Black Tribe Gunbot

 Hi!

Here's the next addition to my Rusty Robots project in the form of a Black Tribe Gunbot:

The Black Tribe are the villains of The Scrapyard and follow their Glorious Leader's commands to cause mayhem and constantly seek to take over the world. Fortunately they are pretty inept and Glorious Leader spends more time shouting at his underlings than actually getting much done.

The Gunbot is one of the basic Black Tribe robots and is armed with a pair of short ranged blasters which make up for their lack of accuracy by sheer weight of fire. 

Hopefully next week will see the tribe finished and I'll be moving onto the Blues!

In the meantime, All the best!

The Red Tribe Core Force

 Hi!

Here's the initial line up for my Red Tribe robots.

The force thus far consists of five Scrapbots armed with scrap pistols and a Forge Guard with a firepike. This will give me enough to get going with skirmishes in The Scrapyard and I eventually hope to have all the tribes done to this level and then slowly build up each into larger warbands and possibly add a few new tribes too!

I've also got some terrain put together in the form of the Lone Star Oil Bar:

Hopefully next weeks update will have the initial lineup of the Black Tribe done as well as few odds and ends of scenic gubbins as I foresee The Scrapyard being a terrain heavy environment that will give me the opportunity to build lots of interesting stuff.

I'm thinking about making themed terrain for each of the locations of The Scrapyard but initially will be concentrating on The Rusted Mesa, the homeland of The Red Tribe so expect to see some interesting scrap piles, wind turbines and Scrap Settlements.

I'm going to be organising my way through my supplies box to see what terrain components I have which will effect what I eventually make but I look forward to getting some terrain making done!

In the meantime, All the best!

Stirrings from The Scrapyard

Hi!

I can't believe it's been three years since I did anything with this blog but that's set to change with the arrival of 2021 as stirrings can be heard from The Scrapyard. 

After a long hibernation, the Robot tribes are on the move!

During the last lockdown I built and painted the Red Tribe, built and painted some of the Black Tribe and built the Blue Tribe but never painted them. I also began construction of some terrain elements for The Scrapyard including scrap piles, buildings and the odd scatter piece.

Things kind of petered out but as I'm back on lockdown, I hope to get more stuff built, some odds and ends painted and lots of background written up!

Even after the minimum three week lockdown we have here in Scotland has finished, I am keen to keep up the momentum and get as many little robot chaps built as I can and even, dare I say it play some games of my own creation.

By the end of 2021 I hope to have got all six tribes represented with each of their units that I originally envisioned built and painted and have enough scenery to cover a 3'x3' table representing at least the more general terrain one can expect to see in The Scrapyard. I also have vague ideas of building some of the assorted Denizens of The Scrapyard, be they Thunderchooks, Barrel Wights or simply wandering robots.

It's going to be quite a challenge to build and paint everything but I really feel the need to give it a go and really build on the setting that I created all those years ago. I am doing this purely for personal enjoyment so there will not be a range being made available for sale as I have learned that as soon as there's the pressure of having to meet folks expectations the pleasure goes right out of things and I then lose all motivation which results in the project being shelved for another interminable time.

The plan is to post a weekly update of where I am with the project, hopefully accompanied by lots of lovely pictures of concepts, sculpts and scenery but as long as I'm enjoying the process, that's all that really matters!

I'll see how I get on and hope to post an update in a weeks time of my latest additions to The Scrapyard so watch this space and all the best!

Stirrings From the Scrapyard

Hi!

Well it's been a long journey but I've almost got the full background written up for the world of Rusty Robots and have begun work on fleshing out the look of the world and it's denizens but I'm currently mid house move so updates will continue at a glacial rate for the time being but this will hopefully change in the next month or two as I get my dedicated art space sorted out and begin work on drawing, painting and sculpting!

Blue Tribe Broadside Big Guy

As I pack, move and shift stuff, I am constantly finding more artwork, scribbles and even sculpts that have sat for the last few years but I hope that the new place will result in all manner of interesting developments for the little robotic types who at times have dominated my life (not to mention every piece of paper I have!)

Trade Envoy

It's taken me eight years to get to this place but I plan on having the first couple of tribes sculpted and painted within the next two months. Before folks ask, this is purely for my own enjoyment and I have no plans at present to make the figures available for purchase. 

Who knows what the future holds, but at present, I just want to enjoy sculpting and painting wacky little robots and writing about their adventures!

All the best!

Progress Report

Hi!

You may have noticed the shiny new header I have put up for Rusty Robots. I've been meaning to give the blog a proper header for ages and my new burst of painting works has seen me furiously developing some of the ideas that I sketched out almost a decade ago!

Rusty Robots

I must admit that this is still a bit of a work in progress as there will eventually be a bit of a background to the piece but couldn't resist posting it up anyway!

In other news, I have been working on some Red Tribe artwork too:

Red Tribe Scrapbot

I plan on posting up some articles over the coming weeks of each of the tribes as well as a guide to assorted locations around the scrapyard but am producing colour artwork for each which looks way nicer than some of the black and white sketches I've posted previously.

Hopefully I will have a decent map done soon too so folks can have a decent idea of the geography of The Scrapyard too so watch this space!

All the best!

A World of Robots?

Welcome to Rusty Robots!

King Raam

I sculpted my first Rusty Robot, King Raam as an experiment whilst at university about eight years ago and fell in love with the simplicity and charm of the figure. Over the next few years, I produced a whole selection of the little guys in various styles and colours and slowly began imagining the sort of world that they might live in.

Robot Collection 1

Thus was The Scrapyard born. A long forgotten planet in an unfashionable corner of the galaxy that was used as a sort of planetary tip by spaces supposedly intelligent races. Littered amongst all the junk were lots of old and obsolete robots who, in typical robot fashion have explored and settled the world they find themselves in.

A typical day in The Scrapyard

Over the years, I've picked at the idea and originally started this blog several years ago with the idea of developing the world into something a bit more but sadly work and moving house and lots of other tedious things got in the way but I have kept scribbling notes, doodles and the odd sculpt and now think I have enough to make a proper start to the project.

Yes it will be a lot of work using lots of different techniques, be it sculpture, design, illustration, photography and even writing, I find myself drawn back to the world of Rusty Robots time and time again so hopefully I will be able to make a go of things this time round!

There's lots still to do as I slowly untangle almost a decade's worth of doodles and notes and try to put it into some sort of order but I shall see what I can do over the course of the coming weeks and this blog should start to transform into the collected exploration of The Scrapyard and it's fascinating inhabitants.

In the meantime, All the best!