Rusted Post-Apocalyptic Vehicles

    My rusted out, dilapidated Post-Apocalyptic vehicles from Diabolical Terrain

When I go to a convention, I always like to try to support the vendors in attendance. Sometimes this leads to purchases that I don't need right away (or may never truly need). Other times, it leads to purchases that are a bit more pricey than my normally cheapskate nature might contemplate. 

    This abandoned taxi makes for great terrain for a Post-Apocalyptic game (or modern junkyard?)

Such was the case with these two 3-D printed dilapidated Post-Apocalyptic vehicles. I was at DayCon 2022 and one of the vendors in attendance was Diabolical Terrain. They 3-D print a very cool Post-Apocalyptic line which is meant (I believe) for the Fallout Miniatures game. These were incredibly cool and evocative terrain pieces that immediately caught my eye. The price tag was a bit of sticker shock, though, considering what I normally pay for 3-D printed terrain. I ended up buying two dilapidated vehicles, a van and a taxi, to place on the tabletop for my Post-Apocalyptic games. 

    The Bass Reeves, one of my Post-Apoc gangs, check out the taxi for anything salvagable

The van was $30 and the taxi was $20. I think that is a tad steep, but the sculpts are very clean and required zero cleanup or trimming. DayCon is a convention I attend every year, so I wanted to support its vendors. So, I sucked it up and made the purchase. Once the rush of getting things ready for the Advance the Colors Saga tournament was done, I immediately slotted those into my painting queue. If I am going to pay top dollar for these cool terrain pieces, then I am going to get my money's worth and get them on the table ASAP!

    Hopefully the two-tone rust effect and the sky reflection on the windows came out okay on this model

To prep them, I spray painted them with Krylon matte black. I followed that up with my usual 50/50 mix of black acrylic paint and water. I went online and look for images to inspire me, but was surprised to find very few. I figured these being Fallout terrain that there would be a bunch of screen shots of the game featuring this van and taxi. Not the case -- or at least in the search terms I was using. So, I decided to go with a very faded yellow as a base coat for the taxi. I dry brushed this white, but felt it looked too blanched, and didn't have even a hint of that taxi yellow. So, I did a wash of golden yellow and was much happier with the result.

    I love how all the various ribs and metal beams are twisted and bent on this van model!

Trim for the bumpers and wheel wells was done in a steel color with silver highlights. Same for the metallic chrome around the headlights and tail lights. I also did splashes of medium gray on the tires. For the rust, I once again resorted to Google Image searches for patterns of rust on old, weathered vehicles. I used a medium brown as the initial coat, following that up in the center portions with a terra cotta orange. I went back and forth about how to paint the taxi sign atop the vehicle. It is divided into three sections, which I have never seen anywhere on a taxi. I decided to ignore the sections, and simply use a Sharpie marker to write "TAXI" on it. 

    The Vallejo black wash provides an overall grimy effect that, even though I water it down, looks good

The final coat was with Vallejo Black Wash, watered down considerably. I love how it settled in the folds and creases and made the vehicle look long abandoned. I didn't consider what it would do to the Sharpie, though, and it made the letters run. On reflection, now I actually liked the effect it had on the lettering. I think it adds to the overall sense of ruin and neglect. For the windows, I had painted them solid black. I used a very watered down deep blue on the top half of each window to give the effect of reflecting the blue sky. I used a line of watered down very light blue to give the effect of white clouds reflecting off the glass. I finished off the windows with diagonal streaks of the almost white blue to represent glare. I like how the windows came out, and think they give a decent effect.

    This vehicle looks long since looted by previous survivors in the grim post-Apocalyptic world

The van I dry brushed a cream color with another highlight of white. I gave it a dark olive drab green broad stripe at the bottom, which was dry brushed with a very light olive drab. The interior was done with the same cream for the floor and console, while the seats were done in a lighter olive base coat. Dark steel was used on the chrome or metal sections, with a silver dry brush, like with the taxi. I used the exact same rust effects, as well as the black wash. I was really worried that I didn't put enough thought and effort into the van, but really like how it came out.

All in all, I am very happy with how both terrain pieces came out. I recommend these Diabolical Terrain pieces if you want some iconic looking, Post-Apocalyptic terrain for the tabletop.