Some WIPs

What lovely warm and sunny weather we're having right now in the UK. Well, I say "lovely" but as a redhead going out in the sun is always a gamble - I could be OK for several hours or I could turn "thermidore" in 30 seconds flat. So far I've been lucky. The temperature also makes painting difficult - a combination of lethargy and paint drying too quickly.

Still, I did manage to get a bit done last night. The Bulgar who mislaid his spear has had his replacement axe painted:

And I've started on the last of the 6mm ACW Union infantry.

There's another batch identical to this and a similar batch of Zouaves. I'll paint them up then do the basing together. Painting will be gradual over the next week or two.



And I may have adopted another pair of homeless Hotwheels cars:

TPDG Presents - the Pink-Up

I actually got it finished much quicker than I'd thought I would - possibly because I was only working on the one car!

It might not be a very imaginative name, but as the team pickup for TPDG Ltd's "Pink Panthers" lady duelists team, the choice was theirs. This truck is mainly for transporting spares to dueling events (and acting as a convoy guard) but is sometimes used for mixed vehicle/pedestrian events ebing able to carry up to seven foot combatants in the cargo space.

Pink-Up: pick-up; hvy chassis; hvy suspension; super power plant; 4 x PR tires; VMG in turret; Oil Jet and Spikedropper  rear; links - dropped weapons, VMG & OJ, all weapons; Armour: F35, R25, L25, B35, T20, U12; Accel 5; top speed 107.5; HC2; 6022 lb; $14,994; cargo - 11 spaces, 1128 lbs



Some upgraded variants of earlier releases

Pink Peril Plus: Compact; x-hvy chassis; hvy suspension; medium power plant; 4 x HD tires; two linked MGs front; FT  rear; smart link - all weapons; driver has fireproof suit and improved body armour; targeting computer; Fireproof Armour: F40, R30, L30, B35, T10, U15; Accel 5; top speed 90; HC 3 (with spoiler = 4 at 60+mph); 4200 lb; $14,780


Smaksov II: Mid-sized; extra-hvy chassis; hvy suspension; super power plant; 4 x PR tires; two linked MGs front; minedropper rear; fire extinguisher; links - both MGs and MD, MGs & FE, MD & FE, all weapons and FE; driver has fireproof suit, body armour and targeting computer; airdam; ramplate; fireproof plastic armour: F55, R20, L20, B23, T9, U10; Accel 10; top speed 120; HC3 (4 @ 60+ mph); weight 5196 lb; $19,524

Saturday Workbench

Yes, yes, yes - I've been rather quiet this week, but I have got some bits done today.

First up is some more work on the magnetic notice board arena for 1X Car Wars. This got a thin wash of black today. I went heavier in some patches than others. Tomorrow I'll be doing some ground markings and then some dry-brushing. For the ground markings I might have to make up some stencils. Or I might forget them and just do the dry-brushing.

And the other bits on the workbench. This pick-up truck will be the last car for a little while as I really must finish off some of my historical figures. And the Crusties spaceships. I'll get this mostly painted tomorrow, but I probably won't finish it until Monday night.

Also in the pic is the base of Bulgar cavalry where one of them lost his spear at Campaign. I've now glued an axe in the hand and primed it. Painting that axe shouldn't take too long, but is made a little awkward by the cramped space!

More Smoke Markers and Finds from Home

This evening, I finally got round to gluing the "smoke" I stained a few weeks ago onto bases. That gives me another ten markers for Car Wars. Considering how little of the stuffing I've used so far, if I were to stain all the stuffing in that one cushion, I could probably make enough markers to completely cover a 6 x 4 table, maybe larger.

Don't worry - I'm not (quite) mad enough to actually do that!


At the weekend, I headed down to Sussex to see my dad on Fathers' Day. It was also a good excuse to see whether any of my old Car Wars stuff from teenage years was still there. I was pretty sure that a few years ago, before I got back into gaming, I'd said to chuck it out as I 'd never have any use for it in the future, but there was always a chance I was wrong.



Sadly I wasn't wrong and it had all been chucked out. Oh well, never mind.


However, while rooting around in the various boxes of my old things I did find these:

Rather dated now of course, but books I'm sure many a wargamer will remember with fondness.

Now that I've speed-read through them both, I suppose it's time to hit the paint table again.

TPDG Ltd Presents: The Smaksov

The Smaksov is a Division 15 ramcar with a handy weapon loadout, capable of leaving a trail of destruction in the arena. A high top speed, high acceleration and good handling are sure to make this a firm favourite of mid-range professional duelists.

The Stats:

Smaksov: Mid-sized; extra-hvy chassis; hvy suspension; super power plant; 4 x PR tires; two linked MGs front; minedropper rear with extra magazine; airdam; ramplate; Plastic armour: F50, R25, L25, B25, T10, U15; Accel 10; top speed 120; HC3 (4 @ 60+ mph); weight 5195 lb; $14550

I decided to skip the blacklining with these - I think they look better this way. Maybe it was the black undercoat that has helped the look.

I've got the pick-up to do next, then I'll take a break from this project to paint some figures - I need to finish off the 6mm ACW (the Union troops anyway - not many left), my Mongol heavy cavalry, not to mention the figure for Dux from our Challenge side-bet...

Shinies and WIPs

My GZG order was waiting for me when I got home this evening:

Some more packs of 6mm turrets and some 25mm figures.

SL02 - civilians and colonists pack A

CR01B Spaceship officer, BB07 biker babe and SGQ02 crewman/tech

SGQ11 and SGQ12 - crew taking a break

Next to the vehicles on movement bases, these older 25mm figures look about the right size and GZG have a great range to use for bailed out crew, pedestrian combatants and "collateral damage".


WIP Stuff

After posting on Sunday, I sprayed basecoats on the "24s" (they are Datsun 240Zs in fact):

Since taking the pic above, I've done black basecoats on the guns, grilles and bumpers. Obviously the grey stuffing is for making up some more smoke markers.

The Latest Offering From TPDG Ltd

TP Dueling Garage Ltd are proud to present their latest offering for new professional autoduelists and for teams or arenas seeking a solid car for Division 10 duel-track events - The Contaminator

This compact packs a good punch with linked twin MGs in the front and a mighty super power plant gives 10mph acceleration and a hefty top speed of 140mph.

The Pink Peril is a special modification for TPDG's own Pink Panthers team for standard arena events. This variant sacrifices speed and acceleration to add a rear-firing flamethrower plus a targeting computer.

Car Wars Classic stats:

Contaminator: Compact; hvy chassis; hvy suspension; super power plant; 4 x HD tires; two linked MGs front; Armour: F35, R30, L30, B30, T10, U15; Accel 10; top speed 140; HC 3 (with spoiler = 4 at 60+mph); 4070 lb; $9925

Pink Peril: Compact; x-hvy chassis; hvy suspension; medium power plant; 4 x HD tires; two linked MGs front; FT  rear; targeting computer; Armour: F40, R30, L30, B35, T10, U15; Accel 5; top speed 90; HC 3 (with spoiler = 4 at 60+mph); 4200 lb; $9940 ($10,000 exactly when blinged out)



For our loyal customers, a quick preview of our next model aimed provisionally at the Division 15/20 market:

Remember - drive offensively!




OK, so I've been busy and needed to have a bit of a laugh. The four cars in the last pic have got .50 cal MGs from my Sgts Mess order mounted on the bonnets. I've primed them black, to see how that looks as a base, although for the one which will be yellow I'll give it a light spray of white first. I'll do the base coats this evening, then finish them off over the course of the week.

Saturday Workbench

It's another Saturday and another Saturday Workbench. So, what's on the bench today?

The five Fast 4WDs, that's what's on the workbench today. Last night I'd primed the insides of the bodies black, and also primed the chassis as I didn't think lurid snot green was a particularly desirable colour. This morning I primed the outsides of the bodies white before heading out for a few hours.

When I got home again I pin-washed black ink into the recesses, let that dry, sprayed the base coats, let them dry, resprayed the yellow as the black was showing through very strongly, let that dry, spotted that the second coat of yellow hadn't had much effect, went over the blacklining with white, resprayed the yellow...this time it worked! I then gave the bodies a coat of Klear.

While the Klear was drying, I drilled holes in the interior sections and one chassis for weapons, then glued them in place. I also "fixed" the wheels and axles with superglue. Since taking the above pic, I have sprayed the innards and the chassis weapon with black primer. I might do some detail painting on these later tonight.

One of the paints I'd ordered from SnM Stuff was Model Air Chrome. I grabbed a couple of scrappy MDF bases from the pile, primed them black then sprayed one with the (Eternal, Shiny and) Chrome, the other with Plate Mail primer. This was to see how it would look - I'll probably do the spoiler for the pink car with Chrome and might use it on the side vents for all of the cars.


There are some shinies to show:

Various bits and bobs from Sgts Mess - hull MGs, pintel mount .50 cal and .30cal MGs, Cullen cutters. These will be used for modding cars.

Speaking of which...

Some more adoptees have joined the Wargaming Girl Hotwheels Rescue Centre. Several of these will be fore the wastelands project; some will be for autodueling; the rest will go to my colleague's youngster.