Shopping Spree

I know how to live large. Just eat a lot of pies right? I got a few hours off yesterday and found myself in town. I had an eye on buying some cheap bits and pieces for 28mm scale terrain. The pound shops are always a good place to start. I walked away with a small haul of bits and pieces that I can see being used in modern games, near future and most importantly, the planned X-Com RPG. After getting back, the vertigo came back for a bit so that put a bit of a crimp in the rest of my day.

Mainly I got cheap vehicles. These utility vehicles type trucks are pretty good. I have purchased some of these trucks before but I think I paid four pounds for each. A pound each in the pound shop. These are pretty good and have some nice details. The skip is just about the perfect and if I got one of these in resin it would cost about £3.

The buses looked better in the box and they are not the star of the show. Although only a pound each, I am sure I can still find a use. They are a little short and a fraction under scale but will do. One for best and one for wrecked. They are pretty flimsy though and the glass is actually painted plastic so might take some work to make it look bashed in. It has to be said that the real plan is to use them for terrain and nothing else. They will look okay on a modern street and will be fine for X-Com or Shadowrun if I ever go back to playing that. they are bad enough that spending any effort on them would be a waste.

Untouched and a little bit too tall

The police cars were a bit of a punt. I saw them months ago but thought they were too tall. Then I saw them online and realised that I could probably drop the chassis. This only drops a couple of millimetres but it's enough.

There is also a mechanical element on the axle which I am sure can be used for something else. Like the buses, they are pretty flimsy but might actually be an advantage when it comes to making them looked trashed. I know I have seemed to go to town on this but it seems to me that these have some potential.

There is enough texture to make them interesting. The plan would be to spray them but I might just do a test first. The seats are actually detachable so can be taken out and painted too.

some details and about the right size

Having had a closer look, the current plan is to buy some more. I don't have that many colours of spray paint so I might get some more.

dropped chassis

I was after some sandpaper to use as a road surface. I found sixteen A4 sheets of black sandpaper for a pound so I got a couple of packs. This will be cut to size and put on the road templates when I get it. A smoother, is a little to uniform surface, it will look pretty good when it has road markings and has been given a good dry brushing.

So I think I will try another shop, see if I can get some more of the police cars and utility vehicles. Even if they are not used as is, they are sure to look pretty good as ruins or scrap.