Action Force SHADO Mobiles

I’ve recently been on a roll with the 3D printing and have got a setup I am really happy with now for both FDM and resin.

On the FDM side (using my Creality CR-10S) I have been concentrating on vehicles and scenery.  This has given me the opportunity to go back and visit models I previously tried to print with limited success.

There were three in the bed…

One such example is the excellent SHADO mobile by AlPokemon that is available free to download on Thingiverse.  I had previously tried to print this before I had got my settings ‘fully dialed in’.  Armed with a new found (if not slightly tentative) confidence I loaded up the printer bed and set to work on not one, but three of these iconic vehicles.

Fresh off the printer.  One standard, two with turret options.  Note the size of the recess for the turret, I’ll come back to that later.

At the same time I have been going back to my ‘Action Force and the Red Shadows in 28mm scale‘ project.  Having done something similar before (albeit with a commercial model kit) I decided it was time for the Action Force teams to buy up some of that surplus SHADO inventory and kit themselves out with some mobile support.

Tracks are one piece but applied to individual pegs which were extremely fiddly to glue in place on the model (as opposed to my fingers)

I printed two variants this time, one the standard SHADO mobile, but the other with a ‘turret’ option.  The STL files contained options for a gun turret and a couple of different communiations arrays.  In order to provide some flexibility for gaming I decided to magnetise these turrets and their attachments.

Turret recess

In the end I went with a tiny magnet and a 5p piece, which just perfectly fit the recess in the model.

It’s probably important to note at this point that I made no scaling changes to the file prior to printing, and the models I would say at a rough guess are approximately 1:48 scale (more than good enough for 29mm gaming).

Top tip if using coinage with magnets – check them first.  Apparently not all 5p coins are magnetic (who knew?).

Having previously tackled Space Force I decided that it was the turn of Z Force (infantry) and Q Force (naval) to add to their arsenals.

For the Z Force Mobile (which I envision as a HQ vehicle or forward observer) I went with the traditional green and black camo. The airbrush was used for this with Vallejo Russian Green as the base over a black undercoat.

Z Force camo for that 80s cold war flavour!

Camo was black with grey highlights and details were picked out in red and yellow as a nod to the original toy line.

Windows were base coated white prior to a coat of Citadel Contrast Space Wolves Grey

Decals and stickers were primarily reproduction Action Force toy stickers from Vintage Star Wars Collectibles.  However I also added some waterslide decals from my stash.  In both cases I applied a coat of Humbrol gloss varnish to the area prior to application.

Designed for the original toy vehicles which were scaled to the 3.75″ action figures these were also perfect for wargaming scale.

For sticker application I did not wait for the varnish to dry; this enabled me to reposition these with relative ease.  Once dry I then re-applied gloss varnish as a top coat to seal both the stickers and decals.

Finally some highlights were picked out in yellow and red and some weathering was applied (more on which later).

The end result, ready to take on the Baron!

On to the Q Force variant.  Unlike the Z Force mobile I went for one of the turreted versions.  Many of the Q Force toys had a strong yellow, blue and red livery and I decided to try and, if not replicate, at least give a nod to this.

The original Q Force Swordfish toy provided some of the inspiration for the colour scheme as did the primarily yellow action figures.

Unlike the previous version, the majority of this model was painted from spray cans, rather than using the airbrush.  Undercoat for this one was Citadel Wraith Bone (which is a kind of off white) applied from a can.

Taken outside this photo shows the Wraith Bone much more grey than it actually is ‘in the flesh’.  It is nearer to a cream colour.

Basecoat was a dark yellow using again a spray can, this time Averland Sunset.

Highlights were achieved with a lighter yellow Humbrol spray.

Interestingly this is a gloss paint, but I was trusting to the final coat of Dullcote to sort this out.

Tools of the trade.

Highlights were picked out in blue, with an orange tint for the windscreens.  Next up was weathering, which as per usual I went unintentionally a little overboard with.  Chipping on both this and the previous model was achieved using a sponging technique.  A weathering spray (from Plastic Soldier) was further added for a really grimy look.

On the assumption that the Q Force vehicle would spent a lot of time by the sea I also added in some streaking using a Modelmates rust effect.

For both models, tracks were simply painted dark grey, dry brushed with a ‘plate mail’ silver and then weathered down with Army Painter Dark Tone wash.

Finished and ready to take the fight to the Red Shadows.

So you may have noticed from the photos that I printed three models and have only mentioned the two so far.  Well the final one isn’t going to the Action Force motor pool, it’s destined for another fighting force, a Megaforce if you will….

Action Force in 28mm – Space Force Mobile Command

Many years before Space Force was a real actual thing (maybe), they were the eyes and ears of Action Force monitoring the skies and protecting the Earth from afar from the evil machinations of Ironblood.

 

Along with Q Force (the underwater team), I think it is fair to say that they were not quite as popular as their ground based infantry comrades in Z Force and the SAS.  Part of it was down to the more limited range of toys available and the fact that they didn’t feature as much as other teams in the comic strips.

 

In fact the overt sci-fi stylings of Space Force did seem to clash a bit with the modern militaristic feel of the rest of the range.  It was not actually towards the end of this era of Action Force toys that the Red Shadows had anything ‘space-related’ to field against them, with the awesome Roboskull.

A couple of years ago I picked up the excellent ‘not Space Force’ miniatures from the Woodbine Design Company (part of Gripping Beast) and as part of this very long running project have just started to think about vehicles and transport for them.

Rather than go down the ‘spaceship’ route I’ve tried to mix the militaristic with near future sci-fi and have started to paint up a vintage IMAI model kit of the Shado Mobile from Gerry Anderson’s UFO.

Initially undercoated using an Army Painter Wolf Grey spray can.  I have so far gone through and added some additional darker blue to match the general livery of Space Force vehicles from the toy range; as well as blocking out colour on the tracks and wheels.

The ‘Action Force’ logo sticker is from a reproduction set scaled for the toys.  Next step will be adding some Space Force logos (which I will freehand) and some weathering.  My target game system for this is of course 7TV!