Imperial Staff Car (40K)

I will take some better photos once I have based it.
I will take some better photos once I have based it.

My latest work is, of course inspired by watching Mad Max: Fury Road, a Tamiya Citroen Traction 11C, modified heavily to be a 40K Imperial staff car. The supercharged 6 cylinder engine is from Zinge Industries, as are the rear wheels. The engine is excellent quality, though the wheels are miscast on the bottom side, which whilst fine for this usage would mean that they could not be used as spare tyres (where visible from all angles), for example, without a lot of effort. The driver is a 2nd edition metal Catachan gunner. I picture it as the car of an Imperial Guard officer, or an Arbite captain, perhaps. It was an excellent kit and good fun to put together, and I already have many ideas for future projects featuring this kit (and other vintage cars…). The “Traction Avant” (ie, front-wheel drive) as it was known, was apparently a very ubiquitous car back in the day, sort of France’s VW beetle, and it may be just as numerous in my version of the 40K universe….

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Rear view – the shields are Wehrmacht identification symbols for a WWII German staff car, but I thought they looked good in 40K terms.
A WIP photo which shows the hacking involved to fit the engine in.
A WIP photo which shows the hacking involved to fit the engine in.

Paint was simple, gloss black for the coachwork and the Foundry Buff Leather triad for the leather interior. Part of the inspiration for vehicles of this style, along with the 40K background in general, was the rich history of genestealer cults, and also this picture:

This Warzone illustration captures, along with John Blanche's artwork, my vision of a 40K civilian city and vehicle.
This Warzone illustration, along with John Blanche’s artwork, captures my vision of a 40K civilian city and vehicle – futuristic yet archaic.

6 thoughts on “Imperial Staff Car (40K)

  1. Wicked stuff!!!!!

    My brother always wanted a Genestealer cult with vehicles made for 1/43 cars, roadsters and stuff like that. Ahhh Warzone …… memories. Made a pretty playable ruleset once using bits from Warzone and 40K mashed together.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Thanks, mate! 🙂

      Looking forward to seeing your efforts 😉 I have plans for more Orky stuff soon, I personally like a less ramshackle aesthetic for the orks myself – I prefer the Rogue Trader / 2nd edition 40K vibes of crude but functional to the current GW vibe which seems to be junk slapped together…

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