Hobby Progress January 2025

Hello and Welcome back, 

Well here we are, finally at the end of January. I don't know about you, but January this year has felt incredibly long. 

Believe it or not, but I have managed to get some hobby in during the opening salvo of 2025. Admittedly as well as the old problem trying to find the time, my mojo has been a little off. There has been a lot of distractions, both at home and the world beyond. 

I am now over on Bluesky, using the same handle as this Blog. I was so glad to leave the sewer that is Twitter. Bluesky is worth a look and there is a fast growing hobby community there. It feels a lot like Twitter used to before the propaganda & hate bots arrived. If you do join or are already on Bluesky check out the #wargaming and #nerdlings hastags. 

I managed to finish a couple of terrain peices and paint 6 figures up. The figures still need basing plus I have a handful of figures to base from last year. Pictures and fluff will follow soon, I hope. 

In addition I have been messing about with a couple of prototype walls made from scrap foam board for my Spaceport/space station/Zone Raiders table. I found the 3 inch (75mm) height too tall for narrow corridors. My huge mitts were knocking over the walls. So the next builds will be 62mm in height. 

The design is for free standing walls which hopefully will aid storage. One thing I learnt from my the building of my tunnel terrain was the amount of room required to store it. Not to mention the spatial awareness conundrum every time I had to pack it away. The final design will be built from courrated cardboard, mainly because we have a ready supply of it. The end peices to help the walls stand will be xps foam. 

The one thing I picked up from ebay last year was another Robogear Hex platformer set. With the spare bits from past platform sets, I have been playing about making new models for my Sci fi table. There will be a couple of 15mm peices too.

Another thing that arrived was the Skirm rules by Bill making stuff. They look right up my street. I am planning to do a quick review soon. In addition I am thinking of building some small gangs up to play, plus working out how to use these gangs in my own settings. 

After playing the Mad Max computer game, the appetite to get back into 20mm (ish) Auto combat has returned. I have spent a couple of evenings pouring over the Gaslands rules and my old favourite Axels and Alloys. 

Gaslands feel a little complex for me. It reminds me of the old GW Dark Future rules which I played quite a bit back in the day, but Gaslands is much simpler (DF had so many tables to cross check) and the road/track boards replaced by templates. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be fun and it is good to be familiar with as it seems to be a staple of many a games club.

Axels and Alloys is a older game by Owen Cooper, it is based on Jon Tuffneys Full Thrust starship rules. I played it a lot a couple of decades ago and really enjoyed it. It also made me invest in Full Thrust which was a lot of fun too. 

I favour Axels and Alloys as it allows the kind of wasteland auto combat I crave, that the more stadium based games of Gaslands. Although Gaslands revisited does have some Wasteland scenarios, they feel somewhat limited to me. 

I was doing so well with my New Year's promise of not buying any figures or models this year. I nearly got to four weeks, which is a record for me. Those of you who regularly visit social media platforms will know that Ramshackle games was in trouble with orders drying up. As Curtis is a mate of mine, I had to help. Despite not needing any figures I ordered a few figures that would fill out the Rustlords, Skrap Knights and Black Guard factions of Mattblackgod’s World.

The good news is that the response to Curtis' social media plea was massive and Ramshackle Games has been saved. I hope to see Ramshackle continue strength to strength in thr future. 

But there is more, I also could not resist Fogou's new Shack me up kickstarter. Some of these mix and match with the stacking shacks. It seems to be a good move to flesh out my township further. At least that is my excuse and I am sticking to it. 

Right, back to the hobby purchase embargo. Let's see if I can last more than 4 weeks. lol 

Thanks for reading and take care out there.

D-mang a Trios

Over on Instagram there is a dude who builds Gasland’s builds. He raffles off his cars regularly so I chipped in and won this awesome car. D-mage a trios is a three wheeled build of bits. 

The body shell lifts off. I may have to add a driver.

The car came with a certificate of authenticity and a note on what went into the build. 

If you are Instagram follow @gokartmozartcustoms and  take a peek at some of his other builds. 

Thanks for looking.

New wasteland rigs.

Welcome back to my blog. 

Recently I have been working on some hotwheels cars. Here is the latest bunch. They are intended for my own Blood & Fire setting using Warlands rules. But there is no reason why they can’t see table time for other rule sets such as Gaslands, Axels & Alloys or Darkfuture. 

Group shot:- A scrap runner from Conn is pursued across the wastelands by a Intacepta and Tya Dok from Warlord Carnage’s hordes. Spotting the distant action a lone Road Kill vehicle joins in the chase. The lure of high speed combat is irresistible. 

The Skrap runner:

This car comes from a ancient stone fortress called Conn. It runs scavenged supplies to the fortress. 

The base car was a Hotwheels 70 Chevelle station wagon. It had the studs drilled out and glass removed. A The driver, side armour and bull bars came from the Gaslands sprue by Northstar games. The gun and Jerry cans are by Ramshackle Games. The luggage is from a 28mm figure. The front window bars are a lollipop stick. 

The blower is by Abberant Games from their Warlands range. 

The rear tombstone is by Ramshackle Games and the rear window bars are lollipop stick. 

The car features stock paint with various logos and decal ageing done with nail polish remover and a cotton bud. Rust colours were painted on followed by drydrushing for the dirt. I like this car. It’s gives me the impression that it is only a few bumps from falling to bits.

The Intacepta: 

This car serves the Warlord Carnage by hunting vehicles. The harpoon is used to take out tyres or crew. Or with weaker vehicles harpoon the body work and slow it down to a stop. The objective is to try to capture the vehicle and crew with as little damage as possible. 

The base vehicle is a Hotwheels 69 Ford Torino Talledega . The original intention was to build a copy of the chase car in the opening scene of Mad Max2 Roadwarrior. Somehow it didn’t happen. 

Instead it ended up this way. The studs were drilled out and the windows replaced by the almost compulsory mesh. The wheels where moved to the underside of the car as the original was slammed. A dual rear wheel was added, a popular wheel widening technique in the Wastelands. In this case other spare hotwheels wheels where glued on. The rear had a floor added for the gunner and cargo.

The front bumper is plastic tubing. Blower is by Autokill. Harpoon is from the Northstar Gaslands sprue. The gunner is from Stan Johannsen. Luggage came from a 28mm figure.

The front bullbars is a bit of chassis from a 1/76 tank transporter model. 

The rear armour is by Stan Johannsen, rear bumper came from a lollipop stick, the luggage is 1/35 and 28mm pouches. There is Jerry cans from a 1/76 scale model in the back and a box of grenades from Ramshackle games. 

The paint is the original paint scheme and finished in a similar fashion to the Conn Skraprunner. Before that Warlord Carnage symbols where added with Pokka paint markers. The markings are inspired by the symbols Immortan Joe and Scrotus use in Fury Road & Mad Max game.

Tya Dok:

The Tya Dok is a transport used by Carnage. They follow convoys and war parties replacing tyres and carrying out light repairs to keep the vehicles moving. They also strip what they can from vehicles too damaged to keep going and repair captured vehicles. Tya Dok’s can sometimes get split up from the convoy or force and wasteland gangs will do their best to capture such a useful asset. 

This model started life as a Hotwheels 87 Dodge truck. It just got a coating matt black paint. Then I added bits to it. Thinking about it, I should have built it first then painted it. 

The front ram is from the Northstar Gaslands sprue and the window armour is from Stan Johannsen. 

The door armour came from a gift card. The wheels are from broken Hotwheels cars and the Northstar Gaslands sprue. 

A small bit of plastic tube was bent and added as an exhaust pipe. Keeping it simple I had it exit through the front wheel arch. Digging through the bits box I found a plastic cog so I attached it to the door. 

Graffiti and Warlord Carnage symbols was added using a paint marker. Then the rust and dirt followed. 

Road Kill - Big Red: 

Road Kill are a rival gang to Warlord Carnage and they are moving in across his territories. Operating from remote camps the Road Kill gangs are a hazard to anyone they encounter in the wastelands not just Carnage. Road kill like to decorate with skulls and spanners. Vehicles are often painted Red if possible. 

Big Red is a command vehicle shown by the huge off road wheels and turret machine gun. It started life as a Tesco own brand monster truck. The classic lines of the body caught my eye. 

The front airscoop came from the ever useful Northstar Gaslands Sprue. The machine gun and turret is from Ramshackle Games. The front window grill was a scrap of granny grating left over from a terrain build. The front plow was scratch built from gift cards. I tried to make it look a bit fierce some looking. 

The wheel arches where blanked off as was the rear side window with scraps of gift card. Gift card scraps also became the wheel blades. The driver is from Stan Johannsen. For some reason crew members sit low in this car. 

The rear window armour is also gift card. A crossed bones shield decoration from a 28mm fantasy zombie adds to the rear decoration. 

The passenger here is by Ramshackle games.

I had forgotten how much fun modding hotwheels cars was. It was modding hotwheels and matchbox cars for Axels and Alloys 15 years ago that got me back into the hobby. While I have used some parts from hobby suppliers there is a fair bit of junk added from the bits box. The lessons here is don’t throw anything away. These cars have lollipop sticks, gift card, metal mesh and scraps of granny grating on them. 

What next? So far I have plans for another Road kill vehicle and maybe something from the factories of Civilisation. Plus I am working on at least one more vehicle for Warlord Carnage. I would like to start a buzzard gang too. 

Thanks for looking. Stay safe out there. 

Some hotwheels WIP

Hello and welcome back to my blog, 

While I have several 28mm figures on the go my brain has been itching at me to get cracking on my 20mm stuff. So here comes some WIP builds from the Warlord’s chop shop. 

First up is the Tyredok - Inspired by a vehicle in Fury Road I started work on this a couple of years back. Warlord Carnage needs one for his vehicle hordes.

It has had some bits from the bits box, plus parts from the North Star Gaslands sprue and Stan Johansen bits.

The vehicle is intended as support and is unarmed (I am creating for Warlands rather than Gaslands mainly as it has infantry rules). 

The Northstar Gaslands sprue is worth investing in especially. There is a motorbike on them too. 

Quite a decent looking ride I think. 

 There is also these two builds on the production line. The green station wagon is intended as a service vehicle for a settlement. It has a mix of Aberrant, NS Gaslands and Ramshackle bits on it. It still needs more. Possibly protection over the windows.

The sliver car (Hotwheels Ford Torino) has been drilled out, had a floor added to the rear, meshed windows, wheels lowered on the body (I do wish Hotwheels would stop making slammed cars - they would be useless in a post apocalyptic world), dual tyre rear wheels (this seems to be a compulsory modification if you have seen Mad Max 2 - Roadwarrior), a rod rear bumper and autokill blower. It needs more adding. The intention with this rig is to have a rear gunner and some sort of plinth mounted weapon on the roof. 

I have forgotten how much fun hacking hotwheels cars about is. 

That all for now - keep watching. 

Thanks for looking. Stay safe out there.

Warboy transport.

Hello and Welcome back.

Sometime last year I began working on a transport for my 20mm warboys for use in my Blood and Fire setting and to be used in  games of Warlands or Gaslands. 

This is a 1/72 Warlord M3 half track kit. The chassis was taken and a Hotwheels car body & engine added. The body was hacked and stretched to fit the M3 chassis. Thankfully it was a plastic body and easy to work on. Various bits from the M3 kit and the junk box was added. 

During painting the primer became textured as the solvent in the can seemed to be running low. It has added a gritty effect to the paint job. 

That’s all for now. Thanks for looking and take care out there.

Wasteland forces WIP

Hello and welcome back to my blog. I hope the wastelands have been kind to you.

Hobby work has been creeping along slowly. Some of this has been inspired by playing the Mad Max video game.

To that end I have been tempted to return to my 20mm Blood & Fire setting. I am itching to tryout Warlands or Gaslands. Warlands wins for me as it includes infantry rules, although I have figured out how to include footsloggers in Gaslands. As I am thinking about 20mm I thought it best to go look at my 20mm car collection. A few weeks ago a shelf collapsed in the man cave. The shelf where my 20mm collection was stored (note to self, don't put up shelves when you have the flu). With some trepidation I opened the boxes. Most of the cars survived ok but I had to carry out some repairs.

There is a mix of Dark Future, Warlands and many hotwheels/matchbox conversions in there. Lots of nice fun to get out on the tabletop post apocalyptic roads. There is plenty to work on too. I got so excited I ordered some of Stan Johansen's 20mm road warriors.

Some work on my 28mm has been going on too. Here are a few WIPs. I got the Nu Necromunda Orlocks assembled. They go together nicely, much better than the Eshers and Golaiths. They have one peice heads which helps. The Orlocks are going to be a trader convoy road guards. They have a certain Road warrior look to them and fit the Post Apocalyptic theme.

One thing that I do not like about these minis is the hipster beards and mustaches. I am not a fan of the look and they certainly don't fit the wastelands. As they are going to be out in the wastes it wasn't too difficult to make some greenstuff face scarves.

In general I like the Orlock kit and there are plenty of spares for conversions. The spare heavy weapons will be adorning some wasteland big hitter vehicles.

As I have been playing Mad Max I have been getting inspired to build a Wasteland Milita for the many strongholds out in the wastelands. Firearms especially automatic weapons are limited. These are usually armed with bows, crossbows and melee weapons. There is a long shot sniper and a couple of people with common firearms (pistol and shotgun).

The figures are WIP and are bitzas of old GW Mordenheim, Warlord Zulu War British, Warlord WW2 British and Wargames Factory Apocalypse Survivors kits. The arms and heads of the Apocalypse Survivors swap nicely with the Warlord figures. The figures need a bit of green stuff and some bits to finish them.

That is all for now. Thanks for reading.

Take care out there.

Welcome back to my blog. In this Wasteland Wondering I will be discussing real life, hobby slump and new post apoc ideas. 

It has been nearly a month since my last post and over a month since my last hobby post. 

I have found my hobby progress to be slow. As soon as I get started I get distracted. It is partly due to life being busy. Since my return from Spain nearly 4 weeks ago I have been celebrating 20 years of marriage,  had my 16yr old cat Spooky pass away, celebrating my wife's birthday, working on my motorbike, got a mutated rad cold, going away visiting some stately homes and away kitten hunting. Yup it's been busy but it isn't the only thing stopping my hobby drive. I think working just on 20mm cars is boring me a little and I realised that it has been over a year since I played a game! I should get my finger out. 

I have managed a couple of hours playing post apoc games on my console in the last month. Wasteland 2 and Fallout 4. I have barely scratched the surface of both games. 

In Wasteland 2 you play a team of Rangers out to save the wastelands. It is a RPG type game. The Rangers is a nice idea to copy for a Tabletop game. A small skirmish squad of 4 or 5 characters would suit many games. 

Fallout 4 has the main character in cryogenic suspension coming out the vault 200 years later to explore the world. Good fun so far. There is a band called the Minute Men who offer help to folks in the Wastelands in a similar manner to the Rangers in Wasteland 2. Minute men use clothing similar to the historic unit. It is tempting to get a historic figure or two for conversion. 

Cyrogenic suspension often turns up in Post Apocalyptic fiction. The character in the Rage game comes from such a vault (although he has cyber kinetic enhancements too). There is a major character in the Deathlands novels that was also frozen in such a fashion.

Hobby wise I just picked up the Gorkamorka rule books on evil bay. You can't have too many rule books in my book! I have always loved Orks. I am thinking of trying this in 15mm though. I also read the Gaslands beta. Looks a good game. However it doesn't cover infantry so I plan on sticking with Warlands. 

Gaslands is gladiatorial in nature and it gto me thinking of gladiatorial combat in the post apoc world. It could be a great way to get some warfare going. In Mars Arena (Deathlands novels) a bunch of warlords capture Wastelanders to have them fight in an arena which is the walled up Las Vegas ruins. Traps and mutant beasts are added to add to the mix. There is a twist. The winning team must then fight each other to the death. The survivor may get hired by the winning warlord but often snipers on the walls finish the job.

Another idea would be for  a contest run by Utopia City with prizes of supplies and other items folks in the Wastelands would happily kill for. It could be run by a TV show with arenas set up across the wastelands. Thick walls around these places could be built easily using the same technology Utopia uses to build the mega city blocks. In the wastelands bands  of wannabe winners would join to compete. The TV show runs the carnage live on TV in a similar style to the movie Running Man.

Auto dual will also be popular sport enterainment so the contests could run vehicle battles. A friend reminded me of this old battle report which is along the same lines that I posted on the Post Apoc Wargames forum a few years back. 

Auto dual combat

For the gangs/games on foot I was thinking of various traps including mutant beasties to make it interesting. Maybe a league with various gangs fighting each other for the prizes could be created. Wasteland townships and cities would get involved for certain vital supplies.

Thinking about this it may make a great club or show game using various rules. 

This is what I have been thinking about and planning. Let's see what happens next. 

Thanks for looking and take care out there!