Tribes of Post Apocalyptia - Vault Dwellers - Long Range Ops Team

[Rob_bresnen]

I think they look eh business. The 'cartoon-style' zombie heads look perfect. they remind me of the mutties form the Cursed Earth in Judge Dredd. Your paint scheme works well too.

[Rhoderic]

Looking again at the original "setting sun" photos (which I still think are quite effective), it struck me that the light also looks like it could be the sudden flash of a nearby nuclear explosion. Those ghouls' day is just about to get worse.

Nice work so far on the vehicles.

[axabrax]

The ghouls look cool!

[clanmac]

The latest offerings.

You've met Crazy Benny - here's his house. He's a bit of a loner. While it's always wise to be a little wary about loners, especially those whose houses smell of dead bodies, in this case the only dead(ish) body in Benny's house is his own. He just pulls the ladder up when the world gets on his nerves (Monday to Saturday normally).











Hank the Trader's Mule Train and a few of his trade goods.

More gregarious than the average Ghoul, Hank's open smile (no muscles to close it) wins friends all over the wasteland.





















Gratuitous ass shot.



Hope you like 'em. Ghoul Bug and Camper almost finished.

[Constable Bertrand]

basing and colour choices are fantastic. That stop sign Hank is carrying looks perfect! I think I've seen that sign IRL!

Is that a huskvana? If so I'll give you 50caps
Matt.

[clanmac]

10 out of 10 to Matt for chainsaw recognition skill. Husqvana it is! As for the sign, you probably have seen it. It's a print on card of a photo of the real thing - so much easier than trying to paint it.

[aggro84]

Those look great!
They really tell a story!
well done.

[Dr Mathias]

Great stuff on display. You've really captured a believable 'lived in' look.

[Hupp n at em]

That watertower-now-house is such a gem, great idea and great execution.    And the mules and goods for your trader are awesome as well, great attention to detail there. 

[clanmac]

Finished Ghoul VW Camper. If you've lived for years longer than the average human, I guess you want a vehicle that has done the same...









and yes, I know a couple of the windows should be broken, but I wanted to play with that window technique - at least the headlights are smashed.

[elysium64]

 
I love the camper one, I have a similar model, for my Post-Apoc, any chance of a run down how you achieved the stunning rust/paint effect on the bodywork?

all your models are great and a real inspiration.

[clanmac]

I love the camper one, I have a similar model, for my Post-Apoc, any chance of a run down how you achieved the stunning rust/paint effect on the bodywork?

all your models are great and a real inspiration.

Many thanks for the comments.

Technique is fairly simple really. It may not sound it but honestly, if you try it, each stage is quick and the result are quite satisfying.

I use car undercoat spray to put a brown coat over the whole thing - as shown in the pics on page 1. I then use another darker brown spray to add variation to the base. The best versions of this technique use an airbrush but as I don't have one I get passable results using spray cans. This coat will reappear in places later as rust.

Next I use the hairspray and salt technique. Spray the whole model with cheap hairspray and then drop a mix of fine and coarse salt on and spray with hairspray again. Let it dry (30-60 mins).

Then paint on the top coat - in this case the blue and white VW paint job. Wait until it's dry and then wet the whole model. This soaks through the paint and dissolves the hairspray and some of the salt. Then carefully use a tooth brush on the paint job and the top coat comes off at corners and wherever the salt was to show the 'rust' coat beneath. The big salt pieces give you large 'flakes' and the small salt particles tend to give to areas with small holes that looks like rust eating through the paint. That leaves you at the stage shown in the later pics on page 1. If you want heavy weathering, like this one, go hard with the toothbrush, If you just want a bit, then be careful, because sometimes the top coat can come off quite quickly in big patches. A sponge may be better if you want more subtle effects.

Next I do a 'pin wash' using watered down black or brown colour to paint in major lines like the gaps between doors, windows and major panels.  Lastly I put a light wash of brown over the whole model to tone down the bright top coat and bring it closer to the rust. After that a little rust colour weathering powder in a few places and some sand weathering powder on the tyres, paint in the windows and its done.

There are loads of good demos of the salt and hairspray technique online and mine is fairly amateur by comparison but it works and it's not that hard to learn. I'll try and do a more thorough step by step on a future vehicle. Many of my current WIPs are probably too far through but I'm always up for starting new stuff!

[Dentatus]

Most excellent. The camper is phenomenal but the mule train is perfect.

[Sinewgrab]

Gratuitous ass shot - I 

Good description on the technique - I may have to give that a shot.

[Constable Bertrand]

Gratuitous ass shot

Too much junk in the trunk?
I think it looks about right. Everything seems to be in a handy location