I'm a really big fan of Robin Fitton's Gruntz rules. I first saw them being demo'ed on his awesome urban terrain board at SELWG 2 or 3 years ago, and I've followed and contributed a bit to their development since then (there are a few pieces of my flavour fiction in the rulebook).
One of the things I especially like is the unit builders. You can essentially build any unit you like, from any background, any tech, any race, any figure line and stat it up. You could have ultra hi-tech GZG hardsuited New Israeli commandos fighting against Khurasan Miniatures Lhurgg tribesmen, or Rebel Minis Sahadeen fighting against CMG Kaamados. There have even been unit stats produced for British colonial troops - pith helmets and short chamber Boxer Henry point 45 calibre rifles, with a bayonet and some guts behind it.
Robin has started a kickstarter campaign on Indegogo to launch a computerised version of the army builder. The main goal has already been met, but there are a couple of interesting stretch goals set up, to include things like the addition of army management and giant monsters - Godzilla and laser armed frickin' dinosaurs, for instance. The funding options also let you pick up some nice bargains on the printed 1.1 rulebook when it comes out later this year.
You can find more information on Gruntz at Robin's website here - he's also got some very good painting tutorials and miniature review videos on there - and the Indegogo launchpad is here.
Monday, 28 May 2012
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
3d Printing
For christmas this year I recieved a £25 voucher from a good friend of mine for Quick Forge, a 3D printing company. An awesome gift that got me excited straight away.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the concept, 3d-printing allows you to create a 3 dimensional object from layers of plastic or resin that are printed out by a special 3d printer. It works a bit like those puzzles that were popular a few years ago where you would stack different flat shapes on top of each other to reveal an image of Elvis's head. 3D printing works in a similar way, in that you upload a 3d model and a special printer lays down successive layers of plastic or resin to create the 3D object.
I have dabbled in 3D design and CGI for years, most recently using DOGA L3, a very easy to use Japanese program that lets you assemble objects from a library of parts and primitives. It doesn't have any of the advanced modelling tools you might find in more complex programs like TrueSpace or 3D Studio, but for knocking up a quick spaceship, it's great.
My first design was based on an old Micro Machines model that I always wanted multiple copies of to use a freighters in Silent Death, the Numiri ship:
I created a simple 3d-model in Doga that looked like it - I wanted to capture the essence of the ship rather than a copyright-shattering clone:
I then had to convert this to a type of file that Quick Forge will accept, in this case an .STL file. I also needed to make sure that the model was "watertight", that is that there were no "holes" into the interior, or orphaned parts - i.e. parts not attached to the rest of the mesh. The process to do this involved a couple of intermediary programs called MeshLab and NettFab.
Once complete, I uploaded my file to Quickforge and waited for the model to drop into my sweaty palms.
About a week later I received this:
The model is made from a fine beige resin and has pretty good resolution. It does have a pattern of lines all over it, an artefact of the layering method of printing I assume, which makes it look a bit like it's covered in Zimmerit.
Since then I have also uploaded a mesh to another 3d-printing site, Shapeways, the Stingray fighter, another one of my DOGA designs shown here in all it's textured glory:
Shapeways is a goldmine of all sorts of amazing objects. Unlike Quickforge, you can browse a catalogue of other peoples designs, and there ere literally thousands and thousands. I could spend all day looking at them. These are the results of the Stingray printed at Shapeways, along with another ship generated using the very fun Shipwright:
You can choose from a variety of materials at Shapeways, and these were created in White, Strong and Flexible - the cheapest option. The result is very good, though. The detail is far greater than on the Quickforge model and the surface texture is different. Rather than smooth and glossy, this is slightly matt and grainy.
I can see that this could be a hobby that could get very addictive very fast. I'm already thinking how I could bulk up my fleets for Silent Death, and fill in the gaps in my Air War C:21 hangars too. The cost of larger models is high, if I were to reproduce the freighter above at Shapeways it'd be something like £13.
In the meantime, I've set up a Shapeways shop so you can see my designs as they get uploaded. My Shapeways Shop
For those of you that aren't familiar with the concept, 3d-printing allows you to create a 3 dimensional object from layers of plastic or resin that are printed out by a special 3d printer. It works a bit like those puzzles that were popular a few years ago where you would stack different flat shapes on top of each other to reveal an image of Elvis's head. 3D printing works in a similar way, in that you upload a 3d model and a special printer lays down successive layers of plastic or resin to create the 3D object.
I have dabbled in 3D design and CGI for years, most recently using DOGA L3, a very easy to use Japanese program that lets you assemble objects from a library of parts and primitives. It doesn't have any of the advanced modelling tools you might find in more complex programs like TrueSpace or 3D Studio, but for knocking up a quick spaceship, it's great.
My first design was based on an old Micro Machines model that I always wanted multiple copies of to use a freighters in Silent Death, the Numiri ship:
I created a simple 3d-model in Doga that looked like it - I wanted to capture the essence of the ship rather than a copyright-shattering clone:
Once complete, I uploaded my file to Quickforge and waited for the model to drop into my sweaty palms.
About a week later I received this:
Since then I have also uploaded a mesh to another 3d-printing site, Shapeways, the Stingray fighter, another one of my DOGA designs shown here in all it's textured glory:
Shapeways is a goldmine of all sorts of amazing objects. Unlike Quickforge, you can browse a catalogue of other peoples designs, and there ere literally thousands and thousands. I could spend all day looking at them. These are the results of the Stingray printed at Shapeways, along with another ship generated using the very fun Shipwright:
You can choose from a variety of materials at Shapeways, and these were created in White, Strong and Flexible - the cheapest option. The result is very good, though. The detail is far greater than on the Quickforge model and the surface texture is different. Rather than smooth and glossy, this is slightly matt and grainy.
I can see that this could be a hobby that could get very addictive very fast. I'm already thinking how I could bulk up my fleets for Silent Death, and fill in the gaps in my Air War C:21 hangars too. The cost of larger models is high, if I were to reproduce the freighter above at Shapeways it'd be something like £13.
In the meantime, I've set up a Shapeways shop so you can see my designs as they get uploaded. My Shapeways Shop
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Kitbash Part 4
A while ago I bought some dead cheap kits from Hobbylink Japan of the Land Booster Spirit and a couple of VOTOM action figures. The Land booster Spirit is some sort of transport aircraft that a giant Mecha hangs onto like some sort of crazy mecha hang glider.
At only £4 per kit, even with postage they were a bargain. I thought I could use them as aerofighters or dropships. The Spirit itself is quite a nice model, but it has these weird on-rails wings that stick out the back, for the mechas legs to clip into when it's flying along. I liked the kit better without them, so left them off.
The kit assembled is very nice, with movable swing wings and giant cannons underneath, and will do quite nicely as an atmospheric transport of some kind.
I was left with a bunch of parts, though. These included the odd rear wings and several optional parts that allow you to modify a Mecha kit so it's hanging off the Land Booster. I played about with these parts and came up with this:
The paint job is GW Mechrite red with Chaos Black and Skull white panels, plus decals from GW Tau sheet and warning stripes and signs from Fighting Pirahna. It's been raining non-stop here for the last 4 days (drought? what drought?) so I haven't had a chance to give it my usual GW hardcoat spray before doing the weathering yet, hence it's still glossy in a fe places from where I brushed on the Windsor and Newton gloss varnish to seal the Decals.
It started out as a carrier or cruiser for Silent Death, but then morphed into an attack speeder of some kind for my new nihilistic, evil villain group, a bit like COBRA from GI Joe, hence the evil red and black colour scheme. However, with the warning signs on it now looks more like some sort of grav racer to me, like something out of Wipeout. I'll varnish it when the weather clears up and hit it with some washes, scratches and pigments and see how it looks after that.
The figures used above are from the new Armiesarmy Neo Sov range and are very nice little sculpts in the same style as GZG - so slightly chunkier than, say, Khurusan or Critical Mass. They come 10 to a pack and are very reasonably priced. The chap in the middle is some kind of pulp Nazi figure that I have no idea where I got. These will be the footsoldiers for my new Villain group, and I have another couple of the Androidz mechs armed with nice Gatling launchers and big arm-blades that I can use as terror striders or dreadnoughts for them.
At only £4 per kit, even with postage they were a bargain. I thought I could use them as aerofighters or dropships. The Spirit itself is quite a nice model, but it has these weird on-rails wings that stick out the back, for the mechas legs to clip into when it's flying along. I liked the kit better without them, so left them off.
The kit assembled is very nice, with movable swing wings and giant cannons underneath, and will do quite nicely as an atmospheric transport of some kind.
I was left with a bunch of parts, though. These included the odd rear wings and several optional parts that allow you to modify a Mecha kit so it's hanging off the Land Booster. I played about with these parts and came up with this:
The paint job is GW Mechrite red with Chaos Black and Skull white panels, plus decals from GW Tau sheet and warning stripes and signs from Fighting Pirahna. It's been raining non-stop here for the last 4 days (drought? what drought?) so I haven't had a chance to give it my usual GW hardcoat spray before doing the weathering yet, hence it's still glossy in a fe places from where I brushed on the Windsor and Newton gloss varnish to seal the Decals.
It started out as a carrier or cruiser for Silent Death, but then morphed into an attack speeder of some kind for my new nihilistic, evil villain group, a bit like COBRA from GI Joe, hence the evil red and black colour scheme. However, with the warning signs on it now looks more like some sort of grav racer to me, like something out of Wipeout. I'll varnish it when the weather clears up and hit it with some washes, scratches and pigments and see how it looks after that.
The figures used above are from the new Armiesarmy Neo Sov range and are very nice little sculpts in the same style as GZG - so slightly chunkier than, say, Khurusan or Critical Mass. They come 10 to a pack and are very reasonably priced. The chap in the middle is some kind of pulp Nazi figure that I have no idea where I got. These will be the footsoldiers for my new Villain group, and I have another couple of the Androidz mechs armed with nice Gatling launchers and big arm-blades that I can use as terror striders or dreadnoughts for them.
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
1/600 AirWar C:21
At the weekend we played a try out game of Wessex Games Air War C:21 fast play air combat rules with Tumbling Dice 1/600 aircraft. We had Four players, with me refereeing and acting as rules looker-upper. The scenario was loosely based on the attacks against HMS Coventry during the Falklands conflict in 1982, as I had the miniatures for Sea Harrier FRS1's (or SHAR's as they were known), IAI Daggers, A-4 Skyhawks and Mirage III's.
HMS Coventry was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer. On the morning of 25th May 1982 she was stationed to the North of Falkland Sound with the Type 22 Frigate HMS Broadsword (a pairing known as a "Type 64"). The ships were there to draw air attacks away from the landings in the nearby San Carlos bay. The pairing of the type 42 with a type 22 had been quite sucessful, as the Type 42's Sea Dart was good at high-altitude, long range intercepts, and the Sea Wolf on the type 22 better at low-level, short range intercepts. Coventry was attacked by multiple waves of A4-Skyhawks, and was hit by at least three bombs, one of which failed to explode and destroyed her helicopter. Unfortunately two of the other bombs did explode and opened a massive hole in the side of the ship. She quickly flodded, began to list and then capsized in just 20 minutes.
The scenario here represents a modified version of those events, with Mirage and Daggers replacing some of the A-4 attackers, and no Type 22 to offer short range defence. Perhaps, if you prefer, you can instead imagine that this is an attack on the fictional Type 42 HMS Oxford.
The Ginger One and Orc were the attacking Argentine planes and Goblin and MBB (My Big Brother) were the plucky British defenders. The Argentine forces were arranged in 3 waves, 4 Daggers, 4 Mirages and 3 Skyhawks. The Mirages and Daggers were carrying Mk82 retarded bombs and the Skyhawks had 1000lb bombs. One of the Daggers and one of the Mirages each carried 2 R550 Magic IR AA missiles instead of bombs. The SHAR's each had 2 AIM-9L sidewinders and a full load of cannon rounds. Argentine pilots were average and British pilots were Good.
The AirWar rules include stats for all of the aircraft and the air-to air missiles, plus rules for bombing ground targets and SAM's - but nothing specifically for anti-ship action, nor were there stats for the Sea Dart missiles the Coventry carried. I used the SART-M (Sounds About Right To Me) method to figure out the stats (I would have used the alternative Feels About Right To Me, but there were children present). I gave the Sea Dart a 25" range, with damage of 2d6 and a hit number of 7+ (it wasn't terribly accurate). Lock-on was by Coventry's radar, which I gave as 4+/60". I gave Coventry 15 damage points and said it was a Medium target. She had 2 Oerlikon cannons, which are in the main rules, and I also gave her her 4.5" gun too, with stats similar to a Soviet 100mm AA gun, but with a range of just 12" and a hit of 8+ using the Radar and 10+ optically.
The game was played on a 6 x 4 table with Coventry being 8 inches from one end. The SHAR's had to remain outside of her missile envelope, or the Sea Dart would shut down and refuse to fire as it detected friendly IFF in the area (not strictly historically accurate, but there was a policy of strict air "boxes" and ship "boxes" to stop the ships shooting down the Harriers).
The first wave were the Mirages. The SHAR's moved to intercept after being advised of the incoming bogeys by the combat controller on HMS Brilliant. Each SHAR fired a Sidewinder at a Mirage in a head-on attack. The new AIM-9L lived up to it's reputation and two Mirages were downed . A third AAM Mirage swung wide and attempted to come in behind the SHAR's for a missile shot, as the other two Mirages ploughed on for a high-speed, head-on gun pass with the Harriers. The aircraft flashed past each other and one of the Mirages fell flaming into to the cold North Atlantic and the other was raked with gunfire, jamming it's controls. But, that was OK, as the Mirage had it's target in sight now. The SHAR's didn't get off scott free, one took a few hits, one of which jammed it's cannons. The other was more severely damaged, crippling the aircraft.
The two remaining mirages were now split up, one trying to bring it's guns or cannon to bear on the turning Harriers and the damaged one pushing on towards Coventry. As the lead Mirage passed into Coventry's missile envelope the SHAR's broke off to engage the undamaged Mirage behind them:
Three A-4 Skyhawks with 1000lb bombs were next. Their run-in to Coventry was unopposed and they managed to drop 9 1000lb bombs without a single hit. The Sea Dart actually managed to engage two of the Skyhawks and blew them out of the sky almost directly over the ship.
A turn of failed maneauvers all round put one of the Harriers right in the gunsights of a bomb-carrying dagger and the other in a head-on pass with the AAM armed Dagger. The head-on pass resulted in damage to both aircraft, The SHAR also losing it's radar. The bomb carrying Dagger, however, ripped into the other SHAR and tore it to shreds. The aircarft tumbled into the sea without the pilot managing to eject. At the same time, the other Harrier had finished it's gun run and strayed inside Coventry's missile envelope, shutting down the Sea Dart just as it had launched it's first salvo against the incoming Dagger.
The next two phases saw the last Harrier demostrate the maneauverability of the tiny plane as the pilot stood it on it's wingtip and pulled the nose around in an extreme break turn to bring his guns to bear on the Harrier-killing Dagger, A long, revenge filled burst swiss-cheesed the Dagger, although the pilot did manage to eject. The other dagger tried a high yo-yo to bring him behind the SHAR. However, the Harrier anticipated this (if you win the initiative you move second, allowing you to react to your opponents maneauvers) and a Split-S brought it into a perfect, if a little close, missile shot that took the back off the enemy plane off.
Meanwhile, the last Dagger made it's run in to Coventry. The Sea Dart reset itself after the SHAR moved out of range and fired off two more of the gigantic missiles. The Dagger managed to avoid all of them, plus the hail of cannon fire. It dropped down low to the sea and released 6 Mk 82 "Snakeye" retarded bombs, flashing over the Coventry and away to wards home. The retard fins on the bombs popped open, slowing them so the fuses could arm and the Dagger could clear the blast zone.
Bombing in AirWar C21 is quite hard. You'll routinely have a base number of 9-12 to hit on a d10, so getting as many +'s to hit as possible is a good thing. Flying low gives a bonus (but allows AA guns to shoot at you), bomb computers give a bonus. The Dagger needed 7+ to hit with the bombs....
The Coventry was hit, taking 7 points of damage in one attack, and knocking her radar out. The last Dagger sped off the Table to return to Argentina with news of a downed Sea Harrier and a hit on the Coventry. The British had won the scenario as Coventry was still afloat and combat effective at the end. However, with two Harriers damaged, one of them crippled and likely not going to be airworthy again soon, and one Harrier and pilot lost, it was a pyrhhic victory at best.
Overall this was a really fun and enjoyable game. Everybody commented on how well the rules worked, and the turns passed quickly for everybody. We got a real sense of speed and manoeuvrability in the planes and the combat was fast and fun. The miniatures were a lot of fun to paint, but I need to get some more of the Litko peg toppers, as I depleted my stock with this project. The Litko flight stands are the best I've come across in ages and are now distributed in the UK by Figures in Comfort, which really helps on the horrible postage from the US.
The missile markers were made from pipe cleaners I picked up at £2.75 for 50 from a tobacconists (AGG didn't realise they were called pipe cleaners because pipe smokers use them to clean their pipes...). I burnt off the bristles from one end with a lighter (MUCH quicker than trying to cut or pluck them), painted the exposed wire white with a black dot at the tip and then added a yellow flame on the remaining bristles. I can't claim the idea as my own as I've seen it in a couple of different places, and you can even buy pre-made ones somewhere. I'm going to try and source a few small rare earth magnets to glue to the underside of the aircraft so I can use some cut-up black chenile bumps to indicate smoke from a crippled aircraft.
HMS Coventry was a Type 42 Guided Missile Destroyer. On the morning of 25th May 1982 she was stationed to the North of Falkland Sound with the Type 22 Frigate HMS Broadsword (a pairing known as a "Type 64"). The ships were there to draw air attacks away from the landings in the nearby San Carlos bay. The pairing of the type 42 with a type 22 had been quite sucessful, as the Type 42's Sea Dart was good at high-altitude, long range intercepts, and the Sea Wolf on the type 22 better at low-level, short range intercepts. Coventry was attacked by multiple waves of A4-Skyhawks, and was hit by at least three bombs, one of which failed to explode and destroyed her helicopter. Unfortunately two of the other bombs did explode and opened a massive hole in the side of the ship. She quickly flodded, began to list and then capsized in just 20 minutes.
The scenario here represents a modified version of those events, with Mirage and Daggers replacing some of the A-4 attackers, and no Type 22 to offer short range defence. Perhaps, if you prefer, you can instead imagine that this is an attack on the fictional Type 42 HMS Oxford.
The Ginger One and Orc were the attacking Argentine planes and Goblin and MBB (My Big Brother) were the plucky British defenders. The Argentine forces were arranged in 3 waves, 4 Daggers, 4 Mirages and 3 Skyhawks. The Mirages and Daggers were carrying Mk82 retarded bombs and the Skyhawks had 1000lb bombs. One of the Daggers and one of the Mirages each carried 2 R550 Magic IR AA missiles instead of bombs. The SHAR's each had 2 AIM-9L sidewinders and a full load of cannon rounds. Argentine pilots were average and British pilots were Good.
The AirWar rules include stats for all of the aircraft and the air-to air missiles, plus rules for bombing ground targets and SAM's - but nothing specifically for anti-ship action, nor were there stats for the Sea Dart missiles the Coventry carried. I used the SART-M (Sounds About Right To Me) method to figure out the stats (I would have used the alternative Feels About Right To Me, but there were children present). I gave the Sea Dart a 25" range, with damage of 2d6 and a hit number of 7+ (it wasn't terribly accurate). Lock-on was by Coventry's radar, which I gave as 4+/60". I gave Coventry 15 damage points and said it was a Medium target. She had 2 Oerlikon cannons, which are in the main rules, and I also gave her her 4.5" gun too, with stats similar to a Soviet 100mm AA gun, but with a range of just 12" and a hit of 8+ using the Radar and 10+ optically.
The game was played on a 6 x 4 table with Coventry being 8 inches from one end. The SHAR's had to remain outside of her missile envelope, or the Sea Dart would shut down and refuse to fire as it detected friendly IFF in the area (not strictly historically accurate, but there was a policy of strict air "boxes" and ship "boxes" to stop the ships shooting down the Harriers).
The first wave were the Mirages. The SHAR's moved to intercept after being advised of the incoming bogeys by the combat controller on HMS Brilliant. Each SHAR fired a Sidewinder at a Mirage in a head-on attack. The new AIM-9L lived up to it's reputation and two Mirages were downed . A third AAM Mirage swung wide and attempted to come in behind the SHAR's for a missile shot, as the other two Mirages ploughed on for a high-speed, head-on gun pass with the Harriers. The aircraft flashed past each other and one of the Mirages fell flaming into to the cold North Atlantic and the other was raked with gunfire, jamming it's controls. But, that was OK, as the Mirage had it's target in sight now. The SHAR's didn't get off scott free, one took a few hits, one of which jammed it's cannons. The other was more severely damaged, crippling the aircraft.
 |
| View downtable. The sea is an old blue velvet pub curtain. |
 |
| Crippled SHAR to the left. Centre SHAR performs a Hi-G YoYo as the Mirage turns towards Coventry. |
The mirage tried to slip in behind the Crippled SHAR, but a minimum range Sidewinder shot from the Harrier with the jammed gun ripped the aircraft apart. Meanwhile Coventry locked onto the incoming Mirage with her Sea Dart and loosed of two salvos of two missiles, plus shots from her Oerlikon and 4.5 inch guns. All of them missed. The battered Mirage dropped down to low level and released it's retarded bombs, all of which sailed clean past the Coventry and into the Sea. The battered Mirage made it's escape off the board to an uncertain journey home.
The British player elected to have the damaged Sea Harriers return to their base on Invincible and a replacement pair fly out. However, the journey time to and from the carrier meant that there would be no CAP cover to oppose the next wave of Argentine aircraft - The Coventry was on her own for now.
Three A-4 Skyhawks with 1000lb bombs were next. Their run-in to Coventry was unopposed and they managed to drop 9 1000lb bombs without a single hit. The Sea Dart actually managed to engage two of the Skyhawks and blew them out of the sky almost directly over the ship.
With the last Skyhawk Racing for home, and pieces of burning aircraft raining down, the two fresh SHARs arrived on the scene at top speed, just in time to see an oblique line of Daggers arrowing for Coventry. The SHAR's both loosed Sidewinders and one tracked and destroyed a Dagger, but the other failed and veered off course.
 |
| The rearmost Dagger is about to have a Really Bad Day. The front one will fail it's break turn test, but still evade the missile to find it's gunsight suddenly full of Harrier.... |
 |
| Sea Darts track the Dagger as the damaged Harrier begins to recover from the gun pass with the AAM Dagger (just out of picture to the right) |
Meanwhile, the last Dagger made it's run in to Coventry. The Sea Dart reset itself after the SHAR moved out of range and fired off two more of the gigantic missiles. The Dagger managed to avoid all of them, plus the hail of cannon fire. It dropped down low to the sea and released 6 Mk 82 "Snakeye" retarded bombs, flashing over the Coventry and away to wards home. The retard fins on the bombs popped open, slowing them so the fuses could arm and the Dagger could clear the blast zone.
Bombing in AirWar C21 is quite hard. You'll routinely have a base number of 9-12 to hit on a d10, so getting as many +'s to hit as possible is a good thing. Flying low gives a bonus (but allows AA guns to shoot at you), bomb computers give a bonus. The Dagger needed 7+ to hit with the bombs....
 |
| Hit! The Harrier surveys the damage to Coventry (in her new "bare plastic" paint scheme). |
Overall this was a really fun and enjoyable game. Everybody commented on how well the rules worked, and the turns passed quickly for everybody. We got a real sense of speed and manoeuvrability in the planes and the combat was fast and fun. The miniatures were a lot of fun to paint, but I need to get some more of the Litko peg toppers, as I depleted my stock with this project. The Litko flight stands are the best I've come across in ages and are now distributed in the UK by Figures in Comfort, which really helps on the horrible postage from the US.
The missile markers were made from pipe cleaners I picked up at £2.75 for 50 from a tobacconists (AGG didn't realise they were called pipe cleaners because pipe smokers use them to clean their pipes...). I burnt off the bristles from one end with a lighter (MUCH quicker than trying to cut or pluck them), painted the exposed wire white with a black dot at the tip and then added a yellow flame on the remaining bristles. I can't claim the idea as my own as I've seen it in a couple of different places, and you can even buy pre-made ones somewhere. I'm going to try and source a few small rare earth magnets to glue to the underside of the aircraft so I can use some cut-up black chenile bumps to indicate smoke from a crippled aircraft.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
15mm WW2
My local gaming group are in the process of moving from 15mm WW2 with Flames of War to 6mm WW2 with Blitzkrig Commander. As a result I'm selling all of my old 15mm stuff.
I bought a load of Peter Pig figures a while ago to make up a US rifle Company, but never got round to doing anything with them. With Salute on the horizon, and my gaming coffers somewhat depleted, I knuckled down and decided to paint and base all the US rifles to sell as a job lot.
Here are the results, three rifle platoons and an HQ section. 133 2nd world war US GI's in 15mm.
I also repainted my 105mm field artillery battery at the same time:
All are currently for sale on Ebay:
Artillery
Infantry Company
I bought a load of Peter Pig figures a while ago to make up a US rifle Company, but never got round to doing anything with them. With Salute on the horizon, and my gaming coffers somewhat depleted, I knuckled down and decided to paint and base all the US rifles to sell as a job lot.
Here are the results, three rifle platoons and an HQ section. 133 2nd world war US GI's in 15mm.
I also repainted my 105mm field artillery battery at the same time:
All are currently for sale on Ebay:
Artillery
Infantry Company
Monday, 2 April 2012
Reclaimed mechs and spruced up Protolene
A while ago I put up some WIP pictures of a couple of GZG 25mm Landmate figures that I was trying to rescue. I had done some light conversion on them and scratch built some new guns out of Greenstuff and left-over barrels from my Old Crow NKDF Sabre tanks.
Yesterday, whilst painting 125 15mm WW2 US infantry on a production line, I broke up the tedium by having a crack at repainting these mechs.
I wanted to go for quite a bold paint job, as I've got a lot of grey or green or grey and green stuff, and I wanted these to really stand out on the battlefield.
They'd already been base coated with GW Skull White, so i gave them a coat of GW foundation paints Iyanden Darksun, with a khermi brown disruptive camo pattern. I then edged the camo patterns in black. The engines were painted with Codex grey and then dry brushed with Chainmail and then boltgun. Weapons were codex grey with Chainmail accents. The missile pods, eyes and sensors were Gore red over a Mechrite red base. The whole thing then got a Griffon Sepia wash, with Badab Black on the guns and engines.
I based them using a mixture of Windsor and Newton Medium texture medium (the medium medium - heh) and W&N Dark Sienna acrylic paint. Over this I added flock, cork boulders and a few tufts of Silfor static grass clumps.
My lightbox is still out of commission and these were done in direct dayligh, so apologies for the shadows.
Nothing fancy, really, Mechrite red with Red gore on top. Jazzes him up quite nicely, I think.
Yesterday, whilst painting 125 15mm WW2 US infantry on a production line, I broke up the tedium by having a crack at repainting these mechs.
I wanted to go for quite a bold paint job, as I've got a lot of grey or green or grey and green stuff, and I wanted these to really stand out on the battlefield.
They'd already been base coated with GW Skull White, so i gave them a coat of GW foundation paints Iyanden Darksun, with a khermi brown disruptive camo pattern. I then edged the camo patterns in black. The engines were painted with Codex grey and then dry brushed with Chainmail and then boltgun. Weapons were codex grey with Chainmail accents. The missile pods, eyes and sensors were Gore red over a Mechrite red base. The whole thing then got a Griffon Sepia wash, with Badab Black on the guns and engines.
I based them using a mixture of Windsor and Newton Medium texture medium (the medium medium - heh) and W&N Dark Sienna acrylic paint. Over this I added flock, cork boulders and a few tufts of Silfor static grass clumps.
My lightbox is still out of commission and these were done in direct dayligh, so apologies for the shadows.
I also posted a picture of my Protolene battlesuit ages ago and lamented that my protolene space pirates were all brightly coloured. I've added a splash of colour to the mech with some red detailing, as you can see here:
Nothing fancy, really, Mechrite red with Red gore on top. Jazzes him up quite nicely, I think.
Friday, 30 March 2012
Crazy Space Dogs and Angry Space Cats
A while ago I previewed some of the amazing Felid troops from Khurasan miniatures. I picked these up just as soon as they became available and they've been languishing in my To Be Painted Mountain Of Lead (TBPMOL). I have just about a platoons worth of foot troops and 6 of the amazing grav bikes.
Originally I was going to paint them in either a sort of desert tan colour or maybe an attempt at tiger stripes with white chest and bellies, but I thought the former too boring and the latter too corny. I was sat at my painting station brooding over pallets as AGG wandered by. I asked her what colour she thought I should paint them and she replied, without hesitation, "Purple". "Purple," said I, "why purple? It's not very military, or terribly inconspicuous?". "So," she replied, "they're space cats, they can wear what they like and still look cool." How right she was.
So these chaps got a white undercoat and then a liberal wash of purple ink (an old GW one called - and considering GW's frankly downright bizarre naming policies on paints I can hardly believe that it's this and not something like Throbbing Vein Purple - simply "Purple Ink"). Some got a watered down wash and others a neat ink wash, which accounts for the shading differences. I have noticed that the ink doesn't adhere or cover as well as paint. It very quickly rubs off the raised areas, and there are some areas on the undercoated figures where it just would not flow onto. Even when applied directly with a brush, it just pooled away from a few spots. Weapons were picked out in black and Boltgun with Catchan Green for the ammo hoppers, and I painted Hobbes style Tiger faces with white and orange.
The Bike needs a bit of cleanup work here and there, I've splashed "over the lines" in a few places, but I like the overall scheme.
Here they are enjoying some of my new scratch built stackable hill sections too.
I also picked up some of the Critical Mass Games Protolene Khanate figures to use as crazy space dog pirates. These were painted according to their function. Line troops are in red (ohhh....redshirt, bad luck), support weapons are in green, leaders in black with gold or silver trim and specialists in dark blue. I figured that they're space pirates, so they want to look scary - they show their "Fierce Face" when attacking, plus dogs are colourblind, so maybe they don't realise that they really stand out on the battlefield.
The figures were all primed white and again painted with GW inks, in this case red, green, blue and black (obviously). I tidied up the bits where I didn't want the primary colour to be with a bit of white and then used the old GW Flesh Wash, Windsor and Newton Peat Brown and Chestnut inks and GW black for the faces and hands. Weapons were black with a few Boltgun highlights and the armour accents were Boltgun and Shining Gold.
I also had a pack of the 15mm.co.uk Lawdogs which I painted up as protolene attack hounds, or Protohounds as I have dubbed them.
And here they are also playing on the nice new stackable terrain...
I'm pretty happy with how they've come out, and they are nice, quick paint jobs too. The Protolene are just about done, plus I picked up a sweet ride for them too in a Dr Who Chula attack ship from the Dr Who Micro-Universe range.
I still have about half the Felids to do, and I'm looking around for some suitable vehicles for them to spill out from. I'd like something consistent with the bikes, so it needs to be grav. I'm pondering the Old Crow Glaive APC with Grav drive for them, but may hold on until Salute and have a looksee.
Originally I was going to paint them in either a sort of desert tan colour or maybe an attempt at tiger stripes with white chest and bellies, but I thought the former too boring and the latter too corny. I was sat at my painting station brooding over pallets as AGG wandered by. I asked her what colour she thought I should paint them and she replied, without hesitation, "Purple". "Purple," said I, "why purple? It's not very military, or terribly inconspicuous?". "So," she replied, "they're space cats, they can wear what they like and still look cool." How right she was.
So these chaps got a white undercoat and then a liberal wash of purple ink (an old GW one called - and considering GW's frankly downright bizarre naming policies on paints I can hardly believe that it's this and not something like Throbbing Vein Purple - simply "Purple Ink"). Some got a watered down wash and others a neat ink wash, which accounts for the shading differences. I have noticed that the ink doesn't adhere or cover as well as paint. It very quickly rubs off the raised areas, and there are some areas on the undercoated figures where it just would not flow onto. Even when applied directly with a brush, it just pooled away from a few spots. Weapons were picked out in black and Boltgun with Catchan Green for the ammo hoppers, and I painted Hobbes style Tiger faces with white and orange.
The Bike needs a bit of cleanup work here and there, I've splashed "over the lines" in a few places, but I like the overall scheme.
I also picked up some of the Critical Mass Games Protolene Khanate figures to use as crazy space dog pirates. These were painted according to their function. Line troops are in red (ohhh....redshirt, bad luck), support weapons are in green, leaders in black with gold or silver trim and specialists in dark blue. I figured that they're space pirates, so they want to look scary - they show their "Fierce Face" when attacking, plus dogs are colourblind, so maybe they don't realise that they really stand out on the battlefield.
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| Heavy Weapons |
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| Business end of the Space Pirate Boomstick! |
I also had a pack of the 15mm.co.uk Lawdogs which I painted up as protolene attack hounds, or Protohounds as I have dubbed them.
And here they are also playing on the nice new stackable terrain...
I'm pretty happy with how they've come out, and they are nice, quick paint jobs too. The Protolene are just about done, plus I picked up a sweet ride for them too in a Dr Who Chula attack ship from the Dr Who Micro-Universe range.
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