Arrabella - Mad Max style car WIP

Here she is (sans paint and headlights)! 

I love model making and the aspect I enjoy the most of a project like this, is the problem solving. When I was a kid making models for the first time (largely Airfix), the problems were just in following the instructions and putting the correct bits in the correct places without swamping the model in glue. Lego was actually the big step for me, moving away from following instructions that came with boxed sets, to using my imagination and creativity to make my own space ships from a massive pile of different shaped and coloured plastic blocks, all he time ensuring functionality. In the case of spaceship Lego, it was often symmetry; ie: "Do I have enough pieces to construct two of and those fuselage's?" and/or "Will that opening gangway ramp actually fit over the size of the entrance I've made?". As an adult these type of questions and experiments to find the solution keep me happy and take up a lot of my thinking time. Thinking time easily out-weighs my making time.

So with this build, over the past month or so, a lot of time has been spent thinking about how this is going to work. 

1. Research. Find images that inspire. Obviously MadMax was a huge inspiration but I needed plausible builds that have already been built and accomplished by model-makers to give me some reality inspiration:

Thanks to all the modellers who made these, sorry I have not given you credit by name, but rest assured you have completely inspired and reassured me.  

All of these show the sort of thing I wanted to achieve, looking especially at wheels, suspension, exhausts and post-apocalyptic additions. Further research into reality showed me that most of these are modeled at a 1:35 scale, which in my experience is just too large for 28mm sci-fi. So I resumed my search for 1:43 plastic kits, rather than die-cast, the latter being much more difficult to model and convert as I discovered with my Freeway Fighter model

2. Scavenge and purchase parts. I plumped for this Heller plastic kit, it cost me about 7 quid from ebay, the sprues have lots of pieces (40) which means I have more control over what I include and exclude during the build. I liked the aesthetics of the car too, the curves and character of the car fit in with the Mad Max vibe as well as just being quite pleasant to look at. 

I decided that I wanted bigger wheels and raised suspension so as to fit into a desert environment as well as a raised engine and side exhausts to give the appearance of a suped-up version. For this to happen I had to go and scavenge some bits:

• Wire gauze from Halfords for the windows.
• Plastic off road wheels from the Ork bike kit
• Plasticard (plain and the double diamond tread plate kind)
• Jewellers chain so equipment can be secured to the vehicle
• Plastic piping of a variety of radii for exhausts and roll cages etc
• Springs from a pen for the suspension
• Guitar wire for tubed pipes
• Computer circuit board parts for engines and other machinery parts
• The only purchases were from Zinge Industries for fuel tanks, spotlights, and other equipment a post-apocalyptic car might be carrying

3. Making

Having made the brave decision to cut the back of the roof off (I spent a lot of time considering the pros and cons of this and the ideal position to cut), I could start constructing the car. I cut out a space for the raised engine in the bonnet, which is made from a part of a computer circuit board and glued all the seats, steering wheel and dashboard together. I used some embossed plasticard for the floor which attached to the underneath of the drivers seat - it would be visible in the back of the trunk. 

I remember reading an article from a very early White Dwarf, by John Blanche I believe, about keeping a tidy workspace. I don't adhere to that philosophy and have grown fond of such games as: "where the fuck is that drill bit" or "I had that bit perfect length of paperclip in my hand just now", or the dreaded: "bollocks" as the tiny spotlight slips out of my fingers, bounces onto the table and either silently settles on the carpet ("fuck") or nestles amongst the general mess ("for fuck's sake").

I added the roof's spotlights to a bent paperclip. Gluing the wire mesh into the window space was a proper pain in the arse. I ended up using some Uhu thick glue as superglue did not work (bizarrely), and it was, as you can imagine, quite messy and imprecise.

Here you can see the backboard made of the textured plasticard. Really hard to measure the right shape prior to cutting.

 When putting it all together I discovered  an unforeseen problem: two interior wheel arches needed to be made to cover the space where the wheels will show. I've also added some guitar wire as a flexible piping from the engine.

Biggest problems: cutting plastic the correct shape to fit into weird and impossible to get to shapes and using the right type and amount of glue for the right materials. 

Next problem: Making the exhaust. Just bending plastic tubing invariably makes it snap or flatten out. So I had to introduce some heat from a lighter. But just the right amount or else it melts obviously. I found the best way to do this was to rotate the tubing 360 as it is exposed to heat, use tweezers to manipulate the required bend and then run it under cold water immediately. This took quite a few attempts.

Using a range of different radius meant I could insert one inside the other to make a more interesting shape, breaking up the long tubes into smaller sections. I added an Ork bike exhaust for the end piece and used a lot of precision plastic glue..

You can also see the jewellers chain that's been added with the help of some superglue to the spare tyre and sleeping bag etc. The grey resin bits are all from Zinge Industries.

Raising the suspension of the car was the biggest problem of all. I had to make some plasticard supports, seen here in black (the back two being slightly smaller than the front two) with holes drilled in to support the thick paperclip axle. Springs from a couple of pens were used for the actual suspension and were superglued over a plastic rod.

Blu-tac is your closest friend when model-making, perfect for doing that dry run (at least three times) before you break out the finality of the glue..

Here's a closer picture of the front two suspension columns.

And another dry run with the blu-tac helping me out.

4. Complete the build. When the functional side of the build is complete, there's usually some aesthetic improvements to add. In reality I added most of the additions during the functional build, but a few adjustments were made when it was all put together.

The frontof the car needed something extra, to make it have more of a Mad Max appearance, so a bumper with spikes and a skull were added. It helped elongate the car shape too.

Space for a passenger (with gun) was created and a hole drilled into the back for later addition (a Copplestone miniature).

The chassis was raised slightly higher than I had anticipated, so I needed to add some bulk to the undercarriage to reduce the gap to the floor and to break up the very flat line of the bottom of the car. So Arrabella (so I've named her) was given some addiional barrels, which are actually fuses and other barell shaped objects from a computer circuit board (as you can gather there's some great shapes on these for miniature model making).

And here's Abdul Goldberg getting excited about his new ride. It's been pimped.

Right I'm off to spray the bastard, wish me luck because I'll be gutted if I fuck it up now!

Helsreach Mercenaries - Abdul Goldberg

"I was just minding my own shit, taking my sweet time over my warm milkshake, just feeling the vibe of the tunes playing from the kitchen of Greasy Kim's Bar and Diner. I'd been on the drugs for a while so I was feelin' pretty spaced out and fluffy, not really sure how long I'd been there, or even why I was there. And then "boom!", I nearly shit meself. Not expecting that. Out of the smoke arrives this crew of tough guys, guns out, shouting all loud like. They rough me up asking where some guy called Abdul Goldberg's at. It's a name I'm only just familiar with, maybe a few weeks ago, he's been winning gambles with the best of 'em here and fleecing some of the town's tough guys. They've been looking for him. It's a name you can't forget once you've heard it. He's got a rep now. Anyway I tell these guys that I've never met the fella, no idea what he looks like; not sure why they're bugging me about it, all I'm doing is just tryin' to chill. Apparently he was here earlier, relaxing with his crew. I tell 'em that I kinda remember a group relaxin' and chattin' in the corner,, looking all smug like, but I don't know when they left or where they went. I get a smack in the face for that honest information. Fuckers. I'm pleading with this big thug, sayin I know nuthin and then out of knowhere this crew comes in and shoots the place up, all these thugs around me now slumped over, blood everywhere. No idea how I got missed by all that shootin. And then through the carnage steps this fella, he was the fella I saw earlier in the Diner. I'm focused now. He's all calm and serene like in his movements, real elegant with his long coat swishing behind him. I look into his eyes as he approaches me and somehow his eyes flicker between  hard arse, piercing like and then like the whole things a joke, I didn't know how to read him. Shit meself properly this time. Anyway he comes up to me, pats me on the back, slurps my milkshake and yells out to the kitchen that I need a new, cold one. One of the thugs groans and he sticks him in his gut with his sword, not even looking at the guy, but looking at me. I swear he made it look like the whole thing was one big joke. He clicks his fingers and he and his crew walk out all silent like. I promise this is the truth, exactly what happened, no bullshit. This happened. Who is he then, this Goldburg, really, I wanna know?"

My version of Abdul Goldberg, using a very cool Hasslefree miniature. I'm not sure that he entirely fits my imagination of what Goldberg looks like (based upon the cant information in the Rogue Trader rulebook), I imagined a slightly portly, fun loving gangster with a hard edge. I've caught the hard edge with this mini, but didn't have time to sculpt a belly onto him that would have made him perhaps slightly more jovial.. I was tempted to add some blood and gore onto the sword, but decided he was already tough enough looking and was worried it might go over the top.


The backstory is based on the information given in on pages 243-244 of the Rogue Trader rulebook, where the sub-plot generator is located. This is the excerpt I used to give me some context:


"Abdul Goldberg has crossed you for the last time - it was pure luck that your paths should cross on this isolated planet outside of imperial control. He and his crew are relaxing down at Greasy Kim's Bar and Diner, unaware that you and your crew are ready to pounce. The diner is mostly deserted, with only a few lonely vac-heads and spacers to witness the fight."


Obviously I chose one of the vac-heads/spacers to give his account and changed the outcome slightly, imagining Goldburg to be way too savvy to be caught in a diner by a group of thugs..

Here you can see Goldburg with his crew, post diner chillax, a proper bunch of rogues.

Helsreach Mercenaries - Doc Shivers and Stoksie

Stoksie is a hard bastard. He's got those eyes that penetrate you and search out your weaknesses as well as a physical presence and bulging bulk that intimidates the shit out of you. You only get to see those eyes close-up though and not many have lived to tell that tale, because Stoksie likes nothing more than to get you from a distance. By nature a loner, Stoksie teamed up with Doc Shivers because of his one fear, the fear of being hurt. He's hurt others many, many times, often in quite barbaric circumstances; the red haze descends and the innermost fears pour out in a full beserker's frenzy, so he has seen pain, caused pain, but it scares him shitless, having it done to him. He's trained his body, honed his reactions so that he will always make the first move, fire the first shot, down his man before any response is forthcoming. There's been some close-shaves on his health, but he's survived, relatively unscathed.

He took a bullet to his right bicep in the last gunfight. It hurt like fuck. He wasn't careful enough, didn't see the fourth man until it was a split second too late and took the bullet. The initial response was one of pure fury, bullets spraying with unerring accuracy and ferocity; one of his battle lusts that make him seemingly transcend his own body and operate on a different time scale to his adversaries. They didn't survive; the man who shot his arm, died looking into those eyes.

Then, the shock of mortality, the pain, the blood. He could just about deal with those, although he hated the sight of his own blood, but what scared him, really scared him, was that this wound could be the one that debilitated him, made him microscopically slower or fractionally less flexible. Worsten his performance, make him a less effective killer.

So he teamed up with Doc Shivers, a fugitive found hiding in a warehouse, on the run. He offered the Doc unshakeable protection from the Slavers who he had escaped from (and all the others that wanted their revenge upon him) in return for medical support and reassurance. Doc Shivers was more than happy to team up, especially with someone who asked for so little in return, rarely spoke and had already been brutally efficient in keeping the Doc alive.

That's all Doc Shiver's wanted, to survive. He'd swindled so, so many, charging astronomical sums for surgical work that needn't have been so complex. Performing operations that deliberately enfeebled the patient - paid for by rich clients and bounty hunters - conducted deliberately unsuccessful identity face swaps and even adding bizarre mutations on unsuspecting patients. Doc Shivers was not a man of morals, but he was a bloody good surgeon who's skills were renowned and much sought. But he had made too many enemies and needed to re-group, survive and eventually flee to a safer, location, away from his assailants. Stoksie may well be that ticket, but was certainly that protection...

These two are both from the Copplestone range of miniatures and are really nice, clean and crisp sculpts, as you'd expect from such a talented sculptor. The clean lines and crisp details make the painting experience nice and easy and there's a good amount of character and dynamism in the faces and poses.

I like the ripped clothing and the little bits of flesh poking through, break up the larger areas of fabric whilst there's always some detail to keep you interested as a painter; whether it's the sunglasses, the knee pads or the bandana. With Doc Shivers, I went for a slightly medical looking pale blue/white suit that I hoped would help make him stand out from the rest of the crew as less of a hard warrior and more of a supporting/civilian type who still knows how to look after himself with a gun.

You can see how they line up with their new mercenary chums, all dirty and dusty:

I've started work on the Mad Max style car for them (although I'm now thinking of also making some sort of camping van for the group to help transport them all around) and I'll post up some Wip photos in due course. Thanks for reading!

Making quick and easy scratchbuilt barrels

Scraping the barrel of blog posts here. Nothing new from me at the moment, the school exam period is taking up too much of my time, but I did photo-document my procedure for making scratch-built, rusty, battered barrels. So here it is, it may be of some use to some of you..:

1. Using some thick cartridge paper, wrap it around a battery (or similar shaped object). Use superglue to attach the ends to create a cylinder.

2. Remove the battery and cut the cylindrical piece of paper to the correct barrel height.

3. Using the battery as a guide again, cut out the circles which will act as the top and bottom of the barrel. Remember they need to fit inside your cylinder so should be a touch smaller in diameter.

4. To insert them inside the cylinder, I used some blu-tac on the end of a pencil. Stuff it inside.

5. Superglue it in place, remembering that it should not be flush with the end of the cylinder so as to create a lip to the barrel.

6. You can see that the top of the barrel is slightly dented, this is a good thing. I then superglued a bead on the top to act as the screw top for the barrel.



7. I used some fuse wire as it is thin and really flexible; this was wrapped around the battery to create the correct circumference that will go around the barrel.

8. Super-glued into place. Imperfections are ok, this is a battered barrel.

9. Rather creatively (I thought) I pva glued some strips of rusty brown tissue paper onto the barrel, ensuring it covered the wire and smoothed out the protruding edges of the wire.

10. They were primed grey and then a quick burst of brown aerosol was added. Some of the brown colour of the tissue paper shows through. Some rusty washes were applied with some cheap acrylic paints.

11. Scratching on some metallic paint using an old kitchen scourer

12. The last stage was to add some rust texture using a small amount of matt medium and some dry pigment.

13. Some oil spills were liberally dribbled on with Nuln Oil and then some dusty dry pigments added so as to fit in with my barren, post-apocalyptic landscape.