H.A.Z.A.R.D. Tanks and the hell I am going through making them

This is a H.A.Z.A.R.D. Tank, a highly specialized HISS Tank for the Hazard Viper corps equipped for the creation, containment, and if necessary, termination of Compound Z infected special forces troopers, or Zombie Vipers (text paraphrased from the Cobrastickers decal sheet). How do I know this? Easy. I made it up.

The photo is actually the first tank, a "prototype" of sorts. The HAZARD Tanks are custom painted tanks that I am making for the May 6th New Jersey Collector's Con, to be given away as door prizes during the show. There are several people involved in the project, like parts casters and decal printers and Shapeways creators, all of which have done their part, and now I am tasked with the painting and assembly of them.

It is a lot of work. A LOT of work. Way more than I expected. Regardless, I am working on it day and night since I only have about 2 weeks left before they are to be given away at the show.

I thought it would be fun to post some in-progress updates as I went along. I've spent the last 10 days or so buried in these things, and I stopped to take pics here and there. we are doing a total of 20 tanks for this show, and I have never done 20 customs at once before, so it is proving to be difficult. Also, orange paint SUCKS to work with. My own fault, I guess.

First, every tank had to be disassembled, any decals removed, adhesive residue wiped off, and them every part had to be cleaned and prepped for painting. Most customizers have their own individual process. I scrub everything down with Comet and a toothbrush, and for broad or glossy areas, 400 grit wet/dry sandpaper. I also had to clean and prep all the add on parts, like the fuel tanks for the flamethrower, and the cast cannons for the turret. It took FOREVER. I was bent over my sink for 3-4 hours at a time, or as long as my back could take it.

Here I am gluing the flamethrower tanks in place. They are modified vintage Blowtorch backpacks with some styrene added for the hose stem.

One feature the tanks have is a custom built and cast set of cannons that I bashed together from old joe parts. The idea was that one side would be a Compound Z cannon, and would accept Z-canisters that are included with the Hazard Viper figure, while the other side would be a flamethrower for burning Zombie Vipers that became too unruly. These were then molded and cast for each tank.

One feature of the flamethrower side of the cannon is a removable flame. Each cannon barrel had to be drilled individually to ensure a good fit.

With all that done, I have started the painting process. these pics are where I am as of today, so hopefully i should have a totally finished tank by the middle of next week some time between multiple coats of orange, and clear coating.

One final pic, each tank will come with an assortment of Zombie handling accessories, courtesy of Marauder, Inc, painted by me.

That is all for today. I'm a little dizzy from the paint fumes and need a break. I'll post more pics as things progress.