21 April 2022

'Yeah, you in the tank. Cozy in there?'

In case anyone is wondering, the headline for this post comes from the last line of the pilot episode of The Walking Dead. It's also the first time we're introduced to the awesomeness that is Glenn.

The photo is my attempt to recreate the final scene of the episode:


Wow, I need a lot more zombies.

I'm currently working my way through the Squealers and have basecoated all of them and finished one. They're taking longer than I thought because although in theory they look to be straightforward, in practice they're fiddly buggers because of their diminutive size. Happily they are fun and look cute, albeit in a fierce way, when painted.

In between applying coats of Heavy Skintone, Orange Brown, Blue Grey and many other colours, I got on with something else.

The tank comes from a cheap army toy set I picked up for $5 at Dollar General back in January. As well as the tank, there's a helicopter, a load of barbed wire, a couple of F-35 planes (that are totally too small) and a bunch of toy soldiers that are the wrong scale. But I thought the chopper and tank might work, and for a fiver why not give it a go? Here's Maggie in front of the unpainted models to show the scale. It looks OK to me.

I sprayed both models with black primer and did the tank first, using a satin spray paint called Fossil to give it that sort-of Desert Storm look. I shaded in the rear grilles with Nuln Oil and used Seraphim Sepia to define the panels and hatches a bit more.  

It's an appallingly basic paintjob; I did the tracks with Abbadon Black and didn't even bother to highlight them. After adding some transfers — the ones on the back of the turret are Space Marine Assault Squad emblems — I painted on some quick graffiti, sprayed it with matte varnish, and called it a day.

Here's Vermont State Trooper Ken taking the place of Rick Grimes. Hopefully Ken's going to save one bullet for himself...

The tank came out looking pretty good for a cheap kid's toy and it's something that'll really add to the abandoned, post-apocalyptic atmosphere of Zombietown. Right, I'm off to do some more work on the Squealers.

17 comments:

  1. Great find Matt, the cheap stores can have a treasure trove of useful toys, for anyone willing to look. The tank looks great but maybe a little too clean for an apocalypse, would be tempted to use brown and black washes to dirty down the whole piece, but at the end of the day if your happy then it totally works

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    1. I have to admit that it could do with some more dirt on it, and maybe a splat or two of Blood for the Blood God. I'll get around to adding some once the piggies are out of the way :-)

      Dollar Stores over here, much like Poundland in the UK, have a decent range of cheap toys and I get most of my cars from there.

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  2. John@justneedsvarnishThursday, April 21, 2022

    Neat job on the tank, Matt! :-) I like it! Looks spot on for size!

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    1. Thanks, John, and welcome to the blog!

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    2. John@justneedsvarnishMonday, April 25, 2022

      Thanks Matt! :-) I think I added your blog to my list a while ago but then it disappeared! I've added you to my Chrome favourites so I hope I can manage to keep up via that link!

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  3. Well, it totally works for me! Nice little treasure you got there!

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  4. Not a bad addition at all. Even the scale seems about right for a modern tank too.

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    1. The tank looked about the right size when I saw it in the shop, and luckily once home and placed next to Maggie it was pretty much perfect.

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  5. I think the scale is great but I agree with, Dave. I think you really should look into some weathering techniques for the tank. That thing is pristine looking and would really look good with some chipped paint, dirt, and other weathering techniques like that. There are tons of videos on Youtube about how to achieve these things for model tanks that you can borrow from. If you've got some money burning a hole in your pocket, AK Interactive makes great stuff for weathering as well and I use some of their products myself. It may seem like a pain to put more time in the tank but I bet you'll find it well worth it in the end!

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    1. Thanks, Jeff! Yeah, it definitely needs more in the way of basic weathering, even an all-over wash with black or brown would help. I'll have to revisit it at some point.

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  6. Certainly doesn't look like a cheap plastic toy now!! great improvement mate, I have some similar M113's in 20mm scale I bought years ago, that I get out occasionally, look at. go "Hmmmm" and put away again, but after see this I might have to give them a go at some point.

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Cheers, Roger! Having an abandoned tank never occurred to me until I saw the toys at the store. What I'd really like to get is a non-military helicopter that I could paint as a news chopper, but 1/43 die-cast and kit ones are too expensive.

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  7. I love th $ or £ store finds and I was on the lookout for such a tank a long time ago. It's a great find, fairly compatible with 28mm figures too and totally usable. Much admit, I'd have daubed it all over in olive drab - not a fan of the desert colours, but hey you've got a cheap decent model table ready !

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    1. You're right, Joe, you can't go wrong with hunting around the toy section at the cheap stores :-)

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  8. Yep... more Zombies required (can you ever have enough?).
    Funny, but I was thinking of trying to recreate that episode when I find the time to indulge myself into The Walking Dead game; should be fun.🙂

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    1. Many, many more zombies needed, Justin :-)

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