Gaslands Power Trip

Gaslands electrical van
approx. 20mm scale

Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch, when we kiss
Danger, danger
High voltage
When we touch, when we kiss, when we touch

All sorts of vehicles end up on the dangerous roads of Gaslands... this one seems to be a common utility van that's been armed with a potent but experimental Arc Lighting Projector! Stranger things have happened...

(Yes, it's absolutely based on the government van that Eleven flips over in "Stranger Things" S1).  Stuff I like about this project: its weapon is a Zoids part that has literally sat in my bitz box for 30 years :) Stuff I don't like so much: my terrible freehand lettering skills are on full display... :(

I also dug into my stash of printed materials and whipped up a basic gasoline storage tank terrain piece or objective marker (I actually have no idea if Gaslands uses these).

Gaslands Jet Set

Gaslands cars
approx. 20mm scale

Raise the sights, the city lights are calling
We're hot tonight, the time is right, there's nitro in the air
In the street is where we'll meet, we're warning
On the beat, we won't retreat, beware

Thousands of cars and a million guitars
Screaming with power in the air
We've found the place where the decibels race
This army of rock will be there

"Go Fasta"

"Hornet":

I don't play Gaslands, but a few things came together and prompted me to have a go at this thrifty flavour of post-apocalyptic modeling.  Over at Sho3box, he's been Gasland-ing the entire Hot Wheels holiday calendar one day at a time... couple that with me being out toy shopping for Christmas, and it was pretty much inevitable.

To try and have a bit of a theme, I picked up two cars with a little... extra in the propulsion department: the "Custom El Camino" and the "2 Jet Z". Sho3box's quick and surprisingly effective conversion protocol leaves the original paintjob intact and adds weathering, but since both these cars lacked colour, I primed and totally repainted them.  Weapons and other additions are from my bitz box (though conversion sprues are available). Results: very satisfactory.  Ready to go hunting in the wastelands!

We have the apocalypse in Ontario, too ;D

(The road signs are from the Ontario government Driver's Handbook website, printed to suitable size. So easy!)

Upcycled tribal terrain

So at work, we recently started receiving solvent bottles in paper fiber packing, replacing styrofoam.  Huge environmental improvement aside, this immediately gave me ideas.  I knew that something could be done with them.

I trimmed the top couple of inches off the "lid" piece:

... and voila!


Ikwen hogans
15 mm scale

Ikwen warriors confront corporate mercenaries on the home front.

Forest Ikwen often live in large huts or hogans, made from pulped and enzymatically-cemented plant material over a frame of megafauna endoskeletons or branches.  As the Ikwen come into conflict with offworld resource-seekers, their hogans often conceal entrances to escape tunnel networks and caches of weaponry.

Also just painted:


Wrecked Adder armored car
15 mm scale

Despite being cheap, fast, and agile, "Adder" combat vehicles are extremely vulnerable to virtually any mid-heavy weapons, from portable railguns to spider mines.

This mangled heap makes for a nice objective or knock-out marker, or just some interesting cover for squishy infantry.  From The Ion Age.

The Great Khanate Returns

Shia Khan Troopers and Armored Vehicle
15 mm

Sentinel of destiny
Enemy engaged
Numbered with the dead
Take your glory to the grave

On the smoky, chaotic battlefield, cris-crossed with lethal energy beams and pounding projectiles, the soldiers of the Shia Khan receive support from numerous tanks and armored transports.  Specialized for steady advance into withering fire, they help their soldiers inch towards yet another objective...

It's been a hot, slow painting month, but I've revisited the Shia Khan, the grinding trench warriors of my SF universe.  Their transport is Alternative Armies' Charger APC, a nicely high/low-tech model which I've up-armored with some sort of force field emitters or cage armour.  I have no idea what that long pole device the one guy is carrying is... a weapon?  Teleport beacon?  Reverse-phase matter depolarizer?  Anyway, it looks cool.

Star Speeder

Scout Speeder
15 mm scale

When the People's Planetary Protectorate military procurement team requested a speeder design from a collective that made agricultural equipment, they really should have known what to expect: a speeder that looks like a tractor.  But, built around a compact power plant designed to drive 30-ton megaharvesters, the unattractive result was what the committee ultimately described as "extremely zippy".

Model is a Ground Zero Games "Eurasian Union Jet Bike".

Forest patrol in a remote area offers an opportunity to "punch it"

Boarding party backup

Chuhuac "Vasseth" Strike Tank - Shipboard Configuration
15 mm scale

Sometimes even a routine policing mission just needs "more dakka", so Chuhuac marines have a special ace up their tail-sheath for boarding actions encountering heavy resistance.  The compact Vasseth tank has been modified for off-planet use; its grav units supplemented with a deployable air-cushion and reaction jet systems for use in centripetal pseudogravity and even limited zero-g maneuvering.  Twin beamer turrets are highly lethal while avoiding explosion damage to friendlies in close quarters.

 I also finished up my remaining few Chuhuac special forces figures to go with this:

The pirates guarding the airlock are about to have a bad day.

Skyward Sentinel

Colabreta Anti-Air/APC Combo
15 mm scale

A distaste for excessive military production leads the People's Planetary Partnership to design flexibility into much of their equipment.  Although this armored infantry transport currently mounts a pair of radar-guided hypervelocity cannons to engage enemy dropships and ground attack flyers, the turret can be rapidly exchanged for a variety of other weapons, sensor suites, or even rescue apparatus for disaster emergency use.

Although it's often frustrating, I still find conversion to be fun and satisfying.  The AA turret here is made from an Ion Age "Moth 88" gun, plasticard, greenstuff and the end of a novelty pen.  Sometimes it's about working with what you've got in your bitz box and not being hung up on your original design (which was rather different).

Amphibious Attack

Amphibious Assault Hovercraft
15 mm scale

I was a bit stalled on my pirates, and my sci-fi roots must have been showing, because I whipped this off in less than a week which is pretty speedy for me.  The hover is of course an Ion Age "Adder Combat Lifter" missile pod variant I've had kicking around for a while.  A nice model; it has its own style but you could use it for a lot of different factions without it looking out of place.

 
The riders are Clear Horizons' Hell Divers, which were the only seated figures I had, but turned out looking perfect.  I painted them to look very "Star Wars clone trooper", without actually intending to.  I just wanted to distinguish them from my other squad and not be green.  I picture this vehicle doing high-speed shore assaults, rapidly disembarking a team of infantry and then falling back to support them with missile strikes.

Corbal Hardpoint... On The Move!

Corbal Mobile Hardpoint
15mm scale

Well, it's done!  This is definitely the biggest project I've done in ages, and although it proceeded painfully slowly at times I have to say I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I went with a white/colour accent scheme because I rather liked the white/red studio paint job on the Ion Age website, and frankly, because it's not too hard to paint a lot of white this way.  Also, I think camouflaging something like a four-storey-tall walking gun tower would be kind of pointless, especially if you want to use it as a "terror weapon".

(Now that I look at it all finished up it does have more than a passing resemblance to a giant walking Dalek... but that's not really a bad thing.)

"Run away!  Run away!"

"Here's the problem, big guy.  You've got some humanoid stuck to your foot."

Ion Age gluttony!

TWO boxes arrived from The Ion Age today... one I ordered, the other turned out to be a birthday gift from my brother.  Score!  The haul:

The tower in the back is a "Corbal Deployable Hardpoint".  Let's just say I've got some special conversion plans for that one...  The shelters are cozy polygonal homes for a military expedition, hard-scrabble terraformers, xenoarchaeologists etc.

Havelock Battlesuit.  It's a beast.

A nice bonus: some interesting free sample figures from Alternative Armies.

Anyway, enough pics of unpainted stuff.  Hopefully I'll be able to show you some finished work in the next few months.

Recon Thing

Riflething Scout Buggy
15 mm scale

Designed for rapid reconnaissance of dense urban areas, this lightly-armoured buggy allows Riflethings to get in and out, relying on speed and good steering to avoid small arms fire.  The driver is protected by slug-resistant, laser-ablative canopy; the gunner is exposed, but packs a punch with a plasma projector whose effects on infantry are best described as "horribly demoralizing".

This was a fun stress buster in the week after baby #2 was born, the chassis painting came together surprisingly quickly, though detailing took a bit of time later.  Frankly, I tried not to sweat the clumsy brushwork too much, in the interests of finishing it quickly.  The display base is as basic as it gets... printed paper on craft plywood, just something to place it on really.

Need for Speed

Riflething Urban Ops Recon Buggy
15 mm scale

This vehicle started life as a Hot Wheels "Max Steel Turbo Racer" toy:

Pretty cool wheels... But I knew I could do better.  Luckily, this toy is almost exactly in-scale (judging by the driver's cockpit), and solidly futuristic-looking, so it didn't need much work.  I swapped the spindly front wheels for some from another car and added a turret (armed with a Space Marine plasma pistol) and Riflething gunner.  I don't do many vehicles to go with my figures, so this is kind of a step out for me.  We'll see how much painting gets done before the baby arrives, but I'll definitely have a go at it...

Third Doctor & TARDIS

The Third Doctor & TARDIS
28mm

I don't do a lot of 28mm painting these days, and these pieces probably demonstrate why.  I got the TARDIS as a Christmas gift last year, and quickly basecoated it... and yeah.  Just finished it this week.  As for the Third Doctor, I've definitely done better paint jobs.  I tried to set up a contrast between his grey wool cloak and his flamboyant clothes underneath, but overall he just isn't that interesting-looking.  Also, there's some pretty slapdash layering on this one :(

The signs on the TARDIS were actually made using this image, printed off on a regular laser printer at 10% zoom.  The result looks amazing, IMO: