Wednesday, January 6, 2016

28mm Sci-Fi Tanks from Made-in-China Toys Conversion

  Right before Christmas I made a pair of Sci-Fi tanks as a present for a friend.  I had seen other folks online who had modified inexpensive toy tanks into Sci-Fi tanks before, and it seemed like a fun project to do.  I was happy to have a reason to make a pair of them myself.   I started by buying a bag of toy soldiers that contained two plastic tanks from the toy aisle at the local Walgreens.
    I replaced the existing turrets with ones made from old Spiriva inhalers, and the gun barrels were made from syringe covers.  I also added some engine pods to the backs of both tanks made from dollar store toy binoculars separated into two halves.  Other model and toy bits were then added to round out the look.
 I glued a large fender washer into the hole where the old turret sat, and a section of copper tubing to the underside of each turret, allowing them to rotate when in place on the hull.  When everything was assembled, and the glue had had time to dry, I sprayed the tanks with light green camo spray paint.
      When the spray was dry, I added details, weathering and decals to complete the vehicles.
    I'm pleased with how the pair turned out, and am looking forward to seeing them used in a game.

6 comments:

  1. Your project makes me want to try to convince my wife again to stop using her present inhalers and switch to Spiriva. She said the last time Spiriva doesn't help her, but hey, that's not my problem: sacrifices have to be made.

    Sensitively yours,

    Chris J.

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  2. Great conversion! I knew that there was potential with these cheap tanks.

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    1. Thanks! Yes, I was surprised myself how improved the cheap tank looked with some proper paint and weathering.

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  3. This is one of the things I love most about GASLIGHT.... Your creative amalgamations continue to inspire. Thanks for the post.

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    1. You're welcome! I'm glad you like them.
      The chance to be creative is one of the things I like about GASLIGHT too. :)

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