Wednesday 25 August 2010

Ebbles M11 MPUV

Regular readers of my blog will be familiar with the the name Ebbles, as I often mentioned them when describing some of the interiors of my WWG buildings. This is because I'd often use their furniture pieces to complement that provided by WWG. Ebbles is another cardstock company whom I greatly admire. They tend to concentrate on sci-fi or near future vehicles and scenery. This is my first review of some of their near future models. These three vehicles seen in my series of photos are the M11 MPUV or SUV depending if you want a civilian or military version. The website describes them as being 1/48th scale, which means they'll fit in well with any range of 28mm scale figures.
I have made one civilian version and two military versions. The military versions come with optional roof mounted weaponry. I've made two of the three options - the machine gun remote station (shown on the middle vehicle above) and the missile launcher remote station (shown on the vehicle to the right above). The third option is for a grenade launcher remote station. This looks very similar to the machine gun but has a bulkier barrel.
The weapon mounts that I made do rotate. This was achieved by the simple method of pushing a flat headed pin through the centre of their turntables. If I want to use either of these vehicles as unarmed versions then it is a very easy task to remove the weapon mount. Underneath the weapon mounts and inside the bodies of the two vehicles, I added about half a dozen layers of foamboard on top of each other so that the pins would have something to slot into, thus keeping the weapon mounts stable.
The Ebbles website describes this as "the illegitimate lovechild of a SUV and a Humvee." The model comes with eight colour schemes - Factory Gray, Police Classic, UN White, Monotone Sand, Sand Gray, Olive Drab, NATO 3-Tone Verdant, and NATO 3-Tone Desert. My civilian version is in Factory Gray, whilst my two military versions are Olive Drab. Please note that these vehicles come with wing mirrors, which you can clearly see in the photo above, something that is missing from every WWG vehicle!
                   
This set is ridiculously cheap at only $6.00. Once you've downloaded the set you can make as many as you want, and with eight colour schemes to choose from that's great value for money. The civilian version was much easier to make than the armed military versions. That's simply because the remote weapon mounts are a tad fiddly to make.
It is nice to know that Ebbles and WWG support one another. They view each other as allies rather than competitors, which is such a refreshing attitude to see in any industry. I love these models but I have one very minor criticism to make - I'd love to see a version coloured all black. That would be so useful for the likes of a presidential motorcade or transport mode for a bunch of Men-in-Black!

Note, if no post appears on Sunday don't worry. I'm spending a long weekend at home playing as much ATZ as I can. So expect some new batreps in the near future. The next scenario of my campaign will be called Riot!, which tells you all you need about what team Vampifan will be facing next. The question is, will I be adapting the relatively easy Police Riot scenario or the much harder National Guard Riot scenario from ATZ:Haven? Also, look out for my review of the Ebbles M8A3 Kirchner main battle tank next Wednesday. It's a freaking awesome model!

11 comments:

  1. You never cease to amaze me! You know, you are really getting good at this paper stuff.

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  2. Yeah, they're passable, aren't they? LOL!
    Thanks, Willy. Just wait until you see the Kirchner! I can't wait to show it off!

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  3. So you are gearing up for a riot. I am really looking forward to your next batreps. A riot with a Main Battle Tank...

    You are right about a black version of this model. Can't see why it's not included. I've just recently discovered 1/43 diecast models for the presidential motorcade. Black limo with presidential coat of arms and a CIA SUV. Even though they are more expensive than my usual cars I am really, really tempted. There is a free "ATZ: Hostage Rescue" scenario after all...

    Will you play "Riot" solo or versus a human player again?

    Whiteface / Oliver

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  4. Sorry to disappoint you, Oliver, but the MBT won't be making an appearance in my ATZ campaign for quite a while! I do have plans for it and some troop carriers that I need to build. I have some very ambitious plans for a huge Military encounter with a massive zombie horde. This will be the game where I will hopefully use my complete horde of zombie figures! Will Vampifan be participating? If he survives that long, then yes.

    If you are tempted to buy the die cast presidential motorcade then I say, go for it. You know you want it!

    This weekend I will be gaming solo again, starting tomorrow. I'm unemployed and Rob, who gamed with me last time works most days. He told me that he enjoyed the experience, so hopefully we will game again.

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  5. Hehe, I didn't really expect that you use the MBT in a riot scenario. But a zombiefan adding a Tank to his force is obviously preparing for something big. I think I will stay away from the Haven scenarios in my running campaign. They work better in an urban area.

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  6. Giving ATZ:Haven a miss is probably a wise decision for you, Oliver, as nearly every scenario is played in an urban setting. You have to work with what you've got.

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  7. Hi, I've been reading your blog for a couple of months now, and am a big Ebbles fan so I thought I'd chime in. If you want a black one you can make one using photoshop or gimp (free photoshop clone. You can open the pdf in gimp (what i use) and use the adjust colors tool to get the gray version to black.
    Also Vampifan, if you haven't been by Mel's site in awhile he recently released a near future convoy set that you might be interested in: fuel truck, water truck, open and closed flatbed. They would go well in your games I think.

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  8. Hi, Werewolf8, and welcome aboard. That's a good idea for converting the grey SUV to black. I'm a graphic designer so playing around with desk top publishing progs is no problem for me. I'll give it a go sometime. I don't know why I didn't think of it!
    I often visit Mel's site, so I am aware of what's available. The convoy set you mentioned is on my shopping list. As is his awesome dropship, Aliens-style APC and all of his prefab buildings. An order to Mel is looming, methinks.

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  9. It's off-topic, but I just had a look at the studio miniatures website. I didn't really expect anything new, but there was something I hadn't seen before: "Tiny Terrors", a pack of zombified children!

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  10. Oliver, off-topic comments like that are most welcome! I've been meaning to send Studio an order as I'm missing their last batch of survivors. Now, I'll get the zombie kids as well. Order placed already! Many, many thanks for the heads up!

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  11. The zombie kids are sweet. Love Studio Minis. 8)

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