Machinas wip: Sun up and Sun down

The Sun Valley started like this

When they're finished, I'll explain their names (Sun Up and Sun Down) when I describe their background. But these (along with my ram car) will represent a new class of car, namely, one that is unarmed -- Again, the reasoning will be explained when the cars are finished.

And has progressed to this

The Ford Fairlane (the gray car) will simply have the chopped top and the body leveled off just like my ram car. Though, instead of a small pilothouse, I think I'll just do a periscope of some sort. This car will also have a ram but without spikes (so more like Col. Jack's Special.)

The Fairlane will also have some straight pipes coming up through the hood.

I sort of bumbled into the way the Mercury Sun Valley (the green car) came out. I cut off the top and set it aside. Then, while figuring out how to make this car different, I grabbed the chopped top and see how it would look fit back on. It sit nicely on the car body, with the post "grabbing" the inside to hold the top into place. And it didn't look half bad. It's actually turned around in the photo with the rear window facing forward. So I glued it down.

I used green stuff to strengthen the posts and blend the top into the body. And yes, it has that neat El Camino effect, with a nice large cargo bay (or area for a large machine gun mount or missile or mortar tubes) but I'm sticking to my original idea which will involve covering that large hole and blending it into the body. BUT, I will file away the "El Camino" look for later, because I do like how that looks.

I will also give the Mercury a pair of stovepipe exhausts (like Col. Jack's Special.) But I'm not sure if I'll have the pipes straight up or if I'll try something a little different and slant them back to give the car a more "speedy" look. I'll figure it out when I get the pipes built.

Machinas: Colonel Jack's Special

The Paint

I liked the idea offered up of doing both black and tan, but I wasn't sure how to go about merging the two colors. I looked through images of hot rods seeing if there was a scheme that I could copy, and I found one where the two colors were separated by a diagonal line just off the halfway mark on the car. But I still wanted something a little different. It was just a matter of a few doodles before I hit upon my little "Dusty Trail" scheme.

I wanted something "cool" (the black with chrome), but I also wanted something practical, such as a camouflaging color (some tan/desert yellow.) I took a little inspiration from motion camouflage seen on WWII warships, where a wave was painted on the bow to make the ship look like it was moving. Instead of a wave, I painted the dust getting kicked up.

I really enjoyed putting this car and background together. Since I have plenty of factions, I think any future cars I get will be purchased, converted and painted individually, so I can focus and put more thought and effort into their creation.

Colonel Jack's Special

Col. Jack's Special is owned by a man who named himself after Col. Jack, a character from Mark Twain's "Roughing It," (one of the famous ancient books discovered by the Seven Hills Church.) In the book (as far as I can remember), Col. Jack, a man off the frontier, took a bus (horse-drawn) through New York City. The ride fascinated him, so he paid the driver $20 to drive him and his friend Col. John all over the city. Jack told anyone who got on the bus that he had paid their fare and that they should sit back and enjoy the ride. Jack was entertained by the variety of people he met on the ride, which continued for the rest of the day.

My Col. Jack's Special has a variety of uses. Mostly, Col. Jack serves as a low-cost charter for Wastelanders. The only drawback to hiring Col. Jack is that he is only one man with one car, so finding him is difficult. But when you do manage to hire his services, you're treated to a fine ride, indeed.

When he's not transporting folks across the wastes, Col. Jack loads his car with supplies and explores the fringes of the Known Wasteland. He carries as much survey equipment as he can (note the red/white survey rods seen on the left side of the baggage). Since he is one of the few people willing to travel far and wide to map the wastes, the Church gives him a larger fuel allotment than is usually given out.

For better fuel economy, ruggedness and torque, Col. Jack runs a diesel engine, hence the stovepipe on the left of the car. He has also discovered, on a couple of his runs, a wide but shallow river, which, for a long time, prevented him from exploring a section of the western wastes, so the car's engine compartment was sealed and a snorkel was added.

Most people in the Known Wasteland like Col. Jack, but there are still those marauders who will take a shot at him now and again, so he keeps a large slab of armor to protect his rear, and a push bar to clear barricades and other road obstructions. He also has extra armor on the wheels and the windscreen (though, I left the armor off the side windows to help preserve some of the car's original lines.) And, of course, Col. Jack mounts twin .50s, because he understands that even his gentle nature needs the support of a little extra firepower sometimes.

Col. Jack has never raced in a Church-sanctioned event (he is still called Col. Jack, after all, and not Brother Pilot.) But he is known to join in a random Waste Race now and again. He prefers more friendly races where there is more nudging and bumping than all-out shooting.

Racing Col. Jack in a game

If you want to run Col. Jack's Special in a race, here are his stats (copy these down later for when the rules are released. If you want, I can stat out more special characters in the future, though, I think you'll enjoy making your own.)

Col. Jack's Special
Savvy: 6
Tech: 5
Speed: 4

Driver Signatures
Focused
Scouter
Off Roader
Pathfinder

Car Features
Well Built
Tuned Up
Inspected Ammo
Angled Armor
Twin .50s
.357

Machinas: Col. Jack's Special wip

After finishing the last of my cars, I was already feeling a little withdrawal, so I picked up this '54 Chevy Bel Air. It's another M2 Machine (from the Auto-thentics line.)

Instead of converting this car to be used with one of the factions, I decided this would be my "personal" car -- the car I would drive as a player during games of Machinas. So I decided to outfit it as I would a real car in the Wasteland (with a few liberties.)

I had to make a little bit of background to explain a couple things, and I'll share that when the car is finished (though, Colonel Jack is a character in Mark Twain's "Roughing It," one of the books found by the Church at 7602 Oak Street -- for those who follow the Machinas background.) But I will explain how I built a couple things.

The stovepipe exhaust is a thick piece of brass rod slipped into some brass tubing which was bent to fit into a hole I drilled out of the car body. The snorkel on the right was made using the same brass tubing capped off with the air filter canister that I took out of the engine compartment.

The push bar and metal slab are plasticard. For the wraparound bends of the push bar, I used a lighter to warm up the plastic and bend it into shape.

The guns use the same construction I've used for all my other .50s -- brass rod, plastic tubing and cut pieces of plastic sprue.

The baggage was set onto the body and then sculpted (out of green stuff) straight onto the car. When the green stuff cured, I "peeled" the baggage from the car; this formed a mold of the car body so that the baggage would fit perfectly back onto the car after I added a bit of superglue.

Part of the baggage includes a spare .50 machine gun, and some survey sticks (part of the varied background of this car.)

I had some green stuff left over, so I added armored covers to all the wheels.

I'm still not sure what color to paint Col. Jack's Special. I'm trying to decided between black for the "cool" factor, and a desert yellow for the "practical" factor. Or maybe desert yellow with black flame job? Or all-rust like my Runnin' Gunners for a more "realistic" look. I'll figure something out.

Machinas: The Runnin' Gunners

Here's my new favorite faction, the Runnin' Gunners. The American Indian-inspired markings turned out the way I had envisioned them.

After the markings were painted, I gave all the cars a drybrushing of light tan for dust. This dusting all helps to blend everything together (rust, markings, and replaced body panels.)

Next up are two more cars for my Black Tops, and the plow car for my Vestal Mechanics. After those,  I guess I'll get in a couple more races/chases.

Then maybe it's time for a piece of scenery or two. I was thinking of a couple things: A simple stone wall to run along one side of the track (which would serve an actual function), and/or a set of toll booths to sit along the back end of the track (which would only serve to dress up the track, but still be fun to build.)

Machinas: Runnin' Gunners wip

Just a quick pic of my Runnin' Gunners faction. The main color of the faction will indeed by all rust. But I will add a little bit of random color here and there via replaced fenders or body panels. And to change things up, I will also be adding (in white) some (American) Indian horse markings. Coup marks, horse raid marks, society marks, lightning patterns, etc.

For the rust here, I used the technique I described in my video last week. This time around, I used a much larger brush (though, still with a lot of fine bristles.) I also went in with a smaller brush and added some bare/scratched metal.

Once this batch is done, I'll post a small gallery of all my Machinas factions -- Slade's Silvers, Seven Hills Circus, Vestal Mechanics, The Black Tops (use to be the Big'uns) and these Runnin' Gunners.

Machinas: Big'un wip

... and as promised, here's my last car, the lead car for my Big'uns faction. All the Big'uns have quad .50s. I used a lot of green stuff on this car (and it's now the heaviest in my collection.) To achieve the sharp leading edge on the huge gun fairing, I waited for the green stuff to cure, and then I used a long sculpey-cutting tool to shave off the front in one piece. (This cutting tool resembles a long straight razor blade.)

So next up is priming and painting. I'll also have to clean off my table ... Maybe I should get another couple cars before I clear away all the armor and weapons I have strewn about....

Machinas: Runnin' Gunners, and others wip

Here's my current progress. The cars languished on the table for a few days, but once I got some guns built and some rocket tubes cut, things just started coming together.

The car with the plow on the front will go to my Vestal Mechanics faction (the church faction.) The plow blade is just a piece of plastic heated up and roughly bent into shape- I wanted the rough shape instead of a nice straight plow. It's the one car with a "turret" mount that doesn't swivel.

The rocket car was pretty straightforward: I put a bunch of tubes all over it. You can see the six main rocket tubes in the front window. There are also two twin launchers on the back set at an angle. I think Slade's Silvers could use this car for its long-range abilities.

Then there are my three gun cars forming the core of my newest faction, The Runnin' Gunners, who have light armament but are faster movers for it, hence, the name. They'll join up with my other all-gun faction, The Big'uns (made up of three cars all armed with quad .50s.) I'm not sure what color scheme they'll have; I might just do them saturated in rust, with maybe a random fender or body part in a contrasting color.

One of the Big'uns is my last car still on the work bench. It's getting some major body work right now; green stuff is curing. I should have a photo of that beast in a day or two.

Machinas: WIP Calliope and Simple Chevy

'57 Chevy Bel Air with hood-mounted twin .50s, and a Desoto Adventurer tricked out from here to Heaven. A couple
of my extra machine guns there are drum-fed to break up the monotony.

Here are a couple of the cars in progress. (The guns on the Chevy are only dry-fit, hence their lowered aim.)

All of the guns were made using brass rod for the barrels, plastic tubing for the muzzles and cooling jackets, and plastic sprue for the receivers. At such a small scale, I don't mind my receivers being that smooth/simple (no bolts, ejector ports etc.) I also switched to plastic sprue (from bass wood) because it's easier to control the pen vise when drilling out a hole for the gun barrels. The sprue is also much more sturdy.

I did the Desoto Adventurer (right) first, adding a larger engine, big exhaust pipes, rocket tubes and a couple machine guns up front. With that many pipes on this car -- all of them noise makers -- I had to name the vehicle "Calliope."

Since Calliope has so much going on, I decided to go simple with my next car, the 57 Chevy. The Bel Air only has a couple guns mounted on the hood. I'll armor up the front and rear windows, but otherwise, there'll be no more modifications to the Chevy.

In fact, I like the simple look of the Chevy enough that I'm going to do a couple more cars with just hood or roof-mounted guns. In Machinas, one of the more common armaments are twin .50s, so having a few cars armed as such fits right along with the game.

Don't worry, the car I have planned after the three gunners, has a snowplow scoop mounted up front as a ram (and as a scoop; the car will go to my church faction, which is responsible for digging out and repairing newly found Infernals.) Maybe I'll throw a couple rocket tubes on it, too.

Machinas: The showroom floor

My shipment of new cars arrived today, so I thought I'd show a couple shots of how beautiful these cars are before I apocalyze them. These are all M2 Machine "Auto-thentic" cars. These are the more expensive models, but Hot Wheels has a lack of pre-1960 cars in stores right now. Even still, I prefer these beauties.

Suede interiors; polished chrome wheel covers, grills, highlights and bumpers; acrylic lacquer paint; whitewall tires; powerful V6, V8 and hemi engines; elegant body lines and smooth styling ... All soon to be replaced with rust, dust and guns.

It's almost a shame to run these through an apocalypse ... almost.

Painting rust- the quick and dirty

I had a car hood sitting around, so I just decided to throw together my rust tutorial off the cuff.
This rust technique isn't the best, but it works and it doesn't take a lot of time:

Machinas: Tools, parts and rust tutorial coming up

Tools of the trade

All the parts and supplies you should need. This is more
 than  enough for two or three cars

Ok, not too much text info for you here; I just wanted to share a couple photos, one showing the pile of tools I use for converting my Machinas cars, and a photo of a sample pile of parts I use when deciding what to do with a car.

Tools include things for cutting, bending, filing, shaping, marking and drilling.

Parts include stripped-out interiors, dashboards, hoods, exhaust pipes, engines, tubes for missiles and rockets, brass rod for gun barrels, hatches, stowage, cable and other random parts that have yet to become what-I-don't-know.

Video!

I finally tried out the video function on my camera! It was easier than I thought it would be (though, I'll have to see how uploading to Blogger goes.) SO, when I get my next car built (and as long as I can upload the video to Blogger), I will show - by popular request - a short tutorial on how I rust and weather my cars.

Video could lead to more short tutorials (though, it depends on how much money I have to spend on batteries- My camera is an electricity hog.) I might also do a short tutorial on how to play Machinas; There are lots of video ideas and opportunities out there, but for now, I'll focus on building a car so that I can get that rust tutorial done.

Machinas: Seven Hills Circus faction

My second team/faction, the Seven Hills Circus is complete. It includes one of my older, repainted pickups (outfitted with a new gun,) as well as my Chrysler 300c "gunship." I think I'll stick with the gunship moniker even though I have three or four cars that outgun the Chrysler (in fact, I have a heavy weapons faction ((The Highway Thunderers)) featuring two cars each with quad .50s, and one with a large gatling.)

The checkers on the gunship were easy to do. After the car was primed (black), I drew the checks on with a pencil. Then it was just a matter of painting in the white checks. I drybrushed my rust and dust to help blend the checks into the hood (to give them a faded look.)

I still have 7 cars soon to convert and paint, along with a couple new weapon configuration ideas to try out. I'll use the new cars to fill out a couple of my other teams. (I gutted a few teams to provide potential cars as giveaways for the Machinas Kickstarter.) I also picked up some brass tubing to make a few more rocket and missile tubes, something that's been lacking on my last few cars.

I hope to get the new cars finished faster than slower; my friend Jeff tells me that the Reaper Bones kickstart figures are shipping soon. That's going to be a lot of painting. But that's OK; Jeff is my patron, buying all the bases, static grass and greens stuff I need, in return for painting up the few random figures here and there for his D&D campaigns.