Machinas: Last of the cars for a bit

Here are the last two Machinas cars I'll be doing, at least until after the Machinas crowdfunding campaign. Among other things, the campaign will help fund some new sculpted weapons; getting a few new weapons will require a few new cars. Until then, here are the last couple cars I've added to my collection.

Dark Soul

Dark Soul refers to the "dark soul" of the night, the latest, darkest hours of night before the morning begins its approach. This also refers tot he time this contraband runner makes its trips across the Wasteland. In the Seven Hills history, I mentioned that of the four original cars modified by the Running Nomads for their black market freight venture, two had been captured by the Church. The first one was the Ram car. The second one is Dark Soul.

This vehicle is based on the 1958 Chevrolet Apache pickup truck. I wasn't sure if I wanted to model Dark Soul as a runner or a racer, so I did both. Really, the only difference are the guns; they are fixed to the truck with a brass rod/socket coupling (which also allows them to swivel.)

The hatch cover is made from a watch/calculator battery. The exhaust pipe is a piece of brass rod  bent into shape and passed through a brass tube. There's not much to this vehicle. It's not my favorite of my collection, but there were four Nomad runners, and I wanted to have a complete set.

Waiteri Johnsons

One of the cultures that shares the Known Wasteland are the tribes of the Waiteri. Citizens of Seven Hills, the cities and the Nomads all either misunderstand their history or choose to deny the truth (that Oppenheimer wasn't a god, but one of the scientists responsible for bring about the atomic apocalypse in 1959.) The Waiteri, however, know the truth, and as a result, push back against technology. They still trade and live peacefully with their Seven Hills neighbors, but they prefer to be isolated and honor their own laws and traditions. A contemporary comparison could be made to the Amish community in the United States.

On occasion, some Waiteri are tempted beyond their will and accept the newer technologies. Among them are a small family from the Waiteri Johnson tribe. James, Mary and their daughter Jill of Waiteri Johnson* left their tribe to live among the Nomadic towns. Their tracking and survival skills were in demand helping caravans to traverse the Great Desert. They quickly earned enough to acquire their own vehicle.

The Waiteri Johnson's car is a 58 Impala (by M2 Machines). I added a baggage rack, baggage (made from green stuff), a small plasticard push bar/ram, new engine with pipes, and a tail gun. I like the idea of the tailgun on a few of my cars; it's a nice small indication that those cars are more defensive in nature, that they rely more on speed to get them out of trouble, and use the tailgun to keep them out of trouble.

The Waiteri Johnsons have embraced technology, but they still know the truth of the world's history. Thus they still honor their tribe's dogma by painting their car in traditional Waiteri patterns. I love how the pattern turned out on the car; it also looks like it would be a decent camouflage.

*Waiteri naming convention
The Waiteri, knowing their true history, have adopted the common names of their ancestors, while family names have been applied to the names of each tribe. So, for example, James is known as "James of Waiteri Johnson." Other examples are "Carl of Waiteri Brown," or "Linda of Waiteri Smith." You get the idea.