Gaslands Test Project #2 - ‘Hot Sauce’

Getting Creative Making A War Machine

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I’ve several small Gaslands projects on the go simultaneously as the paint stripping process I employ means it makes sense to do these car customisations in little batches. (I think I have about six or so Hotwheels cars stripped and ready to work on.)

After, disassembly and stripping, however, I’m only working on a couple of models at a time and the second car that has my attention at the moment is my Hotwheels ‘Bone Shaker’ hot rod. This has a lot of Mad Max: Fury Road vibes - for me - and I was looking forward to customising this one…

Above: The ‘Bone Shaker’ in one of its alternative colour schemes.

Doing Gaslands models can be a little different from doing other conversion builds, as some people who do these projects are quite happy to ‘make it up’ as they go along with little pre-planning other than a vague idea in their head! This is quite refreshing for me, and very relaxing.

Obviously, these projects are small - the cars being only 1/64 scale - and because the original detailing of the Hotwheels/Matchbox models is designed to appeal to kids realism is not the primary focus. So, unlike conversions made from historical scale models - say - there is less stress about getting this right or ‘correct’, you can just let your imagination run wild!

I thought I’d give this ‘suck it and see’ approach a go as it’s a nice antidote to my other current project of the AIrfix 1/72 historical WW1 fighter aircraft (where you are expected to adhere to a level of authenticity). And as I am bouncing between the two types of projects it’s kind of relaxing.

The Build - Collecting Custom ‘Bits’

Having deconstructed my Hotwheels car I then had to reconstruct it Mad Max style, and the first job to do is collect together any useful or interesting custom parts to add to the model.

There are several ways to get hold of these components; you can buy them pre-made from companies like ANVIL INDUSTRIES - who 3D print Gaslands accessories - or you can 3D print the parts yourself from files you can fine on archives like CULTS.COM or you can scratch build parts or you can reused scrap parts from other projects/kits that you might have laying about.

In the end I did all of the above!

Above: I printed a batch of Gaslands accessories which I found on Cults.com for use with the different cars I intended to customise. Having a 3D printer is a real god send for this hobby!

Obviously, buying or printing bespoke parts is the easiest means of getting extra parts quickly, but as a modeller I actually prefer the other means of procuring my parts by either scratch building or repurposing scraps. There is more fun to be had and it’s more creative.

Above: Two examples of the ‘scratch’ technique here, I used styrene (plasticard) to make the armoured windscreen and I also constructed a new radiator and grill. Also note the modified wheels rather than just slapping on 3D printed ones.

I love working with styrene and actually building things as it makes your models truly individual. And, it also means that you can make parts that you may just not be able to find/buy online.

Raking though my spare parts bin is also fun as you try to find bits and pieces that look like they might be useful, but you never quite actually know until you try placing them on the actual model. Because of this you tend to collect more scrap parts that you will actually use, but that’s OK as you might end up using any unwanted bits on the next conversion. (MORAL: If you don’t already have one, start a ‘parts bin’!)

Above: Part of the fun of Gaslands conversions is the trying of different and alternative parts until you are happy with your assembly. You may spend some time swapping in and out different bits until you finally settle on the right combination.

The Final Design (Though It’s Seldom Actually Final)!

Having made up you mind what to include on you model you now have to put all the parts together - Frankenstein style - and this can present it’s own little challenges as getting parts to fit together that were never made to go together means a bit of head scratching (and not a little amount of super glue)! 😆

Super glue, super glue accelerator and baking soda are your best friends! (If you are unaware of the super glue/baking soda trick then Google it now.)

Sometimes parts just don’t want to go together and it takes time to work out how to get stuff to attach to each other securely. Sometimes I found that I had to do some drilling and attach connecting points or supports made out of thin wire.

But, eventually, your creations comes to life…

An important part of the build process is choosing your weapons! Gaslands is - after all - a tabletop combative game and so your cars need some sort of defensive or offensive items. [There is a Gaslands rule book made by Osprey if you want to get technical about what you can or cannot add for the game and this can drive - excuse the pun - the direction in which you take with your car design. BUT, you may be like me and not interested in the game but only interested in the creation of the models, in which case there are no rules!]

I decided to add a flamethrower and a nasty looking ram up front! And this gave my car it’s name - ‘Hot Sauce’!

And so, having constructed our road warrior we now have to paint it, but I will cover that in a separate post!

Hope you enjoyed the project so far?

NEXT: Rust - there always has to be rust!