I'm not the best painter and like to keep things simple but, pictured with a squad of Ghosts is the smaller of the Armadillo toys.
It looks easily capable of handling a squad of ten models. I have another two of these to go plus I need to get to grips with the 5 in figure Armadillo.
It looks like another platoon of Praetorians will have to be painted in a 19th C Royal Marines scheme as drop troopers.
The "Lightspeed" version as seen above is the one you want.
do you mean hyperspeed series eilif? i was wondering if the lightyear truck on that same link is the one everyone is using? its 6 inches long so sounds about right. for 8 bucks its pretty dang cool.
cant wait to see the fence.
i bet its hollow on the backside though which would stink.
The "Lightspeed" version as seen above is the one you want.
do you mean hyperspeed series eilif? i was wondering if the lightyear truck on that same link is the one everyone is using? its 6 inches long so sounds about right. for 8 bucks its pretty dang cool.
cant wait to see the fence.
i bet its hollow on the backside though which would stink.
Yep, you're right. It's Hyperspeed. That is the truck also.
The little double pack of ATVS are good for more traditional 28mm size figs and the drop pods are great for single trooper pods.
Anybody have any good ideas on how to make use of the smaller Lightyear Hyperspeed ships? It just seems a waste they are just a touch too small...
Huge Drones?
I don't know. They are just so cheap and so close to useful I feel there must be a use case.
Please help me justify to myself why I have half a dozen lying around...
Gallahad wrote: Anybody have any good ideas on how to make use of the smaller Lightyear Hyperspeed ships? It just seems a waste they are just a touch too small...
Huge Drones?
I don't know. They are just so cheap and so close to useful I feel there must be a use case.
Please help me justify to myself why I have half a dozen lying around...
Gallahad wrote: Anybody have any good ideas on how to make use of the smaller Lightyear Hyperspeed ships? It just seems a waste they are just a touch too small...
Huge Drones?
I don't know. They are just so cheap and so close to useful I feel there must be a use case.
Please help me justify to myself why I have half a dozen lying around...
I think the smaller ones might be useful as terrain. Either intact/landed, or as crashed ships. It's normal for terrain to be scale-compressed.
I somehow held back from buying any of the small ships. At the price they're going for normally I would have bought a bunch, but somehow I had the self control to only buy the big Zerg ship, Armadillo, drop pods and ground vehicles.
They look just fine next to the Dust Tactics (teeny) Quonset huts. If a Rhino can carry 10 marines, these Buzz Lightyears fighters are luxuriously accommodating.
Snap ships are great for greetbling terrain and other projects in any scale.
They and the Lightyear Light speed fighters are really well suited to 10-20mm gaming. Based on cockpit size they're not ideal stock for 28mm, but there are exceptions.
The light year Armadillo, transport truck, ATVs and Zerg fighter are all well sized for 28mm.
Automatically Appended Next Post: At less than 11 bucks, this set is worth it just for the largeplastic landing pad.
The tables might also have terrain possibilities also as they're taller than a based 28mm figure. Bridge is great too, but the railings are taller than a figure.
Dollar Tree's line of Final Faction figures seems not to be doing so well, which is a shame, because they are pretty nice models and some make good giant walkers for 40k. WHen I say giant, I'm talking maybe very large dreadnaught suits or very small titans.
The "AT-4 Turrets" in scale with some rather silly (but nicely painted) 25mm figures. I think these look great as Imperial guard support pieces. There are also models that do very nice as Ork, Tyranid and Chaos walkers. All for a $1.25 apiece.
NapoleonInSpace wrote: Dollar Tree's line of Final Faction figures seems not to be doing so well, which is a shame, because they are pretty nice models and some make good giant walkers for 40k. WHen I say giant, I'm talking maybe very large dreadnaught suits or very small titans.
The "AT-4 Turrets" in scale with some rather silly (but nicely painted) 25mm figures. I think these look great as Imperial guard support pieces. There are also models that do very nice as Ork, Tyranid and Chaos walkers. All for a $1.25 apiece.
I'm not sure the line isn't doing well. There have been at least 4 waves and now we're just waiting for the next one. I will say that their recent releases of repaints that than new sculpts is unimpressive.
I agree though that the line has allot of potential for Toybashing. A while back in this thread, I posted scale pics of the various small Kharn "bugs" which are almost useable as is.
Thought you folks might want to see pics of my more or less finished Lightyear movie shuttle, the larger version, repurposed as either terrain or more likely as a player objective/arrival/exit point for narrative wargaming. Simple, battered, weathered paint job, with Lifecolor re-entry burns round the base. At some point I might add a pilot.
Eilif wrote: I believe I've mentioned the Dollar Tree store proprietary "Final Faction" action figure line, but that was regarding mecha and accessory packs. The Kharn alien force has some great options for bug type aliens too. Possible Tyranid applications?
-Crawler bugs come in a 2-pack
-Huntra. Tail has a launcher which I removed for the picture
-Decimator
-Synthoid. Pretty big but cool shape.
Interesting mix. Decimator And Synthoid share the same arm sockets and they can be swapped with each other or the Synthoid weapons pack.
Very cool, I have six each of Huntra, Decimator and A4 Turret.
Huntra: Certainly Tyranid, possibly Ork if you needed to fight Imperials using A4 Turret.
Decimator: Pure Chaos IMHO
A4 Turret: Imperial definitely. Ork unless the Orks are up against Imperials. Of course, by changing the paint job, you could use it for both sides.
The more man-like "GI Joe-esque" humanoid figures I don't use, but as a whole, the collection is truly a magnificent boon to 40k and other sf gaming.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Some of those look like they could be used as futuristic light tanks, with the addition of some 1/56 scale stowage and hatches. Awesome find.
I would tread carefully with these. They're smaller than they look. A 28mm hatch will be almost as big as the turret itself. There's a pretty good seller on Ali that has some stuff that would work better with 1/56. I'll try and find it tonight.
I'm always jealous at all the cheap toys you guys can access but this week Japanese 100Yen shops gave this wonderful piece for the equivalent of 2$. It's too narrow to use as is with Imperial Knights, so I'll have to spend 2 whole more $ to widen it . Take that you US posting people
LOL i picked up a few of those gundam mech bay sets years ago. still have them sitting on my display shelf with all the minis that are out of rotation for regular games.
Miguelsan wrote: I'm always jealous at all the cheap toys you guys can access but this week Japanese 100Yen shops gave this wonderful piece for the equivalent of 2$. It's too narrow to use as is with Imperial Knights, so I'll have to spend 2 whole more $ to widen it . Take that you US posting people
M.
This is the second time I've seen someone post those fantastic 100 yen mech bays. That's the sort of thing I'd buy the whole store out of if I saw them. Congrats on the great find from a jealous American!
I have two of these coming, might try to turn it into something for 40k, like a Mastadon or Astraeus. Kind of expensive....but not forge world expensive. Probably too big, I'll have to see how it scales.
You assume I'd buy GW's stuff at that price. There are far better places for terrain. My thought was more that I'd wait on clearance to get that sub, if I was gonna get it...
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I've seen them on ebay, Gundam stands I think is what you need to look for
also "Kotobukiya "chain base" display units" .
I turned 2 of them (they're a 6"x6"x6" tile and back that slot together). and some deadzone tiles into a 12"x12"x12" display base for my infinity stuff (I have panO, Starmada and Corregidor nomads, so "cargo bay on a space ship" works for all of them.
It's actually quite a large piece. More like centerpiece terrain if you bash it into a nice lander.
These are the sort of pieces you look for in resale shops. I saw the exact sub at Goodwill for a few bucks. Passed it up though as I've got allot of potential spacecraft toys already. Wish I'd bought it.
Miguelsan wrote: Maybe I should set up a Gundam stand supply bussiness
M.
Not a bad idea Do you recall the exact name of the Gundam stand's either in romanji or katakana?
Indeed. The 2 buck stands in Japan go for 10-15 in the USA even via Ebay or AliExpress. I'd buy tons of them for $5 each. $10 isn't bad, but it's high enough that it puts it behind other projects. I do have a fair number of Gundam that'd I'd like to display, but if it's going to cost me 50-100 bucks to buy the stands I might just make something myself.
i stumbled over this again recently, and realized that size wise and shapewise the mission fleet Razor crest is about the right size to be the base of a Storm Eagle proxy for 40K/HH games.. all it really needs is some bitz to add the various guns and missile launchers, some winglets sticking off the engines, and maybe a faked up hatch on the front to be an assault ramp.
the storm eagle is 11" long, about 10.5" wide, and 4 inches tall, per dimensions i found online.
the mission fleet razor crest is 13" long, 11.2" wide, and about 6" tall.
I'm not sure if this was already posted in this thread, but you can get a pretty big sci-fi truck/APC from aliexpress if you search for "1/50 Wandering Earth CN171-11 Personnel Carrier Toy Model Alloy Diecast Simulation Scale Toy Model Tank Commemorative Collection" (sorry for the lack of a hyperlink, can't have one in my first post on dakkadakka) for roughly 55$ at the moment (seems to be half the normal price). The miniature is roughly 23cm long, 10,5cm wide and 13cm high, so pretty hefty and made out of metal/plastic. You could use it i.e. as a object for games like Infinity as a C&C vehicle, which needs to be hacked/blown up.
Kind regards and I hope everyone has a great start into this week.
I'm not sure if this was already posted in this thread, but you can get a pretty big sci-fi truck/APC from aliexpress if you search for "1/50 Wandering Earth CN171-11 Personnel Carrier Toy Model Alloy Diecast Simulation Scale Toy Model Tank Commemorative Collection" (sorry for the lack of a hyperlink, can't have one in my first post on dakkadakka) for roughly 55$ at the moment (seems to be half the normal price). The miniature is roughly 23cm long, 10,5cm wide and 13cm high, so pretty hefty and made out of metal/plastic. You could use it i.e. as a object for games like Infinity as a C&C vehicle, which needs to be hacked/blown up.
Kind regards and I hope everyone has a great start into this week.
@Kid_Kyoto: Thank you for having me, it was about time to make my first post in 17 years.
@Just Tony: You could run the 1/50 CN171-11 Personnel Carrier as a Crassus Armored Assault Transport or as a Praetor Armoured Assault Launcher (if you beef up the missile launcher on top) for your Imperial Guard - as long as your opponent is not a stickler for line-of-sight, because the 1/50 CN171-11 Personnel Carrier is taller than both (thanks to the before mentioned missile launcher on top). If you are looking for a more Chimera sized APC/IFV, you could use the MENG Model kit MMS-010 Military Truck CN171 (which is a "Chibi" Version), which was posted in this thread some time ago. This Chibi version is roughly the size of an Rhino APC.
Another great model kit for wargaming use is the 1/35 Crusher Joe Galleon (OVA Version). In the dakkadakka gallery you can find pictures of this model in 1/48 scale (an older kit, which is roughly the size of a Warhammer 40.000 Rhino APC), so again you could use this tank as the equivalent of an AAVP-7A1 or something beefier. You could i.e. use it in Star Wars Legion as an alternative to the TX-225 GAVw Occupier Combat Assault Tank.
I have one and will modify it for general sci-fi gaming. It will be used as a hastly modified exploration vehicle, which was pressed into combat service (which would explain the awkward weapons placement ).
Thanks for the heads up about the Crusher Joe Galleon. Looks like it's back in stock and I've been considering getting one for years. For a battletech universe fan like me, it's a fantastic opportunity. At 7 inches long, it's big, but not unmanageable for 28mm.
Thanks for the heads up about the Crusher Joe Galleon. Looks like it's back in stock and I've been considering getting one for years. For a battletech universe fan like me, it's a fantastic opportunity. At 7 inches long, it's big, but not unmanageable for 28mm.
Yeah, you can use it as a GAL-100 Galleon or later variant - it is roughly the size of a 2022 Land Raider Spartan, but not as tall and wide (due to the sponsons on the GW kit). If you are dedicated 28mm/32mm Battletech gamer, maybe you are interested in some of https://thorsmechworks.wordpress.com/ Mechs and vehicles?
I will be mighty impressed to see a Battletech game in this scale and kindly ask for pictures, when you can manage it. (dakkadakka unfortunately does not provide a blue fist symbol...)
Thanks for the heads up about the Crusher Joe Galleon. Looks like it's back in stock and I've been considering getting one for years. For a battletech universe fan like me, it's a fantastic opportunity. At 7 inches long, it's big, but not unmanageable for 28mm.
Yeah, you can use it as a GAL-100 Galleon or later variant - it is roughly the size of a 2022 Land Raider Spartan, but not as tall and wide (due to the sponsons on the GW kit). If you are dedicated 28mm/32mm Battletech gamer, maybe you are interested in some of https://thorsmechworks.wordpress.com/ Mechs and vehicles?
I will be mighty impressed to see a Battletech game in this scale and kindly ask for pictures, when you can manage it. (dakkadakka unfortunately does not provide a blue fist symbol...)
Yeah, Thor has some great stuff for sure. I love the BT universe and vehicles, but not the rules.
As it happens, I've been running big 28mm multiplayer Mech battles at conventions for about a decade now using the Mech Attack rules. The games are not set in the BT Universe usually, but many of the units are of BT/Macross origin. I use whatever Miniatures, Models and Toys I can affordably source.
Most of the games I've run can be seen here.
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/?s=Mech+Attack As you can see, I like spectacle!
Just as summer turns to autumn, and green leaves fade to brown, and flowers wilt to dust, so too it is the fate of all movie tie-in toys be marked down for clearance.
Cool. I was wondering how long it would take for these to come down in price.
The Scorpion gunship is a little bulkier than the SeaWasp, but unfortunately the actual transport craft "SA-2 Sampson" with cargo bay never got made into a toy. I was rather disappointed about that as it would have been a perfect Valkyrie substitute. Might still pick up a Scorpion, but more aircraft I don't need right now.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I thought the Scorpian was the Huey? Not a huge transport but 5-6 guys.
Anyway does anyone have any to see how they scale? One reviewer specifically says they're good for Grimdark games.
Scorpion is kind of like a sci-fi Apache. You could maybe suggest it has a small passenger compartment if you added a hatch, but there's not alot of room there. The Sampson is the Huey/Blackhawk analogue.
I've seen the Scorpion and Sea Wasp at stores and they would both be excellent for 28-35mm gaming.
They did a massive container version as well as a kickstarter, but that doesn;t seem ot be on their store. Might be able to find it out there in the 3rd party supplier world though as they offered commercial licences as well
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/retrocars/stork-heavy-lift-vtol
Automatically Appended Next Post: I printed some at 10mm scale for fun
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Can't go wrong with the Lightyear truck. Pop off the rear box, add plastic card to the cab and you're in business
I haven't seen those Lightyear trucks anywhere in the UK, not even via Amazon UK.
I have picked up six of the smaller Armadillos to transport a 55 strong drop Imperial Guard platoon. I'm trying to turn the larger scale one into a mobile command HQ for the platoon with a converted interior.
Some of the Gallowfall terrain pieces may fit the bill.
Set in a post-apocolyptic world where nuclear and war and environmental collapse have left a few survivors clinging to life in the town of Adventure Bay, underpopulation has left the town with no effective fire or police service forcing the town to rely on grotesque cyborg K9s known only as... the Puppy Platoon! Created by the mad geneticist Ryder, who routinely transplants his brain into newer, younger clone bodies, the Puppy Platoon ruthlessly enforce his will upon the shell shocked and traumatized survivors.
The paramilitary cyborg K9s of the Puppy Platoon have a new film which of course means new toys in the Puppy Platoon was literally created to sell toys.
But some of the funky cartoony vehicles can look right at home in the underhive or the grimdark streets of 40k.
The Puppy Platoon Whaling Ship is used to hunt down and eliminate the mutant sealife who infest the waters of Adventure Bay. It could work not only as a ship for the stump sea, but with the addition of some jets a boxy cargo shuttle.
The Puppy Platoon's Dino Hunter truck would make a perfect cargo 8 but unfortunately its motorized and costs almost as much as the GW version. Maybe once it goes on clearance.
And for the truly ambitious we have the Puppy Platoon's heavily armed and armored aircraft carrier the PPSS Doombringer. Used to carry out airstrikes against Humdinger-held territory in Foggy Bottom the Doombringer is the ultimate sanction in the Puppy Platoon arsenal.
So there you have it, some more toys ready to be ported into the science fiction setting of your choice.
While the concept of “Paw Patrol…but with servoskulls” makes me warm inside, the time it would take me to convert and build out these blobby low-detail toys to any sort of grimdark-approved satisfaction makes me want to pay full retail on GW.
Illumini wrote: That is a theme with a lot of these toys. 99$ (after 25% discount) is not cheap for something that will look terrible without lots of work.
Still a fun enough topic to follow
Not sure what the market is like over there, but paw patrol sells so well that here in the US, anything in that line is virtually guaranteed to appear very cheaply at resale shops and at other used venues. Much of what I see (and later acquire) from this thread is gotten at deep sale or resale.
I agree that the smooth lines aren't great for imperial creations, but for Tau and other games there's alot of use. Also, you can't underestimate the amount of construction work you save starting with a toy rather than building from scratch. These polystyrene toys are great for greebling and you can buy these at resale for less than the cost of the plasticard it would take to build from scratch.
I've shared it before, but I made this out of a Paw Patrol Jet that cost me $5 at the local "Goodwill" store. It gets use from time to time as Tau Terrain and has been the centerpiece for several "Mech Attack" (Battletech'ish mech combat) convention games that I've put on.
Fugazi wrote: While the concept of “Paw Patrol…but with servoskulls” makes me warm inside, the time it would take me to convert and build out these blobby low-detail toys to any sort of grimdark-approved satisfaction makes me want to pay full retail on GW.
I think what's being missed here is the Paw Patrol has a @#$%ing AIRCRAFT CARRIER! It's not a search and rescue ship, not a patrol boat, it is sold as an Aircraft Carrier and just in case you're unclear on what it is there's Chase firing some cruise missiles at targets in terrorist-held Foggy Bottom.
This puts the Paw Patrol on par with China for military capacity, and ahead of the UK since their aircraft carrier actually has planes on it! (Yeah I went there).
This a far cry from their days of foiling Mayor Humdinger when he tries to cheat on the annual pie baking contest!
I expect the PP's newest member Semper Fido and his Bradley will be joining shortly.
Fugazi wrote: While the concept of “Paw Patrol…but with servoskulls” makes me warm inside, the time it would take me to convert and build out these blobby low-detail toys to any sort of grimdark-approved satisfaction makes me want to pay full retail on GW.
I think what's being missed her is the Paw Patrol has a @#$%ing AIRCRAFT CARRIER! It's not a search and rescue ship, not a patrol boat, it is sold as an Aircraft Carrier and just in case you're unclear on what it is there's Chase firing some cruise missiles at targets in terrorist-held Foggy Bottom.
This puts the Paw Patrol on par with China for military capacity, and ahead of the UK since their aircraft carrier actually has planes on it! (Yeah I went there).
This a far cry from their days of foiling Mayor Humdinger when he tries to cheat on the annual pie baking contest!
I expect the PP's newest member Semper Fido and his Bradley will be joining shortly.
"This puts the Paw Patrol on par with China for military capacity, and ahead of the UK since their aircraft carrier actually has planes on it! (Yeah I went there)."
Now, now. The 2021 deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth saw 18 F-35 deployed.
Yes, ten of them were USMC Wake Island Avengers and yes, the UK ended up with one jet less by the end of the trip but...
"This puts the Paw Patrol on par with China for military capacity, and ahead of the UK since their aircraft carrier actually has planes on it! (Yeah I went there)."
Now, now. The 2021 deployment of HMS Queen Elizabeth saw 18 F-35 deployed.
Yes, ten of them were USMC Wake Island Avengers and yes, the UK ended up with one jet less by the end of the trip but...
Thank goodness the GI Joe team still has air superiority or we'd all be in serious trouble.
Easy E wrote: Basically, Paw Patrol are just following in the footsteps of GI Joe.
Or He-Man. New characters and vehicles being introduced to the show purely to sell toys. Eventually there'll be a bunch that won't sell well and that'll be the end of the show.
Thanks for sharing that Eilif. I think that’s great. I was expecting to see Tau Piranhas and Tetras screaming out of that thing by the end, but I also like your choice. Good stuff!
I see US$13.75 for one. Not quite dirt cheap, Insaniak has build something comparable out of a plastic hamster toy and the Medge bitz sprue, but still pretty good.
The name is:
Rocketship Toys For Kids Astronaut With Lights Music Space Shuttle Toys Planet Exploration Game Space Capsule Educational Toys
At 17" this would make for an 'epic' bit of terrain for Legions Imperialis or another small scale game. I'd love to see one filled with Valkyries or Thunderbolts ready to take flight.
And a big winged skull on the flight deck but that's just assumed.
Another art house film L'éclat (sorry I don't know the English name) also sank without a trace but left behind a nice bat-shaped plane. It's not super marked down, $20, but still a good basis for some sort of alien or chaos craft.
My 2 Lightyear mining laser things arrive yesterday. It's a very big thing. Just using the top bit as a big generator/tech terrain piece would be worth the $5, and the leggs are a good support for any industrial project.
With some slight snipping and a new paint job, this Walmart decoration will become a Stargate.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, Walmart has a bunch of buildings around 1/60ish scale, such as a church, a firehouse and a casino, each going for $17.92
Ceramic buildings are tempting. With a bit of paint and flock they can be pretty good terrain. There are a good number that look great for fantasy buildings. Wait til after Christmas though when they go down to half off.
The Black Adam "Hawk Cruiser Patrol" Jet has arrived.
Reasonably impressed. As soon as I got it I unscrewed the little gold wings from the underside and it balances nicely on its belly.
Cockpit and cargo Bay are nicely sized. I'm a little worried about how the soft plastic will hold paint. Definitely needs a pre-clean and a plastic specific spray undercoat like Krylon Fusion. Overall a nice piece though and still a great deal at 11 bucks.
DC Comics, Hawk Cruiser Patrol, Includes Black Adam and Hawkman Action Figures, Over 16-inch Wide, First Edition, Super Hero Kids Toys for Boys and Girls Aged 4 and up https://a.co/d/3JaGNEB Even includes 2 figures you can give your kids.
This ship “The Crimson Firehawk” from Young Jedi Adventures looks like it would be great for Stargrave et al, it is pretty hefty (scaled for 4” figures) and has interior potential. £13.99 at time of posting.
That really is a ship with alot of potential. In the US it's $24 which is a bit more than I want to spend on it now, but worth keeping an eye on if as the price might go lower.
I've been getting into Bolt Action and as I've been looking at various sources for armored vehicles, I realized that I had a box of army men and things from my youth. What do you know? That Corgi die-cast Tiger tank weighs in at about 1:59 scale.
Commissar von Toussaint wrote: I've been getting into Bolt Action and as I've been looking at various sources for armored vehicles, I realized that I had a box of army men and things from my youth. What do you know? That Corgi die-cast Tiger tank weighs in at about 1:59 scale.
And the main gun goes pew pew pew! Bonus!
Corgi stuff is great. Most of their vehicles are 1:50 which looks fine alongside 1:56 figures on bases. Some of the paint work is as good as mine.
I've got a Churchill and other members of our group have jeeps and Kubbels.
If you've got a Menards nearby, their 5 buck 1/48 Duce and a Half is a great find. They've also sit a Power Wagon in Military paint that would work well for WWW2.
Eilif wrote: Corgi stuff is great. Most of their vehicles are 1:50 which looks fine alongside 1:56 figures on bases. Some of the paint work is as good as mine.
I've got a Churchill and other members of our group have jeeps and Kubbels.
If you've got a Menards nearby, their 5 buck 1/48 Duce and a Half is a great find. They've also sit a Power Wagon in Military paint that would work well for WWW2.
We do, and I'll keep that in mind. Right now I'm just happy to being finding stuff I've already got and can use in a different way. When I was a kid, I was big into model tanks and such but stopped when I got into high school. My father saved it all, though, so when I got into 40k, I had a huge amount of stuff available for conversion. Same vibe.
Not toys per se but this seems the best place for this.
Some of you may have seen my souvenir shop terrain (one of the benefits of living in Egypt)
Spoiler:
Amazon also has some similar statutes for... money but not serious money if that makes sense. There's some for the $10-$20 range that would work for all kinds of terrain and center pieces.
One caution, I stay away from carving up statues of real religious figures (a disadvantage of being in India). So Zeus and whatever Pharaoh I hacked up are fine, but Ganesh would not be. I consider angels in the grey area between Christianity and Christian Myth, somewhere more religious than Santa, less so than the Virgin Mary if that makes sense.
My point being, do give a thought to the boundaries of good taste before turning Buddha into a Nurgle altar or something.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Changing subjects...
After seeing the Most Expensive Table Ever (TM) with all the dead Titans I wondered how it could be done on a sane budget.
$9 12" Zyclops figure, add some battle damage, have them half buried in hills or rubble and you have a board where some serious $%!+ went down, and less then $500 per terrain peice.
After seeing the Most Expensive Table Ever (TM) with all the dead Titans I wondered how it could be done on a sane budget.
the chance is high that this table was not very expensive at all, in my old club we had a similar 6x4 table but with Thunderhawks
1 guy in the club ordered a single one and all the miscasts and wrongly shipped items (like 2 left wings) were enough to get a table full
After seeing the Most Expensive Table Ever (TM) with all the dead Titans I wondered how it could be done on a sane budget.
the chance is high that this table was not very expensive at all, in my old club we had a similar 6x4 table but with Thunderhawks
1 guy in the club ordered a single one and all the miscasts and wrongly shipped items (like 2 left wings) were enough to get a table full
That's hysterical!
Still thinking of my $10 Lightyear Graveyard of the Titans board though...
Some finds that looked interesting. For those building a starport, some of these cheap ornaments make excellent Beryllium Spheres. There’s also a huge gun with “almost space-ready” helicopter, a space base, and some Dropzone/Warpath Epic scaled terrain.
It's nice to see that even after all of these years, the War Torn Christmas Village is still going strong.
Somewhat related, I still have my 1970s era Godzilla (with shooting fist and flame tongue) which would probably be fun to pit against some Imperial Guard.
Commissar von Toussaint wrote: It's nice to see that even after all of these years, the War Torn Christmas Village is still going strong.
Somewhat related, I still have my 1970s era Godzilla (with shooting fist and flame tongue) which would probably be fun to pit against some Imperial Guard.
Well, fun for whoever is playing Godzilla.
I literally had the same thought - multiple times - the other night when I saw Godzilla -1!
(Though fist shooting Godzilla didn't survive my childhood. :( So I'd have to use a newer model.)
Not a toy, but a decent find in my local pet shop for the Tomb Kings terrain I'm sorting out ahead of TOW. They also do a decently sized sphinx, but didn't have any in stock.
After seeing the Most Expensive Table Ever (TM) with all the dead Titans I wondered how it could be done on a sane budget.
the chance is high that this table was not very expensive at all, in my old club we had a similar 6x4 table but with Thunderhawks
1 guy in the club ordered a single one and all the miscasts and wrongly shipped items (like 2 left wings) were enough to get a table full
No, it was. It was made by TabletopTime, a sister channel of Jazza.
How big are the Lightyear Zyclops that come with the pods compared to 28mm/15mm?
Thanks!
They're 41mm sole to eyeline.
Thanks!
The Reaper holyknight/paladin looks great btw. I could never figure how I wanted to paint mine.
Ha! Thanks, I'll tell my buddy who painted it. He was getting rid of a bunch of figs and I thought,
"I'll have that!"
IIRC, I also had one and couldn't ever quite decide how to paint it.
As for the Zyclopses, I think they're basic, but nice enough to be worth painting up, maybe even adding some weapons. Who doesn't need a squad of retro futuristic killer robots?
So all of these are very starwars, so limited value if you aren't looking for that... But if you need a starwars ship close to 28mm/32mm scale. these are pretty good... Star Wars Mission Fleet.
And if you have a local Ollie's... they are $5 each currently.
I don't know if these are 'from' something or not, but they are impressive. Two 12" long dragon lizard dinosaur things for $21. Perfect for my upcoming City of Bad Hydras compaign.
Smokestack wrote: So all of these are very starwars, so limited value if you aren't looking for that... But if you need a starwars ship close to 28mm/32mm scale. these are pretty good... Star Wars Mission Fleet.
And if you have a local Ollie's... they are $5 each currently.
Dang, I wish I had an Ollie's. That Mandalorian fighter is great!
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I don't see this in the US but it is around a few countries. It would make for a great large transport or shuttle.
Robozuna Transporter
That is amazing. Been looking for something like that for a while.
Hot Wheels and Matchbox bikes have long been known to often be around 28mm, but here's a new Matchbox vehicle that scales well.
A Polaris Ranger. Picked this one up at dollar tree. Figure is a Warlord British with head swap.
Based on the actual pic below, I'd say it's darn near perfectly scaled, perhaps a bit big in a way that benefits heroic minis. And is often the case with toy die cast, the wheels are oversized.
Eilif wrote: Hot Wheels and Matchbox bikes have long been known to often be around 28mm, but here's a new Matchbox vehicle that scales well.
A Polaris Ranger. Picked this one up at dollar tree. Figure is a Warlord British with head swap.
Based on the actual pic below, I'd say it's darn near perfectly scaled, perhaps a bit big in a way that benefits heroic minis. And is often the case with toy die cast, the wheels are oversized.
So I found a motorized train at the dollar store of all places, it runs on 2 AA batteries. Dollarama if you're in Canada, Now the speed is sorta nuts, it keep flying off the track, but in truth its ability to move is really just a novelty, I mostly got it for the track, which it came with quite a bit of. The downside is it's only corner angles, but there are 10 and enough to make a circle. I'm going to grab a second set because it should be enough to cover a 5x4.
The train itself is obviously too big scale wise, but the plan is to make it look the size by making it seem like an armoured troop train. The upside of this is the troop car has enough space on the roof to hold 4-5 bases of infantry, and the plan in game terms is to have it function a bit like a structure and be able to be occupied by infantry detachments. A lot of commuter trains are two level so I want it to just appear to be a big two level troop train. I added a bunch of malika's little bits blitz design dudes and klaus tescher's dark arts miniatures dudes. The top railing bits and the shield generator parts are from grimdark terrain. I also like that the track will work with the grimdak terrain set as well. The monorails are cool but the train cars sit precariously on them, these tracks they fit snug and still look like they make enough contact that its not too distracting.
That looks cool. I would recommend tying the turret into the engine a bit more. It still looks a bit stuck-on. The windows are maybe a bit too big as well. Maybe do them half that height, and have 2 layers of windows in the carriage?
Flinty wrote: That looks cool. I would recommend tying the turret into the engine a bit more. It still looks a bit stuck-on. The windows are maybe a bit too big as well. Maybe do them half that height, and have 2 layers of windows in the carriage?
The rest of the gribbly bits look great.
It's likely to function in game like a structure infantry can occupy. The windows are blast shields, they'll all be painted the same as the armour.
Now as one commentator on Facebook pointed out these are not, strictly speaking, historically accurate. Dinosaurs should have leather armor reinforced by wood since iron smelting would not be developed until several years after the age of the dinosaurs, but a repaint should take care of that.
This has potential as some sort of sci-fi truck, but is a bit too unrealistic. The boxy lines and the lack of a radiator grill show it was designed by someone with no idea how cars actually work.
While this 1/50 jeep/truck/tank thing already looks like it was designed by 40k players.
This has potential as some sort of sci-fi truck, but is a bit too unrealistic. The boxy lines and the lack of a radiator grill show it was designed by someone with no idea how cars actually work.
While this 1/50 jeep/truck/tank thing already looks like it was designed by 40k players.
I'd have to see how it'd look compared to 40K minis, but most of those military vehicles might be good Ork Trukks if the price is right, with the 8 wheeler being a Battle Wagon.
That saucer, though? Scatter 6 or 8 of those around a table and you have an instant power complext to fight around.
Good finds! I don't think that unrealistic design should be any limitation on the cybertruck. Most sci-fi vehicles have little in the way of practicality. I'm particularly intersted in the fact that it is all flast surfaces so conversions (maybe to a hover vehicle) would be particularly easy.
Those MRAP's look good too. I was just at my local hobby shop and they had several varieties of a similar vehicle in their toy die cast section for about 9 bucks each. I'll try and find an online version.
Those MRAP's look good too. I was just at my local hobby shop and they had several varieties of a similar vehicle in their toy die cast section for about 9 bucks each. I'll try and find an online version.
28mm is about O scale or 1/48 with similar scales being fudgable. I would not go bigger than 1/32.
Toy cars are around 1/64, S scale or 20mm.
6mm/8mm/Epic is ZZ or 1/287, there's more room to fudge there with Z (1/220) or even N scale (1/160) working for buildings.
Unfortunately the most common, HO scale is 1/87 and doesn't really work for either unless something is really scale free.
Spoiler:
Z scale (12/220) works very well for 6/8mm stuff and HO (1/87) can work very well for 15mm (1/100) Cheap too.
This is very timely as I've been doing alot of N scale scenery these last couple weeks.
I've bought a fair number of Outland buildings in N Scale for my 10mm mech games. I use rebased Mechwarrior clix, but CAV, Heavy Gear and some other options are in 10mm/N (1/160) scale as well. They're pretty nice. It's worth checking between Ebay, Amazon and Ali to find the best prices.
Bought and built a few more just a couple weeks ago as seen in the first picture below In the back row you can see the two I built in the blog post. Oneone with new orange panels, one with a new rooftop cafe n-scale model railroad building. The red and white/green/grey buildings are Outland buildings I just bought. The two in front are made from toy buildings (2 story buildings pulled apart and stacked) that were in the Target dollar section many years ago. Should have bought alot more of those!
For cheap N-scale buildings though, the best thing to do is go to a model train show and look for deals. Below that you can see two pictures of Walthers N-scale kits I've been working on: New River Mining and North Island Refinery. Not cheap new, but you never know what you'll find at your local train show,e especially if you're willing to purchase bulidings that are already assembled and those that have missing pieces.
I've also found alot of deals at train sales on O/S scale Plasticville buildings (great for 28mm) and as you point out there are some HO scale buildings that can be adapted fairly easily for other scales. I've scaled a walthers diesel engine house up for 28mm and scaled some Bachmann factories down to 10mm.
When I have to go to the airport I drive next to a huge petrochemical complex. I'd build one for 28mm gaming if my wife were not to kill me after seeing how much space I'd need.
Miguelsan wrote: When I have to go to the airport I drive next to a huge petrochemical complex. I'd build one for 28mm gaming if my wife were not to kill me after seeing how much space I'd need.
M.
I dream of similar massive complexes. There's a massive one down by Joliet Illinois. I used to pass it at night after gigs and it would be all lit up looking like a dystopian sci Fi city. Perversely inspiring.
However there are allot of smaller ones in and around Chicago that aren't much bigger than the kit I've got.
Miguelsan wrote: When I have to go to the airport I drive next to a huge petrochemical complex. I'd build one for 28mm gaming if my wife were not to kill me after seeing how much space I'd need.
M.
By and large, in Battletech no less than in modern warfare, the LAST place you'd want to actually fight the battle FOR the petrochemcial plant is IN the petrochemical plant. One stray shot and two major things happen.
1) You destroy the very thing you're fighting over, and
Miguelsan wrote: When I have to go to the airport I drive next to a huge petrochemical complex. I'd build one for 28mm gaming if my wife were not to kill me after seeing how much space I'd need.
M.
By and large, in Battletech no less than in modern warfare, the LAST place you'd want to actually fight the battle FOR the petrochemcial plant is IN the petrochemical plant. One stray shot and two major things happen.
1) You destroy the very thing you're fighting over, and
2) Everyone involved in the fight dies.
Lose/lose all around.
Right on all counts, but you may be overestimating the role of logic and practicality in Battletech or any of my Sci Fi gaming for that matter.
When original Necromunda is one of your core gaming aesthetic touchstones, you want chemical plant style terrain everywhere!
Safety be darned!
Miguelsan wrote: When I have to go to the airport I drive next to a huge petrochemical complex. I'd build one for 28mm gaming if my wife were not to kill me after seeing how much space I'd need.
M.
By and large, in Battletech no less than in modern warfare, the LAST place you'd want to actually fight the battle FOR the petrochemcial plant is IN the petrochemical plant. One stray shot and two major things happen.
1) You destroy the very thing you're fighting over, and
2) Everyone involved in the fight dies.
Lose/lose all around.
Right on all counts, but you may be overestimating the role of logic and practicality in Battletech or any of my Sci Fi gaming for that matter.
When original Necromunda is one of your core gaming aesthetic touchstones, you want chemical plant style terrain everywhere!
Safety be darned!
Safety had nothing to do with it. If you destroy the chemical plant, odds are you've destroyed the very thing you came to the planet FOR. Meaning any and all your losses were for nothing. This is ESPECIALLY true in the later Succession Wars, when the technology to rebuild the chemical plant may not even exist anymore. Only the Clans and the Wobbies went in for wholesale destruction, and the Wobbies ultimately lost, while the Clans really lost themselves in the process.
Safety had nothing to do with it. If you destroy the chemical plant, odds are you've destroyed the very thing you came to the planet FOR. Meaning any and all your losses were for nothing. This is ESPECIALLY true in the later Succession Wars, when the technology to rebuild the chemical plant may not even exist anymore. Only the Clans and the Wobbies went in for wholesale destruction, and the Wobbies ultimately lost, while the Clans really lost themselves in the process.
Again, that all may be true!
And yet I return you to my earlier statement:
(edited for maximum clarity)
Eilif wrote:
..you may be overestimating the role of logic and practicality in... my Sci Fi gaming...
You are also forgetting about all the times somebody in Battletech decided it was a great idea to get into a firefight in the middle of a jumpshipyard, or a mech factory. Destroying the thing you wanted to control is a common theme in Btech.
Or turn half a continent into a sea of flames to mess with the OpFor (IIRC this was Kurita trying to flush some Davions)
Real world logic, and mechwarriors do not go together.
insaniak wrote: Also, chemical plant terrain just looks cool.
That's basically my thought process.
Speaking of which...
Rolled out another last night. The ConCor/Heljan N Scale Cambria Butane Storage Tank kit.
This old kit assembled easily but was required some modification because in the supplied ladders (I used them as the railings) were clearly HO, not N scale. Luckily the intended railings had very close stanchions so I cut them in half and glued them on sideways to make a properly scaled ladder. Also I did away with the lower level walkway to make the structure seem taller.
Yeah I like the truck the most of them since it's not a real vehicle, chop off the gun and it looks like a fairly decent near future truck for that scale.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: Yeah I like the truck the most of them since it's not a real vehicle, chop off the gun and it looks like a fairly decent near future truck for that scale.
Reminds me of the now-ubiquitous Lightyear truck.
That's a good comparison. Looking closely, it really looks like they may have taken the mold for a garbage truck and tooled it deeper in some areas, but I do like the look.
Here's roughly the same deal for M1 Abrahams tanks.
Very interesting. There's some other potentially useful tanks and AFVS at the link you provided for the self propelled artillery piece. Unfortunately some are very poor because they appear use the same 2 track chassis even when the length varies widely.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: I don't know if these are 'from' something or not, but they are impressive. Two 12" long dragon lizard dinosaur things for $21. Perfect for my upcoming City of Bad Hydras compaign.
though they've both been subjected to increased cartoonification of appearance by the toy's sculpter.(mine you, the terrestrial one did have a goofy look to the face due to the deep sea fish design of the skull)
looks like they are knocks offs of the official Bandai toys that came out with the series.
A trip to the mall in Hyderabad today found two Joytoy figures (passed on them at $150 each, but amazed to find them)
and some useful trucks.
"Hulkbuster Truck" from Marvel Mightiest Machines should be a great size for a 40k armored car. There were also some superhero themed sports cars and such that I've seen before. These seem to be made in India but there might be versions in your country.
What a fairly cheap tub of army men for my son today and confiscated all the terrain from it. The aircraft mixed in might also be a scale that would be workable for some of the gaming systems.
Just Tony wrote: What a fairly cheap tub of army men for my son today and confiscated all the terrain from it. The aircraft mixed in might also be a scale that would be workable for some of the gaming systems.
Those barbed wire pieces are very useful. I've got a bunch glued to tongue depressors and quickly painted and based. As long as you clean them well they glue and take paint ok, especially Krylon fusion.
So I finally built this display set I got in Hong Kong.
Took an hour or two, less time than Rebel Moon II-the Moon of Rebellion, I know that.
All parts come clipped and sorted in zip lock bags, no sprues to cut. No glue needed, you can even take it apart and reconfigure it later. No paint either, thought mine will get some.
It's meant for large scale action figures but this set was sufficiently scale agnostic that it works for 28mm/1-56 scale figures I think, it should fit a 1500 point army with little difficulty. It could also work for gaming.
Not sure if they are still in production but found them in a few spots in Hong Kong last Autumn.
Just Tony wrote: What a fairly cheap tub of army men for my son today and confiscated all the terrain from it. The aircraft mixed in might also be a scale that would be workable for some of the gaming systems.
Those barbed wire pieces are very useful. I've got a bunch glued to tongue depressors and quickly painted and based. As long as you clean them well they glue and take paint ok, especially Krylon fusion.
What kind of bass is on your the workbench?
Burnside offset v by Guild. I got it and a Samick P bass for $30 off of a co-worker. I then gave the Samick away to another co-worker for free.
There was also a flimsy hollow rocky outcropping that could potentially be used to make a mold out of some heavier set material. I'm still trying to brainstorm what I'm going to use to fill it with.
As surely as Monsoon Season follows Summer (assuming you're in India) so too does the discount rack follow releases for toys.
In this case Young Jedi Adventures toys are going on clearance following the controversy about their final episode "The Young Jedi Meet Master Skywalker". Reportedly the episode was already pulled from Disney Plus and all references scrubbed from the internet.
For me the 17" (!!) Crimson Firehawk is the only interesting one. It's $25 on Amazon (down from $45) and I hear about people finding for $10 in Walmart.
In this case Young Jedi Adventures toys are going on clearance following the controversy about their final episode "The Young Jedi Meet Master Skywalker".
A blank wooden castle/dollhouse 12" on a side and openable. Possible way to make a cheap but decent city wall by lining them up in the open way. I also like that they would be easy to store... Or just one to use in a siege type game. It would need a lot of work, but looks like a good cheap starting point.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Michael's (and other craft stores) also have some interesting unpainted birdhouses for about $10 and they sell packs of them if you need to fill a table fast.
Mine arrived. I bought from the $14-Shipped eBay seller.
Stargrave figure for scale. Only flaws I see are that it's very back heavy (will need some weight in the nose) and the screw holes on the starboard side are rather large, but nothing deal breaking.
Still night be one of this year's great Terrain bargains and that building in an interior is possible is icing on the cake.
the bottom shot looks like a bug stuck on its back... poor little guy.
the landing gear are probably the weakest part of an otherwise cool piece. it IS a popcorn bucket though after all.
Are they definitely at Walmarts? I tried looking on Walmart's website and they were going for $24
I don't think they are regularly stocked at Wal-Mart stores anymore. Maybe there are some somewhere but I didn't find any at my Walmart. The one I bought for $14 shipped from Ebay ( https://www.ebay.com/itm/116074336608 ) had a $15 Wal-Mart price tag and the seller has a ton of them , so my guess is the seller bought alot of them at much lower price (Perhaps the $4 KidKyoto mentioned) at clearance and is reselling them.
Kid_Kyoto wrote: All I know is some guy on Facebook said he got it for $4 at Walmart. But I fine with 14, especially after seeing pics
I'm sure it's something like that for this seller. They must have been bought for a pretty low price to be worth selling at $14 shipped, a price I was also equally happy to pay.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: What glue do you use to adhere toys together? Half of the ships I made out of the Dollar Tree aliens have fallen apart.
Start with superglue, if that doesn't work, wash, sand and file the plastic to scrape off the waxy outer layer. If that doesn't work, green stuff and filing and sanding and superglue and cursing and doing it again and again.
I know the pain.
There is a loctite plastic glue and 2 part epoxies but I've not played with them.
There's a coupleof recipes for home made activator I use water with baking powder dissolved into it but baking powder reallyhelpsit expands the surface area.
My brother just picked me up two rubbery plastic scorpions to use for Tomb Scorpions.In my Tomb Kings army, so i'm about to feel the pain of this myself. I'm honestly more worried about whether or not the primer or spray paint will stick to it.
BobtheInquisitor wrote: What glue do you use to adhere toys together? Half of the ships I made out of the Dollar Tree aliens have fallen apart.
This is always a variable for toys.
1. I prefer to work withb hard plastic polystyrene or ABS toys and solvent glue (usually MEK based) for the strongest bond. Usually I can tell almost by by touch whether this is the case. These sorts of hard plastic toys also take paint as well as any game model.
If you're not sure, a little drop of solvent on an inconspicuous area will usually tell you. If the plastic melts a bit you're good to go.
2. If it's a toy (usually a figure) made from a stiff vinyl, a gel superglue usually works fine. I assemble, convert and paint them the same way as I would a Reaper Bones figure
3. If the toy is made from a softer vinyl, or polypropylene (that often shiny or waxy looking, slightly flexible plastic often associated with toy soldiers) I'll always pause and decide whether it's going to be worth the effort.
A light sanding of the join surfaces will usually make the superglue join fairly well, but it will never be as sturdy as a nice solvent-driven fusing of two pieces of plastic. Likewise for painting, a good cleaning, light sanding and prime/base-coat with a plastic specific spray can (I like Krylon Fusion) can often work well, but will never be quite as sturdy as with hard plastic
BobtheInquisitor wrote: What glue do you use to adhere toys together? Half of the ships I made out of the Dollar Tree aliens have fallen apart.
There are two-part superglue/primer sets that work fairly well on most plastics, like this. The primer is a pen-like affair that you paint on both parts before applying the glue.
I've also been having good results with 'oily glue' from Amazon, which based on googling appears to be made from polyurethane dissolved in an oily solvent. It's a bit slower to dry than superglue, but sticks to just about anything and is rock solid.
Wow, just saw Polonius' Batman towers. Really incredible what you accomplished there with that rust paint job. Those are toys that I would have mistakenly left on the shelf as unusable.
The only addition I'd make is maybe adding some ladders to the side for narrative context explaining how characters move from level to level (apart from jump-packs.)
Automatically Appended Next Post:
BobtheInquisitor wrote: Thank you all for the suggestions. I’m going to try to get these things to stick.
I finally have something to contribute to this thread after lurking for years. My wife dragged me to a baby/child consignment sale, and while she barely found anything, I grabbed two of these:
the tower is separate from the bat cave part, and I slapped them on some simple bases:
I painted one rusty as hell, after adding some hose for decoration:
I’d made spaceships from the Dollar Tree uh Final Bioroid Alienobobs, whatever they’re called, so I’ll try those again. But I also want to start some modifications on this guy, and maybe this playset:
Got my Rebel Moon gunship/whatever and for $14 it's a great buy!
About the size of a Baneblade, but skinnier. About 10" long, 6" wide, 4" tall.
The main work it will need is capping the screw holes with some green stuff, maybe snipping the overlong main gun. And gluing the lid shut, this is a popcorn bowl after all.
A more ambitious person might try and replace the turret guns.
Honestly it comes weathered and painted and could be used out of the box for some games.
None of the parts move, turret does no spin, engines do not rotate, but overall it's a good buy and the best thing it can fit any sci-fi universe since, much like Lightyear toys, no one remembers the film and no one will care.
I have been seeing these monster trucks around and I'm tempted to convert one into an ork truck.
They come in a lot of different styles too. They also come in two different sizes 1/64 and 1/24 scales.
Either size could be used depending on how much conversion work you want to do.
The 1/64 scale is more usable as a war buggy though.
If you can find the Big Kahuna in 1/24, it might be going all-out on for a war rig, but unfortunately 1/64 and 1/24 are generally not great scales for 28mm gaming. The exception is 1/64 semi trucks which are such big vehicles that they manage to look good alongside 28mm figures and the smaller size doesn't crowd the table.
For a good monster truck that's bigger than average, I'd probably not go bigger than 1/32.
Except for Semis (and maybe large construction equipment) I generally go for vehicles between 1/40 and 1/56.
Eilif wrote: Not wild about the tractors, but those trailers look good. The load itself might be a good bit of terrain on it's own.
Cargo for terrain, splicing tractors and trailers together to make Orks trucks, and you got a recipe for me finally being able to do my speed freaks army. My only issue is that in America I don't know how easy it's going to be for me to get these toys, nor if it's any cheaper to do this over just buying ork trucks
I have been seeing these monster trucks around and I'm tempted to convert one into an ork truck.
They come in a lot of different styles too. They also come in two different sizes 1/64 and 1/24 scales.
Either size could be used depending on how much conversion work you want to do.
The 1/64 scale is more usable as a war buggy though.
Addendum to what I wrote earlier. Just saw these in WalMart. The 1/64 are way too small, but the 1/24 of some of the bulkier ones like Gravedigger could work for a War Rig or Ork Truck. It's pretty big.
Eilif wrote: Not wild about the tractors, but those trailers look good. The load itself might be a good bit of terrain on it's own.
Cargo for terrain, splicing tractors and trailers together to make Orks trucks, and you got a recipe for me finally being able to do my speed freaks army. My only issue is that in America I don't know how easy it's going to be for me to get these toys, nor if it's any cheaper to do this over just buying ork trucks
Almost anything is cheaper than Ork Trucks. If you want to base Ork Trucks on Tractors, check out farm toys in the USA. "New Ray" sells alot of that sort of thing in 1:48 and 1:43. There are also cheaper varieties at places like Menards, Farm and fleet, etc.
Not Orks specifically (would need more random armor plates...), but here's a few things that you might find interesting that I've done with toy vehicles for Post-Apoc settings.
Anybody have any idea what this is? It was in with a lot of star trek, star wars, and Babylon 5 micro machines that I got. The Wheels on the undercarriage also look like a micro machine, but I have no idea where this would be from. Included is a picture with it next to the Micro Machines USS Reliant for scale.
Micromachines had a line of spaceships and space tanks of their own design. Some of them looked pretty good, but most were goofy. This one was repainted and possibly modified in some way.
Found it. The line was called Micromachines Galaxy Voyagers, and they had a few different three-packs. Most of them could probably work for X-Wing or Battletech scaled games.
Just Tony wrote: That's the one, thank you Bob. I have no use for it, as I play none of the games it would fit in, but I may find a home for it yet.
Sounds to me like you need a new game!
Anyway...
New very generic and flexible construction set. $16 on Amazon. No dimensions but it looks right for 28mm. It's the sort of thing you could easily scratch build from foamcore and plasticard but if you want an easy solution there it is.
Some of the random things I have found at 100 yen shops.
A construction crane that stands about 5" tall.
A bridge section for a toy train set, but will work equally as well on a game board.
Some flame plastic flame effects. They come in different colors such as blue, yellow, red, and orange. I opted for the green.
Some plastic dungeon tiles. They are 6" by 4" and about 3/8" tall and quite sturdy. The squares are 1" so perfect for a lot of gaming systems.The molded ground textures are also pretty nice.
Peterhausenn wrote: Some of the random things I have found at 100 yen shops.
A construction crane that stands about 5" tall.
A bridge section for a toy train set, but will work equally as well on a game board.
Some flame plastic flame effects. They come in different colors such as blue, yellow, red, and orange. I opted for the green.
Some plastic dungeon tiles. They are 6" by 4" and about 3/8" tall and quite sturdy. The squares are 1" so perfect for a lot of gaming systems.The molded ground textures are also pretty nice.
Why, oh, why can't we find some sort of shops somewhere in the US that sell these? I imagine the import fees would make these far too cost prohibitive.
it was even more cool because there were expansion sets that were modular. sadly i no longer have any of my old 70s/early 80s star wars or BSG toys...save my original B-wing
Now my G1/move transformers collection is another matter entirely.
So I've been on an old west binge lately and with STL offerings being pretty bad I turned to toy trains, there's a good selection of Xmas trains around.
Got this one locally, reduced to 15€, it's O scale, pretty decent for 28mm if a bit stylized. There's a bunch of similar stuff on amazon too.
The big hit are the tracks with absolutely wargamer grade wood relief, with each plank sculpted individually, no repeats. This is just one brown drybrush over the nice satin plastic.
I was talking with a friend about this actually- I reckon old beat-up toy lightsabers could be amazing bases for power generators, cooling towers and the like. Some of them go for surprisingly cheap on eBay and they're big and detailed enough they could work in much the same way as people were hacking up cheap water guns a while ago.
GreycapTheUnwise wrote: I was talking with a friend about this actually- I reckon old beat-up toy lightsabers could be amazing bases for power generators, cooling towers and the like. Some of them go for surprisingly cheap on eBay and they're big and detailed enough they could work in much the same way as people were hacking up cheap water guns a while ago.
I've seen some pretty good terrain using lightsabers and Nerf guns. They're also very common at resale shops.
Some display backgrounds. Could be used for photographing some models. Though probably working best with Asian themed models do to the background style. Could also just use the bottom tiles for making a board.
ZergSmasher wrote: Found a very neat video on YouTube showing some interesting generic fantasy miniatures:
I might have to grab a box (or five) and do a proper review in my blog or something.
Those are 1/72 and are good value, but rather small being in scale with 20mm figures.
I have the Minotaur set which work as 28mm beastmen, and maybe the orcs could work as goblins, but you've got to be extremely patient. There is a ton of flash and since it's soft plastic you can't shave or sand it of. All slow cutting with a very sharp knife.
Llamahead wrote: No they'd be to gracile and have totally different proportions to an actual child. If their shipping fine though I'm after some for Gaslands!
Not sure how big that actually makes him... but at $10 seems like a good deal.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh, and I found the section on the ones in the video from plastic soldier review in case any one is curious on any of the sets.
That's how I was once I saw the video. I kept trying to think of ways I could use the figures, but all I could come up with pretty much was either as proxies for Kings of War or making up my own homebrew game (something I used to be interested in when I was a teenager). The figures look to be a little small for something like Warhammer or even MESBG, but maybe some of them could be made to work?
ZergSmasher wrote: That's how I was once I saw the video. I kept trying to think of ways I could use the figures, but all I could come up with pretty much was either as proxies for Kings of War or making up my own homebrew game (something I used to be interested in when I was a teenager). The figures look to be a little small for something like Warhammer or even MESBG, but maybe some of them could be made to work?
This topic really deserves it's own thread as this is a thread for toys not 20mm wargaming miniatures, but I'll play until a mod splits them.
Like any scale, 20mm (1/72) has it's pros and cons. It predates even 25mm as a wargaming scale It's very affordable, easy to store and in historical eras there's a huge variety of miniatures. It's also the same scale as OO model railroading and close enough to use HO (1/87) buildings and accessories. There are also metal ranges.
On the other hand, the fantasy and Sci Fi ranges are much more limited, painting and modifying soft plastic has it's own challenges, and these days it's become a niche scale with a smaller player base than 28 and 15mm.
Trying to incorporate them into 28mm game is mostly a losing proposition, but if you have a couple friends who would like to try a new genre/game/ruleset affordably, it can be a good option. There are dozens and dozens of games these could be used for if you're willing to approach the scale on its own merits and look outside the GW/MANTIC bubble.
ZergSmasher wrote: Sorry I wasn't trying to derail the thread or anything but I had to share! Guess I got too excited. I should have made a separate thread. My bad.
No apology needed! I'm just saying now is a good time for a separate thread
ZergSmasher wrote: Sorry I wasn't trying to derail the thread or anything but I had to share! Guess I got too excited. I should have made a separate thread. My bad.
Would be happy if you did make another thread. As I said you kind of got me hooked in at least the short term.
A 17" angel skeleton! I am really tempted to pick it up and just lay it across a table. A dead angel the size of a skyscraper, that's an objective worth fighting for!
The spider is a mere 5.5" and of course spiders do not have endoskeletons but honestly once you're talking about spiders the size of a house does it even matter?
Plenty more here if you want to do a deep dive. I kind of like the idea you could cover a table with all 3 for under $20.
I found some saucy stuff in that search. The skeletal scorpion would have been great, but I've already taken care of my Tomb Scorpion needs. What I'm gonna look for now is anything that might work as Ushabti or a Casket of Souls.
Just Tony wrote: I found some saucy stuff in that search. The skeletal scorpion would have been great, but I've already taken care of my Tomb Scorpion needs. What I'm gonna look for now is anything that might work as Ushabti or a Casket of Souls.
Just Tony wrote: I found some saucy stuff in that search. The skeletal scorpion would have been great, but I've already taken care of my Tomb Scorpion needs. What I'm gonna look for now is anything that might work as Ushabti or a Casket of Souls.
Between the trees and the mausoleum, it'd make great VC terrain. Not sure it's Egyptian enough to pull a COS off, though. Thanks for the heads up, though.
The problem with the AoS giants is GW didn't go all the way for pose ability and include ball joints and other options to pose them so they get a lot of repeats.
Using action figures should solve that nicely, can't wait to see it done!
. Take that you US posting people 
).
(dakkadakka unfortunately does not provide a blue fist symbol...)
