Painted War Machine

Martians from Twilight Creations and the Happy Meal Martian War Machine.

This Happy Meal toy has been modified to better simulate a war machine.

Saucer has been painted copper color, and the heat ray has been painted dark beret green.

The eyes are a disintegration ray.

By taking photos from several angles the size of the war machines can be shown as being very large.

War Machine & 60 mm

One of the things I liked about this War Machine is that it is rather generic and can be used in several sizes.

Here a few 60mm soldiers from Tim Mee and others approach the War Machine.

The right photo angle, up or down really makes this thing look much bigger.

War Machine

Martian war machines waiting for painting. Once the remainder of them arrive from the supply points, I will remove the springs and paint them.

These are the most fearsome war machines in the whole laundry room!

The vicious scourge of both washing machine and dryer.

No one can oppose them!

60mm figures make an attempt to destroy a war machine. This machine is usable for several scales because the machine itself is rather generic.

War Machine

The bottom of the saucer. The legs just snap into the hole.

The completed Martian War Machine, before painting. A squad of three Martians on foot near the machine.

The saucer has a spring inside to launch the torpedo. I made a little tool out of a paperclip to capture the spring. Using my needle nose pliers I pulled the spring out.

Once the spring is pulled a bit out of the opening, I then gripped the spring with the pliers and pulled it out.

The spring has been removed. The plan is to use the torpedo as the heat ray. I will re-insert it but glue it into the hole.

War Machines

I first heard about this Batman Happy Meal toy only about a week before the promotion ended. I was lucky enough that a friend of mine was able to get me three of them before they were all gone. My friend, my wife, my daughter and I must have gone to 30 MacDonalds looking for these. As a result, I hit the eBay auctions and one or two at a time the Martians built their forces. The mother lode of one auction of 10 and another of 5 really helped out. The goal was to get 27 war machines.

This shows a Twilight Creations, Martians! 1/72nd scale soft plastic figure on the leg of the war machine. This is right out of the package, and just deploy the legs.

A close up view of the torpedo. My plan is to disable the launcher and use this as the heat ray.

Saucer section with Martians! inspecting the unit.

Underside of the saucer section. This just snaps in place on the center of the legs. It moves left, right and up and down. I got so many of these things on eBay I am sure I drove the worldwide price up by 50% or more. Postage was just as much as the item in most cases, which was why I got multiples from the same seller whenever I could.

Martians do everything in threes. Three Martians is a squad. Three War Machines is a platoon. Three platoons is nine War Machines for a company. Three companies of 27 War Machines makes a battalion. If I could have gotten a regiments worth, I would have, but I am very happy with what I got.

Martians

1/72nd scale Martians! From Twilight Creations. They have a sort of Mars Attacks 1950's sci fi look to them that I love. The Martians do everything in threes, that's why there are three poses. Three Martians! is a squad.

A nice size comparison with the Italeri US Army set, 1/72nd scale plastic. This will make some epic battles. Twilight Creations should make the Martians! available in bags of 100 figures for about $10 later this year.

Everywhere you go there is hobby potential. These are Batman, The Brave and the Bold, Black Manta Sub-Launcher, MacDonalds Happy Meal toys. They are shown here with the three Twilight Creations Martians!

Take off the outer plastic bag and spread out the contents. A set of pre-assembled legs, instructions and the saucer, still inside the inner bag.

The concept shown in the instructions. The saucer fits on top of the legs. The torpedo fits inside the upper structure and with the press of a button it launches clear across the room. If the room is a very small hamster cage.

Notice it has three legs. The Martians! do everything in threes. Three Black Manta; I mean Martian War Machines is a platoon.

PAeL Automaton Master

Sarah Creek drew this image of a PAeL Automaton and his human Pal firing an 81mm mortar. PAeL wears a helmet, soldier wears a Jeep cap.

Italeri 1/72nd scale soft plastic US Army soldier with brass master figure of the PAeL Automaton right out of the crate.

I am having these figures made to my specifications and they are great! They may also be sold commercially if there is enough interest.

More Tools

This little lump is one of my best hobby tools. It is a lump of clean clay. I use it to hold paint brushes when I am painting. Rather than lay it on the table, I stick the end in the clay to hold it upright. I also use the clay to prop up parts while they are drying. Finally, clay can sacrifice itself by ending up in the nose of tricycle landing gear airplanes. It makes a great weight to keep aircraft in place on their gear. I often include small shot gun lead pellets in with the clay. The clay keeps them from rolling around inside the model.

This is moleskin. It is a soft fabric with a sticky back. Peel off the backing and then stick a piece on your skin. I stick it on my thumb and fingers when using a craft knife to minimize the skin slicing.

Florist pliers are great for light wire cutting, and plastic cutting. They also make good light pliers. I got them at Michael's craft shop and paid about a dollar for them.

These needle nose pliers are a real pair of pliers. I got them at a hardware store and paid top dollar for them years ago. They are very strong and I use them for the toughest work. I use the cutter for medium size wire.

I also keep both large and small paper clips on hand. They can be used to apply glue, hold parts together and even be made into small tools on their own. Sometimes I cut them up and use the small rods they create as model parts.

Double ended round tooth picks are good too. They can be used to apply glue, and I even paint with them. The wood will absorb paint and can be used to apply dots of paint. Sometimes I even use a craft knife to fray the ends of the toothpick and make a tiny brush out of the end. It really helps with the details.

Canned dust remover. When clean up time comes it's nice to be able to get the nooks and crannies of the model by using canned air.

Hobby Tools

For many of my resin and soft metal models I use five minute epoxy. It is slower than CA type glues but much stronger. I cut up small squares of aluminum foil and fold them in two layer and then fold over the edges so that they are more rigid.

For regular styrene models I use Model Masters glue. The Testors clear plastic cement is gap filling and I often use it as a putty. It's very fast.

Zap-a-Gap is the CA I use. It has gap filling properties and dries very fast. Sometimes I use it to tack parts together and then use the epoxy for a more permanent bond. Notice too that the glue is inside a small plastic box. I use them to hold glue and paints so that if they are knocked over they spill inside the box, if at all.

I use cutting mats as my work surface. In fact, I often use multiple layers of cutting mats. It allows me to make deep cuts without danger to the surface I am working on. I also use small mats that allow me to keep the larger, more expensive mats, from getting damaged when I am painting, cutting or sawing.

Convoy

With the presence of the Fuhrer, the men break ranks and run towards his large Mercedes.

The lieutenant was glad to see that this was not another enemy. It was obvious that the Martians, for lack of a better term, were showing respect to the Fuhrer. Once again he had formed and alliance with a powerful ally.

The lieutenant knew now that this new weapon was very powerful and would be the decisive factor in this war.

The troops were very relieved that this flying disc was not going to be an enemy. They were happy to see their Leader, a rare event after so many years of war.

The lieutenant now knew that he would always remember this day in March, 1945 as the turning point in the war...

Saucer by Pegasus Hobbies, Martians by Twilight Creations, Mercedes by Hasagawa, tanks by Roco, German Paratroopers by Caesar Miniatures. Photos taken with a Kodak EasyShare Z915.

Convoy

A convoy of three very large Mercedes command cars is coming!

They drive right up to the tanks and past like they are expected at the flying disc.

One of the men says he thinks these soldiers are from another planet, men from the Moon or from Mars.

The lieutenant can see high ranking officials in the cars. One of them might even be Reichmarschall Goering, commander of the Luftwaffe and the Paratroops!

At last, a familiar figure exits the disc shaped craft, and he returns the salute of the Men from Mars!

It is the Fuhrer himself!

The Occupants Debark!

A confrontation develops just behind the lines on the Russian Front.

A whirring noise, a hatch opens and otherworldly soldiers exit the craft.

The German paratroops brace for the attack. The lieutenant does not want to fire the first shot, when you don't know the abilities of the enemy or even who they are, or if they are enemy, it's a good idea to wait. He has the troops, he has the tanks. He has a number of good advantages, maybe they will surrender?!!

These strange figures are all lined up, in perfect array. Perhaps they are planning on marching into captivity?

The lieutenant is momentarily distracted by the sound of large vehicle motors behind him. More reinforcements perhaps?