heightening pilot survivability. Finally, the standard Raynos legs have been replaced with longer, lighter legs using an experimental type of armor. These legs give the Tallyessen more ground clearance for its nozzles when landing and also allow its talons to be used in more ways for melee combat.

Overall, the RZ-039-T makes a splendid attack platform. While not necessarily suited to air superiority, its quick maneuverabilty and powerful weapons make it a worthy adversary in the hands of the right pilot.


About the model:

Built in 2002. Leg joints sourced from Lego Bionicle. One of the first customs, if not THE first to have this. Better builders like Risky have done far more with this concept than I ever did. All rocket nozzles sourced from Gundam. Humbrol light gray, Humbrol Polish crimson, Model Master chrome silver. All covered with a wash of The Detailer black and Testors dull coat lacquer. Yes, it can still walk.

Approximate construction time: 15 hours.