The Midnight Raid (aka Gnoll Joyride)

[WhiteWulfe]

So, just what happens when you take the desire to paint some sort of armoured vehicle or tank, and a rather fondness for gnolls?  Well, you say screw it, let's see what would happen if gnolls STOLE A TANK!  (and a LAV).

 

This definitely isn't going to be NATO greens, or even remotely close to JGSDF colours.  Green may be involved at some point, but not any actual real world colouration patterns...

 

Naturally, ignore the obvious answer of "why not?!?!" what kinds of things give a fox inspiration for this project?

• Ghost In The Shell (the original video/movie)
• Akira also arguably has some inspiration for this too (both the manga, as well as OAV/OVA)
• Shenanigans and mischief
• Various musicians, but Daniel Graves especially (Aesthetic Perfection). A LOT.
• Borderlands, specifically Borderlands 2

 

Or, in short, I'm going into this with a few ideas, but not necessarily any particular plan...

^First up, is the initial haul.  There's more in the mail (Toghra, as well as Reaver of Kargir), and they should hopefully be here in a few days.  So up for contemplating I have two 1:48 scale kits from Tamiya, the JGSDF Light Armored Vehicle (aka LAV) as well as the Type 10 Tank, also from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force.  Miniature options include two different sets of Wizkids gnolls as well as the Pathfinder Deep Cuts, and for Reaper options we have a Krokuta, Bones Blacktongue, Bones Bloodmane 77236, as well as Bones Gnoll Warrior 77012 (to me he looks likes the Bones version of Boneflayer 14580).  So yeah, seems like an easy-ish task right, take something that's 28mm scale and pair it with a 1/48 scale model.  what could possibly go wrong? 

 

^Okay, didn't quite realize the words "challenge accepted" would actually mean I'd have a decent sized challenge on my hands.  Looks like my initial ideas are moderately out the window, or, uh.... Stuck in said window.  Original idea was for dual knives/stabby blades gnoll to be the LAV's driver, with Blacktongue poking out of the gunner's hatch...  And for the tank, Toghra to be poking out of the commander's hatch directing things....  And then Krokuta and others hanging out in the back or off of the back of either vehicle...  I... Uhh... Might be rethinking a few things.

 

Alternate caption for tank: Here's JOHNNY!  Seriously, I've never watched the shining, but that's definitely the first thing I saw with Toghra's expression at that picture's angle...

 

...I probably should have thought about the fact that these vehicles are designed for a nation who's average height is 5'2" (yay Google!) and also according to Google (and the Forgotten Realms Wikia) gnolls are 7' - 7'6".  Hmmm.  Okay, so it's going to be cozy.

 

Let's start with the LAV, as for some reason that one keeps really snagging my attention, as well as ideas and inspiration...

 

^Wait a moment, the Pathfinder Deep Cuts ones are noticeably shorter...  Well now.  He'll fit, more or less, and with some work I could probably get dual stabby guy poking out of the roof....

 

^Two-ish hours of arduous assembly later (it's my first time doing up a model kit AND my first time using plastic glue, and there's six bajillion parts for some reason), and we're looking at this.  Dashboard isn't attached, and the bases have been trimmed off of the two gnolls in question in order to better fit them.  This is my basic premise... And where I left off last night.

 

^So first off, a basic test fit of the larger, stabbier gnoll.  He barely fits... Good.  Things will get tighter once the hatches go in, but I'll worry about that when that particular time comes...

 

^A while with some tools, and we're now here.  Ignore the crooked dashboard, that happens when it's just sitting in place...

 

^Currently how things are looking in order for me to mostly fit the driver in.  As eagle eyes might notice, I'm going to have to redo the legs, or more appropriately, the LOOK of legs.  Since they tuck down into an area where they won't be seen, I went for the cruder approach.  Sure, it isn't as pretty, but I did specifically purchase these minis with the impression that there might be some cutting involved...  Odds are though he won't be keeping the axe (that formerly was a polearm or halberd?).

 

So that's where things are at the moment...

 

I've also been thinking about how to explain the smaller sized gnoll, and how he's part of the raiding party, since they're known for being more of a cruel society, especially to outsiders.  Well, in short?  I've come up with the basic premise that the smaller ones not only survive through perseverance, but also since they're smaller, they're able to get into tighter nooks and crannies, and therefore picked up skills that would make them not only useful to raiding parties, but also considered an essential, even valued partner.  That's right, they taught themselves... to HOTWIRE VEHICLES.  Sure, there are many ways of building vehicles, but it's nowhere near as much fun as just outright stealing them from someone else, and then using such for their raids, and cause a great deal of mischief and mayhem, potentially being able to raid even more through the initial confusion...

[SotF]

You know, there are the hell vehicle things in Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, might be worth considering how to modify the vehicles to fit that kind of thing for some more mayhem and fun on the table.

 

Or you could break out the old GorkaMorka rules and replace Orks with Gnolls for some real mayhem and it actually seems to fit quite well

Edited November 17, 2020 by SotF

[Kuroneko]

This is awesome  more please!

[WhiteWulfe]

4 hours ago, SotF said:

You know, there are the hell vehicle things in Baldur's Gate: Descent Into Avernus, might be worth considering how to modify the vehicles to fit that kind of thing for some more mayhem and fun on the table.

 

Or you could break out the old GorkaMorka rules and replace Orks with Gnolls for some real mayhem and it actually seems to fit quite well

Hmm, intriguing ideas, but my goal isn't for a fantasy or steampunk with this one.  This is probably going to be one of the first things I do that definitely isn't going to be seeing any kind of table, as scale models are necessarily designed for rough handling a gaming table (or even roleplaying table) would throw at them - which seems kind of odd, because boy can it sure can a decent amount of drops onto the table.   Those Infernal Machines definitely do look intriguing though.

 

That replace orks with gnolls idea is definitely tempting, but for a different project.

 

3 hours ago, Kuroneko said:

This is awesome  more please!

More what, pictures and sillyness, or accounts of the swearing as I tried to shoehorn in everything only to find out I was off by 1-2mm in some random direction?  There was plenty of the latter, I can guarantee that!

 

Oh, I do have more pictures though!  Let's start with... Eh, why not, the inside again.

^Virtually no additional progress has happened on the kit, as I spent most of today just working on the driver, and trying to get him more or less sorted out so that he'd just plain fit not only once the top went on, but also with the windows AND the dashboard.  Over an hour of going back and forth to the kitchen sink trying to get that left arm to work and eventually I said "y'know what, screw it, out comes the other guy and the knife".  That sure took a while to get off on the driver, and I strongly suspect I'm going to have my work cut out for me with rebuilding it and attaching the other smaller scale guy's arm.  Thankfully, so long as it looks good through the window it'll work, but I'll still do my best at having it look decent AND work with what's left of his current armour.  Oh yeah, and I'll get him some legs too, even though how he's hunched over you'd have to get a very precise angle to actually see he's missing any - but it would bug me, so legs he gets!

 

^I don't have full on pics, but the shield's been removed off that arm, as has the hand.  Still working out where the driver will place it, but I can worry about that for another day, because for now I don't exactly care about the driver's left arm (funny what happens when you bend it at least three dozen different ways trying to get it to either grab onto or go under the steering wheel!)

 

^Well, the good news is the top goes on, well, the top, with the driver in place AND the dashboard in there as well.  Which is good on that front.  Knifey-stabby guy still pokes out of the top too, although right now he isn't necessarily standing on all that much.  I'm sure he'll live.  He does get to have a machine gun, after all, and I'm starting to seriously get the impression he's going to be casually leaning on the roof door things - y'know, the ones that get pushed up when you go to access the machine gun turret.. thingy.  Technical terms, a fox has many: thingamajij, and whatnot.  That thing.

 

Oh yeah, I kind of like how it almost looks like the driver is forcibly holding the door closed, or.. trying to close it with how his right paw is...  Bit of a pity he doesn't have the axe anymore, but he is supposed to be focusing on driving....

 

^And for those wondering just how tall this is... That's Blacktongue, standing in front of it, and he's pretty much the same height, if not a touch taller.  The vehicle itself is just a bit over 3" long o_O

[haldir]

5 minutes ago, WhiteWulfe said:

 

^And for those wondering just how tall this is... That's Blacktongue, standing in front of it, and he's pretty much the same height, if not a touch taller.  The vehicle itself is just a bit over 3" long o_O

 

While gnolls have always been a tad bit taller then humans, Reaper's gnolls are large in themselves. Tre sculpted them bulky, with wide stances. Only way I can ever get his figures on a standard 1 inch base is by gluing them diagonally across. Love the pic with the gnoll sitting on top. I can totally see that one happening.

[Darcstaar]

Great project.

[Glitterwolf]

I like it!

Original, fun and cool!

Go for it!

 

Also, since you're not going to use realistic camo, how about painting some graffiti over the camo?

The Gnolls need to let the others know it's them driving the looted vehicle, right?

 

Mad Max/Gorkamorka can be good references.

Ideas/ references for the graffiti idea ( should you like it...)

 

[WhiteWulfe]

On 11/17/2020 at 3:07 AM, Glitterwolf said:

I like it!

Original, fun and cool!

Go for it!

 

Also, since you're not going to use realistic camo, how about painting some graffiti over the camo?

The Gnolls need to let the others know it's them driving the looted vehicle, right?

 

Mad Max/Gorkamorka can be good references.

Ideas/ references for the graffiti idea ( should you like it...)

Graffiti, weathering, and rust effects are definitely on the list.  I'm also kind of thinking for the base paint job of going with something along the lines of the Ballistic Armoured Tactical Transport vehicle (BATT) vehicles, which seems to be some sort of flat black, as well as Cambli's Black Wolf.  Our local police force apparently has both now, having just gotten the Black Wolf in recently.  That dusty, sun-faded flat black would make not only a lovely way of not being initially seen when raiding, but also a nice canvas for a variety of graffiti

 

It was mentioned on a Discord I'm on that maybe I should look into the upper gnoll kind of doing that relaxed slouch on the hatch doors, as well as having his tongue hanging out in the way that canines do when they poke their head out the window as you're driving.  That idea has grown rather heavily on me, doubly so as it would definitely play up the whole "going for a joyride" aspect of things!

 

No progress pics as of yet, since I've been re-arranging the living room, tidying up various workspaces, and getting my MonsterTech HOTAS mounts set up (and modifying the slider on my throttle), but I plan on sitting down and getting more work done today.  Not sure if sculpting will be involved or not, but I would like to get a bit more work done on the body of the vehicle itself, even if I am currently waiting on my small drill bits to come in - they should be in tomorrow.  Turns out I need a 0.8mm and 1.2mm drill bit, so I bought a 0.4-1.3mm set so I'm not caught off guard again 

[Glitterwolf]

The tongue out of the mouth pose would be awesome for this!

[WhiteWulfe]

Bit of a brief update as I wait on some parts to come in the mail.  Parts that hopefully will be delivered tomorrow

 

^So the hot/cold water trick didn't fully hold the right arm where I wanted it, so, uhm, well, I cut into his armpit somewhat, and then used something that's a lot more persuasive than hot water - superglue!  Unsurprisingly, that paw now definitely remains where I want it several hours later.  I also took the opportunity to drill and then trim the excess material out of his paw to make it look more like it's open.  Assuming I didn't glue that part to his body (which I suspect I did), I'll probably go and slice at his wrist so I can rotate it to a more natural/relaxed kind of pose.  If it's glued in place now, well, guess it's staying like that - not like it'll be all that visible once the top goes onto the LAV anyways.

 

I'm still trying to figure out what my plans are going to be for his left arm.  I'd have to do some serious resculpting of the current left arm (in photo, sort of, after it's been hacked off) if I were to have it so that it actually fits into the cab.  I've had a few ideas, but so far nothing concrete yet.  Main idea was to reposition it so that he's holding the steering wheel, or even just having it over top of the steering wheel, but getting it how I want wasn't really cooperating.  The other idea is having it casually draped along the center cluster, which is probably the direction I'll wind up going with...

 

^And so here's our fearless driver with blu-tack holding him in place, since he winds up hunching over the steering wheel as if half-drunk if I don't!  He doesn't quite fully fit into the seat, but I'm thinking that's mostly a minor thing at this point.  The big consideration I'm thinking about (and hopefully will get to work on in the next day or two) is how much of his legs to resculpt, and how to go about it.  I'm kind of thinking two brass rods where his thighs would be, bulked out a touch, and then add in that cloth "skirt" that most gnolls seem to have - this one did initially have such before Mister #11 came in and got rather talkative with the gnoll in question.  Basically just enough to kind of convey the basic impression that he does indeed have legs.

 

^Pardon the odd colour cast on this, I hastily took this pic using a 25mm macro extension tube and my Lumix 12-60mm at 60mm f8, and didn't really take much time to balance out various colours.  Main goal with this was to try and convey how much will actually be visible through the window, and that window will wind up being smaller in the long run once I get a bit more work done on the top half of the LAV - progress would have been further on said top half, but at the moment I'm waiting on those drill bits.  Sure, I probably could get away with things as they are, especially if I just kept that area nice and dark, but I'd rather give him legs just because I feel better - that and I'll be painting things as separate components (yup, my bane, but it's kind of necessary).

 

Since this project is going to have so many firsts, a part of me is wondering if I might also look into trying to give this at least some sort of scenic base, or even outright make it some sort of diorama, but the biggest issue I'm contemplating right now is how I'd keep to the combined theme of "Midnight Raid" and "Gnoll Joyride", and whether or not it would share the scene with the tank.  Raid would make more sense if shared with the tank, but if it were by itself, I suspect it would shift noticeably towards that of a joyride...  And I'm kind of preferring the joyride idea, truth be told.  That and, well, I honestly don't know how well it would fit into the rules AND if I could finish it in time for this year's thingy - I pretty much only have about 5 weeks to do such (apparently just shy of 39 days, so closer to six weeks but still).  The biggest question though if I were to make it a scenic base is first and foremost would it be desert/dirt roads, or asphalt, and more importantly, how heavily would I be implying the actual darkness?  Seems like a lot of questions, but hey, it's stuff for a fox to work on figuring out here and now if I am to look into doing such a thing.  Would look kinda neat portrayed as barreling down a dusty, dirty road though, that's for sure.

[Glitterwolf]

You can always enter it in the next year contest. Don't hurry!

 

You could create two dioramas that will fit together so you can make one big one or two smaller ones out of it.

It takes a little planning about composition. But it might solve your dilemma.

 

You have many options.

What will be the setting?

 

Will they drive around in a rural area, a desert or an urban area?

A highway or an alley?

Depending on the setting there are many cool modelling options ( walls with graffiti, running pedestrians, fleeing cows or cats, a running farmer, garbage cans, haystacks etc etc)

Edited November 23, 2020 by Glitterwolf

[Hack Mini Painter]

I did something similar with a Grot piloting an Imperial Guard Scout. I can't wait to see where this goes. 

 

HMP

 

[Kangaroorex]

This is great.  the sizing is really perfect, giving the vision of a bunch of brutish gnolls getting their hands on technology way outside their grasp but a basic knowledge of what to do with tt.  the only thing its missing is the drivers head hanging out the window tongue flapping in the breeze but there are limits to what you can make the minis do!

 

I cant wait to see it come to life!

[WhiteWulfe]

22 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

You can always enter it in the next year contest. Don't hurry!

I agree.  While I'd love to go for this year, if I just relax, take my time, and deal with the various challenges that crop up, it will be not only an enjoyable process, but also something I suspect I'll be rather proud of in the long run.

 

22 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

You could create two dioramas that will fit together so you can make one big one or two smaller ones out of it.

It takes a little planning about composition. But it might solve your dilemma.

Two separate ones that play on each other (or, effectively fit together theme wise) is probably the route I will go.  Hard part is going to be conveying more of the joy ride theme with the LAV, while the tank is clearly the "raid" side of it all.

 

22 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

You have many options.

What will be the setting?

 

Will they drive around in a rural area, a desert or an urban area?

A highway or an alley?

Depending on the setting there are many cool modelling options ( walls with graffiti, running pedestrians, fleeing cows or cats, a running farmer, garbage cans, haystacks etc etc)

Setting is one of the biggest thing I've been trying to work out.  I love the idea of going with something along the lines of a hybrid of Akira's bike gang scene and most of Ghost In the Shell's (1995) visuals, as...  Wait a second.  What if I wound up making it one diorama built around that precise theme....

...But the LAV is doing some sort of high speed hijinks, like say jumping off of a raised sidewalk or such...

.....While the tank is just a bit behind it, looking menacing as it comes down the highway.  Sure would allow for a combination of joyride AND raid, that's for sure...

 

Alley is insanely tempting too, because I could have elements of unsafe operation of a LAV (aka taking it airborne!), with some gnolls on foot as well, AND there's a distinct possibility of keeping it all relatively tidy at the same time (aka a small-ish scene)

 

19 hours ago, Hack Mini Painter said:

I did something similar with a Grot piloting an Imperial Guard Scout. I can't wait to see where this goes. 

 

HMP

 

That definitely looks like it was a fun time, love the look of that Sentinel Scout!

 

17 hours ago, Kangaroorex said:

This is great.  the sizing is really perfect, giving the vision of a bunch of brutish gnolls getting their hands on technology way outside their grasp but a basic knowledge of what to do with tt.  the only thing its missing is the drivers head hanging out the window tongue flapping in the breeze but there are limits to what you can make the minis do!

 

I cant wait to see it come to life!

Yeah, I'd love to have the driver's head hanging out the window, but I have the feeling I'm wanting to get more of an impression of the vehicle still being relatively intact, and not fully "modified for gnoll usage" (aka doors ripped off, or at least bigger windows "installed").  I could probably pull it off with one of the other minis, but then the trick really would be shoehorning said gnoll into the driver's seat.

 

~~~

^Basic work has started for the driver's lower half - two 1mm brass rods were put into approximate areas where his legs would be, and boy is that a fairly tight fit, but it looks like I'll be able to get semblances of the cloth skirt sculpted in there, as well as give him his butt and thighs back, so he'll sit at the angle I want him to when all is said and done.

 

^More of the exterior detailing has been added in.  I'm now at the point where the destructions say to assemble the halves, but I suspect I'm going to wind up doing other things first, possibly a few steps afterwards first, then paint, and then finally assemble it all.  It's definitely looking a lot more like a LAV, that's for sure.

 

^And here's where we run into another problem - now that the upper hatch is installed, mister dual stabby doesn't quite fit in anymore...  But I'm not quite all that worried, because I'm leaning heavily towards the idea of having him actually sitting on the roof, with legs danging in as he leans on those hatches somewhat.  Since my focus is going to mainly be on the driver for the next day or two, I'll try and think of something, but if anyone has suggestions, I'm definitely up for hearing such out.

[Hack Mini Painter]

6 hours ago, WhiteWulfe said:

Yeah, I'd love to have the driver's head hanging out the window, but I have the feeling I'm wanting to get more of an impression of the vehicle still being relatively intact, and not fully "modified for gnoll usage" (aka doors ripped off, or at least bigger windows "installed").  I could probably pull it off with one of the other minis, but then the trick really would be shoehorning said gnoll into the driver's seat.

 

Modified for Gnoll use is slightly different than, Gnolls, "we broke it by accident because we're big strong, and slightly stupid". See photo below of a car after a bear got into it.

 

I wouldn't say it was "modified for bear use", it's just a bear being a bear.           :D

 

If Gnolls being make a bit of a mess getting in, well these things happen... I'd cut that roof hatch wider with something sharp and make new doors/hatches out of 1 mm polystyrene. Time to get your scratch build on.

 

Best,

HMP