A scale too far... anime robot wargaming 1:144 project diary

[Vanvlak]

So after seeing a recommendation here:
https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=134626.msg1709347#msg1709347
I bought Samurai Robots Battle Royale by Andrea Sfiligoi. It's based on the Song of Blades game engine, and the PDF is not that expensive at around eight euros. it includes rules for Gundam type giant robots; more over-the-top Grendizer and Mazinger robots (also featuring a Boss Robot comic type); and a steampunk version. You can also field army models alongside the robots; or combine it with the sister game Mighty Monsters for robots vs kaiju.

So as a 'small' project for Christmas I decided to built up a couple of forces. I had bought a couple of Bandai Zakus, a Guntank and a Guncannon - two per side. They are very nicely detailed snap-together models, not too difficult to build and nicely engineered.

the one problem is that the rules recommend 3' x 3' for (max.) 5 cm high robots; these should be around 12 cm high at least, so I'd need at the very, very least 2 m x 2 m, ideally more! No place for that sort of table here - so rooftop wargaming will be a thing, I think - at least when the weather is fine. I need terrain, of course - I might have bitten off more than I can chew!

Lets see how far I get with this project

[Vanvlak]

Here's the 'gaming surface':



It's part of our roof, nice and flat and unobstructed, unless I am spraying stuff or there's washing out to dry! It can be some sort of great salt lake harvested for minerals. I will have to ignore the plants, as however desirable they might be as scenery, the pots are not easily camouflaged as anything in scale.

[Vanvlak]

And here's the indirect cause of all this - a 1:144 Grendizer (or Goldrake, as he is known here and in Italy). I am not usually a fanboy, but this is one exception, and I built this out of the box without any paint or weathering as a collectible.



The plant in the background has overgrown its pot and doesn't look that bad, actually!

I am looking at four Gundam series mechas for the game, rather than the pristine Grendizer/Goldrake, as they make better opponents for each other. They are also Bandai 1:144 snap together, beautifully engineered.

I obviously need scenery, and in this case it has to be scatter terrain as it might probably not be overly practical to glue it to the roof. So I went 'shopping', and found the following ingredients which I will combine in a RECIPE  :

one (1) Mazda hub cap, damaged
one (1) unidentified discarded device with a Renault logo
superglue

Take the hub cap and clean thoroughly under running water to remove grime.
Leave to dry well.

Take the unidentified gizmo and prize away the rubber half of it.
Check that the base fits EXACTLY over the central Mazda logo on the hub cap.
Saw off the tab at the top and file it neatly.
Abrade the lettering using abrasive paper of progressively finer grade to smoothen the surface.

Check fit again (I was lucky, the size was perfect!), and glue the gizmo to the hub cap.
Leave to dry.

Wash the hub cap, because you forgot to do it before you glues the gizmo.
Remove remaining traces of lettering from the gizmo which you missed.



This will be a badly damaged base, or operations hub. 


Undercoat with ... that's the next installment, I need to see whether any of my colour sprays has survived the summer. It will not be white, as it would be too invisible on the roof. And the rather badly cut areas will be treated as massive laser damage and painted accordingly.

Meanwhile, on the Gundam front, I have started assembling the simplest (I think) model, a Zaku.