Infinity (or other near future games) - Matchbox Drones

I found a couple of Matchbox toys which could be useful for games like Infinity. The toys are called SB94 Drones. They are diecast metal, painted in a sporty lime green, with little missiles on pylons moulded under each wing. (Not PC, Matchbox, but no worse than any other armed toy.) They were for sale at a local supermarket, for AUD 3.50 each. Bargain!

The missiles aren't very well moulded but will stand out fine with a good paintjob. The propellers and landing gear are plastic, and they can turn (or at least they would if they weren't gummed up with paint.) The other details such as cameras and panel lines are at the level you'd expect for a toy of this type, just like doors and mirrors on a Matchbox or Hot Wheels car.

Since these are fictional drone aircraft, scale is up to you - they could be anything from model aircraft to airliner size. I have included an old 28mm scale figure for comparison. In a roleplaying or miniatures game these could be props, objectives or actual UAVs.

The Matchbox paintjobs are actually quite thick. If you look closely at the starboard wing of the drone behind the figure in the overhead photo, you can see a chunk of paint is missing from a mid air collision (which happened in my car on the way back from the supermarket). If you were really keen, you could strip the paint off and start again. I didn't bother.

I gave them a coat of Tamiya grey primer, which was the only grey spraypaint I had handy. Next will come some markings, perhaps an Evil Corporation, and picking out panel lines, weapons and surveillance equipment. The underside of the drones has the usual manufacturer's and copyright information, in raised lettering. I didn't bother removing it, but you could probably file it off.

 

28mm - Armorcast resin scenery: Dumpsters!

I bought two resin dumpsters (large rubbish bins) in 28mm scale. They are from Armorcast - the same company who make the Mega Cannon, although I purchased them from an eBay store called Players' Cove.


The dumpsters as they appear in the Armorcast store website.



The dumpsters scale well for 25-28mm, whether you are using realistic or heroic proportioned figures. They look like the type with big plastic lids, so they are probably suitable for settings from the 1980s to near future/cyberpunk. I would certainly recommend them for skirmish games or roleplaying games where you use figures and like a little more scenery. They are also detailed enough to suit a diorama or display.



The pictures show the dumpsters with 1990s Grenadier 'Future Warriors' miniatures, in 28mm scale, and a Games Workshop plastic Catachan Imperial Guardsman, for scale.

The surface of the closed bin had a lot of little air holes, which is not something I had found on the Mega Cannon. These will have to be filled with glue or putty, although the 'urbanised' paintjob I am planning will mean that they won't be as much of a worry as they would be, for instance, on the body of a clean looking car. The open dumpster shows a lot of garbage, some overflowing. Good for gritty city scenes. There was also a little flash or overflowing resin on both models, but it was easily clipped off and sanded back. You would have to do that anyway for large resin kits, so it's not a big problem.


Armorcast Mega Cannon as it appears on their website.

Note: I built the Mega Cannon back in 2008 but haven't gotten around to painting it yet. A tip for prospective Mega Cannoneers - the working parts actually do work, but only if you glue them together in the right places. I didn't :(

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!

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 - Old Crow Models

I purchased three vehicles from the 25mm range on the Old Crow Models website.

Samson Engineering Vehicle (tracked version)

Gecko Scout Car

Provider Transport

They are nice resin models, in a well proportioned 25mm scale. This makes them slightly too small for WH40K, but suitable as scenery, or for use in RPGs, etc, as props with 25-28mm figures. There was no extra resin to carve off, or flash to trim - these are top quality model kits at a reasonable price (ten pounds stirling)

They are moulded in parts - The Samson comes as hull, chassis(which can be different in other models, eg grav, wheeled or tracked), turret and several pieces to make the crane. The Gecko is just car body and separate wheels. The Provider is truck body, wheels, crates. All come with extra details in white metal, including exhausts, tow hooks etc. The website is pretty clear on construction and parts.

(Pics are taken from the Old Crow Models website and are owned by them.)