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[Scramble]

Stepping Into The Motor Pool
Monday, December 18th, 2006

The annual Joe Canuck Meet in Hamilton has been growing in popularity and legend thanks to the selfless dedication and vision of the man they call Bounty Hunter Mike. The social gathering alone is worth the trip, no matter how far away you come for it. It has spawned a video wrestling tournament, TCG games, exclusive cards and figures, friendship, memories, and a small Montreal GI Joe Meet designed to emulate what Hamilton offers.

At this year?s Montreal Meet, there was an event that excited attendees and internet onlookers called the Speed Painting Contest. With a bag full of parts, participants had one hour to customize a figure they?d never seen before that day. Based on its success, the second Speed Painting Contest will be held in Hamilton this year, but with a twist. Montreal?s participants were given free reign to let their creativity dictate their creation. This is how we ended up with a mix of Cobras, Joes, Oktobre Guard, and unaffiliated, of army builders, Hasbro characters, and original characters. In Hamilton, participants must create a driver for an original vehicle custom, the winner of which gets to take the vehicle home.

Raptor, who currently owns fandom?s most impressive collection of half-junked vehicles, brought a new idea to the table. He proposed to send me a box full of shells and parts to make the vehicle from. But, I must post an ongoing blog detailing the progress of the creation. That way, blog readers get insight into my process when customizing a vehicle, something I?ve always said is as much architecture as it is creative.

This is the first blog entry.

At the moment, I have no idea what parts I will be working with, so I haven?t limited myself to a type of vehicle. I know I want this vehicle to fit in equally as a Joe vehicle and a Cobra vehicle, leaving the painter?s either option for their figure. At the moment, it could be anything from a snow tank to a dune buggy to an intergalactic rocket. Colour will be determined by the details that need to be filled in and where they land on the figure (I believe in colour triangulation). So, with no idea what I?m going to do, I think I?m ready to accept the Scrapheap Challenge.

On Friday I came home to a delivery notice. Low and behold, the box of plastic had arrived. It would be available for pick-up tomorrow after 1:00pm. The next day, I discovered that this is Canada Post lingo for ?available Monday after 3:00pm?. They did explain that they get deliveries like everyone else: Monday to Friday. Therefore, they wouldn?t get in this weekend. They had no explanation about why it would only be available at 3:00pm, but it didn?t matter. I?ll only be there to collect my donation at 6:00pm.

So starts the 2007 Joe Canuck Meet Scrapheap Challenge Blog. Check here often for progress reports on this, my finest 1:18 scale vehicular undertaking.

[move:3kvury3c]Get ready for[/move:3kvury3c]
[move:3kvury3c]                  April 14th, 2007[/move:3kvury3c]

[Scramble]

I arrived at the post office empty handed. I had no idea what size or shape my package was going to be, as vehicle shells can be pretty unruly to ship. Fortunately, it was a manageable box about the size of two shoeboxes. I had to smile when the girl behind the counter?s eyes went wide. She heard the bits inside shift and quickly defended herself and Postal Canada.

?It was like this when you picked it up,? she said, worried.

?It?s okay,? I said. ?It?s a box of spare parts.? She sighed. I signed. The box was now mine.

As timing works, my photographer friend Corey was dropping by with his super camera to take new, clearer pictures of the Robo-JOE custom I?d made for my Robo-Joe Superfan Grudge Match against friend and rival Viperlord. Knowing that a powerful camera and talented photographer would be arriving in half an hour, I waited to open the box until he got there.

I popped a pizza in the oven, and stared at the box. What could be in there? Large shells? Semi-complete vehicles? Unrelated parts? Jewels? Knowing the vastness of Raptor?s collection and the bent of his thought process, I was willing to believe anything was in there.

Corey arrived and I sent him straight to work. Even before taking the pics of Robo-JOE he thought he was there for, I had Corey shoot me opening the box. And where better to open it than in front of the lovely Christmas tree? So with a Swiss army knife in hand, I started cutting through the tape.





Raptor managed to pack the box very skillfully. Inside was a TigerCAT bottom shell, a Thunderclap tow tank, a Vindicator sled, and the SLAM turret. He also included a variety of trailers. The rest of the box was filled with vehicle guns and missiles, and a surprising number of backpacks, including what looks like Listen N Fun Tripwire?s backpack, full of mines. At first I didn?t understand why he included so many figure accessories for a vehicle project, but then I started to look the pieces over more closely. He packed in an backpack that could pass for a computer console or engine piece. I can easily use any of these to bulk up the vehicle and add much needed details.



Right now I?m leaning towards a combination of the Thunderclap and SLAM. I never appreciated how cool the SLAM turret was. I might have to look into adding a complete one to my collection. For now, I plan to fill in the back facing seat with an engine cover. Beyond that, an afternoon of fooling around with the parts and the extra vehicle pieces I have is in order to fully inspire me.

[Scramble]

I finally had a chance to lay out all the vehicle pieces from the Scrapheap Challenge donation box Raptor sent, along with the bulk of my own vehicle fodder. The birdman hooked me up, and Bounty Hunter Mike and Condor Night hooked him up. It's washing each others hands like this that make the community such a home to me. Thanks to all three for their contribution to this project.

Raptor?s a genius for including any backpacks that look like computers or engines, as they make great space fillers for bare areas that were not intended to be exposed. I especially appreciate the dozen Mainframe backpacks, each with a broken antenna. I have a couple myself that I?m adding to the pile. I?ll never forget the day my Funskool Mainframe arrived. I ordered it just for the accessories, and now I finally had a Mainframe walkie-talkie and a backpack without a broken antenna. It broke that day. That day!

So here are the highlights of the spread:



As you can see, I?m hooked up. I have a wide variety of accessories and weapons to arm this vehicle with. Although I do have a nice kayak paddle that Tank Girl particularly enjoyed, the vast majority of my bounty is made up of land vehicle pieces. I don?t think anyone?s going to complain if I declare officially that this has to be a tank. I?m still looking at a wide variety of options based on that.





This is what I can choose from for the heart of the vehicle: The turret from a SLAM, with cannons; the rocket sled from the Vindicator (ladies and gentlemen, Battle Force 2000); the majority of the front Thunderclap rolling vehicle; and most of a Tiger CAT. Funny enough, the bottom of the Tiger CAT came from Raptor, the top from my drawer. I used the seats from my own extra Tiger CAT for my Black Ice Snake custom.

I have two sets of treads; Thunderclap rolling machine and Tiger CAT; and three sets of wheels: Ice Snake and two Tiger CAT. This gives me plenty of flexibility. I can make a jeep and either have it level by using the four identical Tiger CAT wheels, or it can be tilted downwards using the big back wheels and small front wheels. I could also make a nice treaded tank, or a mix of both.




These are my choices for space fillers and embellishments. If I want to include a remote controlled sentry, for example, I would need some time of computer console within arm?s reach of the driver. Or if I want a transport or support vehicle, I need saddlebags and rolls. I thought these would be the last items I used, but it was this batch that inspired me more than anything else on the table:



Raptor provided me with six Wetsuit flashlights that had their wrist straps cut off. Either this is a common break I?m not aware of or he cut these for a purpose. Whether he needed the straps or had plans for the flashlights and gave up on them, I don?t know. But I instantly had a vision of a giant dark silhouette rumbling through the night, outlined by its many powerful headlights. All six of these flashlights will be used and a vehicle is starting to take shape in my head.




Here?s a collection of guns large enough to mount on vehicles, as well as a variety of missiles. I can?t say I have any plans to put missiles on this vehicle, but I didn?t have plans to put six headlights on it either. You want to squash inspiration, start saying No as early in the process as you can.

I see some nice long barreled cannons here and a few medium guns with multiples, handy for symmetry. The armament will likely be the last piece chosen.



Finally, the random chunks that may prove to be useful. Actually, I came up with a cool concept for a jetpack based off Destro?s Despoiler?s thrusters. It has nothing to do with the Scrapheap Challenge, just an idea I had. Nothing here really looks like it will work this time around, so it?s back into the drawer for them.

I grabbed some choice pieces and sat down to watch the first new episode of Battlestar Galactica in a month. From what I watched, it was a good episode, I would have followed it more closely if I wasn?t tinkering with my toys. Who knew there would be a day that I wished for longer commercial breaks?

My first goal was to find pieces that fit together. There was a Lanard trailer piece, for example, that fit really well under the half Tiger CAT base. Fit is very important in vehicle customizing because it saves on shaving off chunks, gluing mismatched pieces together, and a slew of headaches that scare many customizers away. I?d say it took me ten minutes to settle on the Tiger CAT base as the first piece set in stone. This provided a major problem, though: the hollow tube in the middle. This awkward piece would take a long time to cut off and was hard to fill. The SLAM turret half plugs into it but looks like it?s floating. I suspect finding purpose for this pipe will be the biggest battle of the Scrapheap Challenge.

I really like how the Thunderclap treads clip onto the Tiger CAT base. It?s a great height, touching the ground and still using the Tiger CAT axel wheels to move the vehicle around. But this made a big gap between the treads that needed to be filled. What should go in there? How about more treads? The Tiger CAT treads on the inside, the Thundeclap treads on the outside. It?s a menacing configuration. But it leaves the inside of the Tiger CAT treads exposed. Luckily I had two pieces of plastic that fit nicely. They emulate hubcaps and double as turrets.

I think I found a Configuration I like. But where will the driver sit? I have three choices: the SLAM turret; the Vindicator rocket sled; the seat from the Thunderclap. I eliminated the Thunderclap right away. Too bulky and too specifically molded. It could be cut to fit, but it would still feel exposed and awkward. The SLAM is going to be my second choice. I like the cannons, but it can only be placed a certain way to fit the base I?ve created, and I?d prefer more flexibility. Plus I?d have to fill the second seat in with computers and whatnot so that there isn?t someone facing backwards.

I really like the Vindicator rocket sled. Not on its own, it looks stupid. But as potentially a chassis for this vehicle?s driver? Excellent. And it fits in a variety of places. I might have to use random pieces to give it more bulk, and I will have to settle for an exposed driver, but overall I like it.

So here are a few configurations I?ve come up with:




I just like how these pieces flow together. I think the treads in the back imply that it can push through rougher terrain, so I might paint it white and make it an arctic vehicle.

Yep. I?m an ass.






I like this. The treads positioned like this give the impression this vehicle can roll over anything. A cannon fits between the inner treads, and coaxial automatic guns fit on the outside. The drive sits on top, and will be surrounded by lights. It?s my vision come to life. I?d just have to fill in a few gaps.



This is another configuration I like. It feels like a beetle crawling through dense terrain. I?d have to sacrifice the double treads in the back, though, and find something new to fill that space. I?d also need to figure out the main armament.



This uses the Lanard trailer to fill the gap, which it does nicely. There?s a massive rocket launcher that goes with this piece, too, so that would solve my armament issue.

There are a number of ways these pieces can fit together, but I?m pretty happy with my idea. The giant tank that crushes terrain and enemies under its treads makes for a nice Joe, Cobra, or Dreadnok vehicle, giving speed painting contestants a variety of directions they can take their figure. Over all, I?m enjoying this project and look forward to what it will look like completed. I just hope it won?t hurt too much to give it away.

Since you can make out what's in the pictures, it should be obvious I didn't take them. Credit goes to Tank Girl.

[Scramble]

Now that I have my pieces selected, there are a few more steps before the vehicle is complete:
-Choosing the colour;
-Choosing the name;
-Assembling the damn thing.

This may sound out of order, but I?m going to name it before I choose the colour. When it comes to a military vehicle, it?s important to have an appropriate colour scheme for the environment to which it belongs. And figuring out what this thing does and why is part of the process of naming it.

So what is the purpose of this tank with giant treads and no troop-carrying capacity? Obviously it is not aquatic and can?t fly, so that leaves arctic, desert, jungle, swamp, and urban locales. I?m going to discount jungle right off the bat. Even if this thing had an engine to tear down trees, that certainly isn?t an image I appreciate. Especially given that entrants in the Scrapheap challenge are supposed to have the freedom to decide whether this is a Joe, Cobra, or even Dreadnok vehicle. The Eco-Warriors would flip out if they knew General Hawk had commissioned a vehicle that was so environmentally unfriendly. What?s it fuelled by? The sorrow of a future generation without plant-life?

Let?s explore our four remaining options. GI Joe had more individual arctic soldiers than any other environment. Several memorable tanks such as the SnowCAT, and Cobra WOLFare extremely popular, with slick, functional designs.

An arctic vehicle needs treads (or five foot studded wheels, see the Arctic Blast) to navigate the treacherous snow, so we?re good there. But it also needs to protect its driver from the harsh environments it will be exposed to. This vehicle is wide open. The only way the driver would be safe is if he were wearing the best snow suit ever. And that?s another problem. The parts available to speed painting contestants would be far more limited. Especially for a decent Dreadnok. So I am forced to officially nix arctic as an option for this vehicle. Too bad, too, because it?d be cool to have a Joe Canuck or Black Ice riding shotgun.

Deserts terrain is rough and unforgiving, and changes with the wind. Generally flat-land, cover suitable for a vehicle is a rare commodity. In many ways, the pros and cons of making a desert vehicle are similar to making an arctic on. A desert vehicle would definitely benefit from the huge treads. But this vehicle offers the driver no protection from the sun or kicked up sand, and the Dreadnoks would look out of place. And since painting it beige really doesn?t excite me, let?s nix desert as well.

One thing that can be said about the swamp: The Dreadnoks would be right at home. But would a tank? I have no clue. I googled Swamp Warfare and found very little information. So for now I?ll assume yes, a tank with big enough treads could navigate shallow swampland. If this is the way I go, I?ll paint the vehicle a dark green. If the mold needs more life, I will detail in grey, including the treads. The green I have in mind is nicely complimented by a light grey.

With three nos and one maybe, we move into our final environment, Urban. The city. The GI Joe comic often depicted ruined cities as battlegrounds. It?s very personal reminder that the enemy isn?t much different from us, and that homes get leveled and lives ruined on both sides of any war. I can easily see this vehicle climbing over debris moving through a fallen building. All the machine guns would do well to break-up enemy cover. Most tanks are limited in this environment, but this one would specialize in it. It?s no APC, given that it seats two, so it couldn?t bring soldiers into the fray. But it could corner enemies or force them out of hiding. Or, if teammates are in a hot spot, it could clear them an exit. If it were a Dreadnok vehicle, it could provide all kinds of mayhem, terrorizing the town?s population and crushing or tearing apart whatever is in its path.

I think it?s safe to say this will be an urban vehicle. The ideas just kept coming to me when I considered what a vehicle like this could do in an environment like that. On top of that, contestants would be free to build their figures using a wide variety of parts and colours. I think I?ll make the vehicle grey with blue highlights.

What should this urban tank be called? The first name that came to mind was the Scrapheap. It?s nicely self-referential, conveys the images I had of driving over the debris that was a city, and sounds tough without sounding too good or evil.

The next name that came to me, believe it or not, was Brickmop. It sounds kind of ridiculous, but? okay, now that I?ve written it, anything I liked about that name is out of my system. But it did give me an idea for colour scheme. A grid pattern like a brick wall. It would mean a lot of precision painting, so I?d have to test it first to make sure it was worth the effort. The hard part would be making it look like the driver had painted on a decal and not that the tank was made of bricks. Maybe as a background to the logo. Hmm?

A few more names came to be, but got disqualified pretty quickly:
Grinder (same name as a sammich)
Urban Roller (Doesn?t roll off the tongue)
Urban Crusher (also doesn?t roll off the tongue, and sounds a bit evil)

I?m very happy with the name Scrapheap. It says what I want it to say, and is a fun homage to how the vehicle was actually conceived. Ladies and gentlemen, meet GI Joe?s newest urban warfare vehicle: The Scrapheap!

[Scramble]

With a name and a pile of GI Joe vehicle parts painted to match, the Scrapheap Challenge was over! Everything is all set for Canadian Joe Meet on Saturday, April 14th. It?s been rewarding but I?m glad it?s over.










Oh wait! I still need to put this thing together! My last experience customizing a vehicle was the Black Ice Snake personal ride of last year?s much-talked about Canadian Joe Meet exclusive Black Ice. It may look sharp in those pictures, but sadly the Black Ice Snake fell apart within a week. For whatever reason, Crazy Glue and glue gun glue will not hold GI Joe vehicles together. So for the Scrapheap, I had to order in the heavy artillery: High Performance Epoxy!



This stuff is insane. It dries so powerful, it can?t be contained together. They have to break it up into two equal parts of the chemicals and store them separately. Then you use a double plunger to squeeze it out at the same rate. Then you mix it together and you have about half an hour to apply it before it hardens. The cap is designed to only fit back on in one way, because if you put it on backwards and the white part mixed with some brown residue or vice versa, you would never be able to open it again. I love this stuff!




This being my first time using it, I decided to test it on some random pieces left over from the box of donations. I applied a minimal amount, (the express ?less is more? was coined because of glue, I guarantee it), stuck two flat surfaces together, and left it. These two pieces are now inseparable. Not literally, of course, but it would take more than an accidental amount of pressure to break them apart.





This job took a couple of days. I first had to glue the east and west sides together, in this case gluing the treads to the hulls. There were enough outies and inies that lined up on both parts to have a resting position while the glue dried. To insure Nothing knocked them around, I tied elastics to hold the pieces together and left it overnight.










Now I had three large pieces: a ?north piece? the cockpit; a ?south piece? the carriage; and a flat piece that would hold them together. Because the south piece was noticeably longer than the north piece, I couldn?t tie an elastic band around them. It would  cause a bend at the joint. So I placed the front end firmly against the side of a box, and placed a book on the back end to hold it there. Both ends were secure and the items were safely away from any glue. The last thing I needed was actual debris attached to the Scraphead.



Almost done. One of my earliest inspirations was an image of a tank barreling forward at night, lit only by its many powerful headlights. Often the point of inspiration is the last idea cut in the creative process. Not this time. With six specially cut and painted Wetsuit flashlights waiting to be added, I was almost done. A little glue and:





The Scrapheap. The prize in the Canadian Joe Meet?s inaugural Speed Painting contest, complete. Be there for it?s official unveiling Saturday, April 14th! Until then, I hope you?ve enjoyed this blog. On top of being fun to write, it encouraged me to repair and finish the Black Ice Snake. If you?d like to see future blogs, shoot me a PM, or tell me in person at the meet.

[narceron]

Where is the scrapheap?

[Raptor]

Winging it's way to Australia with Moto-viper. I'm sure that we can convince Scrams to post a pic or two of it though, if we remembered to take any...

- 

[xhairs]

the  best use of parts was made by raptor and slpaypantz at the meet that thing was nuts lol. nice idea. cant wait to see what ppl come up with.

[night force cynic]

Scramble, it was great to see that speed painting contest happeing.  I was really impressed how many unique figures and characters came out of that, especially on short notice of, what, and hour of pre-planning.  We've got a hell of a lot of talent on these boards! 

I'm DEFINITELY getting in on the scrapheap challenge action next year.

the  best use of parts was made by raptor and slpaypantz at the meet that thing was nuts lol. nice idea. cant wait to see what ppl come up with.

Yeah, that vehicle Raptor and Slopy were engineering was a quite a thing to watch come together.  The fact that it it was built entirely out of stuff off the freebie table was even more impressive!   I'm dying to see where all Kevin's gonna take that thing.  (And who came up with the name Broken Silence?  That rocks!) 

[Scramble]

What the heck? I skipped the chapter on painting! Let me see if I can't drum it up somewhere.

[Scramble]

Here is the missing chapter. Expect the finished product when I download the meet pictures off my camera.

-----------

April 14th is fast approaching, The Mike has revealed Shiver and I?m almost ready to reveal the Scrapheap, the vehicle that Speed Painting participants will be vying for when they pick up their paint brushes a furiously try to beat the clock.



Now that the parts have been picked and a function decided on, it was time to do a little painting of my own. I?d settled on a blue colour to the vehicle as it applied to the most factions in GI Joe. However, the blue I intended to buy, Citadel Paints? Shadow Grey (don?t let the name fool you, it has a prominent blue tinge) has been discontinued as a spray paint, and the can I thought I had was in fact Ultramarines blue. Ultramarines blue is a shade very similar to Cobra Commander v1, not as neutral as I?d planned. Hopefully the grey camouflage would offset the Cobra base colour of the Scrapheap.

I separate the parts into two piles: 1) The parts that would not be sprayed (the wheels, which were already the black I wanted;



2) The parts that would be sprayed.



Everything in that pile was to be sprayed blue except the cannon, which would be solid silver. When I customize, I tend to say military realism be damned, I want toys that blend in with the GI Joe line that Hasbro released. So the cannon would be all one colour and the rest of the tank would be another.

I used to put plastic bags on my hands when spraying to protect them from the paint. That?s right, both hands. You?d be surprised how much paint you end up with on the finger that?s manipulating the can. Now that I live with a biochemist, however, I have disposable latex gloves for these kinds of projects. A box of them isn?t too expensive, and it beats tying a grocery bag around your wrist.

There are two popular techniques for spraying. There?s the Hold-In-Your-Hand and rotate method, which allows a great deal of control of the parts to ensure maximum coverage, but means that you are leaving the section covered by your hand unpainted. Then there?s the Box technique, where you place the pieces inside a large cardboard box and spray from the top, leaving it to dry before rotating and painting it again from a different angle. The box technique is safer and cleaner, but slower and less accurate, so I tend towards just holding it.



The spraying stage was complete. But what?s this? A piece still it?s factory colour? Sadly, I ran out of Ultramarines blue spray before I could get to the wagon, the latest in my paint-related woes. Looks like I?ll have to paint that piece by hand.

Painting camouflage is tricky because you expect your base colour to dominate the piece. In reality, it stands out because it?s the most striking colour, but only a third of the toy ends up that colour. The toy is mainly composed of the middle colour, or mute colour. The mute color is a cool complimentary colour to the base colour. It fades into the background because of how the light hits it, even though it covers two thirds of the toy?s surface. If this colour is more prominent than the base colour, you might want to reverse the order you apply them.

Normally when painting camouflage, I cut out hard angled geometric shades from masking tape and stick them to the toy. Then I paint the mute colour in the gaps and peel off the tape, revealing the well-protected bottom layer. I decided this time I would instead free-hand the mute colour on and then cut shapes into a cardboard template to paint the top layer. Why I thought now was a good time to test a new technique still escapes me.




Here I met my third paint problem of the day. I planned on topping the Scrapheap with small light grey shapes overlapping the mute layer. But when I opened my light grey pot, it had gone hard. All I had that contrasted the mute layer was white, and that ended up much too warm to make for proper camouflage. So I got experimental.

I needed a sharp contrast that would stand out more than the white. At first I considered red, because for the longest time I thought red coupled fantastically with blue. Maybe I felt that way because I?ve been playing with GI Joes my whole life and blue and red was the classic Cobra colour scheme. This vehicle had to be neutral. So, I took the bold step of using Golden Yellow. With the greatest precision, I applied the straightest lines I could freehand. I was pretty happy with the final effect. Until I saw just what the yellow and white looked like together. Bolts of lightning from a rain cloud.



I had to make a choice: accept this pretty cool affect and go back to the drawing board on the name and purpose of this vehicle; paint over a stage I?d completed and start from there; fix the problem with another layer of paint. I was married to the name Scrapheap, so I decided any change I made would be cosmetic, not background. Since my options were painting over a mistake or painting another coat, I decided to try the extra coat and, if it didn?t work, I?d be painting over it anyway.

I picked up the red I originally thought would work and painted another line parallel to the yellow one. I had no idea what this would look like, but it seemed like such a good idea in my head. Again, I tried to stay precise, and again I impressed myself with my straight lines.





I liked it. It didn?t make any sense, but neither did the Trouble Bubble. More importantly, it adds another colour to the pallet, giving contestants in the Speed Painting contest more choice for matching their figure to their vehicle.




All this vehicle needs now is some glue and a few accessories and it?s complete and ready for the Hamilton JoeCanuck Meet, April 14th!

[Agent_Loop]

This was one of the highlights of the meet. I really enjoyed this event. Just great seeing two tables full of customizers dishing out a custom in one hour. I kept my eye on my own custom for 60 minutes straight, then when it was over, I was amazed to see what everyone else has done; like Nova's Crystal Windmill and especially Moto-Viper's skull-faced custom. Wow!
Thanks to Ryan and Charles for setting this up.