Assorted Spectrum Ground Vehicles

The one thing I love above all else, of Gerry Anderson's TV series are the vehicles. All of his shows featured fantastic looking vehicles. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was no different and featured a wide variety of vehicles that appeared on land, sea and air. I own models of three of the Spectrum ground vehicles and I'll review them all here.

The Maximum Security Vehicle (MSV) is the most secure vehicle in existence in the year 2068. It is designed to hold four people, usually V.I.P. personnel. It has a top speed of 250 mph and is armed with an electron ray cannon and a laser cannon, both front-mounted behind hidden hatches. Security forbids exposure of its construction.

In the event of an attack, the MSV is hermetically sealed by time-lock, only to open on the ultimate completion of its mission. In such conditions the MSV is air-pressurised, having its own air-filter console beneath the undercarriage. Stand-by motors fitted to the undercarriage are computer-controlled to be brought into operation in an emergency. It has hydraulic suspension independent of all wheels and special anti-heat flare windows.
My MSV is a die-cast model made by Dinky Toys and whilst it is not 28mm scale (its closer to 20mm scale), it still looks good when used alongside 28mm scale figures, like my CDG Captain Scarlet, as shown in all of my photos.

The MSV model measures 5.25" (13cm) in length, by 2.75" (7cm) in width and 2" (5cm) in height. The two side doors with the Spectrum logo open in a gull-wing fashion and a small step folds out. The model comes with a wooden crate containing bars of gold, which is stored inside (see last photo below).

The Spectrum Pursuit Vehicle (SPV) is the main ground combat vehicle used by Spectrum. This three-seater vehicle has a top speed of 200 mph and is armed with an electron ray cannon, laser cannon and ground-to-air rocket launcher, all front-mounted behind hidden hatches. It is fitted with five pairs of wheels on either side (the three over the front, middle and rear axles constituting the main drive), with additional traction for mountainous environments provided by rear-mounted, hydraulically lowered caterpillar tracks.

Within the hermetically-sealed control compartment, the driver, co-driver and a passenger are seated backwards, facing the rear, to reduce the possibility of injury in the event of a crash; the driver is aided by a video monitor displaying (vertically-flipped) forward and rear views. It is equipped with ejector seats and radar. The hydrogenic power unit can be removed and re-assembled as a personal jet pack or other devices of comparable size (additional components for which are stored towards the back of the vehicle).

The SPV that I own is a die-cast model made by Product Enterprises, which I think is a better model than the one made by Dinky Toys. I do own a Dinky Toys SPV but it is buried away deep in a storage cupboard. The Dinky Toys version featured a working rocket launcher, which fired a plastic rocket from where the letters SPV are written on the front of the vehicle. The Product Enterprises version lacks this feature but is much better painted. As with the MSV, this model is closer to 20mm scale than 28mm scale, but that does not bother me unduly.

The SPV model measures 7" (17.5cm) in length by 3" (7.5cm) in width by 2.5" (6cm) in height. The door on the right side of the SPV springs open to reveal a seated Captain Scarlet figure (see previous photo above and the last photo below). The caterpillar tracks at the rear can be lowered.

The Spectrum Saloon Car (SSC) is sometimes known as the Spectrum Pursuit Car. It was designed for high-speed mobility for Spectrum personnel, capable of reaching speeds of 200 mph. It was specially made for Spectrum of the new lightweight metal, fleetonium. It can seat up to four people, has four wheel drive and is powered by a gas turbine located under the rear roof. The SSC is armed with a pair of machine guns, as well as an electron ray cannon and a laser cannon, all fitted behind hidden front-facing hatches.

The car is specially equipped with quartz headlights that permit the driver to see long distances in the dark. The vehicle also features transverse gearing, independent suspension and magnetic drums that provide powerful control braking by means of electromagnetically generated opposing magnetic fields. The road-tyre friction heat at high speeds is countered by wing intakes, while a central housing and rear-mounted fin maintain the vehicle's stability at speed. Safety airbags are fitted as standard.

My SSC vehicle is another die-cast model made by Dinky Toys. Once again, it is slightly under-scaled but not by much. There is a motor in the rear compartment, which, if you pull the car backwards on a flat surface will propel the SSC forward. Sadly, that stopped working years ago but I don't mind.

The SSC model measures 4.75" (12cm) in length by 1.75" (4.5cm) in width by 1.5" (4cm) in height. None of its doors open and its only special feature is the now defunct motor in the rear.

Here are a couple of group shots showing all three vehicles together, alongside Captain Scarlet for scale purposes. The photo below shows one of the open doors of the MSV along with its valuable cargo. The SPV has lowered its caterpillar tracks and its open door shows Captain Scarlet in the driver's seat, facing backwards.

Suffice to say, these models are long out of production but they frequently appear on eBay. Prices and condition does vary considerably. A quick search today showed a badly battered MSV going for 99p, whilst a Dinky Toys SPV with its original packaging is going for £99.99. I'd say £20-£30 is about the norm for any one of them. I have, however, just discovered a cheaper alternative for them. You can now get card models of them from Dave's Designs Star Carz If you want to see a review of them check out Colgar6's excellent review of them here - http://colgar6.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/captain-scarlet-vehicles-in-card.html
I must admit that my passion for Captain Scarlet has been rekindled with these three posts of mine. I am very, very tempted to buy a trio of Angel Interceptor models. I used to own an Airfix 1/72 (or 20mm scale) plastic model of one but I have no idea what happened to it. Incredibly, after all these years, Airfix are still selling this model today. Will I succumb and buy three? Most likely! Watch this space.

Stoelzel's Structures SUVs

I recently made my first vehicles produced by Stoelzel's Structures - five SUVs. SUV stands for Sports Utility Vehicle and these have been on my "to do" list for a long time. I was delighted to see that Carl had included the SUV in his Auto Park set, as I had a very specific use for a number of these vehicles. I wanted a fleet of them to transport my Men in Black (see my previous three posts). I was just going to make four of them, but after a chat with my friend Mathyoo, he asked if I'd be making a yellow SUV as well? I knew I wanted my MiB vehicles to be black and was curious to know why he asked about a yellow SUV. He replied that the heroes used a yellow SUV in the film Zombieland. How could I have forgotten? He was right! Technically speaking, they drove a civilian Humvee but it does look very like Carl's SUV. So I ended up making five SUVs and here they are.

Vampifan has just got out of the yellow SUV to face down my full complement of Men in Black (still in their vehicles). Does he have a death wish? In truth, he's only here to give a sense of scale to the models. When I printed out my yellow SUV, I did not like how the yellow came out. It was far too dull and very dark. So I repainted all the yellow bits with Foundry acrylic paints in a mix of lemon, yellow and light orange. I'm much happier with this colour scheme, although I need to touch it up in a few places, which I'll point out below.

The four SUVs have had their roofs painted a nice solid black. They looked too grey to me but now you can tell straightaway that these are black SUVs.

The trickiest part of making these SUVs was with the front windscreen. For all the card vehicles I have previously made the windscreen has been flat. Carl, however, decided his models should have curved windscreens. No question about it, this is more realistic, however, it does present a challenge if you like to reinforce your models as I do. I like to reinforce my card vehicles with 2mm thick mounting card. This does not bend well, so for the windscreens I reinforced them with thin card. It still strengthened them and also allowed me to bend them into shape. The windscreens were undoubtedly the trickiest and fiddliest part of the vehicle to make. I have to admit that some of my windscreens came out better than others but overall, I managed okay with them all.

The black lines that I painted on the side of my yellow SUV are far too thick and messy. I shall rectify my mistake soon. I still remain undecided about whether to paint a number three on the two front doors of my yellow SUV as per the Zombieland SUV (see photo below).

Until I saw this photo I hadn't realised I had smudged some yellow paint on the rear window of the SUV to the left. That's another mistake that needs cleaning up. You could argue that they should all have different number plates but be honest, when you see these on a gaming table who on earth is going to notice their number plates? It doesn't bother me and it shouldn't bother you.

The comments I made about my paintwork on the opposite side of the yellow SUV apply equally to this side. I am normally a much neater painter than this and I'm not happy with my sloppy paint work. It bugs me so much that I will clean up my mess.
As I mentioned in the intro, I had never made a Stoelzel's Structures vehicle before. The Auto Park set contains a car sales room, car wash and garage repair shop as well as 10 different types of vehicle, each with a minimum of 10 different colour schemes. Great value for money for just £5.74. The curved windscreen will cause a problem to newbie modellers but other than that, construction is pretty straight forward. For a long time now I have wanted a fleet of black SUVs and there was never any doubt that they'd be the first vehicles I made from Carl's excellent set. I plan on making a lot more vehicles from this set in the future.

Here is the Humvee as used in Zombieland, with Wichita (Emma Stone) by the front door. It is not the same as Carl's SUV but it is a close match. I might modify mine to make it an even closer match. After all, I have three of the four heroes from the film already (Columbus, Tallahassee and Wichita). Do you think I should go the whole hog and convert it into the Zombieland SUV? My feelings are that I should. Then I can at least, rephotograph it with a cleaned up paint job!

Poundland Fire Engines

Following on directly from my last post, here is a review of a couple of fire engines I recently bought at Poundland. I have photographed them alongside the three converted firemen that I reviewed last time. After all, what use are firemen without a fire engine?

The first thing to note about these vehicles is that they are made of plastic. However, they are quite detailed and are almost the right scale. They are a tad too small but they are acceptable enough for me.

I have a few great fire engines in 20mm scale but until I bought these, I had none in 28mm scale. It seems odd that no one makes proper 28mm scale fire engines in card. I know that Finger and Toe Models make an airport crash tender, which is close but not the same.

The cab detail is well done apart from being moulded in silver plastic. I may repaint it black if I remember to but more than likely I'll just leave it as is. Note that driver sits at the left of the cabs (facing front), which makes these ideal for an American or European setting but not so good for a game set in the UK. Although to be honest, such a detail could easily be overlooked.

As you can see, both vehicles share the same chassis and front cab. It is the rear details that make them so different. The one at the left is fitted with six storage bays (three per side) and has a few portable ladders on the roof. The one to the right has a large turntable ladder. The turntable does turn and the ladder is extendable (see photo below).

A few stickers have been added to the models but whoever stuck the sticker on to the rear of the vehicle to the left was rather slipshod in their application. Because of the way they were packaged I didn't notice this until I got home. They are stuck on too well for me to reposition it so I'm just going to have to live with it. A shame as it is distracting.

For just one pound each, I thought these were damned good value for money. In case you're wondering which came first - the firemen or the fire engines - it was the vehicles.

Finally, here is a photo of the turntable ladder at its fullest extension. The cradle is too small to fit a figure on a 25mm or even a 20mm diameter base but if you had a suitable figure without a base he could fit in.
Okay, so I'll admit they're not the best fire engines on the market but you can't argue at their prices and they help fill a gap in my vehicle collection and that's plenty good enough for me.

Demo's MDF Hippo APC WIP

In my last Monthly Musings post I made a cryptic reference to a new project I was starting involving Team Vampifan. Well, wonder no more what it is. I recently purchased this stunning 28mm scale model from Demo's Laser Cut Designs of a Hippo Armoured Personnel Carrier. Here it is in all its glory in a couple of photos taken from the Demo's website.

 It is an absolute monster!

The roof comes off and there is loads of space inside for figures. The one and only thing I don't like about it is the machine gun at the front. It is rather naff and I know I'm not the only one to criticise it.

This is the first MDF model I have ever made and I was so impressed with it I know it won't be the last. The level of detail on it is staggering. All the wheels turn, the back ramp opens and shuts and the machine gun moves up and down. Speaking of which, note that I have replaced the wooden gun with a metal Minigun from my spare parts collection and I'm sure you'll agree it is a vast improvement.

 So, just how big is it? It is 8.5" long (21.5cm) by 3.25" (8cm) wide by 3" (7.5cm) tall.

There is a LOT of space in the back for placing figures. You could fit 15 figures on 25mm diameter bases in there! The instructions were clear and precise, although there were two omissions. First, the rear interior wheel covers had been omitted from the instructions. That was no big deal, as it was obvious where they went. Secondly, there was no mention of the front headlight arrays but by referring to the website photos I could see where they were meant to go.

Here you can see the headlight arrays in place. You have the option of buying the model with a large front shield wall or, as I chose, a front knee-breaker ram plate. As these are just work in progress photos I have not glued the front cab window and roof in place. I am unsure as to whether to add interior detail to the cab (seats and control panel) or just leave it bare and paint it black. Hmm, decisions, decisions. Any thoughts?
I'm thinking of painting the model a mid grey colour as in the two photos from the Demo's website.
The connection with Team Vampifan is this - I want the group to find and acquire this battle-wagon. Obviously, it won't be easy to come by. I'm thinking of having it parked in the garage of the Prosperity Corporation, the bad guys from the ATZ-FFO scenario, High Rise To Hell. This would be a worthy prize if they successfully completed that mission. I even know what Vampifan will call it - the Vampivan. Come on, what else could I call it?
The price of this fine model is a very reasonable $13.00. I must admit that this has been a real eye opener for me as to the viability of MDF models. I'll post more photos as soon as I finish painting it. I was so excited by this model that I wanted to show you it as soon as possible. I've  never shown any work in progress photos before but in this case, I felt that they were warranted.

Fat Dragon Games' Sedan Cars

When it comes to card vehicles if you want variety (and lots of it) you should look no further than Stoelzel's Structures and/or World Works' Games. However, other card manufacturing companies make card vehicles as well, only in much smaller numbers. One such firm is Fat Dragon Games and they have produced three sedan cars so far. Here they are.

All three cars are based on the same design but they come in three different colour schemes - yellow taxi, shiny blue and light green.

The taxi is part of the original Capital City set. The blue car can be found in the McDoom's Restaurant set and the green junker car is part of the Capital City Expansion set.

My biggest gripe with these models has to do with the wheels. There is no option for making the tyres 3D. The wheels are simply part of the side of the cars and as such are as thick as the paper or card that you print the model on. This looks fine if viewed from the side or from a height but the problem is if you apply the slightest bit of pressure to the model, the wheels will buckle. Yes, I know that making 3D wheels is fiddly but to omit the option for making them is a bad decision by FDG. I added four semi-circular pieces of mounting card to each wheel and then painted them black. It didn't take that long to do and the result was more than worth it.

The taxi is a good idea for a car and this one adds a bit of variety to my WWG taxis. The green car is described as a junker, a term I hadn't heard of before but I can easily figure out what it means. This car is not in tip top condition. Note the missing hubcap from the front wheel. The front door has been replaced by a different coloured front door.

These cars are slightly larger than the sedan cars made by WWG. I haven't made any of the Stoelzel sedan cars yet, so I can't comment on how they compare in size. Note the boot (trunk, if you're American) of the junker car is a different colour to the bodywork. Can you spot what is missing from these cars? None of them have registration plates. Surely that's an offence!

The blue car looks like it has just come from a car showroom - all shiny and new. Unlike the junker car. Its front side panel has also been replaced by one of a different colour to it's bodywork. Oddly enough, I like all three, but for different reasons, and so I can't say which one is my favourite. I'm all for variety, and despite FDG's slip up with the tyres, I do like them.

Squirmydad's Winnebago

Just recently, I received an e-mail from one of my followers suggesting that I review some of the free card model vehicles that are available to download from the Interweb. His timing was good, as I had just finished making a 28mm scale Winnebago by a prolific card modeller called Squirmydad. The set comprises three pages. Page one features a white Winnebago, page two, a crimson Winnebago and page three the wheels and optional gun turrets. I have made the white Winnebago without the gun turret and here it is.

Winnebagos or RVs (Recreational Vehicles) are ideal for use in any zombie apocalypse game, combining the amenities of home with mobility. Any fan of The Walking Dead TV series and/or comic series will appreciate how useful they are.

This is essentially a box on wheels, and as such was very easy to make. Not even the front and back with their multiple angled surfaces were much of a challenge. The circles on the roof indicate where you could put the gun turret - front or middle. Seeing as the set comes with two gun turrets, I suppose you could mount both of them on the roof for extra firepower. The turrets are each fitted with a Gatling Machine Gun.

I added a thin strip of mounting card to the bottom of the front of the vehicle to act as a bumper. Oddly enough, these are supplied with the crimson version but not the white version.

This is a nice sized model. It measures 5.5" (13.5cm) long by 1.875" (4,5cm) wide by 2,25" (5.5cm) tall.

As with the front of the vehicle, I added a thin strip of mounting card to the lower back to act as a bumper. The spare tyre is not as circular as it should be but it's not easy cutting perfect circles out of mounting card.

It isn't noticeable from my photos but there are a single pair of tyres at the front and a double pair of tyres at the back.
If you'd like a copy of Squirmydad's Winnebago you can download it from here - http://gallery.papermakeit.com//albums/userpics/WinnieMMiP34.pdf
I must admit that I'm very impressed with it. It was easy to build and the texturing on the model is up to a high standard. And best of all, it's free. Yay!

WWG Crushed Cars

I recently reviewed the garage from the WWG Mayhem Junkyard set. There are lots of interesting accessories and props in that set. Amongst the props are a small collection of crushed cars and here they are.

This photo shows you all of the crushed car models that comes with the set - five single cars, a stack of two cars and two stacks of four cars.

These were incredibly easy to make, as they are all simple box shapes. However, I did add a special Vampifan wrinkle to make them look more realistic. Before I stuck the printouts to the mounting card that reinforces each model I scrunched up the photo paper printout and then smoothed it flat with my hand. Obviously, I couldn't smooth them perfectly flat and nor did I want to. When I stuck the printout to the mounting card I was left with uneven surfaces. Once the cars have been through the car crusher they are not going to come out perfectly smooth. There will be dents and wrinkles in the bodywork. This was my simple method of replicating that effect. Believe me, it works well.

Here is my 28mm scale figure of Vampifan standing next to one of the stacks of four cars, the stack of two cars and one of the single cars.

Here is a side view of the stack of four cars and the stack of two cars, which I'm pleased to see are not all facing in the same direction.

As with all of WWG's models the texturing is just amazing. These cars really do look to be in a very dilapidated condition.

I was wondering whether to classify these as vehicles or scenery, but seeing as they can no longer drive and are just static they have to be classed as scenery. They are useful for cover or barricades and of course, you can stack as many as you want on top of each other. There are fifteen cars in total, so you could make three stacks of five cars. Or lots more if you print out more of them.
By the way, the Mayhem Junkyard set does include a car crusher, but I haven't made it yet. Don't worry, it will get made soon as i have already printed it out.