Building a car for Gaslands

There are times when I wish I could control my butterfly tendencies, but this is not one of them. The devil that is the YouTube algorithm recommended Wastelands Raceway, a Gaslands channel, and I was hooked. Their battle reports got me thinking I should definitely give the game a go, so I quickly got on to North Star Military Figures and ordered some swag.

Those purchases ate up the last of my hobby budget for the month, so the tokens and templates will have to wait until next month. I might try Sarissa Precision for those, as the postage is much more reasonable. The bane of a hobbyist in Japan - postage.

I decided to start on my first car before the rules arrive, so I took a wander into town. One of the benefits of Gaslands, apart from its really low buy-in cost, is the ready availability of toy cars. I checked out some of the bigger shops in Hiroshima, but none of the modern cars were grabbing my imagination. I’m a child of the 70s, and the cars that appeal to me are those from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that I remember seeing on the roads during my childhood. Luckily, there’s a small toy shop near my apartment, and they not only had some Hot Wheels on sale, but they also had a car that caught my eye.

The minute I saw the Land Rover, I thought I could definitely do something with it. The first thing I had to do, after watching a few tutorial, was to take the car apart. This is probably the first time I’ve used a power tool in the last ten years. Drilling out the posts that hold the car together wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be.

I’m very fortunate to have a large bits box, a by-product of having so many different projects, so I started pulling out anything that spoke to me. I found my ridiculously large GW box of skulls, which I’ll never finish, and the idea came to me. This car should be a punk vehicle, covered in skulls and spikes. I did toy with the idea of turning it into a Viking ship, with a row of shields on each side, but I didn’t like the look of it. I think I made the right choice.

I was a little worried that some of the things I was adding weren’t attached very securely, so I turned to baking powder not only to strengthen the joints but also to add a bit of texture. I was hoping the effect would look something like bad welding.

I wanted a distinctive signature weapon for the Land Rover, and fortunately Gaslands has a decent selection of weapons — not as silly as Car Wars, but there are enough. After a bit of searching, I decided on a flamethrower.

Building the car was slightly delayed as I waited for some figures to arrive to crew the vehicle, but I decided to use the time to try a new paint technique. I am being pleasantly surprised by how much converting this toy car is forcing me to push my hobby skills.

I really wanted the Land Rover to be a proper rust bucket. I was going to use some rust-effect paints, but I thought I could try something different. After watching a few YouTube videos by Gaslands TV, I settled on the salt weathering technique. It didn’t seem beyond my skill level, and the effect looked really good.

After the crew arrived, I realised that I had made a small error in my build. The front windscreen protection I had added meant that I couldn’t fit them in, especially the driver. I ummed and ahhed for a while until I decided to paint the driver without his arms on. I thought I would be able to sort it out afterwards.

With the majority of the painting done, I glued the car back together. I do have some doubts that superglue will be strong enough, but that is a problem for another day. For the metallic parts of the car, I used two rust-effect paints by Vallejo: Old Rust and Rust Oxide. I was worried that the two different rust techniques I had used wouldn’t work together, but I am happy with the results.

To finish the car off, I painted the second crew member and the wheels. After a very pleasant few days of hobbying, my first Gaslands car is finished. I might still add a little dust, especially to the wheels, but I’m not sure it needs it. I’d like to think about it for a while.

Here is the Headhunter, driven by Paz and Baz — the Chuckle Brothers.