Lego - 8285 Tow Truck for a song

I found a bargain in the Boxing Day sales: a Technic Lego Tow Truck (set number 8265, from 2006) for AUD $20 at Kmart! It's a big set, and I haven't decided whether to build it or sell it. The box is a bit ratty but it looks like all the parts, instructions and stickers are intact.

WH40K - New Battlewagon

I have seen the Battlewagons in my local GW store and they do look a lot better than the photos suggest. They are more squat than they look in the pics. They are also very modular: The turret can be fitted on the rear or the cab. The jaw piece hinges, or can be left off, revealing a more conventional truck-like front. Also, the lid comes off the rear section, making it more of an open topped car, and the small turrets and guns are all interchangeable. Price in Australian dollars: $75 or $85 apparently. Touch and go if I will buy more than one. Or two...

Wish list:
- one or two Battlewagons
- one more adding detail to my long postponed second Battlebarge/Tankboat.
- one for bits to add to the WALL-E Stompa.

A thought strikes me: the Stompa should have a stupid joke acronym name like "WAAAGH Attack: Lots 'n Lotsa Enfoosiasm"... I think I can do better than that.

Edit: Cyborg Trucker also demonstrates some deep orky enthusiasm.

28mm - Armorcast Resin Scenery - MegaCannon

Another company making resin scenery for 28mm and other scales: Armorcast.

They have a great range of figures, scenery and weapons, from which I have purchased the MegaCannon. It looks very impressive in the pics; I will have to see how well it goes together when it arrives.

This outrageous weapon will either become a weapon arm for an Ork Stompa, or an emplacement for the Boyz (or the Imperials. When the fighting gets nasty and the scenery takes some hits, sometimes it's only the graffiti that tells you who owns a particular piece of turf.)


If the Armorcast MegaCannon is good, I might return to their site and buy some of their Soda Can Storage Tanks. These are resin bases and fittings that suit a standard sized (American) soft drink can, turning it into a piece of scenery. As the site says:

Upside down soda/soft drink cans look cool as storage tanks, but what do you do about the depression in the top of the can? Armorcast has solved the problem for you with Soda Can Storage Tank kits. You supply the cans and Armorcast provides a base with recesses for two or three upside down soft drink cans and detail pieces that fit into the tops of the cans. Drink a soda, build gaming terrain and recycle at the same time!

Very imaginative. It's what gamers have been doing for ages, but the resin pieces turn an objet trouvee into a work of art.

28mm - Ramshackle Games - 28mm Postapocalyptic Vehicles

Increasing my collection of 28mm scale vehicles for Cyberpunk and/or postapocalyptic roleplay, I found Ramshackle Games' Website. I ordered the armoured Quad and the Truck, as a generic transport vehicle for my future world.

I have also decided to paint the second Old Crow Models Trojan in a sort of splintered olive drab/grey-black scheme, a bit like a WW2 Stuka or a modern Swedish AFV.

These pictures are from the Ramshackle Games website, showing the vehicles I bought:

Old Crow Models - Other people's work

Here are a couple of sites I found where people have painted their own versions of Old Crow Models vehicles:

http://wastedroads.blogspot.com/2007/11/road-warrior-another-update.html

http://marks-minis.blogspot.com/2008/01/old-crow-grav-tanks-preview.html (15mm tanks)

http://brandlin.blogspot.com/2008/01/creating-grymn-force-ii_12.html

and this is a very good painting guide (PDF):

http://www.kevindallimore.co.uk/pdf/web%20THUNDERBOLT_RGB.pdf

If I see any more I will add to this post.

Old Crow Models - Trojan in Digital Camouflage

Here's the Trojan in Digital Camouflage. It's just Tamiya sprays on masking tape, Citadel black on the tyres and gun barrel and a little Citadel Tin Bitz on the exhaust. A little thinned out black brushed along the panels. Could do with some dirt, and detail painting; maybe some tactical signs or unit markings.

Metamorphosis Alpha

Another mention for the blog - this time on the forum for Metamorphosis Alpha.
MA is a post-apocalyptic roleplaying game of humans, androids and mutants.

MA4e is the 4th edition of the world’s first Sci-Fi RPG. It is designed to be playable, and not to get bogged down in rules. It is flexible, and values fun over mechanics. The game has been developed by a small team of dedicated Metamorphosis Alpha enthusiasts, supervised by James M. Ward himself.
This game has been a long time coming. The game has evolved a lot since 1976. The new version of the game has tried to emulate the original 32 page book, in that the mechanics are simple and functional. The adventure begins, as per the original, on the Starship Warden, a massive ship that has experienced disaster. Rather than just simple radiation, as in the first edition, the ship has been exposed to radiation, mutation-causing substances and aliens. It is a busy place to wake up in!

Mmm... kill all humans... hey sexy mama... wanna go kill all humans?

28mm - Old Crow Models - Revisiting digital camouflage

In a previous post I decided I would paint my Baneblade variants in digital camouflage. This idea was dropped due to the difficulty I had masking the digital squares on the riveted, panelled surfaces of the Baneblades. However, it might just work on a couple of the Old Crow models. Time to dig out the old Tamiya masking tape!

WH40K - Stormhammer on Swedish forum

The Stormhammer got a mention on a Warhammer 40,000 forum in Sweden!
http://tok.sverok.net/e107_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?11510.0
According to the google translation, they were asking each other when a Stormhammer model would be available. One answer was to convert one - and the example given was mine.
Thanks guys!

PS: For those who came in late: A Stormhammer is a variant of the Baneblade. It has only appeared as a production model for Epic scale games, but several people have converted or scratchbuilt their own. Armaments include two x twin linked battlecannon, four or five twin linked heavy bolters and four lascannon. The battlecannon can be substituted with demolition cannon, depending on how the model was converted.

WH40K - Drop Pod Conversion Ideas

Am I the only person who looked at the drop pod and immediately thought 'space train'? There have been some really great train conversions and builds recently. So, I think the panels and parts of the pod will be very useful in giving whatever I build that Imperial look.
Anyone else got crazy pod conversion ideas? The center engines will definitely go in a new Ork Fighta, and the wing panels could be wings of some sort of super-speeder।

Yes, a space train। In space!
(Actually a train on a futuristic industrial planet. There have been some amazing conversions and builds on Work In Progress)
http://z11.invisionfree.com/Work_In_Progress/index.php?showtopic=13068
http://z11.invisionfree.com/Work_In_Progress/index.php?showtopic=12730

WH40K - Comparing Old Crow Models to Warhammer 40,000

The Old Crow Models are nicely proportioned 25mm scale vehicles.
Warhammer 40,000 models are exaggerated 28mm scale. Here are some shots comparing the two types:

28mm - Old Crow Models - Basecoats

Samson Engineer Vehicle
Trojan APC

Gecko Pickup
Goanna Scout
Provider Transport (Crates come off) Rebel Light Utility Vehicle

A while ago I put some paint on the Old Crow Models vehicles. These are 25mm resin vehicles, suitable for near future science fiction wargames or roleplay. I chose the wheeled versions (and all the wheels are the same mould) and went for cars that would be useful in a Cyberpunk or similar world.

All of these vehicles were built "as is". The smaller ones came as an entire moulding, except for the wheels. The larger ones were generally a top and bottom half, as you can also get hover and grav variants on the Old Crow Models website. You also get a few white metal details like exhaust pipes and bumper bars. The Trojan comes with a choice of weapons. I used the autocannon, which comes with a white metal barrel. There are also rocket or missile launcher versions. The Samson's crane turret is about 6 pieces, and I added the hook to the end.

Detail painting is needed; this will happen when I get around to it... like everything else.

WH40K: Warhammer 40,000 Motivational Poster

A motivational poster (or demotivational poster) for Warhammer 40,000:

WH40K: Imperial Guard Armour

I have mentioned a couple of times the various combinations of vehicles and weapons that evolved from Project: Bull Grox and Project: Tank With Too Many Guns. (The Baneblade Recovery Vehicle and the Stormhammer, respectively.)

Here are the Leman Russ variants that I made to escort those beasts:

Leman Russ Vanquisher. This is a plastic Leman Russ, with a plastic Baneblade battlecannon.

Leman Russ Vanquisher - Commissar version. Same as the above, but with a mount for devotional readings on the turret and the Aquila plate on the rear deck to inspire the troops following (and protect the Commissar's supply of Tanna brew gear. Crucial for morale.)

Leman Russ Demolisher - built from the box. Originally I had plans to use the Demolisher gun on the Bull Grox but it looked a bit small for the larger tank.

Chimera Manticore - Self Propelled Anti-aircraft Artillery (SPAA). Convertible into a Chimera Tracked Load Carrier (TLC or Tilly). The SPAA is useful in Apocalypse games - but keep it protected because it has very low armour. The Tilly is good as an objective or just scenery. The missile launcher is of course from the Space Marine Whirlwind - but with extra bits added. In fact the large missile mounts are glued on to the small missile mounts to give the launcher extra length. I added plates to the launcher box to make it more IG and less Space Marine. Also, half way through building it I realised that there were no hatches for the crew, so there is now a big door in the back.

Wh40K - Bull Grox pics

Here are small versions of the Bull Grox pics for posting to the Librarium Online modelling forum and to Work In Progress Imperial Guard Forum.

WH40K - Bull Grox nearly complete

The Bull Grox - or Baneblade Recovery Vehicle - is nearly complete. I added the manipulator arms - they are pretty much straight out of the WALL-E toy, with a few nuts and bolts added from the tank-traps in the GW scenery kit. (The one with the oil drums and ammo boxes).

I undercoated in Citadel Black and sprayed over that with Tamiya Deck Tan. The strips were already painted on the yellow plastic WALL-E arms, so I just masked with a strip of Tamiya Masking Tape to keep a section of diagonal 'danger stripes'.