Nuclear Renaissance - Fury Road Rip-off Razor Cola.

"You FILTH! You Traitor... to HIM!" 

- Slit the War Boy.

In previous posts Ive mentioned my desire to build a muscle car for nuclear renaissance based on either the iconic mad max pursuit special 'Interceptor' or its reincarnation at the gnarled hands and feverish minds of the War boys as the pumped up Razor Cola war rod.

Both had their appeal, a black pursuit special would fit right in with my MRP gang as the perfect vehicle for the 'Drifter' but the memory of Fury road was still simmering away at the back of my brain,

I was somewhat bemused by the perfunctory, off hand way the pursuit special was killed off at the start of the film, but I should've seen the clue a minute or so later when max vaults over his car under repair by some startled citadel mechanics as he attempts a frantic escape.

The reborn Falcon, in my opinion, is in its own way equally as epic as its predecessor, turning the dial up to 11 spinal tap style with some Kama-Krazy war boy madness!

The Razor Cola it its then...

Here are a couple of fury road concept artworks by amazingly talented artist Peter Pound (reproduced without permission) first up a mustang.... I thought about straight up copying this one...

Next up a super mean Holden, this thing just looks brutal don't you agree? But a buggy like this, with mounted machine gun, flamethrower and supercharged engine would come to well over a third of my available points for a 750pt gang!

A ford falcon I believe, minus the aftermarket Concorde nosecone that gave the original interceptor its distinctive snout, this picture is just so 'Blanchesque' to me and that is very much meant as a compliment! Just check out those skulls where the headlamps should be!

Plus I just love the guys mask in that one.

Concept for the Razor cola, in my opinion this is one of those rare examples where the real thing looks even better than the concept with its huge double stacked, skull tipped superchargers and triple zoomies.

First things first I acquired a Delprado Ford Mustang (broadly similar although I think another Capri might have made a better base car) Mustangs are fairly easy to come by in 1:43 and therefore one of the most likely toy muscle cars to find cheap at car boot sales and the like.

I didn't go for a straight up copy, opting instead to use some bits I already had that vaguely fit the bill.

There's no spike droppers in nuclear renaissance so instead I fitted a rear crash bar from a cannibalised toy pickup truck that fit perfectly and half an Gorkamorka fuel drum mounted as if to look as if the boot floors been cut out to mount a 200ltr drum as a long distance fuel tank.

I didn't want to replicate the speargun either due to the vast points expense of ranged weapons in NR

so instead I went for a wingback car seat in the boot (an extra seat upgrade as vehicles in the buggy class only have two as standard) and a Nitrous system activated by a gearshift.

Larger front and rear wheels, side exhausts (although unfortunately not triple zoomies)

Plus a massive (single not double) supercharger with skull fetish.

I cut a plastic bracket, glued it into the grille and began to build up the bumper and front nosecone.

Mostly complete here, the headlamp covers were made from little rectangles of mesh wrapped in chocolate coin foil.

A few more details go on... some repair patches, the roof spoiler and just a little stowage on the back of the rear seat consisting of a backup knife and some pouches.

Once undercoated I decided it needed more patches!

Painted up and ready to reave!

Nitrous system

Rear end...

I had a bit of a disaster painting up this mini with the washing stage, my nuln oil dried in the most bizarre manner, as an cloudy opaque white in horrible patches wherever it had pooled...

Can anyone offer an explanation as to why this has happened?

The bottles not even that old, less than six months I think and still 1/3rd full.   

This has never happened to me before with any washes even ancient old ones like ten year old bottles of black Ink!

I definitely think GW's paint quality has gone downhill, pictured above are two pots of GW paint circa 1997-98 ish that are still as fresh the day they were born, whereas I have newer paints that have dried up within a few weeks of being opened, perhaps the horrible current design of bottles that suffer from paint build up and subsequent lack of an airtight seal at the hinge are a factor... 

I should've taken photos at this point but I was so appalled at having ruined all my work that I immediately started remedial work with shed loads of black glaze and a heavier weathering stage than normal. Still, every time I pick it up I find more annoying little cloudy white spots in odd places, but in general I'm fairly satisfied with the rescue effort.

Thanks for stopping by hope you enjoyed the post, any comments , suggestions or feedback very welcome.... 

P.S I'm struggling to come up with a name for my Razor Cola rip off, any suggestions please?

Road War! - Nuclear Renaissance battle report.

As promised many moons ago, a nuclear renaissance battle report.

NOW UPDATED... wiv slightlee beta spellin an grandma.

Showdown at Sweaty Bert's... 

East of the scattered townships and isolated cattle ranches that make up the Main Road Patrol's sector 44 are the 'fringes', once the suburbs and industrial zones ringing Sun city. 

Now they are reduced to prohibited badlands, rich with treasure for scavengers and salvage parties, but lousy with both fallout and marauding bandits.

Sitting on the threshold of the fringes is 'Sweaty Bert's Roadkill Cafe', an infamous establishment of dubious reputation and favoured eatery of Simius the Invincible, Grand Master of the Son's of Simius.

Out from the irradiated ground zero of Sun city spill the children of the apocalypse, a hoarde of deranged cannibal fiends welded into a ramshackle army by the monstrous warlord 'Psymon Sez'

For Psymon, the diner is nothing more than yet another pathetic hovel to be plundered on the children's journey to paradise, but for Simius the incursion is nothing less than a challenge to his status as bandit king of the fringes.

Children of the Apocalypse.

- Despicable Warlord and melee monster Psymon Sez in his lumbering juggernaut steamroller.

- Bushwacker Buggy... a citroen 2cv mounted with a mortar and also carrying a sniper. Crewed by Feral Runt, Shaman and Stalker.

- Bogan Buggy.. light transport for the assault elements of the gang. Driven by rabble rouser Feral Demagogue and carrying Skulltaker and Headhunter.

Son's of Simius.

- All round Badass Simius in his turbo nutter Saab Cheryl. Accompanied by the hulking ape'prentice Krump literally riding shotgun with his shotgun.

- Redneck. A supercharged, nitro boosted ram truck crewed by psychotic melee duo Wibber and Donk.

- Knock-knock, a lumbering but solid truck driven by Ziggy and carrying SMG toting juve Mama Zet in the back.

Psymon deploys alone in the centre, flanked by his shooters loaded into the buggy on his right flank, and close combat fighters in the buggy on his left. Simius starts behind the cover of a wrecked auto with both his trucks taking the flank, the gang is split equally with two characters per vehicle.

(Foreground) The Sons get the first activation and the redneck truck screams forward blowing off all its nitrous as it flies towards the enemy line, feral stalker responds by blowing out the windshield of the truck with a well aimed shot from his sniper rifle. With the driver stunned from the near miss the truck careens out of control towards a wreck. Luckily the passenger, Donk, is able to take control and slew the redneck to a halt before they crash, but now they're stalled out and under the teeth of the enemy.

(Background) Gunning its engine the feral's Bogan buggy speeds up the left flank seeking to deliver its deadly human cargo. It is met by the heavy truck 'Knock Knock' barreling along the opposite way. 

The drivers engage in a deadly game of chicken and scrape down the sides of one another in a shower of sparks leaving both drivers insensate. Mama Zet unloads her Submachinegun into the buggy as it passes, thoroughly ventilating feral demagogue, it's driver. 

The Bogan goes out of control, skids out to the right and broadsides Cheryl the Saab without effect, the famous swedish safety features working to full effect. 

Enraged, Krump jumps out the passenger side and unloads both barrels of his shotgun into Bogan's engine bay. The vehicle explodes spectacularly, killing Skulltaker and Headhunter instantly, my gang suffering near 50% casualties in one fell swoop. 

Krump miraculously survives with nothing more than a shock token for his troubles and even Cheryl escapes the worst of the blast, although Simius's fancy sound system is blown clean off the roof.

Cursing his right hand man for the damage Simius speeds off for the diner leaving Krump stranded in the dust.

Psymon urges his clanking steamroller forwards and over the redneck truck as its crew are still dazed and recovering, slaughtering both in a titanic fireball.

Suddenly the scores are evened up somewhat...

The bushwhacker gun buggy moves up in support as the sons advance.

Reaching the edge of the diners lot, the Bushwacker buggy begins to lob mortar rounds at the lonely figure of Krump as he sprints frantically for the cover of the outhouse. 

The first volley misses, but the second catches him just before he dives out of sight, blowing him into oblivion. The remaining Sons accelerate into close range, desperate for revenge.

The Stalker takes careful aim with his 50cal sniper rifle and fires at Mama Zet.

He whiffs the shot will a fumble roll at the worst possible moment leaving the crew massively exposed to the son's oncoming retaliation.

Sustained 9mm fire from Simius and Mama Zet mows down the Runt, Stalker and Shaman and explodes the Bushwacker, leaving it a triple funeral pyre.

A grenade from Simius cripples the Steamroller, forcing Psymon to bail out of his mobile throne. Alone, he howls defiance as the surviving sons circle.

Brashly Mama Zet hops off Knock-knock and advances on Psymon, spitting the vilest of insults and emptying the clip of her weapon into his massive frame. Shrugging off the hail of lead and laughing in contempt Psymon is looming over her before she can reload, pneumatic claw snapping in anticipation.

Simius desperately flings his car round and takes a pot shot at the lone nutter but to no avail.... Psymon snips Mama Zet clean in two, his powered weapon ending the juves life almost without effort.

In the distance Ziggy performs a sweeping 180' and hustles Knock-knock back towards the action.

Flushed with bloodlust Psymon charges again, his claw ripping the engine block clean out of Cheryl and wrecking her, Simius bails out, incensed and fires again and again until his clip runs dry.

Psymon staggers, his armour holed and bleeding in several places (used up my extra life upgrade)

Screaming unintelligibly Psymon charges again and the two leaders meet in combat, it's a close run thing, but in the end even the steroid ripped physique of Simius cannot compete with the leviathan of rusty metal and sheer willpower that is Psymon Sez, and the marauder chieften is cast to the ground bleeding and broken.

Emitting a subsonic growl of victory Psymon is too smug to notice the heavy truck bearing down on him at top speed.....

With the final move of the game Ziggy smears the enemy Warlord across the Tarmac with Knock-knock. 

Ending the battle and leaving him the last man standing...

Result...Victory to the 'Son's of Simius' by a hairs breadth.

This was a great game going right down to the wire, these two gangs seemed pretty well balanced whilst still retaining some individuality, following on from some early balance issues due to my unfamiliarity with the system (my opponent believes the steamroller still needs a bit of a nerf but I'm not so sure, he did roll some bad dice targeting it.) so I was very pleased with that. 

I made a massive mistake near the start sending the Bogan buggy rashly charging out at the enemy lines only to be raked by the son's punishing close range small arms fire and destroyed.

I Shouldve concentrated on taking out the stranded Redneck first and forced the Son's to come to me... running the gauntlet of my mortars and sniper across the table and then counter attacked with Bogan and Psymon.

Ive learnt the hard way that the Children's two buggies are both pretty vunerable. 

My opponent was able to kill off some expensive characters by blowing their vehicles out from under them in this game. 

The Bushwacker should stay well back and engage from long range whilst the Bogan can't go head to head against other vehicles and should be used simply as a delivery system for the melee warriors. Picking it's moment to scoot over and deposit it's warriors - next to an already activated and therefore vunerable enemy unit for example. 

With my melee goons killed so early on there was little I could do to keep the enemy from closing in on the fragile shooters. I didn't help matters by moving them closer for a better shot at Krump. 

Psymon proved himself to be a thorough ball busting menace in the game, personally responsible for four kills (two thirds of the opposing gang!) before he was laid low and single handedly ensuring  the game wasn't a complete one sided whitewash!

I also got the individual stat cards for the characters and vehicles done and they helped speed things up and made for easy reference in-game, I forgot to take photos (of photos - the irony) but you can spot them in the background of some of the shots above.

Thanks for visiting, hope you enjoyed the post... Any comments and feedback much appreciated!

Nuclear Renaissance - the 'Bronze' gang, MRP Patrol bike and vehicleWIP's

"So long as the paperwork's clean, you boys can do what you like out there" - Captain Fifi McAfee

Finished painting the Main Road Patrols's biker so thought I'd post up a quick group shot.

They're nearly at the point of being a fully fledged gang in their own right now, although there should be more to come...the Drifter desperately needs a black pursuit special, plus I want to do a 'Barry' and possibly another driver so Road Judge and Rogue cop might actually get to fire off their expensive rifles once in a while.

So here we have 'Swan' riding his patrol bike, my shameless rip off of Jimmy the Goose. In game he will be the teams medic with few upgrades apart from his basic bike, hopefully he can loiter in the backfield and use his speed and mobility to both avoid hostiles and zoom over to wounded comrades when necessary.

I have to be honest and say I'm not very happy with the paintjob on him, although I couldn't get a decent photo and he doesn't look 'quite' as bad as the close up pic suggests... However i went far too heavy with the washes and I really should have realised to paint the bike and rider separately and not assemble him in a childlike burst of enthusiasm (that soon wore off... it was a PITA to put together considering there's only four pieces) but unless I really get the urge that's how he's staying for now. There are a couple of little bits that came out ok, he has a helmet stripe that matches Road judges and I cut up some imperial guard transfers to create an 'MRP' on the rear panniers.

Finally a suitably blurred and grainy work in progress shot of some more wasteland vehicles I've been working on, neither are quite built yet but you get the drift.

Thanks for visiting, hopefully another  NR update soon!

Nuclear Renaissance - Drifter and 'Bandicoot' buggy

"Once I was a cop, a road warrior searching for a righteous cause...." 'Mad' Max Rockatansky

The latest character for NR I've completed is the Drifter and his half track buggy 'bandicoot'

Drifter is a mini from em4's future skirmish line 'road hero' a great sculpt packed with character and definitely channeling Mel Gibson in beyond thunderdome. He was a real pleasure to paint, you could almost say he painted himself but that's inspiration for you...

The only change I made to the model was to chop off his right hand, holding a slightly futuristic looking weapon described as an 'autoshotgun' and replace it with a combat knife hand from an old frateris militiaman. 

The chief reason I did this is that in NR firearms are hugely expensive, a shotgun for example costs as much as a naked hero, two goons and a truck for them all to ride in.

As he had a pistol tucked into his belt along with the one in his left hand I elected to lose the shotgun, I guess I just like to try and keep things as WYSIWYG as possible (the holstered and unusable pistols on road judge and rogue cop bother me far too much!!!)

The buggy started out like as a corgi earthmover, cutdown to a bare chassis and engine block, a vw beetle was cut at the firewall and grafted on top as a cabin, and the tracks are from a gorkamorka wartrakk. 

The rest is just an amalgamation of assorted crap, the grille is a fuel tank from a toy motorbike, the supercharger built from Lego, guard dozen blade supports and chocolate coin foil.

The front suspension are cut down toy x-wing fighter laser cannons and the exhaust pipes are the little plastic tubes for the end of paintbrushes.

You can't see it in the photos but underneath I built a propshaft and gearbox/axle just in case anyone turns it over!

I'm not sure whether this character / car pairing will last as not only am I now thinking the Bandicoot needs a more 'nux and slit' style crew, plus I've got the urge to build Drifter either a mean muscle car in the razor cola vein or perhaps a camel wagon-esque truck, sans camels of course!

Thanks for looking, stay tuned for more post apocalyptic 28mm if your eyes can bear my shoddy craftmanship!

Nuclear Renaissance - Growing the Gangcults!

"You can't expect to compete with that! Every day, we get weaker while they get stronger..."

- the captain's girl - 

Some more reinforcements for the gangs.

After more procrastination, deliberation, play testing and tweaking I've (yet again) rewritten all the gang lists in the name of balance, finally settling on a 750pt level for all of the gangs... entailing a few more minis and vehicles as I've generally lowered the amount of skills and upgrades each individual has. 

Our experience has shown its best for each character to have a couple of choice upgrades to reinforce an archetype, rather that the full kitchen sink treatment.

I ordered another batch of minis from em4's great value future skirmish range, sculpted by mark copplestone these are some lovely sculpts even two decades on.

I also bought a couple of bikers, a core aspect of Mad Max that has been sorely missing from our games so far.

Here's a little WIP of one of the vehicles I've been working on, the Bandicoot, an unholy amalgamation of love bug, half track and hot rod.

Interestingly after building this one I was googling for unusual half tracked vehicles and found this...

Not such an original idea after all!

Using scraps of paper with the gang lists scrawled on was proving rather clunky so I've also been working on improving the presentation using a great little app called phonto, which allows you to add text to photographs. 

Starting with a landscape outback scene I added each characters stats to create a game card of sorts.  Plus a summary card for each gang. Here are a couple of examples, plus I'll be putting up each characters card with the minis in following posts.

I intend to take my phone down to the booth at the supermarket and get them printed out as regular 6x4 photos....hopefully they will be legible and thus a quick, easy and (hopefully) elegant solution to biro and a4... I'll show how they turned out either way.

Here are the two warriors that will (for now) finish off the 'sons of simius' marauder gang.

Donk is a musclebound melee bezerker, he will likely ride in the redneck ram truck with Wibber, in a Nux and Slit kind of relationship.

Mama Zet, a hollow eyed gang juve barely out of her teens brings additional firepower in the form of her submachinegun. Although in NR the SMG is a pretty weak ranged weapon it can put out a lot of shots and she has the ducking and diving skills that make her quite hard to hit in return.

She's set up to be a nuisance character, pinning characters with weight of fire by dealing out shock tokens rather than making outright kills. An annoying thorn in the side that's hard to eliminate.

Tactically I think she's best off adding her firepower to krumps shotgun by riding in ziggys truck with him and turning it into a dedicated 'gunboat'.

Next up is a transport and driver for the 'Children of the Apocalypse'

Feral Demagogue, a deranged rabble rouser and fanatical missionary of the cult of Psymon Sez, and 'Bogan' (Australian slang for a thug / lout) a light Tow truck based on a typical Ozzie ute.

Their leader Psymon's steamroller has proved too dammed slow to act as transport for the feral skulltaker and feral headhunter so I've added a cheap fast (ish) three man buggy and a driver who is also a 'bard' to help keep my melee warriors motivated and in the fight once delivered to target.

Feral demagogue is based on an old WHFB flagellant, with a couple of extra bits and bobs to apocalyse him up a tad. I'm not sure the saurus head really works as a crocodile / Komodo skull, but I was all out of skulls, which is slightly ironic considering most of the stuff on my bits box comes from games workshop! One bit I like is the chaos marine backpack vent, meant to represent a dangling speaker to amplify his ranting and raving.

The tow truck started out life as a Disney Pixar cars 'Mater'. Despite the moulded on windshield eyes and goofy grin I was pretty confident with this car as it was designed to look a bit beaten up from the outset, was the right shape (check out the tow trucks at the diner when you are first introduced to goose in Mad Max 1) and already had some great details that made it ripe for the post apocalyptic road wars I had in mind. The missing hood and exposed engine were perfect and the chains / winch at the rear were nicely moulded.

The conversion work was pretty simple, rusty panels added all round, especially over the toothy smile, mesh windscreen to disguise the eyes and a load of scavenged junk in the rear bed, plus the extra seat and a salvaged dashboard strung over the side with rope.

WHFB undead shields were used as armoured hubcaps and the whole lot was painted to make it look as wasteland worn as possible to fit in with the steamroller and 2CV techinical.

Thanks for stopping by!

More road war nonsense soon...