Category: Modelling and Painting Articles

War Rig

John Lambert shows off his Gaslands mean machine

Here’s My War Rig ready for the Christmas Gaslands Game! I’m pleased with how it came out and here’s how I did it. I made it from a Tonka Articulated Lorry, which comes with a load of crates or plastic pipes.

Tractor Unit
I drilled out the rivets connecting cab to chassis. I covered the yellow cab with paint stripper and the next morning it was ready to go. I drilled a hole in the bonnet for the air intake, then added a new bonnet. The air intake was made from Plastic tube and plasticard. I ditched the plastic exhausts and replaced with aluminium tubing. Over the front wheel arches, I added armoured covers from platic strapping and secured them with lengths of chain. I added mesh for the windows and the radiator.
For the Chassis, I added spikes to the wheels using carpet tacks then used cross stitch mesh for the panels covering the rear wheels. For the ram, I built two ‘I’ section girders out of the front to support the ram fashioned from 30 thou plasticard.

Trailer Unit
Fr the chassis, I added spikes and armour as for the tractor unit. For the rear ram, I used an old cartridge from a razor which I covered with plastic strapping armour. I added a mesh surround for a lower fighting platform.

I used plastic waste pipe for the tank, scribing plastic circles for the ends and added strips around the pipe with 20 thou plastic card. I added a ladder from the cross stitch mesh and added details on the rear to simulate fuel unloading equipment.

I built the fighting top using Evergreen rods and girder sections and the front and back panels were from the plasticard I’d used for the tank ends. I covered the floor with panels from plastic strapping added randomly. The Gatling gun was scratchbuilt using plastic rod and tube and the crew figure was one I’d got from Marcus. I finished off the trailer with wire cut from mesh.

Finishing Off
I followed a method shown on U Tube by ‘Vengeful Raider’ . I sprayed Matt Black then applied several very thin coats of dark grey paint. The next step was a dry brush of Gun Metal followed by a dark brown wash. Finally I applied Matt black using a sponge. This gave a good beaten up look and helped break down the large surfaces of the tank and cab. I added a thin brown wash over the chrome exhaust system. For the chequer plate armour, I started with thin layers of red brown followed by a gunmetal drybrush. For the chassis armour, I dry brushed red brown and then Yellow Ochre for the rust. Finally, I painted on the slogans, though I might add some flags later.

Just got to think of a name, I’d thought of ‘The Ark of Redemption’ or ‘Destiny’s Child’.

That’s the end, and it will be for you if you suffer a Piledriver attack from this beast.

Gaslands – Pimp your ride !

John Lambert provides some background and details on our Gaslands Christmas game, and give tips on converting Matchbox cars into post-apocalyptic racers:

As you are aware, one of our Christmas games will be Gaslands featuring a War Rig (I’m building one). For the game it is expected that participants will bring a Hot Wheels/ Matchbox “1/64 scale” vehicle to the meeting, there will be spares available though it’s much more fun and rewarding to build your own. Each vehicle build is points costed and the limit for each vehicle will be 25 cans (there’s a download file on the Yahoo group with basic vehicle costs and available upgrades). The best store to grab your vehicle is ASDA. They stock both manufacturers and are generally the cheapest.

With your prized possession safely at home, it’s time to decide what to do. Go to the Quickplay download sheet on the Yahoo group and determine the class of the vehicle you have chosen. This will give you the vehicle cost and the build slots available. There are build slot costs and cans costs for each weapon. Add it all together and get your total vehicle costs. If you have spare cans, there are perks available which can be added later.

Conversion work can be as simple or complex as you like, the key is to make it as cheap as possible so scavenge as much as possible and think about how you can use it. Do bear Health and Safety in mind though! Cable ties cut into pieces makes good side rams/armour or a minigun ammo belt. Paperclips make good gun barrels or mounts for electrical weapons. The insides of a redundant computer mouse can provide a number of suitable components. Plastic case strapping makes good chequer pattern armour plate and cocktail sticks or carpet tacks can be added as spikes, just use your imagination. There are numerous Youtube videos that do a really good job and provide lots of inspiration, J H Miniatures (James Hall) being one of the best contributors. When it’s done, superglue the wheels so it won’t slide down inclines, spray black and drybrush to bring out the details and you’re done.

If you wanted to do something more elaborate then you will need some extra bits and pieces.
Separating into components. Check the base of your car. If it’s screwed together you are in luck. If riveted you will have to drill the rivets out. Use a HSS bit as the metal is quite tough. Support the bonnet and boot from below an take it easy otherwise the bit will wander.

Stripping the paint job. Paint stripper will wreck the plastic parts. With the metal body separated you can strip off the paint to the bare metal. I used paint stripper from Homebase (TX10 for less than £4). You don’t have to remove all the paint and a good effect can be achieved by leaving part of the original paint on

Battle damage. Use a metal burr or the HSS drill bit to gouge the metal, use files to add more damage. For heavy damage I’ve used a plumbers wrench or club hammer.

Mesh Windscreens. Isopon aluminium mesh costs £2 from Halfords. Added inside or out, it hides the need for a driver.

Rust. I spray the metal body with Polyurethane gloss then apply Burnt Sienna wash to the rusted parts, then spray matt acrylic varnish from 2 feet away. This gives the rusted parts some texture which can be highlighted by drybrushing.

Weapons. If you have 1/72nd scale kits, these may supply suitable weapons. Otherwise this store has a range of weapons and bits:- http://www.sgtsmess.co.uk

Plastic Tubing and Plasticard. Evergreen supply a range of tubing and rod. Get a mixed pack, it’s all you will need and can be used to scratchbuild weapons.

Hope you find this useful, and see you at the starting grid sometime!

Slammer Update #1

Tony F shows off some of the new models he’s putting together for next weekend’s extended meeting

If you’ve missed the previous updates, we’ve extended the hours for our August bank holiday weekend meeting, with the club open until 7pm. To take advantage of this, two members are putting on extra-large games catering for lots of players.

My offering is a 15mm science-fiction game set in the Hammer’s Slammers universe of US author David Drake. With around 10-12 players expected to take part we’ll need lots of forces to go round, so I’ve been working away on some new mercenary detachments. The first to be finished is this unit of Foster’s Mercenaries, a specialist air-defence and artillery outfit. They are equipped with huge multi-wheeled Centurion transport vehicles – some are command or transport vehicles, the others armed with howitzers or rapid-firing calliopes. The detachment also has an organic infantry element for local defence.

The vehicles and infantry are all from Brigade Models and you can read a bit more about them on the BM blog, including details on construction and painting. Even better, this is another task knocked off my To-do list for the year 🙂

Sci-Fi Gubbins

Stephen has been tinkering again…

Here’s some sci fi scatter terrain I put together for a recent game. A lot of the parts came from the bits box or shops like Poundland – so it can be very cheap to put together terrain pieces.

As we all know, extraplanetary deserts are well known for having jettisoned escape pods buried in them. And this one’s no different. The escape pod is a Revell 1/144 Apollo Command Module kit. It was mounted on an old CD and then filler was slapped on.

And if alien deserts are known for their escape pods they are just as well known for their enigmatic dinosaur skeletons.

I bought this about a year or so ago in The Works. They had several different dinosaur skeletons, in clear plastic tubes, for about £2 each. So I bought one of each, just in case. This was actually more hassle to put together than it looks like it should be. The trick is filling the rib cage. I used expanded polystyrene bits where the ribs would be (which would also keep the weight down) and then slathered it in filler before pushing the skeleton into it.

The next piece is a generic bit of industrial waste. The wheels and the cement mixer tumbler were from Poundland kids toys. The grey container thing is actually an empty stapler cartridge from an office printer/photocopier.

This bunker/shack/whatever is another bit from a Poundland toy. It’s actually the scoop from a toy tipper truck turned upside down and then bits of plasticard and other odds and ends stuck on.

The fun at Poundland doesn’t stop! I can’t take credit for this one – I stole the idea from someone else on a forum somewhere. It’s a pair of toy guns, the handles cut off and covered with plasticard. The end of the barrel is also cut off and used to make some kind of exhaust vent. Then given a slap of paint.

Yup, finally, more Poundland! A toy truck, tyres removed, and given a new paint-job and rusted up as a derelict.

Sniper in Ghillie Suit

In his third painting update, Andy goes undercover

I’ve had this figure knocking around the paint box for years, so decided it was time to paint him up. If memory serves he was a Eureka Miniatures figure sold by Ground Zero Games in the UK, but I don’t think they are still available.

He (she?) is wearing a Ghillie Suit, but that won’t help much given the somewhat upright pose, I’d have though being prone would be safer.

The figure was undercoated black and painted with a variety of brown and green patches, with a final drybrush to pick out the foliage strands of the Ghillie suit using the same shade of green as used for the base.

Wargames Illustrated Druid

Andy goes all mystical in his second painting report

This figure was free when taking out a WI subscription at shows this year and will likely appear in some Dragon Rampant games.

He’s a little taller than most of my dark Ages figures, but that makes him more imposing!

His overcoat is modelled as if made up of various patches sewn together, so I used Vallejo German Camouflage Dark Brown as the base, with a variety of other browns for the various patches. His under tunic and sleeves were painted a mid-grey and washed with a blue wash.

I used a mix of Medium Flesh Tone and Pale Sand for his skin, as I wanted a pale complexion.

His staff was painted Beige Brown and then washed with Army Painter Dark tone.

Dark Age Vikings

The first of a trio of painting updates from Andy

These are Artizan Design figures, six Hirdmen with two handed axes and two Hirdmen “with spears”. I bought these second hand from Colonel Bill’s.

The spearmen didn’t come with spears, so I gave one of the spearmen a standard, using a brass spear and a “Raven Standard” drawn up in PowerPoint; the other I decided to make a Jarl and gave him a spare sword from a Gripping Beast Plastic Saxon Thegn boxes.

The figures were undercoated black and then block painted in various shades of Vallejo browns, greys and greens. They were then washed in appropriate Army Painter washes, with the quilted leather armour getting a couple of coats.

The two shields were painted plain white on the front and transfers from Little Big Men Studios and Battle Flag applied before varnishing.

Mine all Mine

For some time now I’ve thought that a mining community would make a good place for a medieval skirmish game. Control of resources is a vital part of any warlord’s secure hold and a mine would make a particularly valuable resource.

Carts on tracks going into hillsides is a bit Hollywood. In reality, a lot of early mines (and mines even today) are really about digging holes straight down into the ground and then lowering yourself down them somehow, whether by rope and winch, or electric lifts. It all adds up to the same.

I decided that I’d make several mineheads with different contraptions to lower miners and raise the ore. They are, of course, variations on a theme.

The main winch was made from dowelling.

Thick linen thread was used for the ropes to lash it all together. Brass rod was used to make hooks and metal work (actually, the winch handle was made from a thin nail), and the bucket was a resin item out of the spares box.

I had to make a decision about the basing of the winch. In reality this would be pegged to the ground. But I wanted to give an impression of depth, that the shaft was going somewhere. So I decided to mount them on a raised area that I would then texture. This would give some suggestion of depth and I could argue the mound was a spoil heap. This was made from a half-inch donut of expanded polystyrene.

The winch was then glued on to this and once this had all dried the styrene was then shaped. And when that was done it was all covered with some filler.

I made up a special rubble scatter mix from sand and broken up pieces of dried filler. I then slapped PVA glue generously to the mound and poured the rubble scatter over it, pressing it down firmly before pouring off the excess.

Then on to painting. It was always going to be a drab model – brown on brown. But once painted I thought I’d put a bit of static grass on it, especially around the edges, so that the piece blends in with the table.

And finally something to set the scene.

These mineheads were very simple to make and took surprisingly little time.

This mining colony will make a good, and different, setting for a raid scenario. Although these pieces were made to a medieval style, they are pretty universal well into the early modern period. Only with the industrial revolution did things change. They were actually made for an upcoming game of Dragon Rampant, so if you fancy having a go at some ransacking and looting then come along to the club and have a go.

Medieval Metropolis

Open Day update from Stephen:

For my Open Day game I am going to need a lot of buildings because the game is set in a medieval town. Fortunately, I already have plenty, but a few more wouldn’t do any harm because I want it to be crammed to give the idea of an enclosed town with narrow streets..

So this post is about how I go about making buildings.

To be honest, I don’t start with a clear plan and impression of what it’s going to look like. I know how big I will want it and I know what size footprint it must have (after all, I’ve got to store it) but I don’t start the building process with some end image in mind. I think that’s how it should be for a medieval building – make it up as you go. That way you stand more chance of recreating that higgledy-piggledy medieval look.

For this building I did know I wanted it to be made of stone with a tile roof. So I got some Wills Scenic embossed styrene sheets and made some boxes. I decided I wanted some different elevations as well. So one tall box and one not so tall box.

The windows were previous castings I had made. I had enough spare so I didn’t have to cast any more. You can check a previous article about how I make windows for buildings.

You will notice I decided to have a second floor doorway. This means I can add a wooden stairway and platform so there will be a different surface and texture which also adds to the medieval look. Likewise I decided to include a wattle and daub lean to – again, this will provide another texture. The wooden beams on the roof ends and lean to are simply card strips. Then the area in between the beams is given a coating of PVA glue and sand is sprinkled on.

At this point it gets left over night for everything to dry. Where the styrene cladding meets on the corners there are often gaps. This is remedied with a bead of milliput. Since that could obscure some of the stone pattern I then go back with a cocktail stick to scribe it back in and take it to the edges to make the stone work look continuous. Now to tile the roof – I make tiles from heavy paper/card. The stuff used by water-colourists is good because it is textured. I cut strips of card then snip it almost to the edge to make the tiles rather than cut individual tiles. You then stick the tiles on in strips, starting at the bottom, and making sure they overlap. You can cut out the odd individual tile and stick it on a bit wonky to make it look like a slipped tile. When the glue has dried you just trim the edges.

Once construction is complete I give the model a spray of a single flat colour. This helps tie it all together and you can see if anything is needed. What I forgot to do on this model is add a chimney! I usually add the chimney before the tiles but on this occasion I had to add the chimney afterwards. The pot is made from the end of an old felt tip pen.

Whilst that was all drying I made the stairs. Nothing special about this, just out with the balsa. Originally I was going to keep the area under the stairs open and put a barrel or log pile under it. But it didn’t look right and so I decided to enclose the stairs in the final model. Again, I think this suits this particular building better.

With construction complete it’s time to slap some paint on it. I’m not a fan of stark black/grey for stone. It just looks wrong. Very few stones are actually grey. Limestone was a popular building material in the middle ages and limestone is not grey. I kept the grey undercoat and then added a dark brown wash (I actually used GW Agrax Earthshade). When that had dried I gave it a heavy dry brush with khaki. I then gave it three of four lighter dry brushes using a mix of khaki, light grey, and finally a barely off white. The tiles were done using a terracotta/rust colour. The wooden stairs and gantry were given a basic coat of khaki and then washed with the Agrax Earthshade. It is then dry brushed with khaki and succeeding dry brushed coats have a bit of grey (but not as much as the stone work) added.

Weathering is done using a dark green (I used Tamiya XF5). Pay attention to the base, where it could be mold and damp rising, and to areas that could be sheltered and stay wet (under the eaves, in crevices, etc). I then also gave it some more weathering and shading using the Agrax Earthshade just to reinforce corners. And that’s about it, really, apart from basing using a mix of various model railway ballasts and a bit of static grass.

What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?

At the next meeting we are having a game of Sword & Spear. We’ve played it couple of times and really enjoy the game. What’s so good is that both sides are involved in the game at all times, so you don’t have to just sit back and take a good kicking without being able to do anything about it.

It’s going to be a 15mm game with Romans against Sarmatians. So ahead of the game I’ve been building some Roman buildings – a camp, a villa, and a couple of houses. All to help create that Roman feel to the games table.

All buildings are scratchbuilt to 15mm scale/height/however-you-want-to-think-about-it. Made from a variety of bits and pieces – cocktail sticks, milliput, balsa, card, foamboard, and some filler.
Then just a matter of slapping some paint on. I decided to give them a bit of external colour. We know the Romans painted the inside of their buildings and I decided to elaborate on that and give the outside some decoration as well. I’m pretty sure they would have done as well.

If you fancy giving Sword & Spear a go then pop along and you’d be more than welcome to join in – whether you see yourself as a mounted barbarian from the Black Sea, or a Provost from the hills of Rome!