> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998 ScottSaylo@aol.com wrote:
> I've been creating some roughly 25mm sci-fi vehicles for Stargrunt and
I've done roughly the same thing to four Roco Minitanks Marders and an Airfix
Scorpion light tank. The tracks come off, hover skirts are added
-
I use air-drying clay. the Marders make big (size 4) IFVs - 12 infantry
spaces, a GAC/2, and 2 SAWs. They're very mean vehicles - they put so
much fire downrange that infantry sometimes just dissolves...The Scorpion,
with hover skirts and some bits and pieces added, makes a very nice light
tank.
(size 2, HKP/3 TU, 1 SAW). It's an Airfix kit, so it had to be
assembled, but it went together quite well.
The various 1/72 1/76 1/87th scale kits are good sources - I'll probably
buy some modern Japanese MBTs for modification into SF MBTs sometime soon.
Using 'foreign' vehicles is the way to go - it's not going to be
instantly
recogizable the way, say, M1s or M113s would be - here in Canada,
foreign means 'anything not US or Canadian'...Others would vary that, of
course.
(and of course, US vehicles are very, very recognizable - stick a hover
skirt on an M113 model and the comments won't be 'What's that?" but "What did
you do to that M113?")
What scale would be suitable for 25mm gaming? 1/48 or 1/35 or...?
I've also got a toy truck that I found somewhere, with a coat of paint and
bits added it looks very good.
> Hot Wheels toys makes a wierd six wheeled vehicle with a radar
Very cool. I'm looking for some APCs for the rest of my company. The Minitank
Marders are very nice, but a bit expensive for me to want to buy another eight
or ten of them...I'll have a look thru the Hotwheels racks at a toy store
sometime, and see what I can see.
there's even less Science Fiction vehicles in 15mm scale than in 25, I
think...Irregular makes some, but Irreg's quality is quite low often, and
their styling odd - I've got some of their 'star marines' in 15mm.
Tabletop Miniatures makes half a dozen different vehicles, but I haven't
ordered any of their stuff yet. Aside from those two, 15mm SG2 players are
SOL. GZG had, 8 or 10 years ago, a couple of vehicles. I only know this
because a friend has some catalogs of Jon's from that long ago - those
vehicles are, I think, long out of production. (Jon, that's correct, right?)
Anyone else know of any other sources of 15mm vehicles for SciFi? There's WW2
and moderns ranges in 15, which could be modified, but what else?
Sometime soonish (in a month or so) I should get around to taking some gaming
photos and posting them to my site, including photos of my sg2
forces, and maybe an illustrated how-to article on how I make modern
vehicles into SF ones.
In a message dated 11/4/98 4:40:00 PM EST, burger00@camosun.bc.ca
writes:
<< -- http://www.geocities.com/area51/nebula/9774 -- gaming & misc
webpage --
> [quoted text omitted]
Don't despise the toy racks, ROCO's do not come cheap - don't chop'em up
when you might need them for modern era gaming. A bag of cheap plastic
soldiers (54mm) usually comes with several vehicles which can be turned into
SF gaming sculptures with a little baling wire and imagination.
[snip]
> What scale would be suitable for 25mm gaming? 1/48 or 1/35 or...?
A lot of 1/48 vehicles can work well, as SF vehicles can be a bit larger
than contemporary ones and still look OK. We assume around 1/60 when we
are designing the nominally "25mm" resin stuff, this scale fits well with our
own figure sizes and the bigger "28mm" ones too. You can use some 1/35
tank kits to convert into REALLY big vehicles.
> I've also got a toy truck that I found somewhere, with a coat of paint
Yes, they are long out of production, and the old moulds are pretty shot now.
However, we still have the masters around in a box somewhere....
> Anyone else know of any other sources of 15mm vehicles for SciFi?
There's
> WW2 and moderns ranges in 15, which could be modified, but what else?
I think a few of the old Laserburn and QT vehicles MAY still be available from
Tabletop Miniatures in the UK, as mentioned above; don't know of any others.
> Sometime soonish (in a month or so) I should get around to taking some
> You can use some 1/35 tank
Really really REALLY big, as 1/35 is just a hair smaller than 54mm
(1/32).
> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998 ScottSaylo@aol.com wrote:
> In a message dated 11/4/98 4:40:00 PM EST, burger00@camosun.bc.ca
I'm not going to bash toy racks - the truck I've got is actually a
fairly nice model, and if I can find other stuff cheaper than the Roco
Minitanks,
that's wonderful - I can spend more money on figures...I don't do modern
gaming, so saving them for moderns isn't an issue. The only other problem is
that the local hobby store takes forever to get any custom orders
in...
I've been attempting a bit of scratch-building of vehicles, from styrene
(plastic) shapes & left-over kit & Minitank bits, with mixed success. My
best model is an enormous armoured platoon lander for 15mm - the beast
is capable of landing four of the big IFVs, or an entire company of leg
troopers...I went overboard designing and building the beast, but it is
spectacular - 13 inches wingspan, 15 inches long...
My other scratchbuilds have been less successful - a recon jeep/FAV that
never got finished, a tracked cargo vehicle that's still only 3/4 done,
and a wheeled APC that never got beyond the drawings-and-test-model
stage...I'm going to look into sculpting and resin casting one of these days,
but not really soon.
One idea I've got for MBTs is to buy two kits of similar tanks - say, a
Leopard & one of the modern Brit tanks - and switch the turrets around,
to get different looking tanks.
Anyone else done any scratchbuilding or kitbashing (combining/modifying
kits)?
> Jon(GZG) wrote:
(on GZG's old range of 15mm vehicles)
> Yes, they are long out of production, and the old moulds are pretty
Are there any photos around that could be webbed so we could see what the
vehicles looked like, and is there any chance of redoing the moulds sometime
if there's enough interest?
(I know there's a million other projects going - and those are just the
ones we've heard about - but I know there's a fair number of 15mm
Stargrunters out there)
Anyone interested in 15mm Stargrunt should check out 'Deathskull's'
Stargrunt page. He has an interesting section on his vehicles - he
scratchbuilds out of wood a fair bit, and modifies other 15mm vehicles.
The URL: www.geocities.com/area51/zone/3877/sg21.html
> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998 ScottSaylo@aol.com wrote:
[snip]
> What scale would be suitable for 25mm gaming? 1/48 or 1/35 or...?
If you're using true 25mm figures, 1/64 looks right.
If you're using "GW scale", 1/48 looks better.
For smaller (20mm) figures, Matchbox has some nice Humvees;
the scale is pretty close to 1/72.
- Sam
25 mm is in fact old Matchbox 1/67th scale, 20 mm is 1/72nd, 15mm is
closer to
1/100th than to 1/87th HO scale, 6mm/5mm is respectively 1/285th and
1/300th.
You want to stick close to the figure scale for the vehicle to look "right"
1/48th would not look right in almost any instance I can think of and
1/35th
will reduce your 25 mm figures to "munchkins" (Follow the Yellow Brick Rod.
Follow! Follow! Follow! . . .Tra-la and tee hee).
Check out Easter Candy sets. (here in the States, i don't know what you
fellows 'cross the pond do for Easter. Some come in enormous plastic eggs
(like the ladies' panty hose, but much bigger). Here's the basis for a 25 mm
obloid lander or a Battle Tech "Union" class dropship. Buy 'em after Easter if
there are lots left for even cheaper.
Samuel spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> If you're using true 25mm figures, 1/64 looks right.
Which brings to mind the question: Anybody seen any good 1/64th scale
kits lately in styrene? Modern stuff or sci fi? 1/72 is not a hard
scale to find, and for certain things, it will work, but for many
others it is insufficient for true 25mm, just the same as 1/48th
looks a bit big. I'd be interested to know if any particular model
manufacturer puts out 1/64th kits....
Tom.
/************************************************
> What scale would be suitable for 25mm gaming? 1/48 or 1/35 or...?
FYI - people have probably mentioned this before, but Heavy Gear
miniatures make great Infantry Walkers for SG2 (25mm). Heavy Gear has other
models
that are very useful - I purchased a group of their Southern Light
Artillery - which make great artillery pieces and are perfect scale for
25mm. They look like high-techy field guns with large rotary feed ammo
hoppers, and the look/feel of the Southern models is similar to the NAC
power armour. Their Northern range is more angular is style - suitable
for
several of the other forces. The only problem with these - they are
great models but the company that makes Heavy Gear (Dream Pod 9) is switching
to a much smaller scale for their game, and the models are no longer being
produced in the scale appropriate for 25mm. So get them while they're hot
- check out stores, distributors, etc.
> Don't despise the toy racks, ROCO's do not come cheap - don't chop'em
Somebody makes a set of vehicles from the movie "Aliens" in a scale which is
basically bang on for SG2. The APC has an opening top, and you can actually
stand SG2 figures inside. It would make a good Size 3 (or so) troop carrier
and is not prohibitively expensive. You'd have to look in toy stores for it,
though.
I've seen the "Aliens " vehicle at my local game shope. It was 27.95
(US)
which I considered prohibitively expensive, especially trying to get two or
three
Well, Tom, it just so happens I have in my basement a box or two of
Lindbergh's four tank kit sets. One each of US, Brit, German, and Russian,
WWII, I think. I'm pretty certain they're out of production, and Lindburgh's
quality is pretty hit or miss, but you occasionally can find
'em in back rooms and cut out bins. BTW, one of the mis-spellings above
is on purpose; I'm just not sure which.
Has the eclecticism of my basement started to scare you yet? I know it does
my gf... ;->=
The_Beast
Thomas Barclay <Thomas.Barclay@sofkin.ca> on 11/05/98 09:27:54 AM
Please respond to FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
To: FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
cc: (bcc: Doug Evans/CSN/UNEBR)
Subject: Re: SG2 vehicles (was Re: Full Thrust...)
Samuel spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> If you're using true 25mm figures, 1/64 looks right.
Which brings to mind the question: Anybody seen any good 1/64th scale
kits lately in styrene? Modern stuff or sci fi? 1/72 is not a hard
scale to find, and for certain things, it will work, but for many
others it is insufficient for true 25mm, just the same as 1/48th
looks a bit big. I'd be interested to know if any particular model
manufacturer puts out 1/64th kits....
Tom.
/************************************************
Thomas Barclay
Voice: (613) 831-2018 x 4009
Fax: (613) 831-8255
"C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot. C++ makes
it harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg."
-Bjarne Stroustrup
**************************************************/
Sounds like the Halcyon kit. I believe the previous poster was speaking of the
Galoob toy, which, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth, many on the list
will tell you is only available by direct mail, and only if you live in the US
(and maybe CA?).
Makes me ashamed I'm not interested in 'em myself for playing as I'm mostly a
FT guy.
The_Beast
ScottSaylo@aol.com on 11/05/98 11:19:41 AM
Please respond to FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk
I'm sure my friend (who bought 2) got them for less than that. Maybe in a toy
shoppe.
> At 12:19 PM 11/5/98 EST, you wrote:
The one I am thinking about was the Leading Edge white metal model, I'm
thinking this is a mass-market toy, is that correct? If so, who makes
it?
> Thomas Barclay wrote:
> Which brings to mind the question: Anybody seen any good 1/64th scale
Please don't have me flogged, but....
The Evil Empire makes a great Grav tank in the form of their Warhammer 40K
Eldar grav tank.
> Adrian Johnson wrote:
Galoob makes those, and they are very nice. They also work okay for 28mm.
You'll have to order direct, though. They've been discontinued, and they were
proprietary to a couple of toy store chains (EF Schwartz is the only one I'm
aware of) in the U.S. so they were never very easy to find.
go to:
www.galoob.com
many, many 25mm sci-fi toys (Aliens/Predator/Starship Troopers)
$9.95 US Aliens APC $9.95 US Starship Troopers Drop Ship
Check it out.
Michael Wikan Game Design Slave Zero Accolade, Inc.
http://www.slavezero.com
> -----Original Message-----
It was an all-plastic toy, complete with an Alien clinging to the
underside
(quite funny, and doesn't interfere with the appearance at all) - I
believe several other people have mentioned this afternoon more detail about
this toy.
Galoob, maybe? It was certainly a toy, though (ie look in toy shops). They
also do the dropship as a toy. The dropship is in a much smaller scale than
the APC, but still looks not bad as a gunship in "25mm" for
SG2...
> At 03:36 PM 11/5/98 EST, you wrote:
Galoob also makes Micromachines which I use heavily in BattleTech. I don't
think they would match up well with the DS 1/285th white metal models (
Ialso use those in BattleTech for custom Hover Craft and AFV). The helicopters
and vehicles look pretty good, but the scale is nowhere near constant. That is
the biggest drawback to the Galoob stuff
> On Thu, 5 Nov 1998, Los wrote:
the falcon grav tank from epic, suitably modified, makes a rather good
assault lander - about squad size. cut off the big fixed gun and shave
the hull down where it was, and add some exhaust tubes (or fins, if you like),
and you basically have an interestingly chunky wedge, which makes a good
flyer. you could probably get away with using them in FT, too.
Tom
> I've seen the "Aliens " vehicle at my local game shope. It was 27.95
Get them straight from Galoob, they are about $15 I think.
> It was an all-plastic toy, complete with an Alien clinging to the
If you want to see them try Galoob at www.galoob.com (I think) or
Steelhead.aecom.yu.edu/stuart/USCMC/USCMC.html
I have a couple of poor photos next to figs so you can see a size comparison.
Howdy!
> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, Brian Burger wrote:
> > I've been creating some roughly 25mm sci-fi vehicles for Stargrunt
They are so cheap that you laugh.... Until you kitbash them. It is amazing how
toys look with some modifications and a good paint job!
> I've done roughly the same thing to four Roco Minitanks Marders and an
That Roco stuff is a tad small for 25mm gaming. An Abrams looks like a Size 1
or 2 vehicle next to a GZG mini...:)
> What scale would be suitable for 25mm gaming? 1/48 or 1/35 or...?
Something roughly 1/48 should be fine. A lot of companies are
doing WWII in 25mm now, so there are a plethora of vehicles from that era in
scale. Although they are a minght bit expensive...
> Very cool. I'm looking for some APCs for the rest of my company. The
It sounds like it is time for me to make a trip to Toys 'R Us.
:)
> there's even less Science Fiction vehicles in 15mm scale than in 25, I
There's
> WW2 and moderns ranges in 15, which could be modified, but what else?
Ahhhh, you are using Roco tanks for 15mm.... That makes sense. The last big
range of 15mm SF vehicles that I saw was the Traveller stuff from Martian
Metals back in '81. Oh, well...
Ken
Howdy!
> On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, Samuel Reynolds wrote:
> If you're using true 25mm figures, 1/64 looks right.
As an aside, the 1/72 Nutrocker tank from the SF3D line recently
reissued from Nitto only *outside* Japan) is *outstanding* for Stargrunt. It
is a plastic kit that comse with the SAFS powered armour suits (that are a bit
small, but not too bad). With minimal conversion, this beast looks GREAT on
the table. It runs about $20 (US).
Later!
Ken
Brian spake thusly upon matters weighty:
> Very cool. I'm looking for some APCs for the rest of my company. The
The Aliens APCs are good. They are more apt in 15mm than 25mm. I put them next
to the galoob ferret (both are from the same scale). WHOO BOY. The APC is
taller, about three times as long, and now the fusion guns on the roof realy
scare me when compared to a.30 in the Ferret.
> there's even less Science Fiction vehicles in 15mm scale than in 25, I
15mm is close to 1/72. So M1s, Leopards, Marders, Hummvees, etc
should be available in model stores.
/************************************************
Guys! Whatever it looks like 1/72nd scale is One Inch = 72 inches(six
feet) 25mm would be one inch equals six feet EXCEPT that traditional 25mm
figures are measured only to the top of the eyes (allowing different size hats
and
helmets not to shrink the stature of the figure. 1/772nd is closer to
20mm figures where the figure is 20mm to the top of the eyes or roughly true
1/72nd
scale when you consider the height of the head dress of the figure. In
Sci-Fi
figures and vehicles the best rule of thumb is:if it looks right for what you
intend, it is right!".
> At 02:56 PM 11/6/98 -0500, you wrote:
Really? I have three from the original release! Is the rest of the line being
reissued? Where can I see them? I don't need any more plastic, of course, but
there is no harm in looking, right?
Right?
On Wed, 04 Nov 1998 13:26:07 -0800 (PST), Brian Burger
> <burger00@camosun.bc.ca> wrote:
> I've done roughly the same thing to four Roco Minitanks Marders and an
For me, it's Roco Marders and Sheridans. The Sheridan, with it's stubby
cannon, looks pretty good. The Marders are great, but I get the various
versions of Marders mixed up. I just recently realized that my latest three
are a different variant from the first 3. *S*
I just picked up three Leopard 2s. This is a fairly new variant with very,
VERY sharply sloped turret glacis armour. With these, I'm going to whip off
the treads, and widen the hull a little bit. They should make GREAT grav tanks
for my 15mm Traveller figures.
> On Tue, 10 Nov 1998, Allan Goodall wrote:
> On Wed, 04 Nov 1998 13:26:07 -0800 (PST), Brian Burger
I'm got sure of the rest of the changes, but the mk2 has sloped side on
the aft sides of the flanks, while the mk3 has vertical sides - armour
was added.
> I just picked up three Leopard 2s. This is a fairly new variant with
Very cool. I just (a few minutes ago) started building a Japanese Type 90
MBT for 15mm SG2. I'm going to build it fairly 'straight' - leave the
treads on, but probably play with the superstructure a bit. The Type 90
is, AFAIK, Japan's newest tank - it looks similar to the Leopard 2 or
the
M1 - big turret, 120mm gun, etc. I'm probably going to shorten the
barrel and run it as a DFFG MBT. When it's finished I'll take photos & post
them to my webpage.
it's going to be painted in a new color scheme from my existing vehicles, as
part of my beginning 2nd force.