Image: Overall view

Image: Side view, driver's area

Image: (Right) side, engines

Image: Pilot

Inspired by the Star Wars Episode I Universe.

Gammar’s pod racer is one of the oldest in the circuit these days. We can see her time to time on the Tatooine racing track, especially when Zebulba is not registered… This pod racer has a very primitive design with only one engine. The two secondary turbines are too small to be considered as propulsers. They serve as stabilizers and for steering. But, the main engine is a very powerful one and Gammar doesn’t have to be too stressed by the newer multi-engines pods for speed and maneuverability. One fun fact about this kind of mono-engine pod racer: they killed, by burns and radiation, more pilots than other "accidents" when the pod’s antigrav system failed and/or it's protection shield dropped… Anyway, Gammar is still racing with passion and if he is able to finish the season without any problems, he will take his retirement and then plans to open the first pod racers museum in the known galaxy in the Mos Espa region.

The Model

Star Wars: Pod Racers game has so much potential for SF modeler that as soon as I saw it, I started to kit bash one. The main engine is a turbine of a 1/24 or 1/32 airplane kit (never knew where exactly it came from). The two secondary engines are plastic tubes fixed to the main one with the upper part of B-Wing kit. The control section at the tail his a bike seat/tank. I used also some WW II airplane engine nose and different parts of car kits. The pod is the pilot’s section of a P-38 (WW II airplane), flipped upside-down. Wires are guitar's strings. Again I used different parts of car’s kits (Lamborghini’s seat, bike’s pedals, F-1’s engine, etc.) to build the open cockpit.

I painted it with Tamiya spray color and used decals of GameWorkshop Eldars kit and hot rod special decals sheet (don’t remember the name of the company). This scene is an “after race”, so I weathered the kit with extra dust, lot of scratches, etc. Finally, the figure of Gammar (gammarius means "Shrimp" in Latin) is a conversion of a few role-playing games figures (Game Workshop, TSR Alternity) at 28mm scale. So this species is a small one with just enough arms (4) to control a complex vehicle as the pod racer…