Wasteland Cruiser Kitbash

Assemblies I've scratch-built or bashed so far, along with the books I used for reference and inspiration. L to r: tow chain for front bumper, the car body itself with hood scoop, push bumper, and armored windows, light bar, fuel tank, rear bumper/fuel tank shield. I'm still "designing" the car at this point.

Dry fitting of various assemblies.

Dry fitting of various assemblies.

The green stuff is meant to be weld lines. I decided to try to learn this technique on this model, so I "welded" most of the modifications. I also used the soldering iron technique for weld lines on the corners of the fuel tank and the end-caps on the front bumper.

While this vehicle is not intended to be a predator, I decided some type of defensive weapon would be prudent, so I came up with the pneumatically launched thunderstick (PLT). The thundersticks (L) are loaded into the launcher (R), and are fired two at a time.

Here, the thundersticks are loaded into the launch tubes, which are connected in pairs to manifolds operated by solenoid valves mounted on the air tank.

View of the solenoid valves, air tank, and wiring junction box.

The PLT is roof-mounted, with firing controls and air compressor inside the vehicle.

To give the vehicle a little more ground clearance, I replaced the kit's extra-wide low profile tires with some racing tires from my spares box. To fit the new tires, I had to modify the wheels, open up the wheel cutouts in the fenders, and lift the rear of the car.

Replaced the kit exhaust with dual straight pipes.

Though the interior will be difficult to see when the vehicle is finished, I am including a few interior details.

Mocked up, and about ready for paint.

Mocked up, and about ready for paint.

Mocked up, and about ready for paint.

Chassis and interior painted and weathered, waiting for the body. The interior details will be difficult to see once the body is attached, but I decided to include them anyway.

It took me a while to settle on a base color for the body, but I finally settled on a fiery orange, mixed from Createx opaque airbrush colors.

Finished cruiser.

I couldn't resist using the rear shield as a "message board".

Comments

21 23 May 2021, 23:27

JD
Mike! You're back! And with another amazing build! how I've missed your incredible talent around here!
Definitely following for sure.. Hell yeah! ?

24 May 2021, 00:18

Mike Szwarc
Strayed from model building for a few months, but finally got back into my groove, and finished the tractor and Powerwagon I had started earlier, then got going on this one. This is a pretty crap kit, so perfect for a wasteland vehicle. I just started building it, designing as I work on it.

24 May 2021, 02:14

Torsten
Interesting, take a seat 👍

24 May 2021, 06:18

Dennis
Nice work on those weld lines. I am eager to see how this thing looks with paint on.

24 May 2021, 08:00

Nathan Dempsey
Following ?

24 May 2021, 11:11

Mike Szwarc
Thanks, Dennis. First time I tried the technique. It's a bit finicky, but it does add a nice bit of detail that can be enhanced in the weathering stage.

24 May 2021, 12:04

Spanjaard
really curious to see what you do with this!

28 May 2021, 09:54

Spanjaard
Looking really good, by the way

28 May 2021, 12:36

Mike Szwarc
Thanks, Spanjaard. Part of the fun of this build is seeing how it will turn out myself. While most of my previous wasteland builds started with an idea of how the vehicle should look in the end, on this build, I just started assembling things, and designed as I worked, testing different ideas as they came to me, and using those ideas I liked.

28 May 2021, 16:42