Spaza Shops with Salt Weathering Technique

The spaza shops (featured earlier) are a kit available from the LaserCutCard web store. I thought I would try the salt weathering technique on them at the same time as I tried it on the Casspir. The only difference is that I thought I would skip the matt varnish undercoat and see if the card could handle the water with just a layer of paint.

To start off I undercoated them matt black

They then got a coat of Tamiya Hull Red

I then wet them with warm water using a paint brush and sprinkled coarse salt onto them.

Once this dried (overnight) I sprayed the one flat blue and the other flat yellow

I then let them drya nd then scrubbed off the salt with a big dry paint brush.

I love the effect! Now I must avoid over-using it.

Casspir with Salt Weathering Technique

The Casspir is a mine-protected infantry troop transport used by the South African Defence Force and the South African Police Services. Steve and I have been working on a card model to add to the LaserCutCard web store.

The model still needs a little work so until the next version comes along I thought I would experiment with this one, trying a paint technique I have read about but never used myself. It involves wetting the model and then sprinkling it with salt.

I thought this would also be an opportunity to demonstrate that, even though these models are made up of cardboard, they are very durable and resistant to water.

Here are all the previous test cuts of the Casspir (the name comes from an amalgamation of the two organisations that developed it... the CSIR (Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research) and SAPS (South African Police Services)

The most recent cut had quite a lot of detail added and I thought it a shame that it would go to waste

Here is the most recent cut compared to my previous vehicle, the Buffel

Here is the Casspir compared to some GW figures

To start off, I gave the model an undercoat of matt fixative (sort of like a matt varnish)

I then gave it two coats of Tamiya Hull Red

I then dabbed on some warm water using a paint brush, and sprinkled coarse salt here and there. I then went over with fine table salt.

I let this dry overnight and the gave it a couple of coats of Tamiya flat yellow. This is the paint scheme that the South African police used to use.

Once this had dried I just scrubbed it off with a dry paintbrush.

I am very chuffed with the result and the card passed with flying colours.

A busy weekend...

The original cyborg monolith has had it's old cardboard top replaced with the new plastic one.
http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/cyborg/cyborg-monolith

I finished painting up the cyborg mysterious objective markers
http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/cyborg/cyborg-mysterious-objective

These have a slot cut in them to hold a die

I did a set of orc ones too.
http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/accessories/orc-mysterious-objectives

Red wunz roll higha

The cyborg range is now looking quite good!

Quad Gun

If you can't own the skies you can at least deny them to everyone else.

This is a quad gun made from MDF, plastic rod and card and is available in the store here:

http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/vehicles/quad-gun

Buffel / Moffel Mine Protected Vehicle

This is a project that Steve and I have been keeping under wraps and I am happy to unveil it today. It is our first wheeled vehicle and represents a big step forward for LaserCutCard. This kit, more than anything that has gone before, shows that it is no longer about laser cutting or card, it is about the finished model.

The Buffel is a mine-protected infantry mobility vehicle used by the South African Army during the South African Border War. The Buffel was also used as an armoured fighting vehicle and proved itself in this role. It has been replaced by the Mamba in South Africa, but remains in use elsewhere, notably Sri Lanka.[Wikipedia]

The models are $18.50 each and worldwide shipping is $2.91 for 1 or $4.65 for 2.

http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/vehicles/buffel

http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/vehicles/moffel

If you combine this with the orc glyph pack (which has enough glyphs in it for 2-3 vehicles) then it makes a dandy trukk.

Here is a short clip of the real thing:

Card models are not weak.

I was going to make the title of this post "Are Card Models Weak?" but then I would have been playing into Betteridge's Law Of Headlines.

I spent a bit of the afternoon doing my first YouTube video to demonstrate that what most people think about card models is wrong.

These are the two models I used for the test. They are based on the generic tracked APC. One has been used to test a chaos vehicle accessory kit and the other was an early test model that I made up with the doors and hatches all open.

These are the models *after* the testing... you can see some damage to the spikes on the top of the chaos on and the top hatch of the ork one broke off (as did the tracks). They were simply glued on again.

Here is a youtube video of the testing.

Container Retail Set

Here's a slightly off-beat modification of my standard shipping containers :)

From the battlefields of the far future to the strife-torn shanty towns of the current age on thing remains constant: man cannot survive on bread alone. Beer is important too.

Introducing the container retail set with a decidedly 3rd world bent: the spaza shop and the shisa nyama.
The "spaza shop" is a small retail space converted from a shipping container. Customers order their goods, be it food, weapons or pirated computer parts,  through the hatch (trust is in short supply).

The "shisa nyama" is a pub / restaurant. When you need a break from the zombie apocalypse, grab a beer and relax on the sun deck above it or take a load off at the two picnic tables.

Both models have removable tops to allow the action to move inside. Keep that shotgun under the counter handy... for close encounters.

The kit is available for sale here: http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/scenery/container-retail

So these are now companion pieces for my standard containers (http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/scenery/shipping-container-44mm) ...

and the container site office http://www.lasercutcard.co.za/site-office