Hammerhead Mk 9 - MBT Missile Platform

One of the last tanks still in service based around conventional chemical weapon systems, the Hammerhead has been around long enough to see the scope of armored warfare change around the introduction of Ultra Capacitors and Railgun based platforms.  

Originally fitted with a 150mm  smoothbore cannon the Hammerhead proved itself in multiple theaters as an armored platform that could break through and survive both conventional and unconventional warfare.

Now, 45 years past its induction date, the Mark 9 variant of the Hammerhead represents the last chapter of the tank's service life. Deemed unsuitable for a modern mass driver refit, engineers decided to replace the entire weapon system from conventional shell ammunition to a missile platform capable of tracking and targeting air and ground units.

The substantial room in the front of the turret cheeks originally used to store fuel cells for use in partial EV mode were made redundant with power density gains and have been converted to house 2 revolving auto loaders capable of carrying 8 missiles each. The directional doppler radar, multi-spectrum optics, and advanced FCS systems help find targets even obscured by optical and thermal concealment and while relatively slow, the missile payload is highly adaptable and capable of defeating many types of countermeasures with decoys, shielding, and split warheads.

Up-armored with EERA, a point defense laser battery and technically only requiring a crew of one overseer, the Mark 9 Hammerhead's mixture of affordability, reliability, and ubiquity make it a strong choice for embattled governments in the years ahead.

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Process timelapse can be found here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdsSZF…

The original art for this was done in Sketchbook Pro around 2014 at the start of my Recon Vehicle project. I liked the tank a lot but felt (maybe wrongly) that making a recon vehicle could be more interesting than making a tank. Every 6-8 months I considered finishing this piece.

It was only recently, with my purchase of an iPad Pro that I had the time to noodle around with this while watching TV and the like. Instead of taking the design further with more thumbnails I just found myself noodling around on it in Procreate - which is why if you watch the process video you see me trying out dozens of little tweaks and changes - and only towards the end making sure some perspective issues were in check. (Curse procreate for not including an ellipse tool!!!!)

Once the bulk was done, I finalized values, composition, and lighting in Photoshop.

Hope you guys like it. I know in some ways this is a bit more on the "Form" side of things, so some functionality has been sacrificed. Feel free to point it in any case! I really enjoy theory crafting discussions