Evening guys ,, Alex ,, Ya man i couldnt agree more about picking up the skills needed to do this stuff,,the only hard thing about hooking up external power is getting it right the first time and knowing what to hook up where and how ,,other then that its easy as hell
I am qualified engineer but i am also lucky that when i was younger i would get my hands on any kind of work possible and thru that i have learned a heap of things,ok i have worked on cars,trucks and the like for most of my life so nothing hard there and i know many other guys with those skills so getting that side of things sorted from the get go would be easy ,,i've driven trucks off and on and still do now and then and with a couple of my best mates we have talked about a zombie nightmare and damn dudes we have our crap sorted
Now one vehicle which is ont the top of the list for modifying is a type of car transporter we have here which is very different for the ones in the UK and the US .
Here's some pics of the transporter design i'm talking about.




This is the normal design which for my ideas wouldn't work at all .

Now to explain the idea behind this truck ..a fully armoured long range hunter .
Now to the reasons for this truck..one thing is it sits low to the ground giving more room to work with ..the decks can go to the very top of their lifting frames which gives a huge amount of head room ,,by welding the top decks in place you have a instant roof to build too. then you can weld up the side frames with doors and gun ports and then just weld steel straight to the sides and now heres the very cool part..you can use the hydraulic rams from the decks to make a ramp on the rear end for what ever you want it for .
Now the last pic shows a normal set up ..the reason i wouldnt use this is because its not got a great turning circle and with the crap you would have to deal with you will need a mobile machine and this one won't cut the mustard at all .
Now talking about teams and long range hunting trips .. I would make them along the same lines ..jacks of all trades but also guys very experienced with weapons which in this country aint a problem
Gathering is the name of the game here guys..this we all know but its how you go about it and i've got ideas about that too .. uniformity gents ,,uniformity .
Now say its late and you need to rest up some where and you need space and Sean nailed it ..car parks ,,ok i am working on the principal of 10 to 15 trucks here so bare with me ok
Here is uniformity comes in ..get normal cargo trucks all around the same height ,off course armour them up but also make doors in the sides in exactly the same place which will open inwards ,,then you park with all side by side ..so close you cant squeeze between them ..now you can walk from one truck to another along the entire fleet .
Make hatches in the roofs so guards can walk around the entire fleet and never need to touch the ground and yep mounted lights if needed but this got me thinking ,,lights might attract attention so yes night vision would be needed ..lights if the crap gets nasty and your right Sean ..IR don't work on the dead ,,you need heat for IR and they aint got any
But night vision would work always .
One other thing to for gather bits and bobs would be drop down sides to cover the wheels and chassis ,,so you could surround what ever your gather and they can't crawl under the trucks and ruin some poor buggers day .
Will Alex old mate what i am planning is something which might not happen if things down change soon ,,but its big and designed to cover massive distances and its heavily armed ..but it might end up being a scout vehicle and a small one .
Sean mate ..there will be a EOD 3 if i have anything to do with it .
If my build cant be built for this campaign then it will be in EOD3 ...very good idea Alex .
Thomas ... Brilliant work man ,,the figures look kick ass and the truck looks excellent but the centre of this is the bot ..thats superb,,now are ya gonna add dust and rubble to this ..its still looking pretty clean mate ? if not its still looking brilliant


Phill

Thank you all for your feedback!

Phil, your concept of using a car trasporter as basis for a long-range zonbie hunting vehicle is very inspiring. Although it will be a real challenge to find a kit and find a shelf large enough for this kit to be stored.

Regarding to your remark about dust and rubble - I have dusted the scenery significantly, but obviously this does not show on the pictures.

To be honest - I don't know how to fix the rubble (Sand, small stones) on the diorama.

Does anyone of you have an idea how to "fix it"?

Cheers
Thomas

THomas,
Boorow a trick from model railroaders and spary a thin solution of white glue down , then strew (??sp??)your rubble about then spray withglue agin.

that is how I put ballast down on railroad tracks.

Thank you, Craig, for your quick reply.

I use a similar technique for basing of my Tabletop-
figures. But there I cover the bases completely with sand or rubble.

How do you spray the white glue on the surface?

How is this technique working with a more loosely and erratic coverage with sand and rubble? Doesn't make the white glue a shiny surface?

Thank you in advance!
Thomas

Thomas,
The glue works fine for small and erratic materials. The glue usually dries pretty clear and dull. You can always spray with dullcoat if needed.

I use a water spray bottle to spray the thinned glue.

For bigger things (like a figure or big hunk of concrete or rock) I drill a small hole in the bottom and put florist wire in the hole with CA. THis also creates a great holding point for painting.

I hope this helps.

Phil,
Sounds great. I picked up Revell snap tanker truck kit. It was on sale and it was too cheap to pass up. Grabbed their snap Fire Engine as well for $10. I might use that for the Emergency Services Campaign. Anyway, what I am shooting for with the semi is to replace the tank trailer with a cargo structure. I'll shorten that between 3/5. And then extend the length of the tractor frame so the vehicle will more configured like the first example sof the auto hauler. The extended tractor will be heavily armed and armored and serve as living and fighting compartment. The trailer is more for item storage.

I figure that this thing will serve as a mobile fort for the scavenger team. They get caught out after dark, they basically find a safe place and hole up for the night. If the zekes show up, the truck crew at least, can button up and wait them out. Zombies wouldn't be the entire threat. You'd have competition from other survivor groups for supplies.

To me, I'd think that a team would use smaller vehicles as scouts. They'd move ahead to scout out locations, find clear roads, watch for zekes. They find a prospective location and they call in the bigger vehicles. You'll need cargo capacity as well as workers to strip a location of usable items as quickly as possible.

Alex,
I am with you on this point.
Smaller vehicles for scouting and a medium vehicle to grab the goods. The zombies are a secondary threat and dealt with easily. The other folks are the biggest problem.

I always thought that a secure building with a second floor would be best for an Ops base. the second floor of a barn, a cement plant, warehouse building etc. Eliminate all stairs and 2nd floor entrances. Figure a "droppable" stair or ladder with a secure door. Zombies just herd on through the first floor (like in walking dead). The secure door would hold out casual threats and the height advantage might discourage most other survivors.

here is an example



[url]http://abnf.co/OH-Abandoned_Cement_Plant,_Zanesville_OH.htm[url]

Maybe the EOD 3 campaign should focus on the Ops bases. Time to raid the model railroad side of the hobby shop.

Maybe stipulate that you should take a picture of a local site ( or one from the web) and modify it how you would use it to "Survive and thrive".

What do you think Phil?

Let's see... walthers has 20' & 40' containers in 1/87 along with a cement plant....now where are those K-rails...

Major Stueben

Alex, Phill and Sean, thanks for the encouragement and the advise. I have opened up a Photo bucket account and will try uploading photos from there. I'm not sure if it is my poor eyesight or the phone I'm using to take photos, but the focus seems to be a bit blurry. Maybe with experience I will get better.

Sean, thanks for the idea on my ten ton/trailer project. I am entered in the Tank Transporter build which ends 12/31/13, but have only gathered photos and measurements for the M172a1 trailer and drawn up a set of more or less scale drawings. I will probably drop out of that one since I have not started to build yet and save that project for the Extreme Truck Campaign.

Phill, for this campaign I am going in the exact direction you suggest with the auto transporter base. I envision an uparmored, twin steer, 12x12 cab over engine, Peterbuilt tractor equipped with a quad .50 turret, 107mm mortar, multiple gun ports, smoke grenade launchers and of course a close in defense, perimeter flame thrower system to keep the zombies at bay. So far I have cut and spliced the 16" frame together from three Revell, 1/32 scale Snap-Tite Peterbilt 352 Cab Over kits and am working on the undercarriage which is dry fit in one of the photos. I am a little concerned about mixing 1/32 and 1/35 scale parts but then again we are talking about a vehicle equipped to defeat Zombies so I guess it will work.

The premise of my build is that the country has more or less stabilized after whatever catastrophe has unleashed the Zombies. Central governments and organized military/law enforcement has dissolved and everyone is on their own. Since nature abhors a vacuum, survival of the fittest is the new law of the land so tribal groups have formed and begun to reorganize things in an attempt to regain what was lost. The large scale battles are over and an uneasy peace is in place between most groups with the exception of the plague infested Zombies and some nomad raider groups.

In the interest of facilitating inter tribal trade, and making a handsome living in the true capitalist spirit, a young former U.S.M.C. veteran has formed the A to Z transport company with the slogan "From Ambushers to Zombies, we beat them all. When your package absolutely, positively must get there". Once the Federal, State and local governments collapsed and the military was abolished, he quickly recruited some fellow Marines, Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors, police, medical professionals, mechanics, engineers, farmers, hunters and other key tradesmen and their families and occupied a portion of the Barstow, California, U.S.M.C. Logistics Base before it could be looted. They further fortified the base until it was impenetrable by the zombies or raiders. Word quickly got out after a few devastatingly unsuccessful attacks that this location was not to be messed with and the hordes gave it a wide berth. They hunkered down and waited out the fierce battles that were occurring in the major cities and took there toll on the combatants. Since they had no desire to take control but only wanted to survive in safety and comfort they only emerged from their compound after the dust settled. Now it is time to start the rebuilding process.

[IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w563/sharky1381/WP_000074_zpsb81b61ef.jpg" BORDER="0">[/img]

[IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w563/sharky1381/WP_000080_zps79d409d1.jpg" BORDER="0">[/img]

[IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w563/sharky1381/WP_000079_zpsce2450d2.jpg" BORDER="0">[/img]

[IMG]http://i1330.photobucket.com/albums/w563/sharky1381/a52d5c5f-011a-4c81-9bc2-5d858588d6e2_zps76bf65e6.jpg" BORDER="0">[/img]

Thomas ... ok matey here's how i make dust and rubble ,,plaster of paris .what i do is make up a sheet of it ,,say 10mm thick ,,size dont matter really and once dry i then smash the crap out of it ,,what you end up with is multiple sized pieces and then you start to work from there ..i use a sift to split the plaster ,,you end up with a fine plaster dust,small broken pieces like rubble and if your not to nut when your breaking the plaster apart you get some nice sized pieces which look alot like stone and with a little bit of work you can get bricks too.
Now to gluing ,, white glue or as we call it PVA , i think this with water until its quite runny when just paint it onto the base with a brush ,,sprinkle the plaster pieces over the base and the plaster and glue will grab straight away ,,if you see some areas your not happy with just drip some glue into that area and drop some more plaster there ,,the glue will soften the plaster and once dry it ties the entire thing together just like in these pics .




For even more scope when it comes to dust collect all sorts of gravels and dirts ,,hell i even use kitty litter ,,that stuff is cheap and comes in different sized bags and you an sift it too and get a really nice dusty light gravel layout with very little work .
I agree with you guys about the scout vehicles ,,i just forgot to write about it
The car transporter idea with the ramp would work as a mother ship for scouts ,,offroaders and bikes would work for this sort of thing ..light and good on fuel and easy to work on .
One thing i was thinking about the park up at night ..you would not want to leave your scouts out side unprotected cause if a horde did surround them you would have to shoot the buggers and could hit the scout vehicles and of course damage would happen ..or other wise known as a classic case of bugger ,not good when your out and about ..the less broken things the better .
Craig.. sounds like a pretty cool idea but i will make it part of the campaign ..for me to build something like s compound it would be kinda annoying as i only work in 35th and i already have 2 very large dio's to finish for one customer ..the pics are from one of his dio's but there's no way i would discourage anyone from building one tho ..so yep mate its included
Frank ,, dude i am seriously looking forward to this ,,i love big ass trucks and this will fit the bill very nicely indeed
Ok guys help here needed for Frank and i am asking cause i have forgotten how to get the pic info under each pic in the photobucket library .
Help him guys please guys cause my memory is poked

Phill

Frank, edit the link to remove every thing after the .jpg and before the square bracket
i.e. these bits: " BORDER="0">


Phill, that dio has me intregued. A Stryker & Bradley plus a few buildings.....anything else? Couple of Humvees maybe?

Or you can click on and paste in the link from Direct Link (2nd on Photobucket Get Links list) into the IMG option on the reply deal. It's like doing the older way before they let you click on the 4th link and paste it in to the reply field.

sorry all i have to unenlist from all my current campaigns, unforseen circumstances have been keeping me busy for the past 4-5 months i hope to be back on and going this fall ,, thanks you all for your help.

Sorry to hear that Terry. Hope you get back to the bench soon.

Started adding more to the "finished" Hemtt...more storage, racks for extra fuel cans and the lights! Lots of lights all around for those nights stuck out in the bad-lands. Working on the smoke-grenade launchers.

That's close, but not quite right. There's no need to use any glue before you place your material.

After you do that, spray lightly with water and a few drops of dish soap mixed in. This will help create capillary action to spread the glue everywhere, such as down to the lower part of the ballast, and have it all stick. This is sometimes called a "wetting agent".

Then the white glue gets mixed 50/50 with water. Woodland Scenics will sell you a special, more expensive solution, but that's all it is.

I wouldn't spray the glue as that doesn't give you enough control. I mix up a batch and the use an eye-dropper to place it exactly where you want to. Let it dry overnight or longer if you can.

Good luck

I like that Sean...

Phill, thanks for the tutorial on diorama making I will keep it in mind as I expand my endeavors in model making. Sean, Great HEMTT. I want to build one as soon as I get through my mid 70's motor pool.

Thanks for the instructions on posting photos. I'll give it another try with a couple of new ones. I have allowed myself to get bogged down with minutia such as hours spent on the internet looking at pictures of truck suspensions and engines and such. It is really easy to get carried away when not simply building a kit OTB. I've also tried making turbochargers out of solder and have been cutting discs for use as fan pulleys. Any suggestions for realistic 1/35 scale fan belts? I tried some O-rings but when they are long enough they are too thick. I'm thinking of pieces of rubber bands or thin plastic or even paper strips. I will have to suppress some of my ideas if I am to finish this build on time. The good news is I have time since, as a teacher, I am off for the rest of the month. The bad news is I have no air conditioning in my work space so I can only bear to be in there early in the morning and at night. Today is not too bad so I'd better get to work while I can.
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Thanks Hakan.

Thanks Frank: that's an incredible level of detail you're aiming for....good luck with it. I'll be watching with interest. For the fan belt I think paper would be closest you'll get to scale thickness.

little progress

Those corrugated sheets look very real Roman....how did you do them?

Hi everybody I'm back!

Sean, glad to see you decided to keep on with the Hemtt.
Phil, nice tutorial on making rubble and buildings.

Been busy on my truck now that I finally have all the barbed wire done.
I got the rifles and scopes from Live Resin assembled


Next I had to fabricate the rifle holders for the guard towers


After that I needed to make loops for safety harnesses so our intrepid survivors don't get pitched out when the roads get rough


This is the trailer, with the guard towers finished


A close up of the tower and the additions, the rear is the same as this one.


The test fit to see how everything looks at this point.


Next up, guard rails and the minigun in the back. Which brings us to what postie brought me recently.

Live Resin's M-124D Minigun!


Sorry for the blurry image, but it's only a lowly phone camera
Later

That LR stuff is nice! Looking forward to seeing the teeth being added to your beast.....

Bruce, your truck really comes together.
I am very curious how you will paint it.

Well, I would say my diorama is complete.

I have written a short story around this 3-D-picture, to give you a little glimpse of my sick imagination (ruined by too much apocalyptic stories I have read...)

------------------------------

That's the story of Pope's Rednecks Militia.

After the Aliens caught earths armies by surprise, destroying it with huge boulders thrown from the orbit and deactivating worldwide communications with EMPs, the invaders quickly got control over earths inhabitants.
Of course the surface of the earth is just to large to control it completely.
So the occupation and observation of 90% of earth's inhabitants still left more than half of earths surface without such grim administration.

Especially in the mid-western lowlands of the USA, where nearly in every house a handgun, rifle or even an assault rifle could be found, the resistance was active even years after the attack.
The large and organized units of Army, Navy or even National Guard were hammered long ago, but small groups fought their lonely little guerilla-war against the overwhelming Alien forces and human marauders.

One of the these groups were Pope's Rednecks.
They got their name from their chief, who owned a small body shop.
Due to his expertise in repairing nearly everything which moved and storage of tools and raw materials they were able to restore some old technology which ran without much electronic - because most of the integrated circuits were roasted by the EMPs.

This body shop and the surrounding buildings turned out to get their headquarter, barracks and workshop all in once - their new home.

Over years they were able to lure the aliens away from their origin, but their luck did not last forever.

One time one of their scouts (mostly modified Pickups) got caught by an alien scout walker robot and fled into the wrong direction, leading the intruder directly into the heart of their resistance.

As these alien machines were very sturdy, only powerful weapons (like the RPG) could penetrate their armor, or the constant peppering with small caliber bullets could damage the joints of this walker.

Unfortunately most of the men of Pope's Rednecks had no or little combat experience, resulting in many casualties during the fight with the alien walker.
They finally managed to destroy the robot, but their headquarter was revealed and they had to leave quickly, before another orbital boulder destroyed the city they lived in for so many years.

----------------------------------------

Remember, not all stories have a happy end....

So, enough words, here the pictures (many of them, shot today outside with cloudy sky - giving me perfect light without shadows):

First some view over the complete scene:






and now some more details:

(the house wall with the new bike from Diopark)






Pope himself in his working dress behind the .50cal

















And finally the inside of the workshop and office:




-------------------------------------

I tried to get the streets dirtier, but the outcome of my tests were not convincing - so I let them as they were.
Better not perfect than disappointing - in that situation doing nothing could have been the best thing I could do...

What is still missing is the nameplate on the wall (Pope's Body Shop) and maybe a USA flag or the rebel flag somewhere on the building.

But that may be included later on when I get motivated to take this part on my desk again.
Right now I don't want to see it for a while
I plan to get this on exhibitions and contests...

How do I get the pictures into the official campaigns folder?

Have a great weekend

Thomas

Thomas,
Absolutely wonderful work you have done. I appreciate you sharing it with us. You have created a detail rich diorama, without bogging it down. And the figures...those are just wonderful. The only thing I would suggest is moving the figure standing out front to the corner or inside one of the doorways, like he's frozen with fear. Again, a wonderful piece of work and I hate to even suggest that one bit.

To post your pictures, follow the link. Make sure you're logged in tot he Kitmaker gallery. It should say "Log In" in the top right corner if you're not.

https://gallery.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php/cat/27939

Bruce,
Looking good. It reminds me of the tanker from The Road Warrior. I got my Revell Tanker in the mail last week so I'm ready for EOD 3.

Roman,
Nice work. The corrugated metal sheeting looks really nice.