RPG vehicles by Dennis Kauth

[Rubenandres77]

A few weeks ago Brian Roe shared some scans in Facebook groups and in his blog.
Those are some pages of paper models designed by Dennis Kauth. Dennis designed the kits back in 1982.
Brian believe this were designed for use in RPGs of the time (Traveller, Star Frontiers) as Dennis worked for TSR at the time.

The pages were given to Barian after designer Dennis Kauth died with the intention of being preserved and shared.

Brian stated in his post that he'd "never seen a finished version of it and would love to have someone take on the project of building it."

So I decided to have a try. This may well be the first time this kits are built in over 37 years by any other than the original designer.

You can get the original scans from his blog: https://roebeast.blogspot.com/2019/1...ard-model.html


At first Brian thought this templates were for one kit. Actually there were 6 kits in the pages he shared. Let's see them.


(Note: I printed each page on letter-size cardstock. I have no idea if that was the original size. So I'm not sure if the scale is correct.)



The first page in Brian's post is that of an ATV.

Since there are no tracks or wheels, it probably is the model of a hover vehicle.





The page contains enough parts to build two models.

The diagram shows a gun turret on top of the vehicle, but there are no parts "5, 6 & 7" in the page.

This probably means you need to roll scrap paper or use toothpicks to create the gun barrels.








That kit was simple. Easy to build. The assembly is made by following the numbers on the tabs and gluing them in order.



Next page in Brian's post is that of an airborne fighter.

This page is repeated twice. But you only need one.




You will need some patience and care to build this. Since the body is only one piece it may be tricky. Again: just follow the numbers to glue the tabs.




The detailed cockpit (including a separate seat) is a very nice addition.




But be careful: the cockpit doesn't fit perfectly, and you may need to force it gently and trim a bit or two to put it in place.






The following 4 pages contain the parts for a big tracked ATV.

Among this there are also parts for a small tank.








Funny thing is that the small (unmanned?) tank has more parts than the air fighter.

I believe it is unmanned, because it fits perfectly on the rear part of the following kit.

But is too small to fit a person inside at the same scale.

And since it was in the same pages I suppose those were meant to be together.











This is big. The body is made up of two big parts (front and rear). Internal details, tracks and a removable top.








There are no diagrams, and this time the tabs are not numbered. So you go blind when building this.


After some time studying the parts I came with this, which apparently is the proper configuration.











The last page contains parts for two simple aircraft.


At first I thought the separate panels in the pages were meant to add some volume.
Now I believe those were just guides the designer intended to use as base for a more detailed artwork.

Given the poorly detailed artwork, and the similarity between them,
I believe those are two variations of the same theme that were in development stages and never finished.
This two lack all the care and detail of the previous models.
So this two are more an unfinished prototype than a complete kit.



And that's all. Some nice kits to have fun. They have that 80s charm that is so appealing.

They're not difficult. But lack of instructions may be problematic if you don't have certain expertise in building paper models.
Hopefully the photos here will serve as a good guide to anyone attempting them.



Thanks for reading!


Regards.

[SCEtoAUX]

Those look very nice. You did a good job interpreting how to make them. The detailed interiors are a good addition. It is good to see some of the old paper model work preserved and constructed.

[Roebeast]

Great work Mr. Martinez! It's actually made me a bit emotional to see these built. I've had the booklet for years but never committed to building them. Now seeing them built I am inspired to color and build them. Thank you.

[Vermin_King]

Wow, those are begging to be updated and textured. Nice builds

[gotham]

Loving the big tracked vehicle with the interior detail. Definitely looking to be re worked in colour.

[dunarispace]

They have a style of this oldie paper kit:
https://www.galaxykits.com/inbox/ast...del-kartonowy/

[Vermin_King]

I wish they would re-direct to the model pages instead of creating their own download locations at galaxykits...

[Wyvern]

Fantastic vehicles, and they certainly have a certain “Air” of the 80’s about them.

Wyvern

[Paper Fun]

That's so neat. Is there a way to download them? I would love to try my hand luck at hand-coloring them.

[Roebeast]

Some news on these.

I heard from the friend of mine and Dennis's who first gave me the booklet and he confirmed that they were originally designed for TSR's Buck Rogers role playing game. They were never finalized and put into production, probably due to the shake-ups happening at TSR at the time.

And on the Star Frontiers: Alive and Well group on Facebook, Matthew Teets shared this Star Frontiers Skimmer that he purchased years ago. It's obviously designed by Dennis Kauth as well. Matthew has promised to scan this for me and with his permission I'll share it.

There are pretty large resolution images of the Buck Rogers vehicles on my blog. Make sure to open the linked images to get the largest size. I'm trying to figure out some way of removing the screen pattern over the images so that I can better color them but it's frustratingly not working for me.