Base Square

Recently I have been getting generic lego type bricks at my local Dollar Tree.

I got this bit of plastic from Amazon, it's one square foot and pretty thick.

It's perfectly square.

It is a half and inch thick.  Very ridged and sturdy and smooth.

It perfectly holds a base square for the generic interlocking pin bricks.  I intend to build a couple very tall buildings and use this heavy plastic as the base for the base.
 

Conversion and Lights

The decontamination vehicle uses a jet engine blasting water or chemicals from an on board tank onto vehicles as they drive slowly past.

It cleans the chemical agent off the effected vehicle with a massive jet blast.

It started as a cement mixer truck.

And a fuel tanker truck.

And a crane.

My new night time set up with extra lighting.

I can now paint at night.  I have one more of these lights but two was enough for this project.

It's like daytime!
 

Soviet Equipment

Work continues on the T54 tanks, nearly all Roco, but a few SDV, these are Roco in the photo.

I have been taking them apart, mostly, trimming off the flash, repairing problems and putting them together.  Not all of them have the little wheels and I am not replacing any that are missing.

Many of mine had two right side tracks!  That created a lot of problems later.

This is a conversion that I made using parts of three vehicles.

It is a chemical weapon decontamination vehicle.
 

Painting Stuff and Tips

For the last month or more I have been working on upgrading my Cold War Soviet / Warsaw Pact army.

These are all HO scale vehicles from a variety of companies.

There was a time when the Soviet Union was building an anti-aircraft gun system to replace or supplement the ZSU-23/4.

Similar to the West German Gepard system this was supposed to be a twin 30mm cannon with radar guidance. 

Usually I paint vehicles upside down first, with turrets off if they are easily removable.  Then I can flip them over when dry and paint the upper side.

I decant my spray paints into little jars using a funnel.  I label the paint with blue tape, and I always include the name of paint, the brand and the stock number.

It often does not last very long in these jars, sometimes a few days or few weeks.  I try and use it up quickly.  It is perfect for touch up where the spray paint missed or did not cover well.