Pre-Rusted Tonka Off-Roader Mad Maxian conversion Project

The pre-rusted and well-played with Tonka Off-Roader I purchased on Ebay arrived today. I'm quite pleased with it.  Though small, the interior is well-scaled for TBLeague female characters. Before receiving it, I had given consideration to stripping off the paint and cleaning up the rust and repainting it to desert colors, but then that sort of defeats the purpose of buying a very roughed up one in the first place. In fact, I may have to give it a little more damage for that wasteland look.  Here are some photos with Kamiko and Laura and some of the ideas I have in mind for how to modify it.  These are just ideas at this point...subject to change. I would like to know your thoughts and suggestions.

_DSC0006_0005 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

_DSC0005_0004 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

_DSC0007_0006 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

_DSC0008_0007 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

_DSC0011_0010_1 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Definitely would suit to have a Machine gun attached , I`d think long and hard a bout the screen , as it`s better to be able to see your figures in it no ? Think I would have a hatch in the the rear roof with another machine gun or small rocket launcher maybe ? Looks like your going to have lots of fun what ever you decide .

Chip wrote:

Definitely would suit to have a Machine gun attached , I`d think long and hard a bout the screen , as it`s better to be able to see your figures in it no ? Think I would have a hatch in the the rear roof with another machine gun or small rocket launcher maybe ? Looks like your going to have lots of fun what ever you decide .

Where I wrote "screen" I should have written "grille." I do want to see the figures through it. I definitely want to do something like another machine gun or a rocket launcher in the back. There are two possibilities with that: I can either cut a hole and install a hatch or I could install an unmanned, remote turret. I lean more towards the former than the latter as if there is a passenger side machine-gun already, then then both the driver and the passenger-side gunner would be over tasked tying to control a turret as well. I kind of like the idea of having Luna Kabooma man something like an RPG-7 from the top hatch.

They certainly are a great looking vehicle! The idea of a well battered vehicle sounds cool, as do all your ideas for upgrades! This is going to be epic!

I like the idea of having a machine gun on the passenger side, another gun mounted on top with a hatch, and a
grill mounted over the windshield with viewing ports.

But I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fantastic!

Daryl

Blondeactionman wrote:

They certainly are a great looking vehicle! The idea of a well battered vehicle sounds cool, as do all your ideas for upgrades! This is going to be epic!

The project will keep me busy for a while.

TNshooter wrote:

I like the idea of having a machine gun on the passenger side, another gun mounted on top with a hatch, and a
grill mounted over the windshield with viewing ports.

But I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fantastic!

Daryl

It will likely be something like that. The other option is that the 3rd crew member will have an RPG-7 or some such device.

This looks good already. I would not have expected the figures to fit so well. This is a nice find.

Yeah, definitely a "light bar" across the top if you can cobble something together.

SCU_HQ wrote:

This looks good already. I would not have expected the figures to fit so well. This is a nice find.

Yeah, definitely a "light bar" across the top if you can cobble something together.

i can get a lot of the parts I need including tank headlights, a hatch, antenna mounts and mounting posts for pintle mount machine guns from East Coast Armory. Other things, if I decide to add them, I will have to scratch-build.


http://www.eastcoastarmory.com/

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

I can get a lot of the parts I need ... from East Coast Armory.  

And end up investing a small fortune in a beat-up old sandbox toy!

But we have to look at it as an investment in fun and entertainment, I suppose, and not as what we are paying for a specific object. I still have a tough time wrapping my head around that concept sometimes.

SCU_HQ wrote:

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

I can get a lot of the parts I need ... from East Coast Armory.  

And end up investing a small fortune in a beat-up old sandbox toy!

But we have to look at it as an investment in fun and entertainment, I suppose, and not as what we are paying for a specific object. I still have a tough time wrapping my head around that concept sometimes.

That's sort of the crazy part of it. I'd love to mount the .50 cal I already, but its enormous size would make it look ridiculous on this small vehicle. Also, even if mounted on the roof of the vehicle, it would have to be mounted so far forward that the empty casings and expended links would fall right on the down on either the passenger or driver. If you've ever had a hot spent shell casing go down the back of your T-shirt, (I have) then you'll know that isn't pleasant.

Anyway, I've resolved to stick with light or general purpose machine guns instead and will try to find some suitable for the job.

Kimono Troop Command,

How is the project going?

I'm really interested in how it works out.

Daryl

It's been sitting around waiting for me to get to it, and I've been waiting for some parts from Armorpax in the UK, A GPMG soft skin mount for the M240 (FN Mag) MG I got off Monkey Depot a while back. Once I get those parts...maybe this week, I'll get going on the project. I will have to kitbash some parts along the way. I have to wait for the parts because I have to take the size into account before deciding where to mount the MG.

In the meantime, I've received the Dragon jeep with .50. Cal that I pre-ordered from Monkey Depot even earlier. It's an awesome kit with a lot of parts and not get started on that one until I've acquired a new airbrush. That will be Kamiko's personal jeep, and I will likely also customize somewhat as well. Maybe add a passenger side MG, anti-decapitation post, radio and antennas, AMU, etc.

I've finally managed to get through the first stage of the conversion project, which was to give the vehicle a a main armament, in this case, the American version of the FN Mag General Purpose Machine Gun, (GPMG) which was first produced in the late 1950's and is still being made, and being used all over the world.  The Canadian Army calls this weapon the C6, whilst the Americans call it the M240, but whatever designation you give it, it's one of the best, most reliable weapons of it's class ever built.  

Page_1 by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

The gun itself was bought parted out from Monkey depot, while the gun mount, is an Armorpax resin casting of the British Army's GPMG softskin vehicle mount for the British version of this gun.  They use it on the land rover and other vehicles.

land rover with GPMG by Gary  Menten, on Flickr

Overall, this is a very big gun and mount for such a small vehicle as the Tonka, which is one reason I chose to mount it on the roll cage instead of on the passenger side. The other reason is that on a narrow-bodied lefthand drive vehicle such as the Tonka, the ammo can would severely impair the driver's view if the gun were mounted on the right hand side where the front passenger sits. This meant that I had to cut a hole in the roof for the gunner.  I considered two approaches; the more expensive but faster approach which was to buy a 2 1/4" hole cutting bit for my power drill and just bore a two inch hole in the roof or cutting away the roof altogether which I eventually chose and don't regret as it makes it much easier to get the figure in there. This as a time consuming and imprecise thing to do as the plastic roof was likely ABS and Tonka tough and my cutting technique with back saw, hack saw and coping saw was imprecise and messy. The grey putty which I've applied and was still hardening will help cover up some of those uneven cuts once sanded out and painted.

The Armorpax mount I should point out, being resin cast is much more fragile and prone to breakage than any plastic parts and will come off the scratch-built  brass mounting post seen in the photos, built from brass tubing and strip brass from a local hobby shop. I have yet to paint it. Because of it's fragility, the mount will be removed whenever the vehicle is stored and not in use. I still have to install the bungee cord retaining clip that holds the ammo can securely in it's tray. I also need to get a scale 7.62 mm ammo belt section to put into the can and gun.

I've never seen a gun mount like this before where the ammo can is tilted at such an angle from the horizontal, but I suspect it's to ensure the smoother feed of the ammo belt into the gun's feed mechanism.

Future improvements on the vehicle will include adding extra lights to the front roll bar, and some sort of passenger side MG, possibly the M249 or Minimi, which is a 5.56mm scaled down version of the MAG and where the ammo box is actually slung down below the gun rather than to it's side. I'll also put some removable roof panels over the driver and passenger as the position of the gun on this small vehicle would mean both would likely be hit by ejected cases and belt links every time it fired without these being in place.

It's looking good Kimono Troop Command!

And I agree, a two inch hole is not large enough for a crew member.
And the front seat needs a shield from the hot casings.

That is some armament you added. A great, powerful weapon for the vehicle.
As far as the passenger side weapon, I was thinking something smaller.
Something along the lines of like a Minimi, or the old M60.

Considering it's a post-apocalyptic vehicle, why sand and paint where
you made the cuts? Leaving it as it is just adds to the fact that those
type of vehicles are cut and patched. The main thing is that they run
and work, aesthetics are not as important.  

Great looking vehicle so far. I look forward to seeing more customizing
on it.

Daryl

First, it's great to see Miyori back in action! She's one of my favorites among your characters!

The Tonka is looking fantastic! I'm fascinated by the amount of thought you are putting in to this project, working to make the modifications "functionally plausible" was well as, y'know, looking cool!

Speaking of looking cool, I agree with TNShooter, the putty on the edges gives a "Bondo" look, as though it is a field repair or field modification. But then, some grunge and rust might look even better.

This project is really coming together. Your team will soon be ready to tackle Dinosaur Valley!

Hey! Laura really worked her magic! That looks fantastic! I also like how you have chopped the back section out to create a roll cage, most impressive!

An M60 is only 6 inches shorter than a full stock MAG or M240, and a very second-rate weapon when compared to it. Given the collapsible butts on this M240, they are about the same length. Moreover, I would have the problem of having the ammo to the left of the weapon interfering with the driver's view. A Minimi or M249 however, slings its ammo underneath the weapon and there are models available with collapsible buts and shortened barrels, so it's probably the best choice for a passenger side weapon.

Blondeactionman wrote:

Hey! Laura really worked her magic! That looks fantastic! I also like how you have chopped the back section out to create a roll cage, most impressive!

In the end I decided that cutting away the roof and leaving only a roll cage was the only option that made sense as it was the only way to have proper access to the cramped and tiny rear compartment. Also, when I looked at modern British light patrol vehicles, I saw that they mostly open-topped as well.

SCU_HQ wrote:

First, it's great to see Miyori back in action! She's one of my favorites among your characters!

The Tonka is looking fantastic! I'm fascinated by the amount of thought you are putting in to this project, working to make the modifications "functionally plausible" was well as, y'know, looking cool!

Speaking of looking cool, I agree with TNShooter, the putty on the edges gives a "Bondo" look, as though it is a field repair or field modification. But then, some grunge and rust might look even better.

This project is really coming together. Your team will soon be ready to tackle Dinosaur Valley!

Miyori is a hot character. I really like the taller version.  It seems as though you are getting another doll-crush on one of my characters. Glynnis might get a bit jealous....

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

Miyori is a hot character. I really like the taller version.  It seems as though you are getting another doll-crush on one of my characters. Glynnis might get a bit jealous....

You have a knack for creating a look that I like! And your figs have a "certain something" that I have thus-far been unable to accurately emulate.

I suspect it's a "total package" thing - the head-body combination, the details of the uniforms, the posing, the lighting, and finally, the photography. It all comes together to create very appealing figures and characters, both visually and as characters in their fictional universe.

Something about me is that I have a strong retro bent, especially for the styles of the mid-century era, most particularly from the late 50's to the late 60's, but it sometimes goes a bit farther back. Glynnis is a case in point, where her look is something like of a synthesis of how a woman adventuress/explorer might have been depicted in pulp fiction of the 40's and 50's, with a sort of 1960's TV adventure series look. Think of the Tarzan TV series with Ron Ely.

I tend to really eschew anything that is too modern-looking like chest rigs, body armor, MICH helmets and rifles with laser-dots and stuff like that. I'd much rather have figures that look like they could fit into a James Bond film of the 60's or 70's, or the Tarzan TV series, or Rat Patrol. I love tall boots, which are getting harder and harder to find. This is one of my trademarks. Sadly, Laura doesn't have them, but she seems to have gotten away with it for now.

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

 I love tall boots, which are getting harder and harder to find.  This is one of my trademarks.  Sadly, Laura doesn't have them, but she seems to have gotten away with it for now.  

Laura's look works with her "Southern California" background. Laura is a bit more modern than the other characters, which comes across in her dialog and in her look. She's more "Lara Croft" than she is "Rat Patrol."

I like her boots. I use similar footwear on a few of my figs.

SCU_HQ wrote:

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

 I love tall boots, which are getting harder and harder to find.  This is one of my trademarks.  Sadly, Laura doesn't have them, but she seems to have gotten away with it for now.  

Laura's look works with her "Southern California" background. Laura is a bit more modern than the other characters, which comes across in her dialog and in her look. She's more "Lara Croft" than she is "Rat Patrol."

I like her boots. I use similar footwear on a few of my figs.

yeah, I find it does work to, again given her SC background.

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours

Kimono Troop Command wrote:

It never rains in California
But girl, don't they warn ya?

For all these years, ever since I first heard that song, I thought the lyrics were:
It never rains in California
The girls only warn ya



You are correct, and I have been mis-hearing it... for decades.