First Model in 10+ Yrs.

AWESOME!!!!!!! I really like the mini-guns. Also, the cop car and chains look great.

Well, it's been a while since my last update and I've made some headway.

Since last update:

Securing the Caprice - I chained up the caprice to the Darkside truck with some jewelry chain I had here at the apt. Believe it or not, because of the way I chained it to the truck through the hood, I didn't have to adhere it to the grille as I thought I would. There is not one drop of adhesive on the bottom of the car or the grille of the truck..It's held up entirely by the chains. Once the Caprice was mounted on the front I finally was able to mount the headlights as well.

Installing Side Rails - I have since painted and glued the big length running side boards to the truck as seen in the reference picture... They were a pain to cut out and get a notch cut for the exhausts to run through but that's where Jeremy's expertise came in. He sliced those things up in a matter of minutes and they fit perfect.

Creating the Minigun - Made some major headway on the minigun in the past few days. I had drilled out some mini dice I had lying around for the base which I mounted the barrels in. I then filled all the dimples on the die with superglue. Waited for them to cure and finally sanded down the whole thing flat. Also got to adding some wires and control boxes from a die cast parts pile I had lying around to give it some flare. The wiring may be a little much but hell, the truck is in a video game and I can make it essentially how I please so we'll see how it turns out.

Rear Air Lines and Trailer Hitch - I had previously lost the piece that the trailer hitch attached to the rear of the truck by and had to fab up a new one with an excess piece of brass tubing. I mounted that and then realized while I was working on the back of the truck, it was missing the (usually 3) airlines that are on the back of all the cabs... I've made all three lines from automotive ignition springs, but only mounted the biggest one so far. I've also mounted the base for the other two airlines.

On to the pics!! Enjoy!! Comments, Complaints and Criticism Welcome!!

Chaining the Caprice, Headlights and Side Rail Mounting










Minigun! (Sorry for the crap cell quality pics of the dice)








Trailer Hitch and Airlines

This is sooooooo awesome!

I absolutely love the destroyed fuzzmobile.

For some up close looks on the guns, for reference check out a website called Monty's Miniguns.  I don't have the URL off the top of my head but a quick search on google should find it.  The airsoft versions aside from being absolutely cool, are also cosmetically VERY accurate replica's of the real deal.  Lots of up close shots of the airsoft and the real thing.

That is just wrong!

Hello everyone, it's been a while since I've updated my post, but here's the latest.

I got my police caprice in finally and to make it somewhat resemble the one on the front of the truck.... yes I crushed it in a vise. I then smashed up the rest of it with a hammer, some scrapes with a box cutter and various center punches.

When I got home from the shop and smashing the car all up, I scratchbuilt the wires going to the lightbar, the wires popping out of the driver side headlight and strung the chains around the doors. Hopefully I'll be mounting it to the truck today rather than just resting it up against it for pics.

Enjoy! Critique Commence!!!!

Here's what the Police Caprice looked like before.




And HERE'S THE FUN PART!












Police Caprice w/ Darkside

Tim - The bullet holes look really cool! I like the way you can tell that the truck was hit at certain angles. I especially like the two holes in the windshield... sweet!

How did you get the "spidered" look for the bullet holes in the windshield?

Two things...

1. Get some transparent amber paint for those clearance lights. I think it will make a big difference in breaking up the black and adding some interest... it's all in the details. If I had any you would be welcome to it, but there is none on the shelf. Sorry.

2. Wipe those fingerprints off of your windshield! You're a dirty, nasty grease monkey and your filth makes me sick!

DuHast wrote:

As always, constructive criticism please!

You know that I'm always willing to criticise you... constructive or not!

This truck is looking meaner and meaner every day. I think you're doing a great job and still amazed that you're willing to tackle some of the modifications you've made... especially for a first build.

Keep it coming!

Well tonight I got down to adding the battle damage to the truck. Seeing as how it is involved in a car combat situation, I decided to add a few sprays of bulletholes. All in all, for what it's worth to everyone else, I think that they came out fairly well and I'm pleased with the final result. I also added a light dusting of rust/black to the chassis and body all over to add a little splatter and weathering to the vehicle. Still have to figure out a gun box and got some other goodies to add to the chassis behind the cab.

As always, constructive criticism please!

Enjoy!

Random Truck Shots



Bullet Holes









Next Up This Week Sometime:
Gatling Gun Barrels, Gun Base/Boxes, Front Bumper, Grab Handles, Mirrors, Headlights.

Also if anyone else knows where I can get a 1:43 / 1:48 Police Car that I can get, to build, degrade and then strap to the front of the truck, any leads would be greatly appreciated.

Awesome!

Sizable Update!

Got a good amount of work done. Went to Jeremy's place the other day and completed the dashboard which was a total bee-yotch. He had a great idea for doing the gauges and dials as I figured he would have. We also painted the interior and I tore up the seats a bit by carving a gouge in the seats and glued in some seatfoam.

Today, I put the interior part into the cab itself, I put some screening over the windows on the side to resemble chain link fencing and tried to rust it up a bit.

Onto the pics. Enjoy!

Dash, Seats, Interior







Cab Painted and Together w/ Fencing

Tim,

Welcome back to modeling!  I just saw this thread, so excuse me for being a little late to the party(LOL).  Fine work!  You are doing a great job.  I really like your use of different techniques and weathering.  A suggestion for future builds regarding the fuel tanks, is to use a product called a "Flexifile".  It is a "U" shaped frame which holds a band of sanding material.  This is great for sanding rounded surfaces like fuel tanks, exhaust pipes, etc. as it follows the curve, and does not make a FLAT edge.  I look forward to your next update.

 

 

David

The brake line looks perfect as an exhaust stack!

That gun is gonna be nasty!

Wow! Great gun, those brass tubes look much nicer- also like the stacks

Here's another update for you all.

Tonight I worked on painting some interior pieces, made the driver side rails, made the new gatling guns, and sprayed the body and interior shell (no pics of body and interior shells yet.)

Starting to all come together!! Enjoy!!

Once Again, the Basis For Inspiration


Steering Wheel and Column. Painted like the steering wheel from Darkside in Twisted Metal 1 (1996)



Shifter


Both Sides Side Rails




Exhaust Stacks (Tips Sourced From Rotten Brake Lines From Work: Sanded, Tip Singe and Cleaned)
Also Shown With A Chrome One to Show Weathering (Same Technique as Wheels - Pg. 1)







Fan and Radiator



And Last But Not Least, The Beast of a Gun





Now Just got to figure out how to fab up a gatling gun base box to insert the barrels into, as seen on the side of the cab in the original darkside pic.

You MUST have a good sharpener- and I agree on the superglue, might be the only way to go...

Very clever idea on the ammo. Looks like your having a blast  Welcome back to the hobby and thanks for sharing your work.

Tim - Try some 2-part epoxy or super glue to hold the shells on. Just a little dab on the end of a toothpick, touch it to the "link"(?) and place the shell on... one at a time. I think it will hold them good and allow you to flex it a little once you install it. Might be tedious but making those bullets looks that way too. 

Pencil?! Who'da thunk?!

Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding!! They are indeed pencil leads. I have a good sharpener, so I twist the pencil 10 times, peel back the wood surround, score and snap the leads. I just have to figure out how to adhere them to the "link" better... I used ambroid on part of it and testors model cement on the other. Both fix them together but I need to paint the shells too... hmm how to continue?

Ammo belt looks great on the "links"... but... is that... pencil lead? hmmm

Definitely looks nasty- pretty good sized round!

Good luck cleaning those break lines!

Very common indeed my man. I want to see if anyone else has an idea of what the "ammo" is. Now all I have to figure out is how to go about making the band that the ammo is linked with.

I like the idea of sanding the lines down a bit. May come out pretty nicely. I'll bring them to work tomorrow to clean off all the brake fluid that may be hiding in there first though, good idea on the thorough cleaning...brake fluid is ridiculous.


EDIT: Figured out a good sample of the ammo belt. Just need to fine tune it a bit and it may work nicely.

DuHast wrote:

What the... ???

I have no idea what that is! Probably something pretty common, huh? It looks like it will work nice though. Don't keep us in suspense... what is it? Huh, huh, huh?

I like the idea of the exhaust having that nasty, rusty, pitted look. I think the brake lines as they are would be a little too much though. I, personally, would sand them down quite a bit to make the "pitted" look less pronounced. Then make them look rusty with paint. That might defeat the purpose of using them in the first place but, the real metal will look better than plastic when it comes to that effect. Of course, they might look just right after sanding. They will have some clean bare metal spots and some rusty spots... hmmm... yes, I'm a genius.  Also, clean those puppies well with some brake cleaner because the residual brake fluid will become a problem. Clean... thoroughly!

That's how I feel about that! Hopefully someone else has some good advise.

Now... what the heck are those things?

Yet another ammo idea popped into my head today about what to do for the ammo for the gatling guns...

I'll upload 2 pics... can anyone guess what they are?

Also, scored some rusty brake lines from a truck at work to possibly use as the exhausts on the kit. May not look right though... I want input!!!

Ammo Idea.. What Do You Think They Are?



Rusted Brake Lines for Exhaust? Input Please!!

Tim- first model in 10 years?! WOW!! You're doing a great job so far, excellent finishing work with the washes, nice, clean paint job, great construction- I can't wait to see this one finished, should be very interesting with the police car chained up front.

I think the darker wash on the rims fits the grunge look of this Mad-Max type vehicle. Good luck on the ammo belts!

Hope you can figure that one out, Tim.

Thanks again for all the kind words. I am having a blast doing this type of model. It's so much more fun developing your own parts / armaments for a model that really shouldn't have it. I'm trying to get a nice looking ammo strip together for the gatling guns. I've tried to paint a zip tie, then melt the edge of a ziptie to try and form the square edge to a point like a bullet, and then tried to melt mold a section of the "pointed" ziptie around a bend as if it was coming from the engine bay and wraps to the gun basket. If anyone else has any ideas or info on how to make a nice ammo strip please post the ideas here!!

Here's the pics from what I've done with the ZipTies.

P.S. - I know they would have to be seriously cleaned up (trim stragglers and whatnot...this is just a test)

Bent Section w/ Melted Edge


Straight Section w/ Melted Edge


Straight Section w/o Melted Edge

Totally awesome! I actually had a dream to do a model like this--armor, guns, "road warrior-type" thing.....then I discovered tanks....

It'll be fun to live vicariously through your efforts here! It;s looking superb so far!

Jeremy, thanks for the kind words as always. I had a blast tackling this mammoth with you the other day. Buster is adorable by the way haha. I love shepherds. We got to get together again for another "twisted" Darkside night with some Dr. P.

I like building this type of model where exact detail and accuracy aren't exactly 100% important.. I like having my own input on the way it will turn out.

I would like to do a tank next but I'm already worried that I'll want to put my own spin on it somehow and******off the die hard technical sticklers...

We'll have to see I guess.

bobbaily wrote:

And I love the gatling guns....oh to have one of those on my Focus the next time some yo-yo runs a red light and cuts in front of me....

HAHA! That's great!  I was going to put one on the roof of my Volkswagen but it just wouldn't fit!

I finally got to see this thing in person and it is HUGE. I build 1/48 aircraft and Tim and I measured the truck up against an SM-79 I'm building and they were just about the same length. This thing is gonna be sick!

Helping Tim with this is alot of fun. To me, this would be a very imposing project for a first time build but Tim dives right in. The ideas he has for this truck are amazing!

Great work! Can't wait to see some more!

 

P.S. - All that Dr Pepper in the background is making me thirsty.