*updated 11-01-11* Car Wars/ Apocalyptic WIPs

[Papa Spanky]

Ive been wanting to do Car Wars in 1/43 for years and years, just never go around to it. Well, I finally got started. My cars and terrain are kinda going more generic dark future than true Car Wars, but thats because there are many different poccy-clipse games out there I would like to use this stuff for.

This was an ebay purchase, advertised as 1/43 but closer to 1/35, full of blobs of glue. Being cheap and stubborn, I was bound and determined to make this work. First I stripped out the insides and cut a 1/2" V from the front to the back to make the car narrower. Then I rebuilt a (crappy) scratch chassis with the frame lowered to lower the overall height of the model. lots of filing and sanding has me to this point.


This one is a Dingo scout car, reversed.



The first finished road section.



Finished and WIP roads on a section of game table.



another shot, for scale.

Questions and comments, lets have em!

[inkwell]

Nice looking work there Pappa! I am feeling the first car,quite nice. How did you do the surface of your game board?I hopped on the PA band wagon about 8 months ago and I am getting around to the board and I really like the look of yours.I live down state from you in galesburg,have to get a game on some time. I've been busy but I'll get some terrain shots for ya,havn't forgotten Drop by over at post apoc wargames in the meantime. I Have a good bit over therehttp://s1.zetaboards.com/Post_Apoc_Wargames/index/ Mr. Clean is from chicagoish as well and he posts over there too.

[Papa Spanky]

Sounds like a plan, Galesburg isnt too far, Im actually west of Chicago anyway. I added your link to my favorites, lots to look at over there.
The board is three sections, a 5x4 and two 2x5s. That way I can have a 4x10, a 5x8 or a 15ft long run into a town area if i wanted, or I can use them individually for smaller fights. Theyre made of 1/8 mdf board on a slat frame, to keep the weight down. The top is paintable wallpaper that I found at Menards. the paint was from Home Depot, in the oops section (improperly mixed paint, sold for 5 dollars a gallon). The base is a "poo brown" as my daughter calls it. (probably why it was 5 dollars) on that I drybrushed a bone color (1 dollar in a quart).  When dry I applied a watered down wash of Dark Burnt Umber ceramcote. (craft paint) More bone color drybrush on that after its dry, foloowed by a wash of the the original poo color , watered down, to tie it all back together.

Papa Spanky

[inkwell]

AhA ...wall paper! Looks good

[Dr.Falkenhayn]

Car Wars in 1/43 

[tomogui]

Ooh, you could even do a long-distance Route 66 death rally! Place all your straight road sections together in the 15' run, and then as the cars speed along the road, you could remove the used boards at the back and place them in front of the cars again, forming a continuous highway. Alter terrain flavour and road conditions on each board as you see fit.

If one vehicle gets a large lead on the others, you could throw down a roadblock, oil slick, hairpin bend, broken bridge, biker ambush, herd of cows crossing, or roadside IED to slow 'em down a bit.

I'm also loving your beat-up road warrior cars there. I have fond memories of Car Wars from back in the days of cardboard chits and paper turning keys, and these vehicles look just the ticket.

[Grimmnar]

Car Wars in 1/43 

And i am sure in the near future we can get to the proper scale. 1/1   :-)

Grimm

[Doomsdave]

I live down state from you in galesburg,

Wow.  I went to elementary school in Abingdon for a few years.  My grandmother and uncle still live in Galesburg, in fact my dad went to Carl Sandberg college many years ago.

[Papa Spanky]

Place all your straight road sections together in the 15' run, and then as the cars speed along the road, you could remove the used boards at the back and place them in front of the cars again, forming a continuous highway. Alter terrain flavour and road conditions on each board as you see fit.

You read my mind! (there will be curves too)

[Papa Spanky]

Im working on a few more before I start painting. These next two have magnets glued to the roofs so I can add and remove a turret as needed/wanted.




This is a view of the armored ball turret I added to represent a side weapon. A quick note as these cars progress, the weapons on them aren't going to be actual representations of what they are armed with. As these will be used in many games representing many types of vehicles, Im just putting them on because, well, guns on cars are waay cool. 

Something else i noticed reading my Car Wars rules: there are no Chassis designs for a SUV. Today it would be one of the more prevailant vehicles on the road...

Papa Spanky

[Papa Spanky]

Got a few more on the workbench; chassis only right now:

  Heavy armor and extra fuel bring out the "Rat Rod" styling on this car. As this was the only die cast of the three, I found it really difficult to work with. I started out hateing this car, nothing I did looked right on it. Eventually, it grew on me and now I kinda like it.





This back view shows a representation of some sort of drop weapon ports; spikes, oil, smoke. Something like that.


I kept this one pretty tame to give it a high tech look. Im imagining it as a production car in the Car Wars setting.


This SUV needed an armored plow, and got one. I think the gun ports on the side turned out pretty well.


comments and questions; post em below.
Papa Spanky

[Marine0846]

Great looking cars.
Look forward to seeing them in a game.
I am interested in you road.
Could you please tell us how you made it? Like it alot.

[Papa Spanky]

I thought I had done a road write up somewhere... hmm guess not    Ok the roads are made from a roll of 3/16" cork. I sealed them with a couple of coats of Modge Podge prior to painting. I then ripped out chunks of road or ripped sections in half, prior to glueing them to Matte board. Glue the pieces back together kinda like a puzzle, but leave gaps for cracks. I put glue + sand and drywall compound along the side of the road, then painted. Primer Grey is the road surface color; I taped off the lines and dabbed liquid latex rubber in spots where the yellow and white go with a sponge. After it dried I painted the stripes with an airbrush. When they dried, I rubbed off the latex gently, and the paint came with it. The whole thing was finished with washes of browns and black on its surface, grass clumps, clump foliage and dyed moss.  

Let me know if you need more clarification,
Papa Spanky

[Papa Spanky]

Oh and thanks for the compliment! 

minding my manners,
Papa Spanky

[archangel1]

...Something else i noticed reading my Car Wars rules: there are no Chassis designs for a SUV...

Not quite true.  In the AADA Vehicle Guide, Volume 2, there are stats for a couple of off-road station wagons and pickups that you could probably consider as SUV equivalents.

OR Conestoga

The Conestoga is becoming a commonly seen vehicle off-road.  The Conestoga retains its good armor and hauling capacity.

OR Conestoga - Station wagon, x-hvy. chassis, super power plant, OR suspension, 4 OR solid tires, driver , gunner, VMG front, GL back.  Cargo capacity: 7 spaces, 1,190 lbs.  Armor: F30, R25, L25, B20, T10, U10.  Accel. 5, HC 2 (3 off-road); 5,410 lbs., $17, 350

Scout

The Crane Scout is an off-road wagon for light cargo duty where cars were not meant to go.  It has heavy fireproof armor, a turreted Vulcan and a potent rear defense combination.

Scout - Station wagon, x-hvy. chassis, super power plant, OR suspension, 4 OR solid tires, driver , turreted VMG, MD ans SS linked back.  Cargo capacity: 8 spaces, 505 lbs.  FP armor: F40, R30, L30, B30, T30, U20.  Accel. 5, HC 2 (3 off-road); 6,095 lbs., $23,800
Scorch - Replace MD and SS with HDFCE.  Load VMG with incendiary ammo.  Cargo capacity: 470 lbs.  6,130 lbs., $26,250

Journeyman

Crane's Journeyman is an off-road passenger pickup.  It and the Apprentice have seen duty both as private pickups and as law enforcement carriers across the continent.  The rocket launcher and machine guns provide adequate firepower but the armor is substandard.  It has unprotected wheels and handles poorly.  The Master, a more imposing vehicle, is used chiefly to transport important prisoners, one at a time.

Journeyman - Camper, x-hvy. chassis, super power plant, OR suspension, 6 OR solid tires, driver, gunner, 4 passengers, RL (with extra magazine) in turret, MG right, MG left, HDSS back, hi-res computer for gunner, spare OR tire, brushcutter, long-distance radio.  Cargo capacity: 75 lbs., 2 spaces.  FP armor: F30, R20, L20, B20, T15, U15.  Accel. 5, HC 1 (2 off-road): 7,725 lbs., $32,550
Apprentice - Remove gunner, 2MGs, hi-res computer.  Add single weapon computer to RL.  Add 4 more passengers.  Cargo capacity: 25 lbs., 2 spaces.  7,775 lbs., $26,000
Master - Remove gunner, MGs and 3 passengers.  Upgrade to 3-space turret.  Move RL front and remove extra magazine.  Add VFRP (laser-guided with extra magazine) and IRTL (with LGL) to turret.  Add RL back.  Link each RL to VFRP (2 links).  Laser guide all 50 rockets.  Add 5 points of armor.  Add 2 points CA around passenger (prisoner) space, with flechette grenade mounted inside.  7,799 lbs., $48,460

Hope this will give you some ideas.