Scratch-building a CyberTonk

In continuing with my interest into both scratch-building and the game Tonks, I was inspired to make this build while playing the video game Cyberpunk 2077. There's a part of the game - I have no idea if the game makes all players do this quest or not - where you steal a hover tank from the military faction and use it to deter some scavengers. The design of this tank was the typical stylish, flat-black ultra modern military tacticool style, but it definitely made me curious if I could replicate it in the world of Tonks!

As always: First step is gathering reference. I never follow perfectly closely, but having it on hand kind of gives me common patterns and ideas I can refer to. It lets me see an overhead view of the type of thing I want to aim for, and the tropes common to a lot of the core designs I want to evoke. Also, for this project, I wanted to whip up a quick tank from existing bits and easy-to-use materials; it wasn't intended to be a complicated or massive undertaking.

From there, I began sketching out paper designs and planning. I knew I wanted to incorporate all those bevels and angular stealthy panels. I also knew I wanted treads - I always find the design of hover-tanks in all sorts of media tends to be really boring and static, unlike the visceral churn of treads on the ground (looking at you Repulsor hover tank). To me it's the difference between, say, a chainsword versus a radar dish. The latter implies the function passively through design, but the former is just so immediate and vivid.

Anyway, ramblings about hover-tanks aside, I got started cutting up pink insulation foam. I decided to use this as the core of my build, since it's already got smooth surfaces and is easy to work with. I cut several pieces for the body and matching "arm" and "leg" pieces. I went around, bevelling them with a sharp olfa knife and trying to find nice angles that made for an interesting shape. It was equal parts improvisation and some careful measuring and math to make sure the pieces were symmetrical on each side.

I did similar for the turret, making it assymetrical (and therefore more tech-y looking!). I also began gluing panels of cardboard and bits onto the body and turret of the tank, making the flat surfaces less simple and more interesting. 

As always with scratch-builds, I feel like this is the time when the project looks the worst, with all the different colors and materials of the bits all mismatching and looking terrible. But just wait for the prime!

After the body was done, I started on the tread tracks. I tried one version using straws, but their radius didn't look quite right, so I cut up more chunks of foam and wrapped corrugated paper around it to form the treads. I glued it pieces of sprue and some gears I have to the insides to imply some functionality. 

Then came the prime! I've talked about this before but it's my favorite part of the project - when it all gets tied together and actually looks like a real thing instead of garbage and glue (which tbh, it kind of is!). I went with a black/Mod Podge cheap primer, which will seal up the foam nicely. 

Once that was dried... wow, I'm already pretty close to my intended paint job. I hit it with some black acrylic ink from my airbrush, and I was excited to try an idea I'd had at the beginning of this project. I did a second coat holding a piece of plastic grid material while spraying a silver color. I didn't really know what to expect in terms of result, but hoping for something vaguely "cyber". And goddamn, did it deliver. I finished up with some tan weathering (honestly, probably went a little overboard on this) and some silver edge highlights and touch-ups around the tank, then added some red patches and symbols to give the panels some interest and secondary color. Then it was done!

 As always, thanks for reading, this was a fun little interim project that I (ironically) started then finished in between other larger upcoming projects. This wasn't supposed to be done before them, but hey, if you can't Wonk the Wonk, don't Tonk the Tonk. Eh, that doesn't make any sense. Bye!

- Miss Captain Bear