Just a progress shot. Sanded, connected and glued the framing together made from discarded fireworks, then sanded both sides a as flat as possible. Now I can start adding the plastic card decking, the extensions, the cabin, engines and the workings for the front ramp.
3 weeks for this and the paintjob, and I have 2 other projects running simultaniously. Better get cracking.
After visiting Ikea last weekend with one of my daughters I picked up a small cardboard tube in the plastic plants section. (I fought her for it and I won :P )
With a base, some card, a paperclip, aluminium tubing and some copper wire I made a Russian Village Well for Stalker. 3/4 with painting that I started at tonights online painting session. 2 hours well spent.
Tomrrow (I hope) final detailing, weathering and plantlife.
After some cutting, basing and adding a few bolts on the inside for weight and some light detailing on the outside I got this:
The tops of the rocket boosters will be finished another day, I'm not happy with how they turned out. But the others are just lovely, so enjoy. I'll be dual using these for 15mm and 28mm.
I had based and cleaned up quite a while ago a few of the old plastic GW LotR statues and thought it a good time to paint it up. Dropped in a Sarcophagus from Frontline as well, from their 25mm Musketeer Range, set MR6 Graveyard. Tufts are from a lot of different sources.
Had nice stroke of luck and found this for sale for a tenner in the next village over. Props are missing but I can fix this. Nice heavy diecast and perfect for 28mm Pulp.
Now to look for better paintjobs than this weak horse piss advert it is carrying.
After today's vehicle base cutting session I've been working on the plans for the Ferry. One 3 cars long, one 2 cars long. I'm not building 2, I just want to get a feel which one would suit me best.
Plans are 1:1 scale, base sizes I've taken from AK-47 (if I understand them correctly)
1 ramp will be fixed, the other I'll try and make foldable just for funsies. Middle section will be planked wood and/or metal. Engines will either be covered or in the open, might use some 1/72 inline aircraft engines from the scrap box as the base for them.
Not a dig at Flames of War or anything, but a relaxed afternoon cutting and cleaning bases for the box of 15mm cars I have. Basing these up for AK-47, Nam 68 and Northag. A few of these will be 15mm renditions of earlier 20mm models I made in the past 15 years
Had a few good hard thinks, and dumped my original idea overboard. I would be using almost all the parts of the original kit and that's not in the spirit of the challenge....I'll save all of the part for a later date though.
So, going for something smaller that will be almost completely scratchbuilt, and also a Ferry.
So, something more basic. Plasticcard pontoons, wooden platform, some H0 spare bits for the cabin and engine pod. Enough room for a tank so the deck space will be 4cm wide at least.
The Warbases 15mm Starbase 962 range has some nice bits of kit, including the very versatile Landing Pad and Ramp. I picked up 2 of these in my pre Xmas spend of 2024 and built one pretty quickly after that to see if it would work for 28mm as well. And it does, quite well actually.
Quite affordable, it sets you back 6.67 GBP and for that you get a platform, 4 legs and a ramp. This also means build time is quick, with most spent on the 4 legs...stilts...supports....you know what I mean. It comes with no pre lasered numbers or markings so anything goes and you can easily paint it up to match your table, scenery collection or even force. I went for a basic weathered grey, yellow trim, a simple code and some wear and tear...negating the rust for a change. KISS was the motto this time so weathering was minimal (for me).
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| Using some 28mm scenic items to show it works fine for 28mm as well. The Buzz Lightyear Fighter makes for a great Point Defence Fighter in 28mm, the weathered blue green scenery in the back of the shot is from Games Workshop, the orange and green canister are Ainsty's 28m Upright Octagonal Containers and the blocks in front are from a Jenga set with a coating of wall filler and 2 paperclips to turn into cheap barriers. The 28mm drone and the 2 metal barrels on the platform are scratchbuilt. |
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| Using some 15mm scenic items to show it works for the itended sale of 15mm. The
Buzz Lightyear Fighter makes for a great (Heavy) Fighter in 15mm. The orange and green canister are Ainsty's 28mm Upright
Octagonal Containers that work great as heavy cargo for 15mm, and the block in front is from a Jenga set with a
coating of wall filler and 2 paperclips to turn into a cheap barrier. The 2 metal barrels on the platform are scratchbuilt. The yellow robot is a not AT-AT walker from Germy's 3mm range, sold through Brigademodels.co.uk these days as the Mercenary Heavy Mech GMM-334 with some minor modifications, the 2 robots on the platform are from Groundzerogames.co.uk, the small one from the SG15-V13 pack with a scratchbuilt cooler added to have my own 15mm Wall-E, and the bigger one is the big humanoid droid from the SG15-V16 pack. |
I had 2 hospital appointments today so had a bit of time to kill in the afternoon. And to cheer me up a bit, as my Health Bingo card now has Tinnitus crossed off as well......Gotta catch em all should not be my theme for ailments.....
Anyway, a lot more work done on the Radio Bunker. A lot more to do (inside, radio mast, details, base) but pretty happy sofar.
After doing a bit more research and picture gathering I found out the Ferry I have chosen isn't a single one, but a few of them sailing from Maputo, Mozambique. They have various type of wear, and they are different ships but the basics are the same.Still not 100% sure this is the best idea, but it is a nice big piece that will fit in well with AK-47.
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And it is done. Now to finish a few other items and then get back again to Stalker.
