Gaslands Refuelled - Mini-Sherman

 

Ok, so the mini-Sherman was always a CarWars thing, but it was my favourite vehicle from that game, and so I wanted to make one for Gaslands.

My mini-Sherman was a panel van with a rocket launcher under the front bumper and enough armour to weigh the vehicle down during a cyclone. That's pretty topical right now over here (I'm looking at you Cyclone Alfred!).

Oz Wheels makes a series of excellent Matchbox scale vehicles of iconic Australian brands. Brands that were quintessentially Ozzy (yes, even the Ford Falcon. Just watch Mad Max) before we destroyed our car manufacturing industry over here by selling out to globalism.

Oz Wheels has a series called 'Barn Finds' and these vehicles come pre-grubby with worn paint work that just screams Gaslands. So, I purchased a number of panel vans and set about looking for the appropriate rocket launchers to put under the front bumper.

Vanguard Miniatures make some nice Sentinel style walker units in Epic scale, the weapons on which work well also for Matchbox scale vehicles. So, I nicked two rocket pods and put them to use on my new (old) mini-Sherman.

I remember one excellent game of Car Wars where our town was invaded by a band of rev-heads eager to kick us out of the place. We took out their vehicles one by one until eventually just their leader was left. We ended up pinning the guy between our vehicles, with me in the lead. Given I only had a forward-facing rocket launcher, but a tone of armour, I just slowed the guy down as we hemmed him in. In the end, we crawled to a stop, and he was out of ammo. He quietly surrendered at that point. But my mini-Shermon was a rock, an almost immovable one at that, with an acceleration of only 5mph. Once I got up to speed, I wouldn't break as it took too long to get going again.

The business end of the mini-Sherman

I'm still considering if I should put a bull-bar on the front of the vehicle just above the rocket launchers. But for now, my mini-Sherman is ready for the table. All I need to do now is make the Gaslands vehicle profile for this thing.

Lesser Fort Rust-n-Nails - part 3 - tabletop ready

 

Well fan, here she is. Lesser Fort Rust-n-Nails is finally tabletop ready.

I am awaiting on (small scale) barbed wire to arrive from eBay. Once I have that, I shall add some to the crenulations. I should also add some small clumps of vegetation to the base. But here she is, finally. Tabletop ready for Gaslands.

But wait! There's no gate, I hear you say. Well, fear not dear fan. Indeed, there is a gate. Two in fact. The first is a chain gate that is constructed, but not yet painted. You can see that below. The chain fits into a gap between the shipping containers that form the wall and an upright container that forms the tower that leads to the viewing platform directly above the gate entrance.

The second is under construction and is a busgate. What's a busgate, I hear you say? It's a bus that has been armoured on one side and is use as a gate. You just drive the bus backwards to open the gap, and forwards to close the gap again. The bus itself is the gate. Think Mad Max 2 with Mel Gibson where the refinery had a bus that was the gate (if I remember correctly, as it's been a few years since I've watched that movie).

So, still a few more cosmetic things to do. But Lesser Fort Rust-n-Nails is ready to go onto the tabletop for a game of Gaslands.