June 29, 2025

This weekend my wife and I were at Michael’s Arts and Crafts, and I was shocked to see that they were selling Lemax Spooky Town in preparation for Halloween.  The one item that really caught my attention was the stage setting for a skeleton wedding party.  It is expensive, but my wife discovered that if purchased online they were offering 20% off so she got it for me knowing that by the time the BIG discounts were available this one would probably be gone.  I spent Monday removing as much of the Spooky and the wedding elements as possible without totally destroying the piece.  Since pieces were glued on, I did a good bit of damage during the repurposing process, but I’m generally happy with the changes and repairs.  The figure is by Cool Mini Or Not, part of their The World of SMOG collection.

I couldn’t resist getting another Colonial Marine APC.  This one I bought because I wanted one to serve as a medical vehicle.  To that end I removed both the main gun turret and the bow turret.  I replaced the main gun turret with a large antenna (something I had in my odds-and-ends box), gave a new paint job, and added adhesive red crosses I got online.

On Tuesday I went to Savers' thrift store and found a loose Terra remote truck (sans remote system) for $2.50. It looked like with a new cargo bed and paint it would be a nice terrain piece for my terraforming space station collection. I finished it on Wednesday morning.

I recently picked up three toys at the swap meet that I will be using with my terraforming space station project. I believe (not sure) they were Walmart toys. They didn't really need any modification, so I just gave them new paint jobs. The figure is 32mm and provided for scale.

This will probably be more than a terrain piece, but I thought I would post it anyway. It was originally part of a GI Joe playset.   At the time I bought it, it was very poorly painted. When I saw it at the swap meet (for $1), I immediately decided it would make a great remote controlled recon vehicle for my terraforming space station collection. No modification; just new paint job. The figure is 32mm and provided for scale.

The last piece of equipment I did this week for the terraforming station was a generator unit by Epicast.  I believe Epicast has been out of business for years (I could be wrong.).  I got this resin piece decades ago and had forgotten I had it until this past week.

June 22, 2025

I finished painting my repurposed broken-toy tie fighter body/pod that I will be using as a lab as part of my terraforming space station. The figures are provided for scale/28mm.

With the above mentioned lab pod done, I turned my attention to the last (4th) of the earth (terra) moving equipment for my terraforming space station collection. Like the others, I found it at the swap meet for a couple of dollars (probably $3). It's plastic and surprisingly light weight. I wanted a big shovel, and this one fit the bill though it is a little larger than 1/43.

Next on my workbench agenda was painting two of the APCs from the film Aliens.  I sprayed them Krylon flat black and then dry brushed the entire vehicle with Vallejo Model Color US Olive Drab.  Once that was dry, I gave them a very light dry brushing with Vallejo Model Color Yellow Green.  I will be using 32mm figures with my terraforming space station because of the size of the APCs.

The next vehicle began its life as a die-cast 1:24 scale piece from one of the Fast and Furious films. I found it at the swap meet. When I realized that the 1:24 scale 50 cal. could be easily removed and replaced with a communications screen, I decided to repurpose it as a 32mm tracked survey vehicle that could be a nice terrain piece for my terraforming space stations collection. The figure is a 32mm Colonial Marine provided for scale.

I took on two canisters next.  They were marketed with the release of a Hulk film.  Other than painting them, I did nothing but give them a base of Milliput.

Several years ago I purchased the Dust Studio SSU Ground Attack Helicopter for $19 off the Brookhurst Hobbies’ clearance table.  This week I decided to paint it as part of my terraforming space station.  It will serve as a survey, rescue, and defense ship for the station.  With that done I remembered that years ago (again) I purchased a landing pad at the swap meet for a couple dollars and decided that it would be a perfect terrain piece for the terraforming station.  All I did to both the helicopter and the pad were give them paint jobs.

Next on my workbench agenda is a toy I picked up at the swap meet for $3 a couple months ago. I believe it is a Walmart toy. I have no idea what it was supposed to be, but it looked like it would be a perfect piece of terrain for my terraforming space station. The figure is 28mm and provide for scale though I will be using 32mm with the terraforming project.

June 15, 2025

I began the week painting Buzz Lightyear drop pods that I will use (upside down) as part of the terrain for my terraforming space station.  I followed that by painting two of the Galaxy’s Edge/Disneyland blue milk containers that I will also use with the terraforming space station.

Over the past year I have been picking up pieces of heavy equipment at the swap meet for $2 or $3 as broken toys.  I will be using them as terrain pieces for my terraforming space station collection.  This morning I finished painting a die-cast dozer and a loader.  I sprayed each of them black and then gave them rough dry brushing.

About a year ago I found the body/pod of a Tie Fighter at the swap meet. It was missing its panels and only cost me $2. It is a larger scale than I normally buy, but I decided I could use this one as a separate lab facility for my terraforming space station. I finished putting it together and basing it yesterday. Paint will come soon. The figure is only provided for scale/28mm.

June 8, 2025

I originally planned to repurpose five Fisher Price toys to create five segments for my terraforming space station, but as I completed and posted the fifth segment, Mark Fuller (the talented scratch builder Mark Fuller) posted that I should have included a telescope in one of the segments.  That planted a seed.  I had one remaining Fisher Price toy that I had been cutting apart for pieces that I could use on the original five segments, and last weekend I found something in a pile of toys that encouraged me to use the cut-up Fisher Price toy as the basis for a sixth telescope segment for the space station.  I have no idea what the piece I found was originally, but I cut it apart and used the two pieces on this sixth telescope segment (I’ve circled two pieces).  I’ve also attached a picture of what four of the six sections look like side-by-side… didn’t have enough counter space for all six.

 I next painted a large energy generator for my terraforming space station. I got it at the swap meet a year or so ago as a cast-off toy ($2 or $3). I think it began life as a GhostBusters backpack. Other than painting, it didn't require a lot of work... just the addition of a couple of pieces from the Pegasus Chemical Plant construction set.

I ended the week painting a plastic Driven road roller/compacter that I picked up at the swap meet for $2.  It will be one of the pieces of earth moving/shaping equipment I will have sitting outside my terraforming space station.

June 1, 2025

I began the week painting a number of figures I had been waiting to get around to… mostly CMON/The World of SMOG.

Once the figures were painted, I turned my brushwork to painting the Fisher Price toys I modified a couple months ago for use with my Alien-style terraforming space station.  A lot of work went into both the modification and the painting of these, but it was a lot of fun.