RV Scratch-Build for...well, Zombie RV!

    Zombies swarm survivors holding out atop their RV, scratch-built from a pizza truck die cast shell

Readers of my blog know that I've been playing Zombie RV over the last few months. Instead of an RV, I've been using my 3-D printed vans, SUVs, land cruisers, etc. But the name of the game is RV (or campervan, Airstream, mobile home -- whatever you want to call it), so I've been trying to pick up one either from die cast, 3-D print, or anything, really. After striking out finding anything I liked commercially, I finally decided to scratch-build my own. I picked up a inexpensive pizza truck die cast toy from the local grocery store and set out to convert it into a recreational vehicle for my survivors.

    The material I used to convert the pizza truck into an RV was JTT Corrugated Siding sheets

First step was to find the corrugated material I intended to plaster onto the sides. I was surprised that the local craft and model trains didn't carry it any longer. I ended up having to order it on Amazon. No biggie, but my mantra is to shop local and support the hobby and craft stores. I feel that if we all end up ordering things online rather than driving down the street to get what we need, our local stores are going to go out of business. Others may disagree, but I feel pretty strongly about it.

    1st step was to glue wooden craft sticks to the corners of the truck to create the frame & level surface

Next step was to cut to size and glue craft sticks to the corners of the flat sides so that the material would have an even and not sloped surface to adhere to. I used tacky glue to do that because the plastic material was going to completely encircle the vehicle. The chances of it being popped off were slim, I felt. The craft stick frame also gave something for the corrugated material to attach to at all corners. 

    Next step was to glue the corrugated material to the craft sticks and front of the truck

You've heard the phrase, "Measure twice, cut once?" I took that to heart and double checked my measurements when I but the corrugated material in the next step. I wanted it to be as exact as possible (especially on top, where I wanted the vent fan to project through a hole). I was pleased that the care I took paid off and I had no disasters or mistakes from bad measurements. Essentially, I was enclosing the pizza truck in a corrugated rectangular box. RVs tend to have a grooved or corrugated material, it seems, so I chose this material to make it give that effect.

    No matter how careful you are cutting, there will be gaps where they don't join perfectly

Even though I feel I did a pretty good job cutting the five sides (including the top), I knew there would be places where it didn't line up perfectly and there would be gaps. The photo above shows what it looked like after all the sheets were glued onto the truck and craft stick frame. Besides no cutouts for the wheel wells, it looks a little haphazard, doesn't it?

    These L-shaped pieces of plastic would cover up the joins between the sheets and any gaps

I had planned for that, though! The local model train store has a great selection of Evergreen plastic pieces (no corrugated material, but lots of rods, L-shapes, U-shapes, and so on). I bought two sizes to be on the safe side and went with the larger one. Weirdly, I don't have a picture of the size I ended up using -- "295" or 5/32". Anyway, I carefully measure these and glued them into place. Where one L-section joins another, you have to slice away a little rectangle of the material otherwise it will stick out. That called for even more careful measurement!

    The RV after the L-shapes are glued into place at each join and the wheel wells cut out

In the end, all these extra steps give you a much more smooth looking vehicle. L-shape pieces can also be used for MDF or hand made buildings at the corners to give it a smoother look, too. As for the wheel well, I kind of eyeballed it. I traced a likely looking arc onto a piece of cardboard. I cut it out the cardboard, and then traced its arc onto the corrugated material with a Sharpie. The corrugated material is thin enough it can be cut with a sharp pair of scissors, which I did carefully, then covering up the edge with arcs of cardboard to represent the trim. The base RV was done. Now, it was time to trick it out with windows, doors, and other accessories!

    The window frames were pieces of MDF from a bag of doors and various other Sci-Fi pieces

I dug through all my various MDF pieces and other terrain pieces looking for something I could glue onto the sides of the RV to be the window frames. Eventually, I found some "Block O" shaped pieces that I thought might work. They were a little thicker than I liked, but the shape appealed to me, so I went with them. I would put two windows on the side without the door and one on that with it. The back, besides the ladder, would have a narrow oval shaped window which I also had a piece of MDF to match.

    Before gluing the MDF window frames to the RV, they were first glued to clear plastic surface

Some of you may be thinking, "Wait -- won't the corrugated material look silly as a window?" YES! You are correct! However, I thought of that beforehand, as well. I dug through my unpainted stuff and found something in a blister pack. I cut out the thin plastic material and glued the MDF window frames to them, first. Then I used an X-acto knife to trim the edges. The blister pack plastic would sit atop the corrugated material and would paint smooth, giving a more believable window.

    The back of the RV with all of its add-ons done, including a ladder and big electrical outlet socket

I got really lucky on the ladder to attach to the RV! I had recently bought some 3-D printed trailers and a water tower from Bad Goblin Games, each of which included ladders in them. Some of the ladders were a bit long, and I could cut off just enough to make a nice ladder on the back of the RV. The circular MDF piece above is meant to simulate an electrical plug-in (in happier, pre-zombie apocalypse days...).

    The other side of the RV with the door, a Liberty Bell coin, and a tank and tube on top

For the RV's door, I just used a piece of balsa wood with a slatted look to it. I created a frame for it from craft sticks, and then almost forgot to glue on a tiny piece of dowel as the door handle (look for the finished pictures to see this late, oh crap, addition! The coin with the Liberty Bell on it has been sitting in my bits box for a couple decades, I would guess. I knew I would use it one day, and today was that day! I glued it to the side so that it would have a nice, patriotic design on the side. Atop the roof, I added a 3-D printed propane tank on its side and a piece of pipe from Miniature Building Authority. I decided not to use the tire in the end, as you will notice in the finished pictures. I figured it didn't make sense to store spare tires up there -- how would you get them up there? And would you just toss them down??

  RV painted and covered in a dirty black wash to simulate the grime accumulated since the apocalypse

I painted the corrugated material with white acrylic gesso, in hopes it would stick to the plastic surface better than just ordinary primer. The corrugated material was painted a craft paint called "Maple Sugar" and then dry brushed a very light yellow. Since nearly all RVs you see on the road are two-tone, I decided to go with a dull red since, well, the die cast truck was red! The corrugated material made making the stripes easier than it might have otherwise, just following in the grooves. I dry brushed the red trim with salmon to give it an equally worn look. The propane/water? tank atop was painted Iron Wind Metals Steel and highlighted Pewter. Same with the ventilation grill on the roof.   

    Zombies swarm the RV on all sides, looking for a way to get at the survivors atop it

I am really happy with how the RV came out. It is not perfect, of course. I need to make the sides of the RV not drag so low to the ground. Maybe there is a way to glue the wheels into place so it stands off the ground a little higher? Or, as I plan on doing another one, I could always cut the corrugated material shorter leaving a higher ground clearance. The window frames are probably too chunky, too thick. For my next one I will experiment with something smaller. I imagine I could also just use thick cardstock cut to the correct shape. I got lazy on the windows. I did them like the windshields on my 3-D printed cars, and it doesn't look as convincing here. Another idea I had was to find an image online of curtains pulled back in a window and just print it out and glue it into place. I may try that for the next one.

    Will the survivors drive off the hordes from their rolling home? Stay tuned & see in Zombie RV!

Miniature Painting & Purchasing Tally for 2024 (Next year, I want to tally terrain and scatter, too. If anyone has any ideas how to do that, I'd love to hear!)

• Miniatures acquired in 2024: 170
• Miniatures painted in 2024: 183