Thursday 11 May 2017

Pulp? Trucks...

Introduction

Yes, I know that I promised to write a battle report for a (not so recent) game of All Things Zombie.  However, it's too hot, I'm too tired and just not in the mood (especially after having spent time this evening arguing with a junk telephone caller.  I was escalated to a supervisor, which scores bonus points, I think...)

Opel Blitz

For quite a while, I've been thinking about ground transport for my pulp leagues.  Some of them could certainly use some wheels and it would change the dynamics of a game somewhat - or vehicles could be used as objectives or just add to the scenery.

Here are a couple of trucks for a league's mooks and whatever top secret cargo they need to transport:



These are, of course, Opel Blitzes (Blitzen?), a German truck that was very common during WWII.  As such, they are exactly right for my Nazi league, even though I tend to think of my Pulp games as being set in the late 1930s rather than during the war itself.  There's no reason why my Safari or the Cult leagues couldn't use them either, though I'm not so sure about Tarzan and his followers (have you ever seen a gorilla driving a 3-ton truck?)

Anyscale Models

Right, some details:


These models come from Anyscale Models.  I had never heard of this company before, but I hunted the Internet high and low for 28mm-compatible German truck models and these were considerably cheaper than any of the others.  Delivery time was excellent as well.

Each truck comes in 3 main parts: the cab, the body and the chassis/rear wheels.  In addition to these bits, there are 4 metal hoops supplied for the rear, plus an optional resin cloth/tarpaulin to represent a folded canopy.


Obviously, these straightforward, cheap kits are intended for wargamers - and that's just what I wanted!  The 3 parts went together very quickly, though some slight shaving was needed on one truck to fit the front and rear sections together.

Casting quality is good, with only a few tiny bubbles that I didn't bother to fill.

Slightly more worrying than the minute bubbles were a few larger blemishes or intrusions, typically in the mudguards or around the wheel hubs.  These could be from deteriorating moulds or from poor master models - I don't know.  For what it's worth, I didn't put any effort into correcting these (by cutting or filing them away), so if you haven't noticed any imperfections in the pictures so far then the imperfections are less significant than I thought.  See if you can spot any, now that you know they are present!



I decided to build the 2 trucks differently; one with a full canopy and the other with an open back.  The canopy was made very simply, by gluing some real cloth over the provided metal hoops.

Conclusion



I have very deliberately not added any identifying marks to these vehicles.  Equally, they're painted in some fairly drab colours, so that they can be used in a wide variety of settings.

Now all I need is a staff car or something similar for the boss.  Plus an important cargo and a hero pursuing the convoy across the desert on horseback...



30 comments:

  1. Well they certainly do the job, smashing job.

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    1. Yes, I'm quite pleased with these models :-) .

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  2. They look the business.

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    1. Thanks, AJ. They should be very useful, I think.

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  3. Well... You'll need a large tank now too on that logic... ;) Great vehicles, and I see no blemishes at all so more power to you!

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    1. A tank! Now why didn't I think of that :-) .

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  4. Just what was needed, lovely jubbly

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    1. Thanks, I'm really happy with how these models have turned out.

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  5. Nice! I could do with a couple more myself. I have one of the Warlord trucks but found the cabin very fiddly to put together. These look just the business.

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    1. I did consider the Warlord version, but they cost almost twice as much and I didn't want them *that* much :-) .

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  6. A company I had not heard of. Shame they are on Face book, I just cannot get on with facebook.

    These models look good. I think you are correct in leaving all identity of off them as well makes them much more versatile.

    Overall I am impressed.

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    1. Some of Anyscale's models are listed on eBay as well, though oddly this seems to be just the 20mm stuff and none of the 28mm...

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  7. Plural is "Opel Blitze" :)

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    1. Thanks, Stefan. I'll remember that for the future.

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  8. Great trucks that will be very useful in your pulp games and others I suspect.

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    1. Indeed. Even if they're recognised as German vehicles, who's to say that the Nazis didn't supply them to any number of nefarious organisations :-) ?

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  9. Superb, "You can never have enough trucks" - Ettore Bastico, Commander of Italian forces at 2nd Alamein.

    These are suitably generic in looks and decoration to serve in many pulp scenarios.
    It looks like a 2 or 2.5 tonne model - first built in 1934.
    Total production for all Blitzen had reached 130,000 by 1944.

    I like the look of the Kit, through I've personally shied away from Resin.
    The possibility of assembling the frame without awning seems to be an option, and one that's rarely presented in vehicle kits.

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    1. Thanks, Steve. There's nothing particularly tricky about resin; it just tends to be heavy and expensive (though these trucks aren't too bad on either count).

      I did consider building one with the frame but no canopy. However, they're going to be gaming models and I just *know* that sooner or later someone would have tried to fit figures into the rear of such a truck, resulting in damage of some kind :-( ...

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    2. "have you ever seen a gorilla driving a 3-ton truck?"

      Ha! I'd like to, does that count?

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  10. Now here's a handy application.

    http://www.wettringer-modellbauforum.de/forum/index.php?page=Thread&threadID=39959

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  11. Well done Colgar, another visit to Raiders of the Lost Ark will provide you some visuals of other 'vehicles' to snag for the period. What a perfect opportunity to watch the movie again!

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    1. Thanks, Terry. Yes, I suppose I was channelling Indiana Jones when I decided on these trucks :-) .

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  12. They are a good find , they came out very nicely

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    1. Thanks, Dave. I'm quite pleased with the result - and with how simple they were to build and paint!

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  13. Very good Hugh, I couldn't see what you mentioned so its all good.
    I suppose they could always be painted as damage of some sort or other.

    I like the two variants

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    1. Thanks, Simon. I was tempted to build one of the trucks with the hoops, but no canopy. However, I reckoned that this would just result in something becoming stuck in it during a game :-) .

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  14. Unpainted the trucks don't seem to show clearly defined details but after you've painted them ... they look great! :)

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    1. I think that's mostly just the lighting of the photo and the base colour of the resin. These models have plenty of detail :-) !

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  15. Replies
    1. Thanks, Bob. I was really pleased with how easy these were to build and paint!

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