Project Tonks: Part 3

Okay, that's three posts now, I suppose that counts as a pattern.

With the scenery done I was chomping at the bit to start on the proto-Tonks. I'd initially thought painting these would be a fairly involved process that would be best done in stages, but I'd blasted through a couple of similar projects, (write-up pending,) with speed. It would be a simple matter of drybrushing metals, and then stippling the main colour. The main thing to keep in mind was the utmost importance of turret rotation, so those areas were masked, and the case of the KV-1, modified. As these were based off toys, some components were die-cast metal, so these went in the dettol. While these were soaking, I worked on the turrets. Like I said, I was eager. I drilled out the gub barrels, added some armour bits, and filled some gaps. As its me, I went rusty again. This sort of thing is my bread & butter, so this totalled maybe 3 hours work over several days, plus drying time. There was some trial and error regarding how many coats were were needed, and how to apply friction to the turret joint, but nothing major. Thus the set was ready for play on Sunday. One thing I probably should mention though is that are supposedly 1:64 scale which makes them on the small side for a Tonk, but it doesn't hurt them as a set.

It was only the one game, I spent most of the Sunday learning how to play Gaslands, but both experiences were fun. I don’t have any deep insights to share at this time, except to say its about careful positioning and carefully chosen actions, but also very rules light. I can see it being playable by four people in under an hour. The picture below shows a highlight.

I've been giving some thought to Stage 3, the scratchbuilt Tonks, stockpiling materials and such. A common technique that I've seen is to repurpose a spray bottle as a turret ring, specifically the clasp that seals the mechanism to the bottle. I've done some exploratory surgery on a couple, and it should work, if maybe oversized. As such, I've sourced some mini spray bottles, out of a travel kit, which might be easier to work with, but we'll see. I've also lucked out with a charity shop find, a bag of plastic Jenga tiles that should be great for hulls. With respects to tracks, I've got a nice selection of discs and beads too. I have considered making my own track links, like I've done on other projects, although the scale is a concern. Regardless of how I decide to do it, the scratchbuild process is likely go relatively slowly, as while I have some time off coming up, it's not something I can speed through like painting.

Up next: the initial scratch Tonks.

Oh, and Happy Halloween!