Small But Perfectly Formed - Gydran Transport Vehicle

For a long time now I've been on the lookout for a generic non-military sci-fi vehicle. Something with multiple wheels and a cargo area. Something that looks utilitarian and functional. I thought the other day that my search was finally over when Gydran Studio released their resin R3 Exploration Roller vehicle. It has 6 wheels and a removable canopy to make an open or enclosed cargo area. It has the perfect generic sci-fi functional look. Sadly, it proved to be about 50% smaller than I had anticipated, so rather than having a nice hulking exploration vehicle or cargo lugger, the scale of the R3 Exploration Roller is more akin to an airport baggage cart. So the search continues, but nevertheless I now have a cool little vehicle to use alongside my new landing pad!

The Black Maria - An Inquisitorial Transport

I've wanted to make some sort of special forces vehicle for a little while, and had originally bought the Zinge Industries APC conversion kit for my Imperial Guard Kill Team. But it had sat, assembled and unpainted for a couple of years. Having recently completed my Inquisitorial Commandos, I figured I could dust down the APC and paint it up for them.

Cosmic Forces Beyond All Comprehension - Buck Rogers in the 41st Millennium

In the year 1987, at the John F. Kennedy Space Center, NASA launched the last of America's deep space probes. The payload, perched on the nose cone of the massive rocket, was a one-man exploration vessel - Ranger 3. Aboard this compact starship, a lone astronaut - Captain William "Buck" Rogers - was to experience cosmic forces beyond all comprehension. An awesome brush with death: in the blink of an eye, his life support systems were frozen by temperatures beyond imagination. Ranger 3 was blown out of its planned trajectory into an orbit a thousand times more vast, an orbit which was to return the ship full circle to his point of origin - its mother Earth - not in five months, but in 38,000 years. 

I was born in the late 1970s, around about the time that the world got gripped by science fiction. Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers became fixtures of Christmas and Saturday afternoon programming and indelibly etched into my brain.

I don't know what sparked the idea to bring Buck Rogers into the 41st Millenium. I know I chatted about it with cheetor and Curis as part of the 'Choose Your Own Adventurers' project last year. I know I spent several weeks searching on eBay for a Corgi diecast starfighter to adapt. I know I earmarked the pilot from the Rogue Trader adventurers range for the project!

BOYL 2018 (Part 2) - What an (Orky) Tanker!

Following on from Part 1 of my Bring Out Your Lead 2018 (BOYL) report, the Saturday saw me taking part in an all-comers tank battle organised by Whisky Priest. Rather than muddle our way through any of the various vehicle rules published by GW, Whisky Priest was championing 'What a Tanker!' by Too Fat Lardies.

Battle is engaged!

 In order to participate, we just needed to bring a suitable tank. You may have already seen Asslessman's Metal Slug or airbornegrove26's insane Pizza Tank. As of a 10 days ago, I wasn't planning to participate in the game, so hadn't prepped anything of my own. In fact, I didn't feel I had anything suitable to use. Then I asked WP if I could join in, and started delving into my hobby supplies to see what I could put together.

Sadly I lacked any kind of suitable hull. I did have the domed top piece from the GW Shadow War Armageddon terrain, and was wondering if I should procure a second to make a rolling tank. And then I wondered if I could scratch build something...

Keep Them Wagons Rolling

Over the next three weeks of my gaming group's current Necromunda campaign, we're going to be playing a scenario involving the looting of a Guilder caravan. We've said that players can represent the caravan with a suitable vehicle, train of animals, or even a large counter, but I figured I'd like to actually have a specific model.

I started rummaging through my bits and pieces and found a large scifi container given to me by a friend. The size and shape immediately evoked Old West 'Prairie Schooner' wagons.

With my head full of images like the above, I rattled around in my bits boxes and came up with a rough proof of concept:

Adeptus Arbites APC

Adeptus Arbites wrestle with rioting citizens.

I suspect that if you had to specify a riot control vehicle for your local law enforcement outfit, the sort of thing that would spring to mind would be a wheeled APC, perhaps with a turret mounted watercannon. Possibly with a dozer blade for clearing out barricades and shunting aside burning wrecks.

Something like one of these:

A few years ago, I used my Adeptus Arbites in a couple of games. I didn't have anything suitable ready to go, so I picked up a marginally over-scaled but cheap toy police vehicle (with sound and light action). This vehicle has seen a fair bit of use in games which require swift deploying of Arbite troopers. It can even be operated by Jokaero. The flashing lights and nee-naw sounds are of course, a bonus.

Aegis Arising - The Gun-Cutter

I've wanted a small aerial / space transport for a little while. I have a shuttle or two, but I was after something in the vein of the gun-cutter utilised by Inquisitor Eisenhorn in Dan Abnett's excellent novels. Although there are the boxy Thunderhawks, Storm Eagles and all their variants, I didn't want something so recognisable. Similarly, Imperial Guard Valkyries are excellent, but they're clearly not space-worthy. By chance, I mentioned this to a friend. By chance he happened to have access to the Mantic Accuser Interceptor from their recent Warpath Kickstarter (I believe these aren't yet on general release).

Mantic Accuser Interceptor render.

 

Sentinel Power Lifter - Rogue Trader Style

You may recall that some years back, Forgeworld produced a nice little variant kit for their Sentinel walker. The Sentinel Power Lifter was essentially a fork-lift for the 41st Millennium, and very nice it was too.

The Sentinel Power Lifter

My hazy memory tells me that while the standard plastic Sentinel kit was £15, the Power Lifter was only £17, which made it great value. I used to own one. I decided I had no use for it. I sold it. When I wanted one again, FW had discontinued it, and the kit is worth a fortune on ebay.

So back in 2014, I decided I would make my own retro version of the Sentinel Lifter, more suited to a Rogue Trader setting.

Space Craft and Pilots

At the back end of last year, I was lucky enough to win a converted land pilot courtesy of Scotia Grendel. The model was a very nice conversion by Elton Waters of an Urban War figure.

 

I painted her up as a pilot or crew member for my Orange Star Line corporate faction, with the orange and blue colour scheme.

 



 

 

The Grand Tour - Ash Wastes Dune Buggy (Take 2)

As you may have seen over at Leadplague or Sho3box, this year the WIPsters guaranteed each other at least one hobby related present this year, with a Secret Santa gift sharing.

 

My Santa recognised that vehicles have been a bit of a theme this year, and that I clearly needed more racers. I was therefore as excited as a 4 year old with a full stocking when I opened my present:

 

That's right - a mint in blister OOP Grenadier Future Warriors Lightning Strike Buggy!

Easy Rider - Another Logan's World Outrider

The best thing about a Mad Max style setting are the vehicles. And the coolest type of vehicle is a motorbike! I actually finished the second of my Maniax bikers a month or so ago, but never got round to posting him up. In game terms he's been hugely unsuccessful, failing to turn up on 3 out of 4 occasions. He's probably too busy seeking out new business opportunities for his paymaster.

 

 

Emergency Breakdown Cover - Ash Wastes Salvage Vehicle

There's something about big civilian sci-fi vehicles that really appeals to me, and it's been a lot of fun working on my Ash Wastes salvage vehicle which I finished off the last few touches earlier. Very little has changed from the build. I essentially sprayed it with a yellow car spray before weathering it within an inch of its life!

 

 

Ash Wastes Crawler - Finished!

Back in December 2014, I showed off a WIP scratch-built Ash Wastes Crawler I'd started making for my Ash Waste Nomads, based on the old Action Force HISS tank.

For the best part of two years, not very much happened with the crawler, other than sitting, gathering dust, unloved and unused. And then motivation in the form of the imminent Ash Wastes campaign came along. In a few weeks, I'll be playing with a new Maniac road gang, accompanying my Water Seller Journeyman on Logan's World. So I've been gradually adding to the crawler - a platform here, am aerial there. And then over the course of a number of painting sessions over the past week, I've finally painted it too:

Ash Wastes Salvage Vehicle - The Build

When you mention to a friend that you are looking for parts to make civilian vehicles, and the friend gives you one of these...:

 

...the only correct thing to do is to knuckle down and make a civilian vehicle out of it. If you don't recognise the nice big chunk of resin above, it's the chassis from the Forgeworld Solar Auxilia Dracosan Armoured Transport. Which usually looks like this:

Born To Be Wild - a Logan's World Outrider

Next up for my Logan's World Maniax is a bike-riding Outrider. In the Ash Wastes rules, Outriders are scouts for a Journeyman gang, so I wanted my Outriders to be mounted on rugged, well-equipped bikes. The first of my Outriders fits the bill - mounted on a heavy bike, laden down with plenty of gear!

 

Top Gear - Ash Wastes Dune Buggy

I'm still working on my vehicle-based gang for the upcoming Logan's World campaign I'll be participating in. Most importantly, I hadn't got round to painting up any vehicles. In order to rectify this, I decided to paint up my mobile fire support vehicle - a small, light wheeled buggy, armed with a heavy stubber.

 

The vehicle is a resin and metal (now out of production) Future Warriors buggy. I did some adaptation to it - adding the gun (a plastic Genestealer hybrid autocannon), roll cage from brass tube, rear platform from plasticard, and the mesh (car body mesh):