What a find! The MK1 Rhino - how we love you.

I have always been a fan of what is now known as the MK1 Rhino.
It came out around the same time I was reading Rogue Trader and ever since I've always had a fondness (not unlike the original Land Raider which is still awesome - see the bottom of this post for more!)
Now, why am I waxing lyrical about this?
Well my friend Simon was at the St Vincent de Paul the other day and found me a Mk1 Choas Marine Rhino.
 

Contents

Front box art

Back of the box - slightly blurry - the Gods of Chaos warped the camera obviously.

To the (left) you will see the box contents.
This is the 2nd generation MK1 Rhino, moulded in grey plastic rather than the tan of the original.
Being that this is the Chaos Rhino, you also get two nifty Chaos spikey sprues!

Original Night Lords colour scheme from the side of the box. Notice the subltely done spikey bits...!

The front box art (left) is from the release of the (then lead) Chaos Space Marine armour sets.
These and the box art were followed up pretty quickly by the plastic Chaos Space Marines and different box art.
Personally I really like this art. It's moody and effected by the 'Fog of War'. It's not chapter-specific and just looks great!!

The rear box art (left)shows the then-new metal Chaos Space Marines. Night Lords were big then. I'm not sure if they had linked the Black Legion with the Sons of Horus/ Luna Wolves yet - either way - no one cared about Horus! It was all Night Lords. The World Eaters were off sharpening their chainswords or something and the Death Guard weren't taking showers - but the Night Lords were out and about!

So MK1 Rhinos; AWESOME! Very happy. Will make a lovely companion piece to my War Hounds Space Marine.

So the Mk1 Rhino has a special place in everyone's heart (if not you're probably not reading this).

Background:
The Rhino is the backbone of the Space Marine Chapters. In the old days the Imperial Guard and the Squats used to use them too - but that's all been written out now, so... well there you go!

The Rhino:
The original Rhino was a pretty basic kit; the hull was basically identical horizontal halves, there was the sides with the tracks moulded on, to top hatches and a larger troop access hatch, plus some cool round side doors.

This original kit was replaced by a more advanced and superior kit a few years back, which is a joy to make and paint, but there's still a soft spot for the old MK1

Last year, Forge World released the Deimos Pattern Rhino - which was effectively a way to tie the two different Rhino models together in the universe.

It's a really nice reimagining of the original design with all the advantages of the new moulding and tooling, with the retro look of the original design.
(I will get one eventually...)

If you're interested, their Rand Raider Proteus is a beautiful looking model and closer to the original Rogue Trader era Land Raider.
(Also being budgeted for...)

The new mythos puts both these tanks in the Horus Heresy era - which is fair enough I suppose!

Rogue Trader era Rhino Box Art - Picture courtesy of DakkaDakka forum -

Forge World Deimos Pattern Rhino

Below - Space Marine and Imperial Guard Rhinos from the Rogue Trader era. 
Note that camouflage was big back then! This is of course now not canon...

If you've read this far for the Land Raider - here you go!

The original Land Raider box.

The Land Raider sprues.

The Land Raider mode, minus the las-cannons.

The very original Land Raider

The Land Raider, probably the most iconic of Space Marine tanks, was originally a kit bash to appear in the Rogue Trader rule book (bottom right). Notice the different guns and chassis for example.
So popular was the picture that a kit was introduced.
In reality it wasn't available for long and was out of circulation for a very long time until the newer and bigger version came along.
In the original canon, the Land Raider saw service with all Imperial units, including as an Ogryn personnel carrier.