Zombie 1

[phildagreek]

I’ve become a bit fed up with my normal fare of 1/35 AFV & 1/48 jets.  So looking for inspiration I perused the stash & found, none at all. So I watched a film. “World War Z” with Brad Pitt, cracking film, I like the whole zombie apocalypse “thing”, walking dead etc.

it got me thinking………

 

Zombie 1-1 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Zombie escape truck. Some imagination, some scratch building & a chance to empty the spares box of all sorts of accumulated bits.

 

Half decent kit,  Unimog camper van with a zombie bent. I’ve built this kit before, it’s not bad, lots of clean up required & a definite attention to detail is required if we’re not going to have upside down exhausts.

 

Zombie 1-4 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-3 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

The kit comes with nasty “real” rubber tyres, the grey ones are some resin after market LAV tyres which are a nice size. Managed to snap the gear stick in an attempt to remove the flash.

 

Zombie 1-5 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-2 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

The cab is a one piece affair that is good & square but devoid of any detail, so some cleaning up & a mess on as it’s going to be posed doors open.

I’ve made more progress than this, moving on to a completed & primed chassis. Thanks for any interest you’ve had & I’ll keep you posted.

[Pete in Lincs]

Interesting stuff. Those wheels and tyres look great. Looking forward to more.

[JeroenS]

Will be nice to see this one progressing. I've built the 1/24 version and indeed, those squishy tyres are nasty. I had AM wheels from KFS, much better.

[phildagreek]

Progress………

 

Zombie 1-8 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

The cab starts to look like a cab.

 

Zombie 1-9 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Tyres painted up, obviously spent some time in a desert environment.

 

The roof box nears completion & the camper body/pod starts.

 

Zombie 1-7 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Zombie 1-6 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Thanks for checking in.

 

[phildagreek]

A little bit more, mainly some dirt & dust…..

 

Zombie 1-12 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-11 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

And the beginnings of the “habitation pod” which sounds much more grand than camper shell. At the moment it’s six pieces of plastic card glued together with a stiffener in the middle of the box to, well, stiffen it.

 

Zombie 1-10 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Those little holes were put in so I had somewhere to insert my little tool (!) to pull the final bit back into place when fat fingers here pushed it in too far. Which I did.

 

Thanks for looking.

[JeroenS]

Nice work on the wheels and interior and I agree, habitation pod sounds much nicer

[desert falcon]

Looking good so far 👍

[ErikT]

Can't wait to see the chainsaw launcher...

[phildagreek]

Thanks very much, appreciate you looking in!

[mbdesignart]

"A Habitation pod", you're not an estate agent are you? 😃

Cracking build and an imaginative use of the standard kit, I look forward to your progress.

[phildagreek]

Bit more then, time to attach the crew cab to the chassis, throughout I’ve been careful (as always) to make sure everything touches where it should & I use a spirit level to make sure everything is plumb, square & level.

The cab connects to the chassis with four mounting points or pins that sit on & not into the chassis. I was a bit naffed off to find the cab had a definite wobble when sitting it on the chassis.

The cab has a separate floor pan that slips inside the cab, I suspect my fat fingers pushed this pan in to far in one corner creating said wobble. In my defence the fit is less than perfect and the destructions are a little confusing. The cab also sits low on the chassis causing the wheels to foul on the underside of the mud guards.

So some shimming was called for, white plastic in the picture below.

 

Zombie 1-14 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Filling & filing. Sanding & swearing. Got there in the end, cab & chassis are connected.

 

Zombie 1-15 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-16 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Time to work on the habitation pod. Plastic card, rulers, pencil & a scribing tool that looks like a dentist’s torture tool.

 

Zombie 1-18 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

Zombie 1-17 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

The rear window, scribed out & eventually painted a gloss smoky brown to simulate the glass. Better have a door to get in I guess…..

 

Zombie 1-19 by phil da greek, on Flickr

 

The story so far, thanks for looking in.

 

 

 

[phildagreek]

Bit more……..

 

Zombie 1-22 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-23 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

The pod in place albeit temporary. It looks big but the overall height of the pod is 60mm, it gives a 54mm survivor some headroom & storage space. I was going to have storage on top but I think that will make it look far too top heavy. I’m thinking maybe a solar panel or two on top & leave it at that.

The post apocalypse world will probably be pretty dark, so some lighting is called for.

 

Zombie 1-24 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-25 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

5 spots mounted on a bar on the cab roof facing forward for illumination.

As always, thanks for looking.

[phildagreek]

Bit more………

 

Zombie 1-26 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-27 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Cab roof box on & secure. Looks big, out of scale perhaps but when the shed / body / habitation pod is on it looks better, like a step up to it.

 

Then something I was really keen to have on, a roll cage come brush guard affair to protect the cab. Made out of brass rod this was initially a stand alone project following some careful measuring & drawing. That didn’t work, not even close, so I’ve gone the route I suspected I would go, build it on the vehicle a piece at a time.

 

Zombie 1-28 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-29 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Happy to say in real life it’s much “squarer” & in line to the vehicle.

 

Thanks for looking.

[JeroenS]

Box looks fine, you do need some large storage to keep your chainsaws and shotguns and such safe. The brushguard is a nice touch as well. 

[phildagreek]

Thanks!

[John_W]

Nice.

A personal Observation, I would connect the living quarters to the cab so that I could pass between the two without having to open the doors and leave the vehicle.

[phildagreek]

I agree & that might happen yet, thanks!

[phildagreek]

Little bit more.

 

Zombie 1-32 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

Zombie 1-30 by phil da greek, on Flickr
 

The Zombie screen installation complete, just needs some weathering, the end is getting closer. The screen is actually part of the armour from a Hobby Boss Canadian Leapord.  Floodlights on, next step is the sump guard then the doors and the body.

 

Thanks for looking.