From Millsy: Buzzards and Billboards for Gaslands (130 Points)

G'day All,

My Oathmark Humans are continuing to edge closer to completion, but I've put the shields "somewhere safe" so they'll be delayed yet again. Feel free to have a laugh at my expense!

Making lemons etc. at least that gave me the opportunity to dive further into the Gaslands rabbit hole. If this continues (and it will, oh yes it will) I'm likely going to have to join Gaslands Anonymous. "Hello, I'm Millsy and I'm a compulsive rust effect user".

So between hobbies and work I rewatched Fury Road on the basis that too much Mad Max is never enough, Tina Turner excepted. I've always found the Warboys with their chrome smile-enhancer-in-a-can and crazy spike-covered buggies a really great interpretation of the post-apocalyptic genre. The blend of pseudo-religion and nitro-fuelled mayhem hits me right where I live and lead to some more vehicles getting bashed and painted.

Crusty Buzzards...

...sounds like a euphemism for something I won't speculate on further. More importantly, "Buzzards" are a faction from Fury Road. Mad Max Wiki has this to say about them.

The Buzzards are a Russian speaking scavenging wastelander tribe of bandits of Russian descent living in some underground burrows known as the Sunken City. ..... The Buzzards drive vehicles covered in spikes and are regarded as "the lowest common denominator" of the wasteland.

So... spikes! I must admit I suffered a kind of budget PTSD cutting out the spikes for these. Some of you may remember this beast. Consequently I didn't go anywhere near the whole hog but I kinda like where it ended up as the profile on the dragsters deserves more than being hidden inside an angry pincushion.

Billboards and scatter terrain

Having watched this brilliant tutorial from top Aussie YooToobuh RFD Hobby I just couldn't help myself so I gave the whole billboard scatter terrain thing a try. Being me, it wasn't enough to just download the free "official" Gaslands billboards, I had to spend a couple of hours in Photoshop knocking out some bespoke artwork with my own special brand on humour included.

Here's the artwork for those who might be interested. I'm not sure "Building Better Worlds" starts with nuking from orbit, but who am I to question what future corporate bigwigs will consider acceptable means in search of a few Earth credits? At least you start with a "clean" slate I guess. I'm not entirely happy with how easy they are too read so I may reprint them from the pre-weathered version and do the weathering in situ.

Clean version for the hard of seeing

And because you have to holiday somewhere, why not Zegema Beach? It's not Shell Beach, but at least it's more than a mass hallucination based on a billboard,
a postcard and some after hours reprogramming.

Clean version for the hard of seeing

The billboard structures are composed of balsa framework supporting a thin veneer of scribed basswood over a foamcore centre. Simple enough to cut and assemble with the main challenge being patience while glue dries (read into that what you will!). I suspect they are a bit over scale, certainly the framework is but I'd rather that than they were flimsy or looked underdone.

I also knocked out some quick scatter / obstacles to block line of sight and make driving more fun and challenging. The formations are scoria (volcanic rock) from the path in my backyard, hot glued together into piles. Quite heavy for the size but I like the weight as it stops them sliding when bumped. Everything is on the bases is a combo of junk from my bits box, a few objects from the Implements of Carnage sprues and some unwanted cars.

Do the math Millsy. Do the math!

• 4 x 20mm/1:72 cars = 60 points
• 2 x billboards = 1 x 6" cube = 20 points
• 4 x scatter terrain pieces = 2 x 6" cubes = 40 points

Total: 120 points

Skullz: 10

That's it for me this week. Thanks for looking and commenting :-) 

Cheers,

Millsy

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Oh man, this is absolutely terrific, you've really pulled out the stops on this entry Millsy - love it. 

I can definitely sympathise with having figures/bits 'somewhere safe'. I have a suspicion that wherever that mysterious place is, it must be absolutely teetering with a multitude of semi-precious crap. Oh well, I'm sure it will all be discovered when I'm on the wrong side of the turf.

So much to love in this entry, from the Russian spikey racers, the wonderful lava rock barriers and on to the bespoke billboards.  I especially like the 'holiday' to the Outer Colonies requiring 637 vaccinations. Well, I certainly know who I'd not be running into on the beach from good ole Terra. :)

I'm going to give another 10 points for all the custom work on display. Fabulous stuff Millsy! Now, go and find those benighted Oathmark shields so we can see that unit soon.

- Curt