Machinas: Jack Slade's Driving Fortress

Oh man, did I enjoy putting this one together. It took a lot longer than the other cars, but then again, it's a lot longer than my other cars.

I used some brass tubing this time around for the guns - all seven of them (twin turret guns, twin tailguns, two waist guns and the forward gun.)

The tailgun assembly was fun to do it's just a whole lot of green stuff slapped on and shaped into a nice large mount over the back trunk, from the back window to the gun barrels. I carved a panel line around the back of the tailgun "tube" so that I could paint a ribbon of silver around it to help combine it with the Cadillac's back end.

The turret was easy this time around (I did a smaller version for one of my other cars earlier.) The turret is made up of green stuff that I let cure before drilling out a couple holes for the gun tubes. Then I glued a length of brass wire to the bottom to serve as a swivel, so that the gun can traverse. (I'll learn to make elevating gun mounts later.)

The waist guns are the least attractive, but took the most work (which is ok; they were needed to complete the full effect of a driving fortress.) I had to take apart the car, build a couple mounts on the separate internal chassis floor plate, drill out the bottom of the assembled guns, set them onto the pivot points, and then reassemble the car while guiding the guns through the windows and without the guns falling off their mounts (The top of the windows now hold the guns down onto their mounts.) It was a lot of work, but it actually wasn't too difficult. Even the reassembly went fairly well, taking only a couple tries.

This die cast car being from M2 Machines, was put together with screws (instead of flathead rivets used by Hot Wheels), so taking it apart and reassembling it are a cinch. And since I took out all the internal bits I didn't need, I ended up with a few extra spare parts, including an air filter, driver seat and a complete engine.

Thanks to Lasgunpacker for the idea on the mutant nose art! That really accents and completes this whole piece. I think it was going to feel just like another car without it. It wasn't the easiest to paint up (freehand), and it's not the best looking, but it's the best I can do, and I think it's still efffective. (I offset it to make it easier to paint without that gun getting in the way.)