Dark Future Interceptor

As mentioned in an earlier post, I have recently rediscovered Games Workshop's old game of wasteland automotive combat, "Dark Future". I remember this game being a lot of fun and was surprised to find out that it still had a good-sized following and a fan base that had produced numerous homebrew expansions and new rules for the game. In preparation for playing the game, I decided to begin by tinkering with some Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars to see what I could come up with. The first vehicle was a converted Porsche Carera.

I started out by trying to cut armored plates to cover the windows of the toy car but found that trying to cut such small pieces to such an exact measurement was beyond me. I then decided that I would turn to putty for the window coverings.

Initially I wanted to sculpt on some solid plates but this seemed like it would make an otherwise sporty little car look a bit clunky so I decided to sculpt on some battered louvers on the front wind screen and then some mesh covers for the side windows. I added a huge air scoop to the top of the car and then sculpted a screen covering over the intake.

The screen is okay, though I'm not overly satisfied with it and will have to look into better ways to achieve the effect. The scoop looks a bit silly, but the game is silly so I'm not sweating it. I finished off the car's design by turning the original headlights into gun wells using more putty and some bits of wire.

How does the driver of this interceptor function with his windows so well-covered and no headlights? Well, I just figured the driver had invest in several infrared capable micro-cameras which he has built into the body of the car, giving him perfect visibility day and night. Works for me.

Hope you enjoy,

-Eli

Expanding Foam Project - Part Two

I had a chance to do some more work on this project over the last few days. I started by taking a second look at the overall profile of the piece and deciding that I didn't like how absolutely vertical it looked. Although I know that rock formations can shoot up pretty steeply from the ground, this just didn't look right on this piece. So, I decided I needed to widen it out and expand the horizontal dimensions of the piece.

I started by cutting a larger oblong base out of one of my favorite construction materials - pizza box cardboard. This was cut to a pretty much organic shape that worked around the existing piece and left room for it to grow on one side.

I then positioned the piece on the new base, deciding that the tallest spire, the one that also leaned at the oddest angle, needed to be on the balancing side of the expansion. Glueing it down to the cardboard I then broke off a few chunks of loose pink styrofoam insulation board and glued them into a formation at the base of the tall spire. These would form the foundation for the application of a little more expanding foam.

Once the main piece and the expansion foundation had all dried into place, it was time for a light dosing of expanding foam to bring it together. I sprayed a bit into the major gaps between the existing structure and the new pieces. I also noticed that some gaps had formed along one side of the main structure and so decided to apply a small amount of the expanding foam along those places as well.

One thing I did do this time around was use small, controlled applications of the foam which I then patted and smeared into lower profile coverage (wear gloves!). This had an added bonus of creation a lot of small little bumps that look a lot like a scattering of weathered boulders and rocks. This will go a long way to make the piece seem more "natural".

The next step is to do some more shaping on the new foam sections and then to spackle the whole thing to get it ready for painting.

More later,

-Eli

[Note: Ignore the dates on the photos. I didn't realize until after taking the pics that the date was set so horribly wrong on my camera. This really is a new project]

Recent Work

Things may seem a bit dead around here, but I have been working, just not getting anything photo-worthy. The foam terrain piece is advancing a bit at a time and I should have pics for that in a few days. What else have I been up to?

I have been working on a car for GW's old game Dark Future converted from a sports car into a road interceptor. I've got the putty work done and will snap a few WIP shots before I put paint to it and post it.

The Laputa project got a bit stalled as I sort of had a shift in direction on that one. Instead of going with the Napoleonic look for it, I thought it might be cool to go with more of a Lost World feel for the native aspects of the mythical place. This is less in keeping with the source literature, but may prove to be a fun angle to go with anyhow.

Also in the works are some more treats for my 15mm sci-fi project. I've got three hovertank conversions ready for WIP shots though I'm still trying to figure out what sort of turrets to go with on them. Some other things are brewing for 15mm, but more on those when they are at least started.

On top of all of this, Game Storm is fast approaching and a lot of my available money is going to my travel expenses. It will be great to go on the four day road trip with the buddies down to Portland and to immerse myself in gaming culture undisturbed by my real life. A true gamer's holiday.

Anyhow, keep watching and I'll post stuff hen I have something worth showing off.

Later,

-Eli

Exapanding Foam Project - Part One

For some time now, I have been wanting to try a project using expanding foam, but never really seemed to get around to it. I finally went out the other day and bought some cans of expanding foam insulation filler. There are three stages but I only picked up the heavy and light expanding kind figuring I'd use one for bulkier projects. Never having used the stuff before, I thought I knew what I was doing.

WRONG!

The original idea was to do something akin to a giant termite mound - something usable for alien bug people or giant insects. I cut out a oblong base out of some flexible plastic I had, figuring this flexibility would allow me to counter any warping caused by the foam as I didn't have any hard board or anything around. I glued a plastic bottle and a soda can to the base to provide a basic structure and then went to spraying.

My first mistake was under-estimating how much the "light" expansion foam was going to expand. Think I knew how much it was going to expand, I had put on a couple of layers of the stuff and ended up with a BIG mess. The foam expanding and bulged in places and seriously warped the base I had put it on and made the whole thing look like a prop for a giant ice cream sundae. It looked like a flop.

I've never been one to waste good hobby materials though and I sat on the idea for a day and finally came up with an idea to see if I could shave down the foam and make some sort of rocky outcropping or something. Cutting down most of the rounded parts and trying to give it more of a rocky look, I started to see that this was indeed doable.

As it was going to be used as gaming terrain, I wanted to make sure it had some playable surface on it. I cut away chunks of the foam, saving them for possible use later (the stuff's not cheap). I flattened out part of the top of the rock and made sure there was a place to stand about halfway up one side. Deciding it needed more gaming options and still wanting to make it some sort of monster "lair", I carved a cave entrance into it. Now it could be used for giant insects, orcs, morlocks, cavemen, prehistoric beasts, whatever.

Once I had it cut down and shaped to my satisfaction, I noticed a few places that seemed to bare of surface details. This is where the scraps came in and I glued a few of them to the bare patches and shaped those that needed it.

So, now I have this big, ugly foam rock and I guess the next step is to coat it with something and then get to painting it. Maybe I'll add a few shrubs and scrub to it to give it that aged look. We'll see.

-Eli

Dropship Horizon

Hello all,

I am sure that a good number of you have already read the TMP announcement of a new blog called Dropship Horizon. This is a blog after my own heart and it focuses on one of my favorite miniatures wargaming settings - hard sci-fi. The author of the blog shares many of the same inspirations that I have drawn from for my own 15mm sci-fi projects (I know, not that much of it here yet). Anyone interested in futuristic warfare that smacks of something "realistic" would be be advised to check out this blog.

Not only is Mark's blog a showcase for his nice work in the hobby, it's also full of informational bits on miniatures lines, conversion tips and a good dose of honest inspiration from both his own creativity and the various sources he draws from.

I have added a link from my own blog in the interests of networking like-minded and worthwhile blogs.

Enjoy!

-Eli