My MadMaxCar

[Admiral Benbow]

Does anyone know if the grendadier resin cars are currently available anywhere???

I doubt they currently are. But maybe, if you dig deep enough, you'll get some infos concerning that. The best link list for Future Warriors can be found here:

http://www.mts.net/~gisby/kizo/kzlinks.htm

There is a Yahoo group as well for Kill Zone, the members might have some further infos.

[Malamute]

Does anyone know if the grendadier resin cars are currently available anywhere???

I think these are pretty close
available from Scotia Grendel, look under Grendel sci fi products.
http://www.scotiagrendel.com/grendel_sc_fi_1.html

[Braxandur]

I already have the cars from Grendel-scotia and sadly they don't come near....     

The problem is that it is very hard to find a nice mad-max like buggy (with driver) and the other cars from the grenadier series were also nice. Why they had to go bankrupt at the moment I was just saving money for an absurdly large order I'll never know.   

[revford]

Braxandur, have you looked at the range from Ramshackle?

http://shop.ramshacklegames.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=3_6

[Malamute]

Have you looked at the Urban Mamouth/Void Junkers sandbuggies?
They are pretty close to Mad Max vehicles.

[Earther]

What about this gang buggy from the old Zap range (the precursor to Fantasy Forge that then went on to be Grendel…) now carried by the Baggage Train in the UK:

https://sslrelay.com/www.the-baggagetrain.com/sess/utn;jsessionid=15470e2f69eaf6a/shopdata/index.shopscript

It's an all metal kit with 3 mohawked nutters hanging on for dear life… 

(Damn it, it's not linked directly! Go to 'Product Overview' - 'Acropolis' - 'Future City Series' - 'Vehicles' and it's the one at the bottom. Phew.)

[Braxandur]

Those are good suggestions,

Never liked the void/junker things, but that's mainly due to the paint job. I think they would actually pretty well with a bit of work

The gang buggy from the Zap range looks also promising, (thanks for the link!) a shame they don't have bigger/better picture on that site.

The Ramshackle looked a bit crude to me but might also work very well...  still need to buy their spider tank as well 

There goes this months money 

[Overlord]

Have you looked at the Urban Mamouth/Void Junkers sandbuggies?
They are pretty close to Mad Max vehicles.

Here is my modified Junkers buggy.
Original driver, but new rider (EM4) and rear of buggy where he is stood is slightly changed.

[Malamute]

Nice one Overlord. Looking good. I think those are spot on for Mad max, especially with the additions you have made.

[uti long smile]

Admiral

What weathering techniques\materials did you use?

Thinking of investing and experimenting (mainly with rust) and wondered what worked best for you?

Any other advice guys?

Cheers

Karl

[Admiral Benbow]

Ok, here's the short version how I did it:

Model was undercoated with a Humbrol light khaki colour, wheels, driver and security cage painted separately and glued on later. Let dry 24 hours.
Ink washed with Game Colour inks, mix of sepia and skin wash. Let dry thoroughly. Yes, it's not a job for people short on time ... 
Sealing the work with a shot of Erdal Glänzer, aka Future Flour Polish; let dry ...
On with the decals, softened with a solve and set system; let dry ...
Light (and I mean LIGHT) drybrushing with at least two light khaki/ocre acrylics, I usually work with Ral Partha, Game Colour, Foundry, Andrea, Coat d'arms or Vallejo, among some others.

Now the fun starts: for the main weathering process I heartily recommend to study Brent Watterson's techniques thoroughly here: http://www.thecourtjestersstudio.com/WPM/download.html
Download issue 2 of WP&M and read his article "Winter War" several times. That's, what I did, and even after more than 30 years of painting and modelling I was in love with his innovative approach.
After those I dappled on some mud staines with a piece of plastic sponge (from your blister pack) and some acrylic mud colours.
Then the rust came into play: I used Rustall, a nice product I can heartily recommend and which is not expensive, keeping in mind that you will buy a set including three other components of good future use in your weathering toolbox:
http://www.rustall.com/

On to the pastels. I use different brands, for a start you could use just cheap artists pastels rubbed down on abrasive paper to ground your own powder. I used black, red brown, sand colours and off-white/grey pastels on different areas to filter and change the colours of the car.
The trick with the sandy tires goes as follows: paint the wheels as you like and let dry (again  ). Then take some light coloured powder, e.g. a yellowish sand colour,  with a brush and push it heavily onto the rim and more less on the tyres. Use some Tamiya thinners to spread the powder into the depressions and let dry some hours. Repeat if necessary.

If you would like to learn more about those techniques, invest some money and buy this book:
"F.A.Q. Frequently Asked Questions About AFV Painting Techniques" by Mig Jiminez, available here:
http://www.amazon.de/Q-Frequently-Questions-Techniques-Modelling/dp/849652762X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books-intl-de&qid=1212264197&sr=8-3
This book is very highly recommended if you would like to reproduce some realistic looking vehicles. (No, I'm not involved in this publication nor a personal friend of Mig  )

For a taster have a look at this site:
http://ultrawerke.blogspot.com/2007/03/painting-and-weathering-tutorial-part-i.html
This guy is using a lot of the techniques described in Mig's book, so read through parts 1 - 4 and get on to some practice.

I finished the car with a coat of Humbrol Gloss as it will see a lot handling during play, and after - yes, you guessed it right - 24 hours of curing time, another two coats of matt varnish were brushed on; I used Blackfriars for a real flat finish.

So, here we are. If you think, that's a lot of work, you're quite right, but please keep in mind that some steps go really fast, you have a lot of waiting time for the colours and stuff to dry, and last but not least you asked for MY approach. Just do it your way and make use of whatever you like. I hope I was in-detail enough without getting you to sleep too soon ... 

If you would need more infos or deeper explanations, just let me know.

[uti long smile]

Cheers Admiral - very helpful!

[Pil]

Well, I finally saw the piccies and it looks very nice! I wasn't too keen on the Grenadier model (it looked a bit too solid and not open enough for me), but the replacement wheels make it look a lot better.

As for Mad Max style vehicles, well, if you're going for a Mad Max 2 vehicle you can basically modify any (older looking) car adn make it look good. For the buggy I think the mystery buggy in Overlord's article here:
http://www.combatzonechronicles.net/cozox/rode3.htm
(bottom left) is a nice one, it's a 'made in china' toy and may be hard to find (but if you do it's cheap), though it comes without any crew unfortunately.