Dark Future Chevy Pro Stocker

Back in 1988 I had this old Chevy Stocker matchbox car that I used in games of Dark Future.

I had filed all of the paint off (I hadn't heard of stripping paint then), put dents in it with nails, even hammered it a little, to make it look old and beaten up.

As it didn't have any paint on it (just a few file marks!) there was no requirement for any paint to be stripped; so it was my first choice the be updated now that I've rediscovered my old boxed set. So after an evening's attentions it now has all sorts of little extras added on, as well as a more realistic paint job.

1976 Chevelle Laguna S-3. One owner. Low mileage.

This car will be part of the Children of Anarchy gang (I'm still deciding on the name), who are mainly a biker gang but have a few practical, heavy duty cars for heavy duty jobs when they need them done.

Firstly I drilled out the rivets on the base of the model and pulled it to bits to see what I had to work with. I then threw away the (now yellowing, and partly destroyed) clear plastic that formed the windscreen and windows, planning to upgrade to something more robust looking. I cut up a plastic clip used to keep bread packets closed and mounted that on the now vacant front screen to use as a carbon steel armoured plate.

I added a front ram bar using a bit of plastic tubing, with two pieces of plastic coated wire holding it on.

The side panels are magnetic sheeting superglued on the doors, painted to look like armour plates. There was a nail hole punched in the bonnet, so I covered it up with a bonnet scoop. The scoop is made from magnetic sheeting too (I will run this car as a supercharged V8 so a bonnet scoop seemed fitting!). In the future I will put some magnetic sheet on some weapons so I can just plonk them on the model and change them from game to game.

The mesh on the back window below is a piece of plastic strapping you see on pallets holding things down. I just trimmed it and glued it in place.

The rear bar is a piece of sprue I glued on the back. The armour plate is more bread clip, and there is a tube underneath for passives, such as oil, smoke or spikes (or even mines I suppose).

I added some tubes under each side on an angle just in front of the rear wheel for exhaust pipes. Dumping straight to atmosphere; no catalytic converters or mufflers in GrimDark 1995!

I gave it a fairly basic, utilitarian paint job, to match the styling I was going for. I painted the interior too but it's a little difficult to see with the two biggest windows covered up.

I added some details to the lights before dry brushing most of it away with my final dusty dry brush! Oops! The front ones still look ok, but the rear ones probably need a freshen up.

The anarchy symbol will feature heavily on this gang's vehicles (and clothing when I get some models). I might add a big one to the roof, as it is looking a little bland from above. Need to look the part for when the news chopper shows up!

Here you can see one of the weapons I'm also scratch building. I stuck a small disc magnet under the roof, and another under the weapon so it sits there quite well!

So that's it for now, the first Dark Future car I've painted in 25 years!

It was a fun exercise, and fairly quick, so I'm looking forward to getting more done.