While I was finishing off the Martian Deora in the spring I started to think about other kinds of vehicles that might operate on Mars - on a Mars where people can't seem to live without custom show cars of course. I started making all the initial kitbashes on this one while putting the finishing details on the Deora.

The frame of the Gasser needs to have its front suspension cut off and the ends shaped into semi-circles. All the suspension components were chromed, so this was stripped off using Castrol SuperClean. This was the first time I did chrome stripping and found that you need to let whatever components you are stripping sit for around 45 to 60 minutes in the fluid. All the chassis components were then painted flat black and later lightly misted with Krylon chrome.

There were lots of parts in the Gasser box that didn't belong at all to the Gasser kit. Those trapezoids with the circular holes were some of those parts. The box on which the tank sits doesn't go together properly and you'll need to cut new longitudinal side-panels from sheet styrene to get it to hold together. I was lucky in that the angle of the cockpit backwall came fairly close to matching the angles on the Gasser frame. Those red and yellow auxillary tanks were also kit left-overs. The above view gives you a pretty good idea about how low to the ground this baby is. Any rock bigger than a golf ball is going to pose a problem! You'll need to replace the Gasser's internal combustion engine with some sort of fuel-cell based engine like the one you see sticking out of the bottom of the cockpit (which was cobbled together with parts from my spares box).

The underside was misted with black, chrome and gray spray paints. I spent a long time trying to figure out what to do about the front wheel - the Amtronic wheels and tires were just too puny. I lucked upon a Groovy Grader kit and it had a spare front tire that fit the opening in cockpit perfectly. I fashioned a wheel for the tire from some small scale wheels from the spares box. The front suspension arm is made from some styrene tubing and suspension components from the Gasser. The aft filler cap on the top of the tank was replaced by a filler hose that allows filling up the tank at a water stop. This piece was also made from some pieces from the spares box. The steering wheel is from the AMT/Ertl Moonscope kit (which is a great donor kit from which I've used pieces on a wide variety of models, but I've never actually built an entire Moonscope straight from the box). I love the look of the front tire, but I think this thing would be tough to stear. Ah, the scarifices for beauty! And finally, the business end where the water comes out. Remember to tightly close those spigots when you're done draining some water - it's plenty hard to come by on Mars.

Image: Front view

Image: Top view

Image: Bottom view

Image: Rear view

Image: Canopy open