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This is part one of an article from Capture and Control. There are pictures with this article found HERE.


As it sometimes happens through some unfortunate circumstances one of our beloved model vehicles gets damaged. This happened to Dis and I when we inherited a Valkyrie from one of our friends. During transportation and storage it was broken beyond repair. Now, we all hope this will never happen, but when it does do not despair! There can be new life for your once beautiful, intact model, a life in which it’ll probably see more time on the table than if it was part of an army: as scenery! So rescue it from the trash and make some cool terrain out of it!

Materials needed:
Broken troops transport (or any vehicle that’s too far gone)
Pre-cut masonite* (or other basing material)
Liquid nails

Large Talus (different grades of porous rock debris)

Spare Pink foam bits (around the size of a small rock)
*Dis had plenty in Tupperware Tub #1, if you don’t have any pre-cut, you can get sheets of the stuff at any Home Depot-type store and cut it to size
Tools needed:
Hacksaw

Clippers

Chalk
I like to come up with a reason why my terrain exists. Usually it just involves some thought as to what the landscape would look like and what kinds of battlefields armies might fight over. In the case of the broken Valkyrie, it was simply that the Valkyrie is broke, therefore it crashed. Simple but effective.

To start, I visualized how the Valkyrie crashed and at what angle it landed, from there I used the chalk to mark off the general area which I wanted to remove from the undercarriage.

Using the hacksaw, I cut away the area I wanted to remove. But, because it’s a hacksaw and not a surgical implement, I more or less just directed it at the general angle in which I was cutting. So instead of ending up with the absolute perfect angle I got something that looked like it really crashed, it was a happy accident. Remember to save the section that is removed as it will be used later in the project. And here is the only safety warning for this project: watch your fingers! Yes, a hacksaw is slow and unwieldy but in the excitement of artfully destroying something, accidents can happen and that’s something that turns a fun project into a hassle.

Once the section is removed, you need to mount your model on the base. The Valkyrie was poorly balanced, so I needed to put some stuff underneath the back end to make it stable. I took out a few of the large talus rocks and spare pink foam bits to have at the ready for placing on to the masonite. If like me and you live in California where pink foam is not available, go find some good-sized rocks around your yard or even in your neighborhood. Or, if you must satisfy that pink foam craving, make the trip to Arizona or Nevada. Dis and I went to a random Home Depot in Arizona on a pink foam run about 2 years ago and still have plenty, but the memory of the squeaking sound of the foam sheets rubbing together for four hours on the drive home will always remain.

Now take your pre-cut masonite and squeeze out some of liquid nails were you want your Valkyrie’s final resting place to be.
Then, glue down all the extra rocks and bits of pink foam and talus that the back of the Valkyrie will rest on. At this point Dis had just finished melta-gunning the back of his Hellhound, and before I even had a chance to turn around, he had blasted the crew, softened them up, and then then held them in place, slumped over, until the plastic cooled down and hardened again. It's an awesome effect, the crew look dead. I just would have liked to have done it myself!

Finally, set the Valkyrie into the liquid nails and the bed of rocks and foam, then make any adjustments necessary to prop up the Valkyrie to the desired angle allow it all to dry over night.


Now all that is needed is to lay down a layer of sand, then prime, paint, and base the piece, and you’ve got an amazing, one-of-a kind piece of terrain made from what was once thought to be an unsalvageable vehicle. Stay tuned for part II, where I go step-by-step on the finishing process!
-Lola

I hope you found this article informative. Check back for part 2 at Capture and Control

One of my Razorbacks have bit the dust. I might make a senery piece out of that.

it looks too "elevated" to be honest. I'd like to see a little more thought/tlc put into the basing to make it look like it plowed a furrow on impact, etc.

CT GAMER wrote:it looks too "elevated" to be honest. I'd like to see a little more thought/tlc put into the basing to make it look like it plowed a furrow on impact, etc.

Agreed

I will try and pass that along. If you could leave a comment similar to that on CNC then I know Lola will get it for sure. Thanks for the feedback guys!