Saturday, April 13, 2019

Land Sharks of the Tartarus Rim

The resort planet of Thalia, one of a trinity of idyllic worlds orbiting modest young suns collectively called the Kaeritas, boasts among its entertainments a big game preserve made to resemble a Medieval estate, complete with a turreted castle immediately adjacent to the shuttleport. It is at this manor that would be hunters and animal lovers alike generally begin their journeys. One of the more popular rentals is a converted Imperial IUC-4 utility skimmer, or "Yuk-4," most often called the "Land Shark" because of the teeth waggishly painted on the bow.


The shark boasts an added windscreen, improved passenger accommodations, an enhanced communications and entertainment system, and high-performance Belden F-type thrusters.




Of course, no craft can make up for luck if you want to spot some of the more popular attractions, like the wild grox mare pictured below.


Meanwhile beyond the fourth wall . . .

The skimmer was a fun little project made from bits mostly acquired at a convention two years ago. The new-model GW land speeder is probably self-evident. The F connectors off the coax jumper that gave it's life for the fuel truck are probably also fairly obvious. Perhaps less conspicuous are the bench seat out of a model pickup truck, the windscreen off a toy jeep, and the random . . . Tau? . . . plastic bit. (Same convention as the land speeder.)

The Grox is, of course, a grok from Krakon Games. While those are out of stock, the quite similar bullocks seem to be available. (And I approve of making two similar, but slightly different animals.) The castle glimpsed int he background is an Exin Castillos Gran Alcazar XII set I begged of my parents when I was young. The originals are out of production, but a new company, Exin Castillos New Generation, has picked up the name and appears to make most of the old bricks and a host of useful new ones. These have got to be about the most scenically satisfying building toys I've ever encountered. With just a bit of tweaking they're basically diorama quality. Fantastic stuff!

As always, thank you for joining me on this journey of the imagination.

Sincerely,
The Composer

10 comments:

  1. I like the crew figures too, an animated natural looking pose.

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    1. They're old Monogram crew from an airfield tractor that came with one or another of their WWII bomber kits. They've turned out fairly useful. I have a few other such old 1/48 pilots that I think will make tolerable drivers. Since they're sitting you can't really tell they're too tall and skinny. (Which is to say not exaggerated in the usual "heroic" ways.)

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  2. Fantastic scratchbuild, Mr. C. Really like the "Quik Exterior Particle Beam Adjustment Screw on the power-plant. I've got a similar device on my hover tennis shoes.

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    1. Good eye sir! It comes in handy when you need to change the coupling characteristics of the wave guide to deal with different environmental conditions. Just so long as you remember to bring your hyperspanner. They're a bear to adjust by hand.

      Anyway, glad you like it!

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  3. That's a nice kitbashing work! Really enjoyable!
    Oh, Exin Castillos! Right on my childhood! So cool to see one of them back to active duty!!

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    1. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who knew of them. The darn thing needs to be on a gaming table. The castles are just so blasted pretty. And just the right size. Since they make new bricks, I'm tempted to do horrifying things like . . . glue and weather them. (Not the childhood ones. But still.) Would love to hear your stories about incorporating them into wargaming, if you ever had the chance. :)

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    2. Sadly I never could, that's why I'm so excited to see them back to the front line! I always thought they could fit in nicely, so I fell kind of vindicated :)

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    3. I believe they do! :) Yessir, you are indeed vindicated. At least in so far as my photography counts as evidence. There will be more once the chaos stuff from the Forum begins to arrive. I have every intention to set up a small fantasy scene using that there castle. Just couldn't make myself wait. :D

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  4. Some great kit bashing. I think you picked the perfect model to transform into a safari jeep from the far future.

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    1. Thank you! I kind of like the model. They're certainly suggestive parts. But I didn't want it anywhere near my Rogue Trader examples of the same sort of thing. They just don't fit together. Some other use was needed. :) Landshark! And as a bonus, you could in theory use it for racing, utility work, maybe even ferrying neer-do-wells about. You know, frontier stuff.

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