Nodding donkeys

I happened to be browsing the TTCombat web site the other day when I came across these nodding donkey oil pumps in their "last chance to buy" section.  I hadn't spotted them before, presumably because they were in the Wild West section.

Oil pumps.

Though sold as 28-32mm, they look fine for 15mm and would probably even do for 6mm.  At £3.95 for 2 including postage, they're also excellent value.

What's on the sprue.

Although there are no instructions, these simple kits are all on a single sheet of 3mm MDF and fit together very easily. As with most TTCombat MDF kits, the parts were cleanly cut with only a single small point of contact keeping them in the sprue.  A few minutes with a sanding block cleaned these up and they glued together with superglue for the bits I needed to stick instantly and PVA for the rest.

Initial pump assebly complete.

I decided they looked a bit bare, so cut some 6mm wide strips of cereal packet card and used this, folded at 90 degrees, to cover the tabs on the edges.

Cereal packet card added.

I added the strips around all edges of the motor housings, using superglue for a quick bond.

Motor housing detail.

I also added some on the top of the support frame.

Support frame detail.

The entire model was given a coat of Wilko Supernova black emulsion paint to seal the MDF and provide a good base for the next stage.

Base coat finished.

The pumps tower satisfyingly over a 15mm figure.

Base coat finished.

These will mainly be used in sci-fi games, so I added a few vents, grilles and other greeblies from Lego bricks.

Extra decoration using Lego.

The base motor housing is very plain and even these few bits make a big difference.

Extra decoration.

Lego "cheese" slopes make nice vents when glued on at an angle.

Vents.

A curves slope makes an interesting equipment housing.

Curved slopes.

Some sloped grilles finish off the rear of the base housing.

Rear grilles.

The pump bases were given a coat of taupe craft acrylic for a concrete colour, everything else was painted burnt umber, then stippled with random patches of burnt sienna.

Finished models.

A drybrush of GW chainmail completed the initial painting, but I decided they needed a spot of brighter colour somewhere.  Taking inspiration from a few pictures I'd seen online, the "horse heads" were sponge painted with some Wilko "Bumblebee" emulsion paint from a tester pot.

Extra oil drums.

A couple of extra oil drums were added for a bit of interest, these were given the black/umber/sienna base coat as the main model, then toothpaste masked before top coating using a green spray can.  A scrub with a toothbrush in warm water gives a realistic chipped paint look.

Vents.

These tick the box of being scenery with which models can interact.  It doesn't just block LOS, figures can also be placed in and on it.

Hide and seek?

These will make a useful game objective.  It would probably be pretty easy to motorise these if you wanted for that extra bit of realism, but I'd taken so long sticking all the little bits of card on that I knew I'd never finish them if I didn't just get a move on!