Airfix Bedford MK Tactical Refueler

So I decided to build up one of the kits from the Christmas haul. The one I chose to make up  was the Airfix Tactical Refueler kit given to me by my friend Steve for use in Harad. It is a rather nice kit which goes together quite well. The only difficulty with the kit is that the cab and windows are cast in a single piece of transparent plastic. This meant that I couldn't just assemble the kit, spray it in grey primer, and then paint it up - or did it?

Dulux Grey Primer. A simple solution for a simple man.

 I remembered that I had been given previously by my clever wife, a masking solution that I had never used. All needed to do was paint it on the window sections of the cab, and then spray it grey. So I did.

The blue bits on the cab are dried sections of Micro Mask.

So now the whole truck was ready for undercoating. Of course, at this stage the whole thing could still turn to custard..... in which case Plan 'B' was to paint the window sections black and never discuss the matter again.

Front view of tanker sans cab.

Side view of primed tanker sans cab.

Primed cab sans tanker.

After waiting for the primer to dry, I took everything back inside to paint with Vallejo Model Colour 70819 Iraqi Sand, as everything for Harad seems to get painted.

The primed and painted cab.

The removal of the Micro Mask.

 The removal of the Micro Mask went well. I still had to touch up a few sections, but it was still less work than having to hand paint everything carefully, and resulted in an acceptable finished product.

The finished truck, after getting the traditional Devan Mud wash.

Another view of the same, note that I have completely forgotten to put on any of the supplied transfers.

Another view of the truck sans transfers.

The view from above.

So, i now have another completed logistics element for my Haradian CD3 forces. The real vehicle was designed to act as a support element for advanced airbases - refueling helicopters and Harriers, but I wonder if I could fudge using it as a refueling vehicle for ground forces? Given the knowledge base of those who look at this blog, I would be very interested in their opinions.

Battle Kings Tank Transporter

Having enjoyed painting up my Airfix Mighty Antar, I decided that I should revamp my old Matchbox Battle Kings Tank Transporter for use in my Harad games. Of course, the tractor unit of the tank transporter is quite unlike any vehicle I have ever seen. The tractor unit has an almost Gerry Anderson feel to it, and as such has a certain charm to it. 

Battle Kings K-106 Tank Transporter tractor unit.

When first released in the 1970s, Battle Kings were painted in metallic colours.

The trailer was later used for transporting a helicopter in a later Super King set.

Both ramps are present! No scratchbuilding required!

Trailer comes with cable and tools!

The beast with an Airfix Attack Force Centurion.

The view from above.

Disassembling the cab for spray painting. The cab is held together by only one rivet which had been previously drilled out to replace the rear wheels.

Stylish silver interior, complete with tools and work bench.

Grey primer for the cab.

Flat black for the interior and chassis.

Grey for the flatbed trailer.

 No prizes for guessing the next steps, assembly, painting with Iraqi Sand, and then a quick wash with Devlan Mud! Since spraying the interior black also meant the rear exhaust stacks and the front air scoop became black, I decided to do a test assembly to see how I liked the colour combination and how it all looked with the original orange/yellow tinted glass.

The Beast in all its glory!

The new paint job blends in better than the old metallic green one.

 Scale wise, the trailer works. The tractor unit is probably a little too big, but it does have a certain appeal. That being said, tank transporters are generally not small vehicles, so I'm not too concerned about it being a massive vehicle. The 'Gerry Anderson' factor is probably more of an issue - but then, this is a game world which does have a few science fiction elements in it. At the moment it fills a niche in Harad, so I will use it, but I am interested in others thoughts on the matter - or if anyone knows where the designers got their inspiration for designing this and the Battle Kings wrecker/recovery vehicle from.

Gungans - Eight to a box!

So it's been almost a month since I've last posted, but I have been doing some gaming related stuff - honest! I've also managed to acquire some reinforcements for my Gungans, via the good offices of Glenn. Glenn found these on a local online auction site, and facilitated their addition to my collection.

The packaging keeps them fresh for decades.

More stuff for you to buy!

A closer look at the eight figures.

 Slowly, but surely, my Gungan army grows.......

Yet more Star Wars Micromachine figures

 These are the last pictures of the set  I took some time ago. The idea was to use them as filler posts, while I sorted stuff out for the Harad campaign. 

Bobba Fett: I believe these cover all of the poses produced by Micromachines.

The central figure is from the Bounty Hunters set.

Leia as Boushh the bounty hunter. Note the differences in coluring and sculpting between the helmeted and unhelmeted versions. In the background is the human female replica droid assassin Guri, Guri appears in Shadows of the Empire.

The central figure is Princess Leia Organa from the second release of the Classic Characters. The second release had brand new figure sculpts rather than a rehash of figures from the playsets as in the first release of the Classic Characters set.

Bounty Hunters from the Bounty Hunters set. L. to R. Front Row: 4-LOM and IG-88, Rear Row: Bobba Fett, Dengar, Bossk, and Boushh.

More Bounty Hunters. L. to R. IG-88, Bossk, Boushh, Snoova, and Zuckuss. While released as part of the Bounty Hunters set, the Snoova character appeared in Shadows of the Empire, not the original trilogy.

Bounty Hunters.

Guri - droid assassin from Shadows of the Empire. Micromachines produced a series of sets tied to the release of this story/video game product which is set between The Empire Strikes Back and the Return of the Jedi films.

Jabba the Hutt. These figures were only available in playsets.

Swoop Riders. The big red ones are from a Shadows of the Empire set, the small one is from the Jabba the Hutt head playset.

A close up on the Jabba from the Jabba the Hutt head playset.

Musicians: The blue keyboardist is Max Rebo, the yellow singer is Sy Snootles, and who can forget the cantina band of Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes.

The moped version of a jetbike?

A Swoop biker gang is a force I would like to build up for SWD.

Greedo, figures from playsets, mini heads, and the Bounty Hunter set.

Luke's Aunt Beru, and Uncle Owen. figures are from the transformable Death Star playset.

Two figures each of: Bib Fortuna, and Lando Calrissian disguised as one of  Jabba's skiff guards. These figures were released as part of  playsets.

Cantina Bar flies. L. to R. Duros, Kabe, Gotal. Each C-3PO head playset contained a set of these.

Expanded universe character figure from one of the novel figure sets.

Pit droids, presumably released as part of an Episode one playset, possibly even from the Action fleet range.

Watto - one of a number of neat figures I been supplied by Glenn.

ASP Droid. Figure released as part of the Shadows of Empire range.

Rebel Pilots, multiple nine figure sets, plus additional from the playsets to represent Luke or Wedge.

Group shot of pilots.

Totally legit 2nd hand droid sales dealership.

Luke's Sandspeeder. Released in one of the vehicle sets.

Various sculpts of Yoda.

Wookies! All Micromachines except the tan one. That is a figure from the Revell Millennium Falcon model.  All the Revell Star Wars figures here are from Glenn.

Another view of the Wookies. Chewbacca in many poses.

Lando Calrissian. Gambler, Administrator, Hero of the Rebellion.

Nein Numb: Seated and standing.

Han Solo. Lots of figures from the playsets, one from the Classic Characters set, and a Revell figure from the Millennium Falcon model.

C-3PO and two Ugnaughts. The Ugnaught figure was released as part of a playset.

"It's a trap!" The Admiral Ackbar figure was released as part of the small head character range.

Jedi Knights. L. to R. Qui-Gon Jinn, figure from one of the Episode one sets, Obi Won Kenobi, figure from the second release of the Classic Characters set, Obi Won Kenobi, figure from the Transformable Death Star playset, and two Obi Won 'ghost' figures - one from a playset, the other from the first release of the Classic Characters set.

Is it a disguised Queen or one of her handmaidens? Does anyone really care? Figure from an Episode One set.

Lots of Lukes! From whiny farm boy, to brooding Jedi Knight.

A pod racer from one of the Episode One sets.

And that should document my Star Wars Micro Machine collection. Should I gain anything, or do anything interesting with it, I will post it on this blog.