Coming Out of Their Hole (Post Apoc Fluff)

The following is a continuation of the back story about the Hope Island Research Complex in my post apocalyptic world.

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Since the inhabitants of HIRC (link) had opened their hatch a few years ago, the occupants of HIRC had learned a lot about their new world.  It seemed that the wastes had crept in, a lot more than the advancements of HIRC had changed the wastes, and maybe that was to be expected.  

The complex preserved many of the old ways, preserved the values and technology of the Before, with the intent of slowly helping to restore a little of the order and comfort of a nation from an earlier time.  The first step had been to go out and explore, learn about their neighbors, about the world that unknowingly surrounded them.

When the decision was made to go forth, the first steps were tenuous, as almost no one had been under open skies in thirty years.  After testing the air, captain Vega took off his helmet, and felt wind on his face for the first time.  He was immediately overwhelmed by the vast openness of the landscape, uncomfortable, and unprepared for the sensation.  He looked up at the clear blue sky with awe... and ... a surprising and momentarily incapacitating fear.  

And when the projectile hit the armor protecting his chest, he didn't even realize that he had just been shot.  Fortunately, members of his team noticed, and reacted accordingly.  Returning fire on the gang that had happened upon them.

The fight was brief, the dwellers of the bunker, all protected by advanced armor, were relatively impervious to the weapons of the gangers.  They returned fire accurately, methodically even , and killed their new found adversaries in seconds.  The first encounter with the locals had been had, and established what would become a recurring theme.  The wastes were a dangerous place, and as bad as things could be, people were still more than willing to kill one another.

Not every venture outside the comfort of the complex had been so hostile.  The bunker dwellers intent was friendly, and for now, passive.  They were learning, collecting data, with which to better formulate and execute their plan.

They had been collecting data for decades, but extensive first hand contact would still be needed to understand what could be done.  They had established some trade with local small communities, but the region was incredibly volatile.

In addition to the challenges of interacting with the outside world.  A new recurring problem came to be, in the form of bunker inhabitants trying to "escape" the bunker.  Life was very comfortable and safe inside the bunker, but regimented and restricted in many ways.  

Despite it's resources, one shortage that befell HIRC was population.  The bunker inhabitants were few, and particularly after the end of the Before, the bunker experienced a very low birth rate for some years, resulting initially in negative population growth.  

Effort was made to restrict excursions outside the bunker, with all missions supervised by military escort.  There was an increasing sense of bunker inhabitants being "prisoners" in their underground home, as the leadership tried to carefully preserve and slowly grow their numbers.  

In time, HIRC began to establish small outposts with hope of creating a sphere of influence, and also searching for prospective new inhabitants.  Mistakes were made, and as such, these efforts were not always successful.  Still, HIRC did it's best, working with the resources at hand, under circumstances more extreme than anyone in the Before had imagined.

Vehicles For My Post Apoc Bunker Faction Completed*

The High Mobility Armored Transports (HiMATs) are light armored utility vehicles for my bunker dwellers. Capable of withstanding small arms fire, they provide transportaion for the bunker's inhabitants when exploring the wastes, or extending olive branches to the less fortunate survivors in the After.

They come with or without an armored turret, and can mount a range of medium and heavy weapons.  They can also accommodate eight occupants with about two weeks of survival rations and supplies. 

Drive is provided by two electric motors (one to each axle) via batteries and solar panels.  They are equipped with air purification and NBC contamination sensors, and can purify drinking water as well.  Other features include assive night driving aids and GPS navigation that can link to GPS satilites that are stil in operation.

Here are a couple pics of the beasts:

* Actually, I'm not sure that they are complete, but they are at least serviceable on the table top.  They may get some more detailing in the future.

Hope Island Research Complex (Post Apoc Fluff)

The Hope Island Research Complex was conceived in the late 1970s as a secure facility, proof to nuclear attack, that would focus on the ability to develop technology during and after a large scale nuclear attack or other catastrophic event.

Built beneath more than 13,000 feet of rock, it was the largest of the Cold War era US bunkers.  Capable of housing thousands of people, it was primarily designed for scientists and their families, as well as smaller government and military contingents.  The facility included living, research, communications and production facilities, and extensive supply and raw material storage.

Research and technology companies were partners in the production and operation of the facility, which actively operated during peacetime.  Normal operations were limited to research and development of new technology, and the site was a test bed for budding technology, such as the first functional fusion reactor.

Known as "HIRC",  "The Complex",  "The Bunker", and early on as "The Brain Pit", it continued operation during the decline of the United States, though proved to not be immune to the effects of the decline and associated chaos of the Before.

As the situation in the US and the world became truly critical, disaffected medical researchers released a biotoxin in the facility, leading to a number of deaths, and rendering large portions of the complex unusable at the time it was most needed. Thus, a relatively small population was present when the complex was locked down.

Despite the size of its population, operation of the facility was managed, and eventually the biotoxin was cleaned from the entire facility.  Inside the complex, life continued in relative comfort and security.  Contact was maintained with other government facilities until one by one, most stopped responding.

The devolving world situation was continuously monitored and documented.  Rare excursions, called "going topside" collected data about the surroundings of the complex, though for decades, most of the inhabitants did not see the outside world.

Over time, the complex evolved its own government and culture, but continued to generally follow the intended purpose of finding solutions to problems that came with the apocalypse.  At such time that it was directed, the plan was that HIRC would introduce its technologies to the post apocalyptic world with the intent of helping to restore order and re-establishing the nation.

HIRC maintained contact with, and monitored activity of other outposts from the Before.  There were at least three surviving outposts (there were also several others) that potentially had legal authority on behalf of the former US government, though the issue was obviously quite muddy.  None of these appeared to be following the proper protocol, and HIRC did not receive the direction that it awaited, even after the conditions had been met for the direction to be initiated.  

After much debate, the leadership of HIRC decided that it was time to begin its mission topside,  opening a new chapter in the history of what was once known as the United States of America.

Progress on Post Apoc Vehicles

Hobby time has been at a premium this week, but I did squeeze in 15-20 minutes most evenings to keep these moving along.  Most of the work involved building the turrets and weapons; otherwise, work was pretty minimal.  I got a base color of paint on them today, and re-assembled.  Detail painting and a little weathering will come over the next week, I hope.  Here's a couple of pics:

After thinking about it a bit, I've decided to keep them pretty clean, since these are essentually brand new vehicles, built in a high-tech underground facility, and being used for the first time in the post apocalypse.

They will certainly make exploring the planet's surface safer and more comfortable than wandering about on foot for the bunker dwellers.

WIP: Vehicles For My Post Apoc Bunker Faction

I've been looking for some 1/43-ish light military vehicles for my post apoc bunker faction for a few months now, something along the lines of Humvees or M-ATVs.  Unfortunately, pretty much all that I found were collectors diecasts in the $30-70 dollar range and Humvee kits at around $25 a pop.  I was hoping for something a bit less expensive, as I wanted 2-3 of them.

By chance, I found some diecast GAZ TIGRs at a grocery store a couple of weeks back for about $6 each in roughly 1/48th scale.  They are actually reasonably detailed models, and the front doors open.

Diecast GAZ TIGRs from the grocery store.

For now, I took two of them, diassembled them and drilled out the roof hatch to receive small turret with opening hatches. I plan a few additional modifications, before re-painting them.  Here are a couple of WIPs:

With the diecast roof hatchs drilled out and filed.

With new hatches in process.

The plan is that one will have a light auto-cannon, in this case a modified GW Cadian heavy weapon, and the other will have a lighter weapon of some sort, maybe a sort of machinegun laser.  Otherwise, they will get some solar panels to recharge their batteries,  rear bumpers, some stowage, etc.

I'm hoping to get paint on them by next weekend.

More Vietnam Aircraft Progress

My hobby time has really diminished over the last couple of weeks. I'm still piddling along with the 1/72 Vietnam aircraft, and am surprised at how much time I've spent making truly unremarkable models.  They will be fine for gaming though.

The canopy for my OV-10 ended up being a disaster.  The side glass was warped, and and in trying to get the parts to fit, I managed to craze the plastic through bending, and then got solvent in spots that clouded the clear plastic as well.  I tried polishing it our with Brasso, which helped some, but wasn't going to remove all of the mess, and gave up on saving the clear canopy.  So frustrated, I briefly considered just tossing the whole thing out, but after a couple of days, painted it blue instead.  It looks like crap, but it is functional.  Here's a pic: 

OV-10A Bronco

I also got the glass into the pair of UH-1B gunships.  They came out a little better:

A pair of UH-1B Gunships

And here is a CH-34:

CH-34C/D

Sometime back, I tried using magnets on my 1/100 scale African planes for mounting to aircraft stands, but when one of my boxes tipped over, I ended up with several 1/100 scale  models being attached at the magnets.  I lucked out and only a couple of scuffs and scrapes resulted, but decided to mount nails in my models in the future and leave the magnets in the stands.

I made a prototype stand for Vietnam, using a 4" square base base, but discovered that the 4"  base is overkill relative to the weight of the models, so cut a couple more 3" square bases.

The stand is made of a telescoping magnet tool, mounted to a weighted plastic base.  The base consists of two pieces of 1/4 inch plexiglass/acrylic solvent welded together.  The top piece is center drilled for a screw to pass through, that threads into the end of the magnet tool (you can unscrew the end of the magnet tool, and remove the pocket clip).  I replaced the original screw in the tool with a slightly longer one to accommodate the thickness of the plastic base.  The bottom layer has a big hole milled out with a Dremmel.  Once the two pieces are fused together, the magnet tool is screwed into place, a ring of tubing is cut and glued in place to protect the screw head, and lead shot is superglued in place to fill the the hole in the second plate, giving the base enough heft to secure larger aircraft when the tool is extended.

New stand with 4" base.

Underside of the base, showing the shot and plastic ring 

protecting the screw head.

New stand with parts for the 3" square based stand.

My original stands had "x" shaped bases to more readily fit in between terrain pieces, but this turned out to be more work than it was worth, so I've gone with square bases for the newer stands.

My original "x" stand with the newer 4" square based stand.

 I'm making progress.  Though at this rate, I'll be finished with these some time next year.

6mm French Aircraft for 1940

I've finished about half of the 6mm French aircraft for 1940.  Unfortunately, I ran out of the smaller roundels, so am currently awaiting another sheet from Flight Deck Decals.  Here are the completed fighters:

A pair of D-510s and two MB 152.

Two Potez 631,

Four D 520 and two MS406 (rear),

I'll finish the bombers when additional decals arrive.