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Nice work. I particularly like the Pulse Mech guy. Is he standing on little platform shoes?

Like the peacekeeper but the pulse mech is beautiful.

Thanks. Glad you guys like the Pulse. They're neat little suits. I think I'm getting withdrawals from not being able to paint anything. I have been busy building models though. I'll try and post some pics tonight of what I've been working on this week. I hope you don't mind crappy cell phone pics!

As of tonight, I have now built 3 kits.

First is Arthur, put out by PLUM.



PLUM is not a big company. If you've heard of them, it's because you're familiar with their Assault Suits Valken and Leynos kits. They have their own line, not based on any particular property, but mostly on historical figures called Pla Act, which is actually supposed to be short for Plastic Action. There are five kits in the series so far, with Arthur being the newest and the only one so far not based on an actual historical figure. He's also the only one based on a European as the rest of the line is based around historical figures of Japan's Warring States period. They have Sanada Yukimura, Masamune Date, Takeda Shingen, and Oda Nobunaga. All of the kits are based around a very highly articulated frame that has unique armor placed over it. The sixth release is going to be just a generic frame "soldier." The kits are mostly molded in the final colors. A little bit of painting is needed. The recessed areas on Arthur are supposed to be painted light blue, for instance. I also did some touchup paintwork on his eyes so that they would stand out better, though you can't actually see them here. Speaking of the eyes, the overall quality of the kit was pretty good, but there were parts that didn't quite want to fit, the eyes being one of them. This kit requires a teensy bit of glue here and there, such as on the white bits on the chest. However, there were a couple pieces that weren't supposed to be glued that really needed it. The eyes and part of the chest in the frame just didn't want to stay in, so I had to glue them. Those really were the only issues. Aside from those, I would actually recommend these kits.

Next, I built the 1/144 HG Gundam Barbatos.



Not much to say about this kit. It's really good. It even comes with some option parts to give it the appearance it had in the first episode. My one and only complaint about it is that the clips that are meant to hold the mace and sword on its back just don't hold the weapons very well. Other than that, this is a great and cheap little kit.

Last, and the one I just finished tonight, we have the 1/144 Imperial Japanese Army version of the Shiranui from Muv-Luv.



Muv-Luv is an odd series. It started out as a hentai dating sim, then morphed into a bleak, apocalyptic giant robot sci-fi action series. I'm not super familiar with the early games, but I do have some familiarity with the mecha series games as well as the two anime series produced based on it. I have to say, I actually really enjoyed the shows. The series overall has a very bleak tone. The mecha designs are great, too. All of the series' mechs are based on (mostly) real world aircraft. The only ones I don't think have real world analogues are this mech, the Shiranui, and the Takemikazuki, a very ornate machine used by the Japanese Imperial Guard. Kotobukiya's kits are all very good quality and this one is no exception. Aside from a little bit of blue detailing that's supposed to be in the knee joints, everything is pre-colored. That includes the eyes, the markings on the forehead, and the insignia on the shoulder. If you've built a Kotobukiya robot kit before, then you know that they have a lot of small, sharp parts. Their 1/144 Muv-Luv kits somewhat buck that trend. They do have small parts, but the parts count is much smaller than their usual fair and they have much simpler construction. However, they're still very complicated when compared to say, an HG Gundam kit. The articulation is very good, though the head is somewhat hampered by its design and the elbows could stand a bit more range of motion. The kit looks good and poses very well though. I was a bit disappointed with this purchase though because the version I got was the original release. This kit was re-released with components for a Build-a-Figure of a BETA Grappler Class alien. The first release version doesn't have that. So, if I ever wan to build a Grappler, I'll have to re-buy this kit.

During the week, I received an order from HLJ which contained another Muv-Luv mech. The new one I got is the upgraded F-15 Active Eagle. I won't be building that right now though. I'll probably wait until after this house sitting is over. I'm looking forward to being able to get back to painting miniatures again.

Neat giant robos! Also looking forward to the regular paint work resuming, but giant robos are cool too.

So Star Wars vs Star Trek style, which of this crop of mecha is the top dog, in a vacuum/hypothetically/just-for-fun ?

I can't speak for Arthur since there's no accompanying media, but between the Gundam and the Shiranui, the winner is hands down the Gundam. The Barbatos is supposed to be over 100 years old, yet is still in near perfect working order. It was made to be robust and take hits. We see the thing take quite a few hits over the course of the show, but it keeps coming. Combined with its unique pilot interface, its already high performance is boosted even higher, making it a nightmare on the battlefield. The Shiranui on the other hand, while yes, it is designed for close quarters fighting against hordes of alien monstrocities, they tend to get blown up surprisingly easily. Tactical Surface Fighters give humanity an edge against the BETA, but they still get overwhelmed very easily. When up against other TSFs, they don't tend to hold up very well against gunfire. Beam weaponry can one-shot them, too.

So, basically, it would be a fight between the Gundam's durability and mobility vs. the TSF's agility and firepower. The durability of the Gundam is really what gives it its edge.

I have a couple of items to post today. I'm getting back into the swing of things. A lot of painting to do in the near future though. I started off by working on something that I've had for a while, but just never had to drive to finish.

This big guy was from the Mechadrome Kickstarter. I'd gone with a mining setup rather than a more military one because I thought having an industrial mech would be cool. It was a royal pain to paint though. Lots of nooks and crannies all over in hard to reach areas. This is really a case where I should have painted it before building. It actually isn't done yet. I need to redo the striping on the left arm and it needs a whole lot of weathering still. The plan is that it will eventually belong to my Forge Father Brokkrs.



Since I was feeling in the mood to paint space dwarves, I decided to actually paint one.

This guy is Lucas, from Hasslefree' s Grymn line. I want to make a fluffy Brokkr team for Deadzone that uses a private security firm for protection. So, I wanted to use Hasslefree Grymn to proxy some of the Forge Father units. This guy would replace one of the Brookr heavy weapon guys. I think they were called Mussell Gunners or something.



He actually is done. I liked the idea of him having an opaque, armored visor, so I left it yellow.

And, to give you ab idea of how big the mech is...



I think I need to get more Grymn. One of the squad packs should actually completely fulfill my needs.

They both came out good. I agree on the helmet- keep it opaque. Looks cooler. Mech came out really nice as well.

Am I to assume these will be Forge Father forces? You going to use them in Deadzone when we get the new rulebooks?

Yep, that's the plan. I need to pick up another hardsuit at some point too. I will need an autocannon variant.

Nice space dwarfs. Good color choice. Drill hands are pretty sweet.

Cracking Clour scheme

Really like the alternative Iron ancestor, seems fluffier for a Brokkr force.

Cool stuff with the not-squat and not-squat-mechabot. I think that's the first time I've seen a helmet painted that way with the opaque visor. It's looks a bit odd at first, but it makes as much sense as the useless eye holes in Stormtrooper/Clone Trooper/Mandalorian helmets (if you've ever worn one) - and I can't see Space Marine helmets being much/any better - so no reason the autosenses wouldn't be in there anyway.

I'm not sure if I'd actually be able to run that mech as an Iron Ancestor. It's really damn big compared to the actual Iron Ancestor. Now, the other, smaller mech I have from the Mechadrome line, that I could probably run.... if it actually had weapons on it. It's more likely I'd wind up using them in other games, like Mutants and Death Ray Guns or SOBH, where I can get away with having large machines like that.

Well, the 10th was my birthday. Sadly, I am now 31 years old. But, I won't let that get me down. I know I haven't posted too much in terms of painted minis this week, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working. Despite the work I've been doing though, I have got a lot more stuff to do thanks to the gifts I got. Here's a few that are relevant to this board.



Most of these came from my grandparents via the Miniature Market sale in March. The baggies on the left hand side and the Squalo were gifts from Highlord Tamburlaine. You probably won't be able to tell, but the baggies are 15mm figures from Khurasan Miniatures. Some really cool looking bug men and some soldiers in space suits that look suspiciously like the ones from Alien. I didn't photograph them, but I also got a platoon of Xin Hegemony soldiers from The Ion Age as well as one of their Jade Ape battlesuits from my dad. So, definitely a lot to keep me busy.

As I mentioned though, I've been painting quite a bit of stuff this past week. A lot of the work I'd been doing was finishing up stuff I'd dipped and a few pieces that I'd started but hadn't finished for whatever reason (hobby ADHD being the usual suspect)

I finished up my Naffatun, as you can kind of see here.



I also completed my Spitfire Ragik, who remains difficult to decently photograph.



Some of you may remember those Kryomek Cobra Marines I'd been working on. I finally got around to completing their third member.



And all three together, finally.



Not sure what I'll do with them. I can't really run 3-man teams in anything. Can't really proxy them for anything either. Maybe I'll try using them in TNT.

Now, as for new stuff, well, you've already seen the Grymn I painted and the work I'd done on the Mechadrome mech. I also worked on some Unity Guards from Afterlife.



They're not anywhere near as nice looking as MOTN's guys or the ones Dwartist did, but I'm happy with them.

I also painted up a Freikorp Trapper from Malifaux.



I know his rifle looks bent. That's because it is. No matter what I do, his rifle looks bent out of shape. It looks fine from the front, but bent from the back. The thing was bent at a 90 degree angle in the package, so I did the best I could. I'm just glad it didn't break when I tried to straighten it. Some of you might ask, "but Barzam, since when do you play Malifaux?" Well, I don't. I actually got this guy to use in Shadows of Brimstone. See, along with pirates, mermaids, centaurs, and overly bearded dwarves, I also don't care much for cowboys, and Shadows of Brimstone's player characters are almost exclusively cowboys. Thankfully, Malifaux, despite being a western, has some decidedly steampunk and un-cowboy looking models which I can use and manage to scale nicely with the actual Brimstone figures. So, I'll be using this guy to proxy a Lawman. The Lawman class seemed really effective in combat last time we played, and that's what I need. I also have a second Freikorps figure awaiting paint just because.

And lastly, we have another Eureka Miniatures Soviet in NBC gear.



Yeah, like the officer I have from that line, he'll work great in pretty much any post apocalyptic game. I'll probably use him and the officer as fodder grunts in TNT.

31? Hahaha. The brown stuff hits the fan around 35-36. Enjoy life until then.

Nice haul, and nice work on the painting. The Ragik, you need to photograph it from a greater distance, so that the whole mini will be in focus.

Happy Birthday, you share the day with my oldest daughter who turned 13(your reverse), 31 is a much better age than 13, so enjoy it young man. Nice haul and great work on the models you completed. Mecha drone looked fun but I passed on it due to funds.

Meh you only got one year on me and I dint feel too old...yet.

Excellent progress. Nice range of stuff.

I have the CA starter and Santiago knights and both look great, looking forward to your eventual results

Happy birthday also.

I did some work on some of the 15mm stuff I received recently. Even just painting these four took a surprising amount of time. These guys were basically test runs.

First, Khurasan Miniatures' Guncrabs (they have another name, but I forget what it is)



For 15mm figures, they're actually pretty chunky, coming in around the same size as some of my power armored figures. Despite that, they're still pretty small, so forgive the lack of detailing done on their guns.

I'd also made an order from Ground Zero Games on the recommendation of the Facebook 15mm Gaming Group. I kept the order pretty small, just getting two sets of power armors and a 25mm figure from their Stargrunt line. The power armors I purchased were the resculpted Japanese Power Armors and the much larger Cyclops Power Armors. I painted up two of the Japanese suits for the test run.





I actually really like these suits. Their big backpacks remind me of the hefty jump packs from the Starship Troopers anime and MADOX-01. For some reason, there are no pictures of painted samples of these figures online, and that also somewhat influenced my decision to purchase them. That, and I like their overall look.

I'm planning to paint the rest of the Guncrabs this week, then move on to my monthly challenge. After that, I plan to try to start working through my recent Brookhurst pile.

 Barzam wrote:
First, Khurasan Miniatures' Guncrabs (they have another name, but I forget what it is)

Itu'a Tarkhan Heroes aka Assault Crabs

Also excited to see them! I've been scheming for months now about how to use a lot of them, due to liking the sculpt and them being pretty cheap. Could you snap a scale shot for me? Up against something on a 25mm round base? Or just standing on a 25mm round base, merhaps

Anyway, yours look great, bone armor really suits these little gribblies.

- Salvage

Itu'a Tarkhan! That's what it was! Thanks. I can't give you a size comparison against a 28mm figure right now, but I can get one later tonight. The best I can offer right now is against another 15mm figure. If it helps, they're based on 1 yen coins which are 1, maybe 2 millimeters larger than a penny.

Those are some pretty cool looking figures no matter the size. I wish Tyranids had evolved along those lines.

Damn, you're a painting machine! I don't know how you manage to turn over so many models so quickly to such a good looking level.

As for old at 31... sheesh. I wish I could be 31 again. Only now with the things I've gotten since I was 31. I'd even be good with 32. or 35.

Boss Salvage, I took this pic for you.



I don't seem to have any Space Marines on hand, so hopefully the old Stormtrooper will do.

It's really just a matter of sitting down and forcing yourself to paint, Azazel. Usually I have some Youtube videos going as well to give me some entertainment and then I just paint away. I do it to unwind after work, so that helps me relax and gets me in the zone.

I finished the Itu'a tonight, btw. All six are now done. You'd think being so small that they would paint up quickly. But, no. They took a surprising amount of time to paint.



I'd picked up one of GZG's 25mm Stargrunt figures as well just as an experiment and I painted him up tonight as well. The crazy thing is, that figure took less time to paint than any of the Guncrabs. I knocked this guy out in under an hour. This is a New Swabian League soldier.



And for those curious, there is a definite size difference between the old 25mm Stargrunt figures and regular 28mm figures.



Still, despite the smaller size, the detail is actually quite good. Simple, but good. If I ever make another order to GZG, which I probably will, I might grab another NSU soldier to go along with this guy.

 Barzam wrote:
Boss Salvage, I took this pic for you.

And thank you much! That's a very helpful shot, looks like the Crabs could go on 25mm bases and be diminutive but not entirely out of scale. I've a red hair to do 100+ of them as gnoblars or something, looks like that could be a thing. Now a thing worth doing, that's another question ...

Crab squad looks solid all together

- Salvage

Crabs could be a good termagant substitute. The star grunt makes a good little man syndrome scifi warrior.

Happy belated Birthday

Great stuff as usual, look forward to what you do with the umbra

Thanks all. I think the crabs may be a bit small to be used as Tyranid replacements. They'll work great as 15mm Tyranids though.

Thanks Joe, but I don't think I'll be getting to the Umbra anytime soon. I have a ton of stuff to try and work my way through before I can get to him.

Speaking on, I have now completed my April pledge.

these are Pytheus class small flyers for the Covenant of Antarctica.



If you're wondering why the two planes in the front have different bases from the others, it's because for some reason my box was missing the bases for those two. Luckily, I had some Litko flight bases on hand that actually fit the planes better than the ones they came with. These planes came from my Covenant Aerial Battle Group, which includes these five planes, three medium sized airships, and one big ship. I've decided to split the battle group so that this month is the small stuff and next month will be the ships. The reason for this is that I want to hit more of my backlog and try to clear some of it out.

To that end, I've already finished my first stretch goal. This is the Proteus combat mech from White Dragon's Marine Tactical Unit Kickstarter.



And here it is with the rest of my White Dragon minis.



As you can see, it's another 15mm kit. This is one of the three variants that were available. The other two had a railgun and a cannon as weapon options and different poses. I know the scheme I chose is different from the rest of the troops. It actually wound up matching the Clearhorizon Sparrowhawk gunship I did. I intentionally chose a different color scheme for it because I wanted to paint something a little different after painting a bunch of tan 15mm guys. The next few stretch goals I hit will actually be more 15mm. Next up on the agenda is a dropship. I've applied a good chunk of the camo pattern to it tonight, but it needs more work still. With luck though, I'll be done with it tomorrow. Then, on to some more power armors. After that, back to 28mm with an old Warzone figure.

Nice. The giant mini gun mech looks awesome.

EDC

Hit another stretch today. I present the Condor Heavy Lift VTOL, from Clearhorizon Miniatures.



Drink it all in, folks. I think the may in fact be the one and only picture of this thing fully assembled and painted on the internet.

This guy was a daunting beast. Not the cleanest cast, though the rough bits thankfully don't really show in the pic and aren't noticeable at all at tabletop level. I actually had this thing done by 8pm today, but in my infinite wisdom, decided to give it a wash. I damn near ruined the entire thing. It took me HOURS to repair my mistake. I'd planned to work on other stuff today, but this wound up taking the whole night. I'm glad it's finally done though and I can move on. I did mod it a little. I added some large disc magnets onto it so that the engines can rotate. What good is a futuristic VTOL if you can't rotate the engines? With luck, I'll have it and some other stuff sealed tomorrow.

It is very cool. How large is it? Aren't Washes the devil?

Here you go. This should help give you some idea of its size.