Playing with Power (Plant Parts)

Recently, I realized that I could use more 28mm scale sci-fi terrain. Nothing to do with a new game I want to try out. It just came to me out of the blue.

Honest.

The box is a little worse for wear, but the plastic is fine.

Digging around my pile collection, I came across a Power Plant Construction Set. Like the Hexagon Platformer Construction Set, it was manufactured by Tehnolog in Russia and distributed in the United States by Pegasus Hobbies. It's been awhile since I last saw a Power Plant kit on the market. I was kinda saving mine, but this seemed as good a time to put it to use as any.

Looking over the Power Plant sprues, I decided not to go with the build seen on the box. It would use up all of the parts in the kit for a single piece of terrain. Besides, the pipes, antenna, and other bits would be handy for other projects. But the generators and structural components looked promising for my immediate needs.

I put this piece together as a proof of concept and liked it enough to paint it up. It works as stand alone terrain. However, I may make similar piece with other parts from the kit and connect the two using some of the pipes.

As with the Hexagon Platformer parts, the plastic takes Krylon spray paint well. I disassembled the piece before painting so that I could use more than one color without the need to use masking tape.

"This one? She's a beauty, isn't she? Sure, there's some wear and she could use a good cleaning, but we've been running our local operation on her output. Not only that, but we've been making a pretty credit off selling the excess to our energy provider. Rumors? What kind of rumors? Well, nobody's really sure where it came from. The crew we bought it from wouldn't say. Wait! Where are you going?!"

- Sales representative, name withheld, Kessler's Upcycling

Rosie gives this bit of tech a once over before making an offer.

Underlayer
Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Flat Black. All parts of the disassembled test piece got an even coat on all surfaces.

Red Parts
Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Matte Poppy Red. This bright red darkened up when sprayed over the black to produce a nice industrial looking color. I sprayed the parts at an angle to produce shading when the piece was reassembled.

Metallic Parts
Krylon ColorMaster Paint + Primer Metallic Aluminum. A couple of light coats produced a smooth, shiny metallic finish. Again, the parts were sprayed at an angle to help generate the appearance of shadows on the finished piece.

Dark Wash Layer
The colors on the reassembled piece seemed a little flat in places, even with the shading that was already there. I mixed some dark (gray-blue) wash and brushed it over all surfaces. The excess was wiped off with a sponge to prevent pooling. The result provided additional shadows and brought out the recessed details.

Brown Wash Layer
Even with the dark wash, the piece still looked a little too new. A brown wash mix applied the same way as the dark wash layer gave the piece a more used look.

"We have no idea what it is, how it works, where it came from, who might come looking for it, and some junk yard wants to sell it off as salvage?"

- Doctor Solheim, Xeno-Archeology Department, Miskatonic University

It just fell out of orbit? Sure, pull the other one.

This piece started out as a test, but turned out well enough for the tabletop. I could add more weathering later, but I'd like to see what more I can do with this kit first. Before that, I have some other terrain ideas to pursue with the other materials I have on hand.