WWG Flat-bed and Garbage Trucks

This week's WWG vehicle review showcases the flat-bed truck and garbage truck from the Bits of Mayhem set. After I had made the single-decker bus (reviewed last week) I wanted to make something that was a bit more challenging. These two vehicles fit the bill perfectly.

You can see that a lot of their components (cab, chassis and wheels) are common to both vehicles. I cut the section with the front engine grille and headlights out and glued it to a strip of mounting card, which I then glued in place to the piece of mounting card that I used to reinforce the front of the cab. This just makes it stand out a tad and you can see what I mean if you look at the photo of the garbage truck below.

Probably the hardest parts of the models to make were the fuel tanks and smoke stacks. Because they are cylindrical in shape it is impossible to reinforce them with mounting card. Mounting card is simply too thick to bend. So, I reinforced them with thin card, which I bought from an art suppliers. The instructions for these models state that the smoke stacks are optional, but to be honest, I couldn't imagine the trucks without them in place.

You can see from the photo above just how thick the railing is on the sides of the flatbed truck. That is because it is reinforced with two layers of mounting card. One layer would probably have done but I decided not to take any chances and went for ultra safety. Believe me, there is no give at all in that fence - it is solid! It is hard to see because my photo is too dark, but the garbage in the back of the garbage truck is just printed onto a curved piece of card, which is not glued in place. When I get time, I'd like to replace it with 3-D garbage made out of modelling putty. What is there looks fair enough for most uses but a little voice keeps on nagging me, saying you didn't go the extra mile this time, did you? Conscience can be a right swine!

These two vehicles are further proof that WWG are second to none in the field of papercraft modelling. Once again, I say just look at the texturing on both trucks - simply superb. As I mentioned in my intro, these were a bit of a challenge to make and if you're new to this hobby I'd recommend making something a lot simpler (like the single-decker bus) for your first build. On the other hand, if you don't mind putting in a bit of time and effort, you'll be rewarded with two very fine vehicles.
I haven't had call to use the garbage truck in any of my games yet but the flat-bed truck made a notable appearance in my St. Trinian's and the Living Dead battle report when the hellcats used it to escape from the zombie horde. See http://vampifansworldoftheundead.blogspot.com/2009/06/st-trinians-and-living-dead.html