Mad Max group build proposal

[Beekster]

The thread I started on possibly doing the Excavator Death from Fury Road sparked some thoughts of a group build of vehicles suitable for the Mad Max world. There are a couple of ways to go with this, I think: 

The first would be an anything-goes format of whatever fits, whether it was seen in the films or not.  Imaginations and budgets could run wild; so too could the time frame which probably defeats the purpose. 

The second would be a more constrained version where everyone uses the same basic kit...perhaps the Revell/Monogram Snap-Fit Mack R700 tractor and tanker trailer. Ignore the fact that it's left-hand-drive and go to town making something between the War Rig of Fury Road and the sand-filled tanker of Road Warrior. Use of a different trailer would be authorized along with whatever needs to go along with it to make it more survivable, more lethal, or both.

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Do go on....

[JCON]

I'm thinking you would get more takers with the first option as it allows more individuality...

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Totally agree.

[Beekster]

Nov 13, 2017 16:09:18 GMT -6 JCON said:

I'm thinking you would get more takers with the first option as it allows more individuality...

Absolutely true on that.  I do worry about the time frame getting out of hand, and possibly budgets, too...the Excavator Death as I've noted could easily be a $150 project or more. That would dissuade some, I'm sure.  Perhaps limiting the base kit to the R700 (the Mad Macks...) is too restrictive, but there's something appealing about specifying a basic kit like a snap-fit so that it encourages modification and detailing.  Let's keep the ideas coming...

[BUCKY]

Appealing ideas! More talk needed on this one! How about it, folks? I actually have a Mad Max Interceptor Falcon kit in the stash!

[JCON]

I haven't even seen the movie!!!

[BUCKY]

Would this GB encompass all the Mad Max movies?

[dogfish7 (R.I.P.)]

Hope so. I have the Mad Max Mustang.

[IceMan Collections]

Apocalytpic vehicles has always been an interest for me. I’ve always wanted a reason to build one.

[Wes]

If it doesnt have to be something from the movie, but must still have the Mad max feel then im in.

[Beekster]

My sense of this is that "Mad Max" is a general theme rather than a specific requirement. That is, vehicles actually seen in the films aren't the only acceptable subjects. Rather, anything that conforms to the background that has been presented on film. So everything has to have something of a rat-rod aesthetic to it, with modifications that would come about from scavenging whatever you find to just keep a vehicle running along with alterations that increase it's offensive and defensive potential, if it is a fighting vehicle you are looking to build. I suggested the Revellogram Mack tanker mostly because it is evocative of the rig in Road Warrior, though not quite the same. Clearly the War Rig from Fury Road was inspired by that, though on a rather different scale...I mean, a Tatra 813 tractor with two V8 diesels and a "crew cab" from a 1940s sedan is pretty wild, so there's a lot of room to let the imagination run.

I'm still thinking about the Mack tanker, but perhaps making an extended-wheelbase truck with a tag axle, modifying the tanker to support a Canadian-style B-train fifth wheel, and something else behind. Maybe extend the front end, too, for that second engine with a second steering axle...

[BUCKY]

I like your line of thinking, beekster! I always remember in the first movie, there was a bright red custom 1959 Chevrolet sedan. It's the one the biker gang ravaged and destroyed. Poor '59 Chevy!!

[BUCKY]

BUT......how about this?

[Beekster]

Nov 14, 2017 11:49:28 GMT -6 BUCKY said:

BUT......how about this?

You'll need a bunch of reference to do the Gigahorse!  The real one ran quite well, and was clocked at over 60mph on some of the filming runs...on dual tractor tires nor remotely rated for those speeds.  Of course, as Mercedes-Benz guy I'm partial to the W126 S-Class perched atop the US Army surplus Kaiser 5-ton truck frame, the rig run by the fat People Eater. The possibilities are nearly endless; the trick will be finding compatible scale materials without getting too huge. Plenty of 1/24 and 1/25 trucks and cars to mess with, but that makes for a huge model.  For me, 1/32 and 1/35 are close enough to work together, though the selection of 1/32 trucks and cars is a little thin.

[JCON]

That is cool Bucky!!!

[Mence]

Fantastic idea.

I would be so slow on coming up with something that's it's better if I just follow you boys and your builds.

[Beekster]

It looks like we're settling on a pretty free-form group build, which is great. While Mad Max was more or less set in a devastated Australia, our builds don't have to be set in a desert wasteland. The Mad Max background is pretty straightforward and stark. Allow me to quote George Miller himself, from the foreword to the book "The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road":

"How do you create a post-apocalyptic wasteland?? It starts next Wednesday...when all the bad stuff we see in the news comes to pass all at once. A catastrophic cascade of economic crises, power grids collapsing, Oil Wars, Water Wars, failed states, a random nuclear "skirmish". Humanity terrorizing itself, an Earth gone sour, plus pitfalls none could foresee. Now leap forty-five years into the future. The great cities have been razed, the remote center of a continent has become a wasteland marauded by roving gangs. There is no honor, no rule of law just a dominance hierarchy overseen by a tyrannical warlord and his cronies. They control the essentials...Water, Gasoline, and Munitions. A Citadel, a Gastown, and the Bullet Farm. Everyone is a survivor trying to find meaning in a world gone insane."

Thinking more broadly, this kind of setting would hold true all over the world. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I can easily envision rival groups looting what's left at JBLM and fighting over the pieces of the refineries at Anacortes, for example. Or the processing sites for the tar sands up around Fort MacMurray, which has the added bonus of being in the subarctic. Before everything collapses, it would seem reasonable that strongmen would stake out territory and try to secure all the resources they could. If I controlled the fracking sites in North Dakota, I would want to raid elsewhere to get the means to refine the crude before someone else does. Early on, such figures would likely rely on more or less formed military units that would battle for these sites, often with the objective of holding them long enough to disassemble whatever was desired and ship it back to the stronghold. Trade relationships would still exist between these rivals, but they would just as soon slaughter one another as make deals for commodities, from natural resources to fertile, un-irradiated women. A nightmare world, but one barely recognizable as the result of our own worst impulses. So, imagine yourself such a warlord in your own area. What do you need to have to keep control and acquire the resources you need, knowing that all the while the technological base is decaying and won't be coming back in your lifetime? Think about that, and decide what to build...

[MARCO]

I'll just watch this with great interest!

[Wes]

Nov 15, 2017 15:19:52 GMT -6 Beekster said:

It looks like we're settling on a pretty free-form group build, which is great. While Mad Max was more or less set in a devastated Australia, our builds don't have to be set in a desert wasteland. The Mad Max background is pretty straightforward and stark. Allow me to quote George Miller himself, from the foreword to the book "The Art of Mad Max: Fury Road":

"How do you create a post-apocalyptic wasteland?? It starts next Wednesday...when all the bad stuff we see in the news comes to pass all at once. A catastrophic cascade of economic crises, power grids collapsing, Oil Wars, Water Wars, failed states, a random nuclear "skirmish". Humanity terrorizing itself, an Earth gone sour, plus pitfalls none could foresee. Now leap forty-five years into the future. The great cities have been razed, the remote center of a continent has become a wasteland marauded by roving gangs. There is no honor, no rule of law just a dominance hierarchy overseen by a tyrannical warlord and his cronies. They control the essentials...Water, Gasoline, and Munitions. A Citadel, a Gastown, and the Bullet Farm. Everyone is a survivor trying to find meaning in a world gone insane."

Thinking more broadly, this kind of setting would hold true all over the world. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I can easily envision rival groups looting what's left at JBLM and fighting over the pieces of the refineries at Anacortes, for example. Or the processing sites for the tar sands up around Fort MacMurray, which has the added bonus of being in the subarctic. Before everything collapses, it would seem reasonable that strongmen would stake out territory and try to secure all the resources they could. If I controlled the fracking sites in North Dakota, I would want to raid elsewhere to get the means to refine the crude before someone else does. Early on, such figures would likely rely on more or less formed military units that would battle for these sites, often with the objective of holding them long enough to disassemble whatever was desired and ship it back to the stronghold. Trade relationships would still exist between these rivals, but they would just as soon slaughter one another as make deals for commodities, from natural resources to fertile, un-irradiated women. A nightmare world, but one barely recognizable as the result of our own worst impulses. So, imagine yourself such a warlord in your own area. What do you need to have to keep control and acquire the resources you need, knowing that all the while the technological base is decaying and won't be coming back in your lifetime? Think about that, and decide what to build...

You should write movie scripts Beekster