ARMORED TROOPER
Votoms


1/48 SCALE SUPPORT VEHICLES

Votoms isn't just about ATs, it also has an impressive variety of support vehicles in the series. 

STEIGER GUN PLATFORM

One of my favorites is the Steiger, a flying gun platform for ATs that appears in the very first episode of the TV series.  There was no toy or model of the Steiger that I was aware of, but  I had purchased two of the Actic Gear sets that include the AT Fly helicopter, and noticed that the base of the flight stand that came with the AT Fly looked very familiar... It was a great starting point for making my own Steigers!


I built up  the gun shield and lower shield out of sheet styrene, added railings made of model sprue, and built up the back box out of Lego and plastic.  The guns were made from wood and plastic blocks, Lego stud caps, acrylic tubing, and tape.  The muzzle brakes are made from Lego 1x1 blocks, cut down and drilled out.  These turned out to be a lot more work than I first thought, but I"m very happy with the results!
Of course, the finishing touch was adding a steel plate to the deck, so the magnets in my AT's feet would keep them firmly attached to the Steiger as they zoomed around space.

BIG CARRY AT transport

One of the coolest Actic Gear sets you can get is a Big Carry transport truck just like the one from the Last Red Shoulder OVA.  It even comes with a Scopedog Turbocustom figure (sadly just the one, so you need to buy more if you want to recrate the scene from the OVA).  It DOES include one of each of the four weapons featured in the video though, so you get plenty of AT weapons. 


Although the truck is slightly undersized for 1/48 scale, it is still pretty good looking and has nice details and moving parts like opening doors, articulating front wheels, and deployable ramps.
To make it look as authentic as possible, I painted the interior of the cab (mainly the seats), and gave the whole truck a grungy brown wash to bring out the details and weather it.
I also opened up the ramp, stuck some sheet steel inside, and closed it back up so that the magnets in my ATs feet would help them stay on the slope.
BALARANT AIR TRANSPORTS

My Balarant models didn't want to feel left out, so although there are no 1/48 Balarant vehicles available, I found or converted suitable substitutes.  The helicopters are SSU units from the Dust Tactics game.  The hoverjets are converted dropship toys from Starship Troopers, with the drop box cut away, upgraded guns, and other details added as well as a repaint.
Of course, to facilitate transporting Fatty ATs, I added magnets to their backs and steel plates to the underside of the helis and jets.

BALARANT AT STRIKE CRAFT

This Balarant spaceship first appeared in one of my earlier campaigns, but deserved another mention here.  It's made from various GI Joe toy vehicle parts, and a garbage truck toy from WALL-E.

GILGAMESH AT LIGHTER

These Gilgamesh spacecraft first appeared in one of my earlier campaigns, and are made from plastic power supply and sorting tray boxes, speaker cases, and various toy and model parts.


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