Vehicles and Video Games

Hi All,

So my latest entry is over at the themed bonus round on Analogue Hobbies here. What I wrote to Curt follows:

"While most clung to the dying husk of the the old world, others became nomads scrapping for fuel to take them away from the chaos. One such vehicle was the V-8 interceptor.

For the vehicle round I had been keen to finish the Maxwell car from Aberrant Games. I bought it awhile back when I was thinking a lot about post apocalyptic games and hope to also use it in an upcoming games about P-A car racing.

As usual, I spent a lot more time hand wringing than actually painting. In the main I like how it turned out although I was concerned that it was starting to look overworked. I tried to use ground up pastels to weather it, but they essentially washed off when I tried to fix the dry powder on. So I stippled paint. The rusty fuel tank in the back was also a first. Anne really got me thinking about rust, so I figured I had to try. I also tried to mimic an oxidized paint look on the hood and roof of the car. It doesn't show in the photos because of the angle I took. I included the gun because it came with the kit and because my conception of a Post Apocalyptic Deth-Mö-Beel™ is bristling with armaments.

Those of you with delicate constitutions may wish to brace yourselves, but I have a second (GASP) set of vehicles to add to this entry.

These are two Studio Bergstrom Sing-On Pocket Destroyers. Again, I would have a whole fleet of these painted if I would just knuckle down and decide on a color scheme. These painted up quick once I decided.

I have no idea what scale these would fall under. I included a group shot with the Warrior of the Wasteland for scale. He stands 27mm from bottom of base to top of head and was a 1/72 (20mm) scale entry."

What I neglected to mention in my blurb for the challenge was the composition of the models. The Maxwell car was two part resin with the blower, gun and stowage made from white metal. The metal bits cleaned up fairly easily. The body of the car had one sprue connection that needed filing and one imperfection in the body that I ended up leaving along the right quarter panel. There were also some weird surface striations that I ended up leaving as I didn't feel like the effort of sanding the entire vehicle smooth was worth it. I don't really understand why this wasn't just a one piece cast, or why it doesn't have tail lights. Overall though it's a fun little car.

The Klingon ships are straight up white metal. I don't recall cleaning them up much. Primed gray, boltgun metal on bridge and canons. Two dry brushes with grayish greens, pick out the wing detail in red, orange then yellow. My home made wash was then applied. I have to say I'm embarrassed that it took me so long to get around to painting these.

Back to the car for a moment. I think it will be great fun for use in the new game from Two Hour Wargames called Machinas. I joined the Indiegogo this morning. You can see it here.

<iframe src="http://www.indiegogo.com/project/440776/widget" width="224px" height="486px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>

As for video games, well I probably should be painting instead. I've downloaded The Walking Dead Season 2 ans State of Decay to my Xbox. I've already completed the first episode of Walking Dead and will have to wait as they are releasing the upcoming episodes piecemeal. State of Decay is cool but there is a lot of stuff to manage and, since it's a download, not a lot of explanation on how to do it. There are reams of websites and videos with game tips though.

Well off to see to the needs of children on this holiday here in the states. Have a good one.

PS - That 49er game last night was annoying. The Niners didn't choke. They lost the game on a great play by Sherman in the final seconds. Too bad he doesn't realize it.