I have been exprimenting with building 25mm vehicles out of cardboard.
Draw it out, score, cut and glue. So far all I have is an APC, the shape of
which is more complicated than an M113 (but then, so are some shoe boxes). It
needs tarting up, with bits from the spares box and I have some wire mesh that
will make inteesting chertzen, the space behind
which I can fill up with dunnage. The skirt (for it is a GEV, because there
are no wheels to worry about and I dislike grav craft) is simply masking tape
wrapped around the base of the hull, it has that textured look. My only fear
is that the whole thing will disintergrate when I paint it.
If it works I will experiment with using CAD for the plan, then I can print
out dozens of them and post it for your amusement.
Cardboard vehicles would also allow easy conversion and with
stiffening would allow open topped vehicles or burnt out wrecks with near
scale plate thicknesses.
Hey, I'm doing the same thing! It's slow at work, so I get to use
my high-school trigonometry to design my armour (I don't have
AutoCad at work). When (if) I get done, I can post the plans as a PDF, if
anyone likes.
I find that heavily reinforcing any corners with white glue gives the
impression of nice, solid welds. As an added bonus, it makes the model nearly
indestructible.
As for painting cardboard... As long as it is glued together solidly, I have
had no problems. I usually prime with a black acrylic spray paint. If you give
several light coats, the cardboard will become impermeable to water, so you
can wash it, etc, just like a plastic model.
Happy building,
Try using a Hot Wheels or such toy as the base of the model, pretty damned
near indestructible. Use the card stock to build up the sides and tops, add
turrets and such from you scrap box. This has worked well for me so far. Cheap
toy tanks can be modified pretty dramatically without spending much as far as
cash is concerned. DO USE spray acrilic or lacquer when going to paint paper
or card. It DOES waterproof it quite nicely.
> I have been exprimenting with building 25mm vehicles out of cardboard.
> Draw it out, score, cut and glue. So far all I have is an APC, the
> and I dislike grav craft) is simply masking tape wrapped around the
> it.
Two ideas for painting: Spray it with several coats of acrylic laquer (better
several light coats than one heavy one) to "waterproof" the model, then give
it a spray with black primer and paint it normally.
If you aren't comfortable with the laquer, mix up a batch of
white-glue/water and apply by spraying (maybe use an old detergent spray
bottle or something). This still has a high water content so do it in
LIGHT coats and experiment before spraying on your model - but the white
glue will act as an excellent sealer.
> On Mon, 7 Dec 1998, Michael Blair wrote:
> I have been exprimenting with building 25mm vehicles out of cardboard.
> Draw it out, score, cut and glue. So far all I have is an APC, the
> shape of which is more complicated than an M113 (but then, so are some
> shoe boxes).
No kidding. I've made a couple of buildings with the draw-cut-&-fold
method, but haven't attempted vehicles yet. I'll have to give it a try.
> It needs tarting up, with bits from the spares box and I
I've used lead foil for tarps/groundcloths/other baggage on most of my
15mm vehicles, just to add individual detailing for each model. Toothpaste
tubes have usable metal foil (if you figure out how to get the plastic
off, especially - I haven't) or you can buy lead foil in hobby stores.
Medical gauze (clean, please) makes pretty good camo netting. As follows:
unfold the gauze to a single layer, pin it to something - a piece of
wood
or something - and use fairly thick paint. While the paint is wet,
sprinkle ground foam 'grass' on. Most of the foam will come off, but the
remainder has a fairly effective patchy look, with the net underneath.
Looks pretty good, IMHO. (A really heavy camo job - net, foliage, etc -
would help disguise the relative lack of detail on homegrown vehicles)
> The skirt (for it is a GEV, because there are no wheels to worry
I use air-drying clay for hoverskirts. It's a bit more work, but looks
good and is totally solid. For cardboard vehicles, it could provide needed
stiffening, as well as ballasting the vehicle to stop it from drifting across
the gaming table in a breeze...
On the subject of wheeled vehicles, does anyone have any ideas for making
wheels? I'd like to make a wheeled APC and various other wheeled vehicles, but
lack of good wheels is getting in the way. Wooden dowelling, maybe? Cut disks
of the right thickness from dowel of the right diameter, then file tread
patterns in and use a drill or something to get a sort of hub?
> My only fear is that the whole thing will disintergrate when I
> print out dozens of them and post it for your amusement.
Very cool. You could also (if you're hand-drawing your vehicles) just
have the drawn plans scanned & post them as graphic files (.gifs or.jpg...)
If these were posted, it'd be nice to have the information needed to
reduce 25mm vehicles to 15mm scale, or vice versa. Reduce/enlarge by x%
(someone want to take a stab at providing x?)
> Cardboard vehicles would also allow easy conversion and with
Hadn't thought of this. Good point - make it easier to have 'families'
of different vehicles all built on the same chassis, which is standard
military practice...
Also easier & much cheaper to mechanize that Stargrunt infantry company and
support troops...
> At 12:53 PM 12/7/98 -0800, you wrote:
> print out dozens of them and post it for your amusement.
Hmmmm. Let's see:
x = 25mm/15mm = 1.667, so multiply 15mm sizes by 1.667 to get 25mm sizes
x = 15mm/25mm = 0.600, so multiply 25mm sizes by 0.6 to get 15mm sizes
[...] schnip
> On the subject of wheeled vehicles, does anyone have any ideas for
Well, I don't know bout the 15mm range but the great enemy GW *gasp* provides
a kit (?) for their "Gorkamorka" game. It contains both thread parts and
wheels in different sizes.
Just my $0.02
Brian spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> Medical gauze (clean, please) makes pretty good camo netting. As
Must try this one when I build some bunkers. Good idea.
> I use air-drying clay for hoverskirts. It's a bit more work, but looks
Shouldn't GEVs move in a stiff wind? (grin)
> On the subject of wheeled vehicles, does anyone have any ideas for
Cheap model kits could provide a source of these. Perhaps dowelling. Perhaps
some buttons. Don't know.
/************************************************
<snip>
> Medical gauze (clean, please) makes pretty good camo netting. As
Good idea!!
<snip>
> On the subject of wheeled vehicles, does anyone have any ideas for
A suggestion for the more keen among us...
How 'bout casting your wheels using RTV rubber as a mould. RTV (room
temperature vulcanizing) rubber is great stuff, though a bit messy to work
with. It's available in 500ml (appx) sizes here in Toronto in various
hobby stores - you'd have to hunt around in your own areas. The
vulcanizing process (which turns rubber from goo into the solid material we
are familiar with - usually at high temperatures) is started by a
chemical reaction and takes place at room temperature, so you don't need to
cook it, etc. You just mix a bit of catalyst into the RTV goo, pour into the
mould, and wait 12 to 24 hours for it to harden. With RTV, you can make a
rubber mould of something, and cast lots of it yourself. For armoured vehicle
wheels, you would need to produce ONE good one only (sculpt it yourself, find
one in someone else's kit, etc).
I've done a number of model bits using this method - and if you're
careful you can get some pretty good results. I don't have the same equipment
at home that the people who do cast resin kits use (such as vacuum chambers to
de-gas the RTV), so my results aren't perfect, but with some simple
techniques they can be good. I cast in a plastic material called "Alumilite",
which is a 2 part plastic resin that hardens in about 30 seconds when mixed.
You mix up a small amount, pour it into the mould, and you can demould in
about 2 minutes.
I had to make a full-size model of a laptop computer a couple of years
ago,
and I used this method for the keys - moulded up about 120 or 130 over a
couple of evenings. I made one mould of my master key (which I carved),
then cast 9 good ones, and made a nine-cavity mould. Cast the rest from
the 9 cavity in one evening. Time consuming and messy, but effective method.
For AFV wheels, you could carve/sculpt/steal several sizes, and make one
mould with all of them - then cast a bunch at a time.
I realize this method won't be for everybody - but if anyone is
interested, write me off list and I can provide you with more detail.
> On Mon, 7 Dec 1998, Magnus Alexandersson wrote:
> > On the subject of wheeled vehicles, does anyone have any ideas for
Are these moderately realistic looking wheels, or spikey (d)orkish
monstrosities?
You can probably check 'em out at yon evil website at
www.games-workshop.com, but IIRC they're fine looking wheels. I think
you add the spiky bits seperately. They're about 20mm tallish. Look like dune
buggy wheels (which I suppose they are...)
> ----------
> Brian Burger wrote:
For this, I'd actually suggest just going to a hobby shop and buying a bunch
of wheels. They're cheap enough to justify the cost vs time tradeoff.
If I was going to make my own wheels, I'd build one out of putty and a
dowel and then cast it in resin. You could easily make a one-piece mold
for a wheel (similar to what GZG does on the SF-25 range). It would be
flat on one side, but that just makes it easier to attah to the hull.
Tom