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| 03 October 2011 |
OneTon utility vehicle design
finalised and sent for printing (again!) |
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 (Click on image for larger version) |
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Having been inspired by a magazine
article on the 1950s British Army Humber 1 ton light truck and
variants, I decided to create a heavy duty utility vehicle for
my planned sci-fi desert world. I have designed various
conversions for the load area, two of which are also being
printed. I've had a test print back already, but forgot to get the
wheels printed! So to avoid making it look like its had the wheels
stolen, I'll hold off taking pictures until the new prints are
back from Shapeways.
It's a big beast, designed for long
journeys over hot, hard sand/small rock, desert surfaces, with
wide wheels to reduce the ground pressure. The wheelbase is 3.3m, overall
length over bumpers 6.1m, height 2.6m, width 2.9m, and tyres
runflat 48x18.5R28LTs! Drive is electric to all wheels, powered by
a fuel
cell. A separate water tank is fitted in the rear of the cab for
the cooling systems and for emergencies. A crew of two travel in
the spacious, fully air conditioned cab, with space for two of
my pallets (to come later) in the load area.
For
reference, for all my future 15mm modelling, I've settled on a
scale of 1:95. I know there have been long discussions on TMP
about which scale vehicles to use with 15mm. As the figures I
mainly use are the second generation Traveller scifi figures,
now available from
RAFM, I found 1:95 worked best.
Once the prints (inc. wheels!) are delivered, I'll photo them
with these figures, as I will all future vehicles. |
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| 26 September 2011 |
My civilianised variants of the Old
Crow Provider and Legion vehicles. |
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(click on image for larger version) |
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Whilst working on creating
3D models of Jez's Old
Crow vehicles, I decided I wanted to make some more
civilanised variants of his Provider truck and Legion
multi-configurable vehicle. The photo above shows the additions
I made to the existing models. They were photographed after
they were printed in Frosted Ultra Detail at
Shapeways, cast in resin,
and given a quick coat of grey spray primer.
They look
acceptable at a distance. Unfortunately when you examine them
close up, there are a number of surface printing artefacts that
mean that they would not be suitable for commercial casting. For
example, zoom in on the central door of the Legion - see the
diagonal striping? As they were never intended for sale, I'm
happy to accept this. Jez has kindly made some resin copies for
me, which you see here. These include casts of all the
components of his existing Legion design that I had printed at
15mm. He provided casts of his existing Provider chassis and
wheels from stock, for use with my variants.
For the
Provider, the only change was a complete cab redesign. The roof
was raised, ventilators and extra lights were added, and of
course large glazed windows. Each of the two body top types were
printed as a complete item, and then matched to his existing
cast wheeled chassis. The box body was hollowed out in the 3D
model to reduce the volume of material used, and therefore the
price at Shapeways.
For the Legion, I wanted to turn it
into a long range exploration vehicle. Firstly I modelled all
the elements Jez had included in his prototype 25mm version. I used three of the
completed models that were photographed for the
Hammer's Slammers -
The Crucible rule book as reference. My thanks to John Treadaway for the
loan of them.
I designed a central section with doors on
each side. Concept is you reach up to press a button on the
door. The door then has power opening with automatic ladder
deployment. To provide greater operational flexibility I then
designed an opening roof central section. Two versions were
printed. One has the roof closed, the other open. In the centre
of the floor of the open one is an upright cylinder that can
accept a variety of fittings. In the photo is the communications
dish option. The dish is from
The Scene, with the
central receiver and supports scratchbuilt from plastic and
brass.
Future fittings I have planned include a drone
launcher. This has been printed but I have not yet got round to
spraying or installing it. The rendered image below shows how it
can be displayed.
(Click on image for larger version) |
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| 25 September 2011 |
Set of three flyers/fighters
using TRON 2 toy tanks. |
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(click on image for larger version) |
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Some time ago in a local
"The Entertainer" toy shop, I found three toy tanks from the
TRON 2 film on sale. If I remember correctly, they were only £1.00 each.
Recently I came across them, and decided to do a quick convert
for 15mm use. I did give thought to 3D modelling the bits, but
a) I wanted to get something finished quickly, b) considering
the original cost of the toys, I couldn't justify it!
Using some off-cuts of low density modelling board I had
been given, I simply fashioned a cockpit and tail fin for each.
After a spray of GW Chaos Black paint, they were drybrushed, the
cockpits were painted gold for a reflective glass effect. Extra
details were added with a black permanent marker, a selection
of paint pens and some decals I self-printed long ago. |
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