Ch-Easy Paper Buildings

 I learned to make these simple paper buildings from my mom when I was a kid. We didn't have computers back then. I folded, cut, and colored them by hand and had a whole town to drive my toy cars through. Later I used them as terrain for my wargames.

I haven't seen this pattern available in any of the free paper building sites. In fact a lot of paper buildings have complex instructions and folds so I am including these here as an easy to create alternative.

The files were done in MS Paint and are very simplistic in color and detail. Hopefully someone with more talent than me will take these basic designs and dress them up. The buildings in these images are done in grey as I plan to use them as military barracks for my Monster Isle game.

The first style is the easiest. It is a simple four corner box.

Here are the above buildings without the red lines.

The next style is similiar to a house with a peaked roof and is slightly more complex.

Instructions: Cut around the outside black lines. Next fold along the inside black lines. For the flat topped buildings cut along the red lines. For the peaked roof building cut along the faint pink line and the two inner black lines. Do not cut past the roof line for either building type! Please refer to the image below for the proper folds and cuts.

Finally, for the flat roof building glue the white flaps on the ends and tuck them behind the colored walls. For the peaked roof building, glue the bottom side flaps and then tuck the upper flaps behind the bottom flaps. See the image below.

Note I have left one flap extending down on the left of the flat roof building to provide a visual aid for flap placement. For the peaked roof building I have one finished in the middle and the other on the right with the flaps folded but not glued in hopes this will help guide you. I've also included a few Micro Machines and a Jada Nano for scale.

New MIcro Machines Military Collection

 Finally, Micro Machines military vehicles are here! Not seeing a lot of info on the web about these so I thought I would share some photos and my comments.

This is set 05 titled Protection Force.

It contains the following vehicles with pretty generic names.

122 Light Vehicle (Here it is compared to the GI Joe Vamp from Jada.)

123 Sledge Tank (Turret is one piece cast with the hull.)

124 Hovercraft

125 Chopper

126 Viper (They really phoned this one in. Worst casting of the bunch. It even has a little hole in the body for the package retention wire to go through.)

Like others have stated the detail on these new MM's are not nearly as detailed as the old, but I am still excited to add them to my collection.

1/64 Scale Cars for Car Wars and Gaslands Part 3

Here is part 3 of my favorite toy cars for use with Car Wars or Gaslands. Many of these vehicles come battle ready right out of the package while others I tacked on a weapon using the Museum Gel technique discussed in a previous post. I still have more toys like this of varying scale in my collection and plan to show case them in future postings. All photos below include a figure that is roughly 28mm tall (about 1 1/2") for reference. Where possible I will list the toy manufacture.

First off, we have two of my favorite Hot Wheels. The car on the right is the original Sting Rod from the Action Command series. This is one of the first “out of the box car with weapons and armor” that I acquired when it was first released. It will always hold a special place in my collection. The truck on the left is also from the Action Command series that I acquired a few years ago.

Next on the left we have the Sting Rod 2. This version doesn’t feel as subtle as the original Sting Rod, but since I have many copies of it I am not concerned about using it in the arena. On the right is a Hot Wheels “Armored Batman” car. This was a recent series of vehicles designed as caricatures of superheroes. It’s armored nicely and dirtied up a bit. Just waiting for me to stick a gun or two on it.

Finally, my favorite vehicle of this type. Another Hot Wheels called Turbo Turret. This is the best battle-ready vehicle in this scale! The gun in the turret is a bit large, and I have chopped it back on several models. The turret even spins! I wish Mattel would do an entire series of these. (Note: The guns were red and I painted them black.)

1/64 Scale Cars for Car Wars and Gaslands Part 2

 

Here is part 2 of my favorite toy cars for use with Car Wars or Gaslands. Many of these vehicles come battle ready right out of the package while others I tacked on a weapon using the Museum Gel technique discussed in a previous post. I still have more toys like this of varying scale in my collection and hope to show case them in future postings. All photos below include a figure that is roughly 28mm tall (about 1 1/2") for reference. Where possible I will list the toy manufacture.

 Below are 3 Hot Wheels Star Wars “Spaceship” cars. These cars were modeled after the various spaceships in the Star Wars universe and often had guns sculpted on them. On the left is the Tie Fighter car with two gun like protrusions on the front. In the middle is the Millennium Falcon car with two guns on the front a turret on the top. On the right is Darth Vadar’s Tie car.

Next on the right is another Star Wars spaceship car. I forget which fighter it represents and I stuck the gun on it with Museum Gel. I also stuck the turret on the car on the right for this photo shoot. It’s also a Hot Wheels and part of a camo line from a few years back (as is the car I feature in my original Museum Gel post).

Finally, here are two more cars I stuck guns in the front and the camo car again showing up in the back. All the cars are Hot Wheels.

My 1/64 Scale Cars for Car Wars and Gaslands

 Here are some of my favorite toy cars for use with Car Wars or Gaslands. Many of these vehicles come battle ready right out of the package while others I tacked on a weapon using the Museum Gel technique discussed in a previous post. I have more toys like this in my collection and hope to show case them in future postings. All photos include a figure that is roughly 28mm tall (about 1 1/2") for reference. Where possible I will list the toy manufacture.

GI Joe Toys?

I believe the toy on the left is a GI Joe toy from Hasbro though I can't find any info on it. The toy on the right is a cheap knock off of another GI Joe toy (I have the nicer version in my collection somewhere). These vehicles have too many weapons and the weapons are way too large for my taste, but I am including them here for completeness.

Technical Truck

Next up is a Majorette brand technical truck. This truck can also be used for modern skirmish wargames.

Dual Guns on the Top

On the left is a Maisto brand Leadslinger and on the right is the Green Hornets car, possibly from a Happy Meal? The Leadslinger has obvious armor and while the guns are a little over the top it's still an awesome vehicle. I wish more toy companies would turn out this sort of thing. (I painted the guns as they were the same chrome as the engine.)

Invader

Here's a Hot Wheels car with an oversized gun. I cut the back of the gun off on the toy on the right.

Two More Hot Wheels

The Hot Wheels on the right is a Fast Attack Vehicle that has several different variants (I will post some others when I dig them out). The  El Camino on the left doesn't have any guns on it (yet) but I've seen some pretty good conversions on the web and feel it fits the theme.

That's all for now. Watch for my next post on this, coming soon!

The Wood Chuck

 Occasionally I find a toy car that inspires me to try my hand at painting and customizing. Below is one such car.

Here it is in it's original packaging. It is called Erikenstien Rod.

Here it is in its current state. Called the "Wood Chuck Truck" because it's Chuck's truck protected with old barn wood. I still want to do more to protect the wheels on the back, but haven't figured out what to do yet.

100 "Halo" miniatures

Just received an order I had placed for 100 miniature figures for $14.21 from AliExpress. The description did not say "Halo" but the likeness to many of the units in those games is strong. (Mega Bloks is written on the bottom but I don't know what set they might be from)

The figures vary in height from 15mm to 21mm.

Here they are beside a Hot Wheels Warthog.

Here is a comparison to a 1/72 scale HMVEE which I also got from AliExpress. (Yes, the TOW launcher looks wrong and appears to be pointed backwards. I am going to use it as an experimental heavy laser in any games I run with it.

Finally, here are the driver and gunner held in place with a little Museum Gel.

Museum Gel and miniature gaming

A few years back I was looking for a way to modify my toy cars for miniature gaming without permanently altering or destroying them.  I came across a product called Museum Gel and it meets my needs.

Museum Gel is a clear semi-sticky substance that is used by museums to hold fragile items to shelves so that they cannot easily be knocked off. I figured if it was good enough to work on antiques it was good enough for my toys.

Here is a Hot Wheels car. Beside it is a plastic turret from an Axis and Allies miniature. The turret is upside down and the bottom is coated with a small piece of Museum Gel.  

Here is what the car looks like with the turret in place.

After the Gel has set for about an hour you can pick up the vehicle by the turret and it will remain stuck to the vehicle.

Should you wish to remove the turret and place it on a different vehicle simply slip a fingernail between the two and pry up. Any excess Gel can be rubbed off with a finger and reused.

Here’s the same turret on another vehicle.

I have left Museum Gel on several different toys for years at a time and removed the Gel with no damage to the body or paint.  I recommend it to anyone who wants to kit bash their toys without destroying them in the process.   

More Fixes for the Monster Island Game

Prior to the expansion, Invasion of Monster Island, the flight rules as listed were adequate. Helicopters, Flying Tanks, Jetpack Troopers, and Flying Monsters flew as much or as little as they wished and turned on a dime every time they moved.

With the arrival of Fighter Jets and Saucers the flight rules need to be fleshed out more to keep some units relevant. Saucers are cheaper and better than most Human ground units and can currently fly in any direction they wished. Why buy an Attack Helicopter for 7 points when you can buy a Fighter Jet for 4 points that is just as maneuverable and has a better Evade and Flying Speed but is 3pts cheaper?

To remedy this I recommend the following.

The cost for Flight power stays the same, but all Units and Monsters (hereafter both will be referred to as Entities) now have the following changes.

All Entities using Flight power must move at least ⅓ of their total Flight movement score each turn. If for some reason they cannot do this they are assumed to have rammed into whatever impeded them or have fallen out of the sky at their current altitude.

All Flying Entities now have a Maneuver Value (MV) of 1. An MV of 1 means while using the Flying Power the Entity may make only 1 turn of up to 90 degrees each game Turn. The Entity must move at least 2” forward in a straight line before executing this turn. All other forms of movement are not affected and do not use this Maneuver Value.

Flying Entities without the Hover ability must limit their attacks to targets within 180 degree of their front facing as per the diagram below.

New Powers for Flying Entities

Highly Maneuverable: (Cost 1 point) The Entities Flying Maneuver Value is raised to 2; This power allows a Flying Entity to make 1 additional turn up to 90 degrees each game Turn. The Entity must still move forward at least 2” in a straight line before executing this additional turn.

Hover: (Cost 2 points) This power allows an Entity to fly at any speed up to their maximum and turn in any direction as many times as they choose. The following units are considered to already have the Hover power and do not have to pay extra for it. Attack Helicopters, Transport Helicopters, Jetpack Troopers, Flying Tanks, and Mother Ships.

Some Examples

A Fighter that takes the power Highly Maneuverable would now cost 5pts and would be able to execute 2 90 degree turns each turn.

A Scout Saucer that adds Hover to its powers would now cost 6pts and can zip around in any and all directions each turn at any speed up to its maximum (just like the classic UFO saucers do).

Fixes for Monster Isle Units

Monster Isle and its expansions is a fun game where giant monsters and eventually aliens terrorize Earth and its defense forces. The rules do a pretty good job of covering this, but I have noticed some issues. I will attempt to address those issues in this post.

Escape From Monster Isle Fixes

Patrol Boat

The Patrol Boat has the same Attack, Toughness, Moral, FirePower, and Transport of an IFV but has a weaker Evade, a move of only 4 and is restricted to water. Yet it costs 5 points as compared to 3 for an IFV. This change will make it more cost effective.

Reduce the cost of the the Patrol Boat to 3pts and give it Swim 5”.

Flying Tank Recovery

The rules state that “a Flying Tank parked next to a science research center may use the Recovery rules to represent emergency repairs”. However the Recovery rules on page 19 of the Monster Isle rule book states that “creatures regains its Health score in lost Life points each Turn”. Since the Flying Tank has no Health score this rule is ineffective. My rule is as follows.

A Flying Tank that sits within 3” of a Science Research Center may follow the Recover rules and gains 2 Life Points every turn.

Invasion of Monster Isle Fixes

Mobile SAM Launcher

At a cost of 3pts for a vehicle that has a better attack value but worse Toughness and Morale than an IFV and is only able to attack Flying targets. This unit is not cost effective. I suggest the following.

Keep the point cost at 3, but change the Mobile SAM Launcher’s Powers to; Blast: 2d6 and Long Range.

Delok Saboteur

This unit is an insta-kill unit with no limit to the number that can be in an army. In some scenarios taking 5 of these units and nothing else will allow the Delok player to automatically win.

Keep the point cost the same but limit the maximum number to 2 per Delok army. Instead of an instant success roll 1d6. On a 1 the Saboteur is discovered and killed. On a 2 or a 3 he is thwarted but can try again next turn. On a 4 or better he succeeds in destroying his target.

Estate Sale Score!

Last weekend I scored an amazing miniatures find at a local estate sale. Actually it was my sister who let me know about it as I have "trained" her to keep an eye out for just this sort of thing.

This score included the following:

200 1/300 scale soldiers still in their packages.

Another 200 painted soldiers still on strips.

20 modern 1/2400 scale warships

Misc dice, spaceships and parts.

Various WW2 British tanks

Russian and German WW2 vehicles along with 25 unpainted Soviet T-80 tanks.

US and German WW2 vehicles

Cold War US vehicles

Cold War Soviet vehicles

Misc modern tanks as well as soldiers mounted for playing Advanced Squad Leader.

More misc modern tanks and mounted soldiers.

I'm really excited about the modern warships, tanks, and painted soldiers.

All in all 400 1/285 vehicles, several hundred soldiers, 20 modern ships and miscellaneous left overs.
Brand new prices this is a thousand dollars in mini's. E-bay probably $500 or $600 as many of the vehicles had light damage and some missing barrels. I paid $25 for the whole lot!