Since Sci-Fi in general doesn't mesh with Hordes in any way, I am launching separate P&M blogs for anything non-Orboros. Having followed some neat Infinity projects here on Dakka, I've dug out my old stash of Ariadna with intention to have some sort of flexible force at the end of 2017. Later it may be expanded to other systems, but the plan at hand is this - to get from about 10 to about 20 painted miniatures, primarily... "politely themed"

Lets start the year with an ADHL tankhunter, supposedly from the 282 dedicated anti-tank detachment.

Instant glue - the most polite way to say "You shan't pass!"

Good luck on your journey towards a fully painted Ariadna force. The tankhunter is looking good. I really love gluing stuff with adhl. Managed to glue an O-Yoroi tag in ARO at a tournement last weekend. I hope you enjoy similar success with this guy.

 Davetron wrote:
Good luck on your journey towards a fully painted Ariadna force. The tankhunter is looking good. I really love gluing stuff with adhl. Managed to glue an O-Yoroi tag in ARO at a tournement last weekend. I hope you enjoy similar success with this guy.

Thanks, although my health will likely prevent me from having both wins and losses for some time.

But I've managed to finish my next miniature - Isobel Mc Gregor from the Dire Foes pack. Pretty sculpture, good casting but... abysmal cut-up. Pin-head-sized contact areas with shallow keying. Anyway, I did what I could but I should have done better. I've went for a paramilitary look to get better contrast both on the table-top and among the rest of my force. I think it will look OK, but will try to get her into action to snap some shots. Where should she serve? Perhaps, communication unit? Hmm...



Next is the hour of the wolf. I'll have Rackham wolfen trackers for antipodes - they match old dog-warrior style and stature perfectly, much better than either old or new antipode pack. Then there is that cameronian with a big axe...

Antipodes still require some work that better be left for the open air environment, therefore it is cameronians turn to hold the line for this week. Weird pose, good casting (although some minimal pinning was needed) and some fun to paint. I think his name is Leslie (despite all the fun about filming of Lassie he is not...) and he is from 249 inf, keeping at least some semblance to regular troop. Although dog warrior on a trench duty seem quite a stretch!



I'll probably take a break from Ariadna as well as from Orboros. Maybe I will be trying something like batch-painting something from fantasy...

After a long hiatus I've decided to come back to the Sci-Fi side of things. Not for long, surely, just the May, trying to finish my specialist/sniper part of the company. Let's start with "Ojotnik". Nice dynamic pose, usual Infinity detail. There are only two (well, make it three) complaints from me. Arms-hands really need to be carefully pinned into place, this miniature comes together well and without gaps, but only if all the angles are right, and it is much easier to do it with pins holding everything together. Second, that sharpshooter wears a balaclava. I prefer more open faces in my company, since trying to make these small recessed eyes is a pain... but still better than what Corvus Belli has now for Ariadna Cossacks, with all the lenses and horrible iron masks. Lastly, the running pose leaves too little contact surface to mount this miniature on a solid transparent disc. had to make to with the usual Infinity plastic base...




In reality his colours are much more muted, washed out, closer to this one extra view on a different background.



What next? I have Spec-Ops (great thanks to Shae-Konnit, Foxtrot sniper (belly-naked one) and a... Loup-Garous sniper, I think... the one with the walkie-talkie. Hopefully by the end of May I'll have at least two of them ready.

The main problem I have with Ariadna troopers - they look so good just in basecoat, wash and dirt that I am lost trying to add variety to them. Case at hand - intel spec-ops. Lots of details, but in
"reality" they all should be motley green and brown to blend in with surroundings. Well, since there is a plethora of images on the subject of polite green men (tm, probably sm too) I've found a photo depicting somewhat similar equipment and "borrowed" multicolour spots somewhat resembling gravel. Autofocus failure...




Now, fox or a wolf? Loup-garou or a foxtrot ranger,,,

Foxtrot... There are miniatures I simply can't take seriously, and this is definitely one of them, leading even the notorious cat-doctor by a good margin.

OK, so the sculpting and the casting are typical old Infinity, which means good to excellent. Minor mold lines on weapons, slightly bent legs, this three part miniature assembles with minimum pinning. I've tried to go a bit more overboard than usual, since she is definitely an irregular nogoodnick rather than a soldier in appearance.



Obvious reference is obvious, isn't it? Well, this brings this sniper match of the May 2017 to the conclusion, what remains is Loup-garou, already assembled but still waiting for his base. Hopefully that will be done in time!

I don't mind that mini actually. But then again I don't mind a little bit of cheese in the the setting. Battle heels and exposed midriffs and all that is all part of infinity's charm to me.

Good start to an Ariadna force though. Looking good so far. The tartan on the wolf looks great!

May I suggest a bit of lining on the miniatures to help define the different areas? Or maybe another slight wash in the recesses for that bit of extra definition.I think some edge highlighting on the gun would help too.

Keep it up. Look forward to seeing more.

 ckig wrote:
I don't mind that mini actually. But then again I don't mind a little bit of cheese in the the setting. Battle heels and exposed midriffs and all that is all part of infinity's charm to me.

Good start to an Ariadna force though. Looking good so far. The tartan on the wolf looks great!

May I suggest a bit of lining on the miniatures to help define the different areas? Or maybe another slight wash in the recesses for that bit of extra definition.I think some edge highlighting on the gun would help too.

Keep it up. Look forward to seeing more.

Thank You. ckig! I don't mind it either, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten it. It is just not really fitting into the dead-serious Ariadna as a full-time soldier, IMHO, thus that relaxed outfit. Edge highlight is my sure sore spot, I admit. I just can't get it at my current skill. It is either too thick and distracting, or I just can't see it myself, with no in-betweens. But I will keep trying.

Anyway, more is coming although not that many more and a bit late - I've had some problems connecting to Dakka over the weekend.

The final sniper of the batch - Loup-Garou. Loving this one Frenchman here. Good cast, all gates and sprue connectors in easy to remove spaces. Key and hole for the head could have been deeper, though... Two part torso, joined at the belt, definitely needs pinning, the arm with a gun - not so much, but I've pinned it anyway. Restrained myself from going Vader-like all black outfit, giving instead blotched green over blotched grey camo.



Since not much camo is on the front side, here is his rear... a bit overdone contrast.



And that... was the last Infinity model I had unpainted in my house. Should I add some dedicated anti-tank capability? Scotch Guard with panzerfaust, perhaps? More possibility to paint tartans... Or go with old Rackham wolfen as antipodes? I hear they have lost some usefulness this edition, becoming more sniffing dogs rather than damage dealers.

So, the first half of 2017 is over - and my progress with Sci-Fi miniatures is, actually, pretty decent! Current plan is to finish at least these few before 2018. Prepainted Rackham wolfen as antipodes (pretty decent models, if a little "dated") and Mantic rebels as antipode controller and TV crew.

Nice. Wolfen deserve some love. What are "Mantic rebels" exactly?

 kestral wrote:
Nice. Wolfen deserve some love. What are "Mantic rebels" exactly?

Models from Rebs faction in Deadzone (and Dreadball, but that's a different business) by Mantic Games. Mostly PVC, very different quality batch from batch. But they scale with older Infinity models quite well, share some cartoony over-the-topness and can be put to multiple uses. This "antipode controller taking a selfie" will one day an alternate Malcolm in a Firefly/Serenity RPG. And the "rocket-launcher rebel" work much better as a TV crew, IMHO!

Very little progress, but still a progress. Should have that antipodal wolfen assault team before the autumn weather sets in.

After a very long time - first finished miniature, reporter. Mantic games has produced some interesting miniatures for their Deadzone that I'd like to incorporate into other projects. Infinity needs VIP targets... and that "rocket launcher" looked too much like a camera to me. Plus, the RPGamer in me longs for some civilians in modern-to-Sci-Fi settings.



Not too difficult to clean and assemble - for restic, anyway, which, unfortunately, means it is impossible to fully clean it from moulding defects. Fortunately, there are not too many of them in this case.I've tried to make her more contrast, cartoony, maybe it wasn't the worst decision?



Wolfen-antipodes should be next, but I am really low on ideas for them. Original Rackham paint is... uninspiring" and bad as an undercoat, to say politely.

Repurposing some scale kits for tabletop, here is the Ariadna shuttle. They may be low tech faction in Infinity, but surely they should have some means of orbital insertion?



Suitably big obstructing terrain, fit for any industrial themed battlefield.



Sadly, the slow disaster that is Infinity RPG leaves my set target of 10 miniatures for this year unreachable... Some drastic measures are planned for next..

Sorry to hear that you are having health problems, I hope it's temporary. I really like the Isobel MC Gregor sculpt too, and what you are doing with your force. I don't know much about infinity, but I think it's really cool that you gave them a shuttle as a piece of terrain. Any other terrain you can share with us?

 Syro_ wrote:
Any other terrain you can share with us?

Thanks, and - not now. But later - certainly. All my personal terrain projects currently are stored for a winter, packed really tightly and in inconvenient place. As soon as weather again permits working and storing paper and cork stuff outside, I promise - terrain will get much more prominent in my blogs!

Nothing to show for now, but to compensate for an extra long silence, here are some plans for the upcoming half-year. First, I've got two incomplete 1:43 scale kits of classic Russian tracked transport, renowned as wilderness expeditionary vehicle in Siberia, Arctic and Antarctic. This should suit Ariadna forces just fine. Pics of half-assembled stuff incoming in a week or two. Second, I've got some Hasslefree miniatures, enough to make a small Merovingian (lets be honest, it is always Elzas und Lotharingia, even in space) force, so I will try the same as the last year - to paint 10 miniatures for Infinity use. And thirdly there are wolfen as antipodes for backup!

Cool looking forward to seeing the stuff you paint up and make.

OK, here are advertised tracked crawlers, the GT-S (the one below, smaller of the two) and his more advanced cousin GT-SM. Surprisingly, Wikipedia knows nothing about these machines, but I'll try to provide a brief on their real history later. Both kits came into my hands missing some details, in case of GT-SM almost entirety of the cabin, so it will be a very fictional build anyway. Should be fun using them for cover in Infinity and Deadzone.

Your Infinity and deadzone boards are going to look great with all these vehicles as terrain

I know it's a ways up the blog- but fantastic work on the Cameronian's kilt- really well done!

 Syro_ wrote:
Your Infinity and deadzone boards are going to look great with all these vehicles as terrain

We will see. I might get a few games, first of the 2018 season, in a week or two, but at best with books and boxes for terrain. Sad cat is sad.

 Meer_Cat wrote:
I know it's a ways up the blog- but fantastic work on the Cameronian's kilt- really well done!

Thanks! I really want to return to painting something tartan-style, but there is nothing like that on the horizon! maybe something more Celtic than Scottish... As the last resort I may try actually painting rather than coloring something!

I forgot how much I enjoy the Ariadna models. Look forward to seeing what else you paint.

Antipodes... These are really outcasts of CB. Old antipode assault pack was nothing like neither their statline nor dog-warrior model visually. Awful, simply awful. New antipode pack is much better, but once again - nothing like old dog-warrior, cameronian or Duroc. So, do I drop some of my favorite models and a significan chunk of cash or do I look for alternatives? Well, sometimes friends come from unexpected places. Rackham prepaints, my AAP! I should make a comparison shot with them, though...



This was a long experiment. Grey one was merely touched up. Brighter face and maw, hair and tail, leather belts and metals. White one has got a new fur colour in addition to the "bells and whistles" while black one was almost completely repainted. Not all mould lines were easy to remove. One thing I really wanted to add to them was more tattoos or fur paints, but in the end decided against that. Too uneven surface for my skill...

Lastly, their controller is Mantic rebel sniper from Deadzone. Also a PVC model, but easier to work with. She's, making a selfie with her wolves, how cute...

OK, so this opens up my alternative Ariadna for the year 2018. Stay tuned!

Wolves look great, I was especially admiring how cool the black one looks, then I read that it's the one you did the most work on nice.

 Syro_ wrote:
Wolves look great, I was especially admiring how cool the black one looks, then I read that it's the one you did the most work on nice.

Thanks, Syro, he's my favorite one too! I have some more wolfen and not-so-wolfen (Wrath of Kings, old metal Confrontation, even my own feeble attempts on copying the style) so this madness will continue.

Now, plans for the rest of Ariadna 2018... Everybody (and their antipode too) knows how Merovingian Rapid Response Force looks like - Infinity (CB) catalog item

Force de Réponse Rapide Merovingienne
──────────────────────────────────────────────────

6
MOBLOT Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
ZOUAVE Rifle, D.E.P. / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 20)
MÉTRO Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 8)
MÉTRO Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 8)
MÉTRO Rifle, Light Grenade Launcher / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 12)
PARA-COMMANDO HMG / Pistol, Knife. (1 | 31)

2 SWC | 100 Points

Old sculpts, three rifles, not much to inspire. Let's see... Shotgun is good, an option to lay down some templates is always good. But so is HMG, a great thing for suppressive fire. D.E.P. is so much better than a LGL that it is not even worth mentioning, so - just antitank D.E.P. Two rifles are OK, third is an overkill, lets swap it for a marksman rifle or a sniper rifle. Better range, better skill. This gives us

6
MOBLOT Rifle, Light Shotgun / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 21)
ZOUAVE Rifle, D.E.P. / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 20)
BRISCARD Marksman Rifle / Assault Pistol, Knife. (0 | 24)
MÉTRO Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 8)
MÉTRO Rifle / Pistol, Knife. (0 | 8)
MÉTRO HMG / Pistol, Knife. (0.5 | 19)

1 SWC | 100 Points

Same points, less SWC. Models will come from Hasslefree, obviously, if CB doesn't want to update MRRF... The only problem I see is that Briscard is obviously medium infantry while Hasslefree provides a rag-tag band that is better described as Metros. Well, I am OK with that.

Nice, I'm most interested in seeing the ones you made copying the style. Good luck accomplishing your goals

 Syro_ wrote:
Nice, I'm most interested in seeing the ones you made copying the style. Good luck accomplishing your goals

As soon as I go back to the fantasy side of things, I'll dig them up, I promise! But please, don't get hopes high - these are definitely not the "brilliant miniatures" of any kind.

Meanwhile, here is the test model for metropolitan troopers -



Hasslefree miniatures make excellent troopers and adventurers for modern or light sci-fi setting. Ideal to complement Corvus Belli. Single-piece casts, good quality (it takes more than the usual effort to spot mould lines) and attention to details. When comparing the the early Ariadna models, they are on a smallish side of things, but nothing out of place anatomically. When compared to the newest Infinity range... the scale creep is very obvious. I'll stay with the older ones, Thank-You-Very-Much-CB!



This paintwork was left intentionally bland. What else to expect from the cheapest garrison troops of a backward world? But... It is funny how shiny it looks on a flash photo. All my usual lightning - table-top lamp, ceiling light and a little extra from a handheld flashlight were not enough to counter two layers of matt varnish, but a camera has no problem with that, apparently.

With this test done, there are 5 more to follow now.

Great look for your metropolitan troopers! 'Bland' is what most armies strive for in their field/working uniforms. Deliberate ostentation is what gets you killed (snipers are particularly trained to shoo the guy with the radio, the heavy weapon, the odd weapon [pistol/carbine, when all others are carrying full size rifles] and mostly the guy with the fanciest hat)!

Do those metro troopers have anything to do with France game/lore wise?

 Syro_ wrote:
Do those metro troopers have anything to do with France game/lore wise?

Yes, they are from FRRM (or MRRF, whichever version one prefers) - Merowingian Rapid Response Force, who are descending from French colonists, stuck on the planet that is home to Ariadna. My Ariadna is a "bit" at odds with the official fluff. I prefer to see them as a descendants of Pan-European part of the colony, originaly drawn from all countries integral to ESA (European Space Agency), so French-German, Lotaringian rather than Merowingian. No Brits here because by XXII UK will definitely leave the EU, that and the fact that we have separate Caledonian subfaction.

Anyway, in Infinity the law is "if Your enemy is shooting at Your cheap machine gunner, he is NOT shooting at Your more important and expensive stuff". So, here is a very in-Your-face HMG and a very obvious (and otherwise questionable) Lieutenant.



Again, from Hasslefree miniatures. No flash, nothing to clean or fix... because the only apparent flaw is at the back of HMG bearers head. Directly under the weapon, no chance to fix that at all except to paint it and act as if there is a weird scar or a tattoo there. Single piece metal miniatures - a joy in its pure form!



Lets try to keep them running, more rag-tag Ariadna troopers to follow!

Moving on, here are shotgunner and marksman. Maybe that marksman will be a dedicated doctor? Usually my doctor spends his orders moving from a bad hiding place to an even worse hiding place or administers some medicine to nearby veterans, so it doesn't matter what rifle he (or she) has got.



Tried a bit different painting scheme for that girl, failed, too afraid to repaint now. No more experiments until I have these identical Mantic rebels in good quantities to not be afraid to mess one or two or even three.



Next are anti-tank MI and a non-combat VIP - and then it is over for this year of Infinity!

I like how the uniform for the marksman/medic came out- wouldn't call that a failure at all. And the detail on the scoped rifle is unbelievable! Terrific job!

Thanks, Meer_Cat, but... too much bleeding of one colour onto another. I've tried my best, but even though it may not be immediately seen I know these errors.

So... My Infinity plans for this year are complete! VIP and anti-tank specialist for my Ariadna, both from Hasslefree range.



The Joker is the first "multipart" Hasslefree mini - his D.E.P. tube is cast separately and can be replaced with a rifle, Not even a slight problem putting these two pieces together, very good contact, nothing to fix. Just perfect. VIP girl is one piece with a minor mould line. Easy! Painting was relatively uneventful, a few drops and repairs, as is usual for me... nothing bent or broken, thankfully. The joke, on the other thing, is a dirty one...



I've even got a better background for them -




I still need to invent a proper base rim colour for them all... and then paint it and take a group photo! But now it is back to fantasy.

Excellent pieces- well done! The washed denim look is particularly good!

To bring this thread back from hibernation, here is the proof of some progress on my tracked transports. Nearly done but some work is still needed. Smaller GT-S needs detailing and tent, larger GT-SM is somewhere half-way there. Perhaps in a week or two...




My plan for the second half of 2018 - Deadzone. I have a lot of sameish rebels that need something done about them to prevent "the war of clones" and a few enforcers that should be very similar, so... let's say, 8 rebs and 5 enforcers, that should be enough for a small demo in winter.

Two weeks later - they are finished. First, a little blurb I've promised.

When just 1% of Your territory is accessible by road all year round, You really need some good all-terrain transport, especially when You are serious about getting to all the mineral deposits, wood and wool and whatever is going and growing on at the other 99%. And despite all anecdote stories Your army is equally serious about keeping and not sharing all armor and transport it can get from the industry. Solution? Design small, inexpensive tracked transport with a lot of fuel capacity and not enough other bonuses to make Your army interested in taking over that project. That was the basic reasoning in the design of GT-S (tracked transport - snow/swamp) in 1950 on Gorky Automotive Plant. A quite trivial vehicle, made of motor compartment with 3+ liter engine and transmission, cabin for 2 and a passenger/cargo compartment with maximum load of 1 ton on its 5 rollers ("road wheels" according to Wikipedia, I am not particularly sure about terminology here). It was well received and despite all its weaknesses is still running wherever there are skillful hands to maintain it.

However, these shortcomings were considered significant. Nose-heavy vehicle frequently took swim in one direction only - down. Cargo capacity and volume were considered insufficient. Suspension was slightly overloaded as it was designed and in the course of usual expeditionary use was wearing down too fast. Thus, after about 15 years of production, GT-S was replaced by a larger, improved version - GT-SM (tracked transport - snow/swamp, modernized). Engine compartment was moved behind the cabin, separating it from the cargo bay. The thing became a reasonable swimmer, able to cross an occasional river but obviously not seaworthy. Extra pair of wheels and lengthened hull improved driving and cargo capacity (maximum load formally stayed the same), As time went by, this family of transporters got new engines, an idler was added to the rear of the hull... but here I have the original GT-SM without all the whistles!




Neat pair of kits, I almost feel depressed I've got them incomplete. The worst thing about them is the need to join a long (and warped) parts made of white metal and plastic (some sort of styrene, most likely of ABS variety, PS cement is working but not particularly well, details may still be pulled apart). Design-wise GT-SM kit is much better designed than the GT-S one. Better in everything, from material to overall shape and part fit.

Despite being in a significantly different scale (1:43 rather than 1:55 which is usually considered "right" for 28mm wargaming), they fit with Infinity, Deadzone and Hasslefree modern miniatures very well. It's the base thickness, most likely...



Onwards to Deadzone!

Nice transports- and surprisingly well-scaled, as you point out; I may have to look around at some other 1/43 kits to see what's out there. I routinely use 1/35, but oftentimes you do have to cut some things down to have them come out right, otherwise your scout car is bigger than a Leman Russ!

I feel your pain on trying to come with something short of a plasma welder to join plastic (of unknown provenance) to white metal (of equally dubious origins). I have a terrific Russian kit for a T-35 super heavy tank (the one you see with six turrets) and it has a lot of those little challenges. I'm thinking either greenstuff or two part JB Weld, which is another sort of epoxy, but gooey-er.

With apologies if you mentioned earlier and I missed it, whose kits are these?

Nice paint!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Nice transports- and surprisingly well-scaled, as you point out; I may have to look around at some other 1/43 kits to see what's out there. I routinely use 1/35, but oftentimes you do have to cut some things down to have them come out right, otherwise your scout car is bigger than a Leman Russ!

I feel your pain on trying to come with something short of a plasma welder to join plastic (of unknown provenance) to white metal (of equally dubious origins). I have a terrific Russian kit for a T-35 super heavy tank (the one you see with six turrets) and it has a lot of those little challenges. I'm thinking either greenstuff or two part JB Weld, which is another sort of epoxy, but gooey-er.

Thanks. I know the pain of scale picking... Some years ago Airfix has released several very nice kits in 1/48, themed Operation Herrick, Afghanistan, our time. Coyote, Jackal, quad-bikes, Land-rover, lots of small junk. A bit on the expensive side and as scale models they were rather thin and fragile, but very, very good. Unfortunately, it seems they are out-of-print and hard to find now.

Tamya and some others, like Hobby Boss, are making WWII tanks and autos in 1/48, but these usually require a lot of efforts to not look as salvaged from museum Fallout/MMax pieces.

That Zvezda T-35 in 1:35 You have mentioned is an amazing kit for a great prototype. If I ever get back (should I say "really get back" as modellers never quit?) into modelling, this will be on top of the list, together with British Mark I (or something later, post WWI, like "independence".




Actually, I've heard of someone who has built another recent Zvezda kit, the Armata T-14 in 1:35, adding to it parts from two 1:72 Panther and two 1:72 T-80 by Revel to create a home-brewn Baneblade... Not for my hands, but sounds terrifyingly hilarious!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
With apologies if you mentioned earlier and I missed it, whose kits are these?

Nice paint!

My fault. Should have mentioned it somewhere - these two are from AVD models, some sort of Russo-Chinese manufacturer with a lot of semi-contemporary civil vehicles in their catalog. Googling produces these links Youtube and Rytm, both in Russian. They have some kits listed on Scale Mates, and then there is E-Bay...

So, the Deadzone... Enforcer half of the deal is really easy, just stick parts together... now, why don't they stick together? Mantic, have You been changing Your "restic" again? Sigh. Well, that does it. No more resin, unless it is a known resin. No more PVC and ABS of any kind, unless they are single-part prints for terrain. Metal and styrene from now on, but all these "plastic" miniatures I've already got still have to be put to some use... Argh!!!

And it is back to the sick bay for me. When best part of summer goes by like shadows on the ceiling, painting-by-numbers start looking acceptable.



Terrible, terrible PVC miniatures, held together by CNA in some cases, "Mario Bros Favorite" in others. I've finally been shown the wonders of the real flow improver liquid and I swear I'll not go back to green soap again. That is, after I get the said liquid...

Sweet paint jobs on those. What game are they from? Also sorry to hear you're sick again. Is it being made of PVC that makes these miniatures bad, or other things too? Hang in there.

 Syro_ wrote:
Sweet paint jobs on those. What game are they from? Also sorry to hear you're sick again. Is it being made of PVC that makes these miniatures bad, or other things too? Hang in there.

These are not the sormtroopers You are looking for.

These are Enforcers for Warpath (big battles), Firefight (skirmish) and Deadzone (skirmish-like boardgame) by Mantic Games. Basically, everything bad about them is PVC. Had I waited for "hard plastic" styrene version of them, it would have been so much better and easier. But no-o! Must have my precious-s! And here I am, with another two dozen of PVC models. Sigh.

They are very good design-wise to my eyes. That's how a faceless army of fearless, invincible, deadly, nameless and faceless bad guys should look. Well, two character miniatures break that "nameless" a bit, but not by much. "Paint-by-numbers" indeed - pick one miniature, chose which color goes where and repeat.

But the material... First of all, it varies even between individual parts of miniatures! Some are hard and can be cleaned with blade and sandpaper to the usual surface quality. Others are so soft I had to leave lots of mould lines after cutting too deep. About 2-to-1 ratio of hard to soft parts. Then there is the sticking point. I have a suspition that harder plastic is not PVC, but it is not ABS either. Plumbers glue melts it almost as good as PVC, making a satisfactory weld. UHU Hard fails to stick to the softer parts, it can be removed from it with just fingernail without any trace remaining. Bison PVC glue works okayish on both kinds.

Enough complaining, another three are done. Tried making them a bit darker and a bit lighter than before, liked lighter version better. Will stick with that.



I've even got the idea for base rim color after just 3 troopers - they will be white. And now - to think about rebels...

Thanks for the info Wirecat, I don't know much about Mantic products. I don't play any of their games, but consistently seem to like the look of their models when I see them here on dakka. I'm sorry to hear about how inconsistent that plastic is, it sounds frustrating.

More restic voes!!! Well, actually, not so much. Both the Iron ancestor (dreadnaught kind of tin can) and enforcer captain (space marine in terminator suit) were of harder type of PVC, easily welded with plumbers glue and cleaned to a reasonable level with a bit of knife edging. Painting was really uneventful, I even risked doing a bit of weathering, although my Martian dust looks more like a rust.



Doing something very different is refreshing. Next are rebels (boring) and multi-gun platform that looks way too orky to be dwarfish!

Even more restic. Weird, some times I am perfectly fine with this stuff, but then something goes really astray. This time it was that space dwarf gun, Not wanting to take any chances I took out the strong stuff - plumbers glue. It did it job, but then... the assembly started warping, as if I haven't straightened it out with hot water before! OK, now I have a warped and bent gun carriage, doesn't matter. The thing is way too silly and orkish to be taken seriously, and I have used it as a test bed for trying new tricks anyway.



My camera is once again producing oversaturated images, these rebels are not as white... and they do have some sort of eyes painted. Sigh. Well, at least their brown coats got captured fairly well. I like Mantic rebel scum if not for their repetitiveness and a very limited model choices. I'll see what I can do, IF I will get to that.

Note to self. Vallejo Bright Brass (metallic), Arctic Blue (metallic) and Royal Purple (of usual variety) produce very funny looking oxidized metal spots that are much more pronounced when dry than when painting. Try again next time, taking care not to overdo much.

This most likely wraps for a year all my Sci-Fi endeavours... unless I decide to do some small bits of this and that. Back to pulp and fantasy.

Some plans for the year ahead. Actually, 2018 was not bad for my Sci-Fi collection, I've done some things so lets make more of them! Namely:

- Warpath starter, space dwarf and human enforcers/corporation troops, about 40 miniatures;
- Industrial terrain for Deadzone, really not that much;
- Some scale kits repurposed as terrain for Deadzone or Infinity, I plan a flyer and maybe another tracked vehicle.

Sounds doable? Well, maybe... We'll see!

I am starting with dwarfs. Forge guard, to be precise, from Mantic. Fall together very well, even though they are more than a bit samey - there are only 6 bodies and assembling them any other way than the prescribed one is major pain in fitting wrong parts to wrong bodies. Since I plan to have just 12 of them I can live with duplicates... Mould lines are a problem, though. I've tried to clean everything, but will be hunting any accidents before undercoating them anyway.

Dwarfs-dwarfs-dwarfs-dwarfs-dwa-a-aaargh!!!



OK, no more plastic Sci-Fi dwarfs, unless I convert a few from the fantasy side. Now - enforcers.

Som enforcers (enforcer guard). These are slightly better and slightly more varied than forge fathers. Got 5 sets of them to make two 10-men squads, 2 by 2 heavy weapon specialists and some kind of commander. Their poses too can get repetitive, but with a help of a hobby knife one can quickly mix and match some pretty weird postures...

There are 10 more to be built, but these will wait until I get to the pathfinders and peacekeepers - maybe their stray bits will inspire me to try something weirder...

More and more grey plastic, this time enforcer pathfinders. Good simple kit from Mantic. Less variety then I'd like to, but still I wish I had obtained two of them rather than a single, for dog and bits. Heads are very nice!



Next week - zombies. I still hate them.

Zombies... they are passable. Could be more varied, but for my purposes 10 of them is enough and that is just enough variety to let paintwork do the rest.



Next week I'll probably will finish my enforcer guard. Peacekeepers are too different in scale to provide any useful bits for them...

The last of enforcer... guard. With weather rapidly improving and health staying more or less stable I hope to start painting very soon...

And that concludes the building phase. Weather is improving, health is... reasonable, so I expect to start painting things within a week, two at most. Hurrah!!!

Looks like quite the force you have waiting for the good weather, to begin painting. looking forward to it.

I'm thinking that last lot of figures would make good 'goon squad' figures for Kid_Kyoto's Arbites force! Hope that the good weather and continued good health let you get a lot of painting done.

Enough is enough, first painted thing of the year.

Since Warpath enforcers differ subtly from Deadzone (early PVC) enforcers, I've decided to slightly alter the standard recipe too. Not too much, surely... Basecoat AV medium sea grey, wash with AV smoke, highlight the same grey, add metallic parts, wash deep recesses with black, refresh metallics, add a little edge highlight and blue-purple for visors.



This one also has got bright orange gloves, washed with smoke, and matching neck guard, but they do not really stand out, which may be good. I will experiment further. Bases will be all kinds of industrial floor / ship desk with white rim.

Sigh. My camera again oversaturate things...

More stuff in the "preliminarily finished" state. Slightly too impressionistic for what I've had in mind, these three enforcers will have to wait some time to have their bases truly finished - I've realized that having too different bases might not be as cool as I've initially thought. Thus - no more progress so far.

Very nice- the armor/uniform colors are suitably subdued, as one would expect from people who make a living not getting shot at by being standouts; but the visors and especially the bit of red at the elbow joints and knee cops really makes the scheme pop. I like 'em!

I like them too, what do you want to change about them? Ever since first watching Star Wars I've been a sucker for white body armor on Sci-Fi soldiers

Thanks for commenting, Meer_Cat and Syro. There isn't much I'd like to change in the scheme - except to wish I had a more steady hand lately. My problem is with their bases. I am afraid they will have to wait until I finally get a playing mat to use as an "inspiration" for the final design.

OK, three more down from the undercoated pile. Many, many more to go...

Years before Games Workshop released their 'textured surface' paint colors, Regimental Colours in Great Britain made a product called Base-Tex, they were much the same thing. Some folks made their own by adding vermiculite or sand to paint and mixing, but I could never get the consistency right and didn't mind paying for Base-Tex. Not sure if they're still around or not.

All that to say, you might could paint the bases with a textured paint, either light grey or a medium brown (burnt umber, perhaps), hit it with some darker wash and then drybrush some highlights. That might give you a generic appearing base that would be good for terrain fights or urban.

_Or_ scribe lines in the bases with a heated hobby knife blade to simulate spaceship decking!

Great figures all around!

You have surely inspired me with your Enforcers. I will have to keep painting mine (and the 100 plague zombies…)

M.

Glad to be of service, Miguelsan! Enforcers aren't bad as models, but they do need an inspiration to move past the first 10...

Another three enforcers down the list. I have three more primed, so after them, perhaps, I should swap the subject to something else to avoid the inevitable boredom of sameness.



Yes, Meer_Cat, textured paints are an interesting subject. I still have some "sandy" ones from the local hobby shop, but they are good to roughen up flat surfaces, not to create patterns, that are expected in the cities of the future or on spaceship decks. Right now I am looking more towards getting some of these pre-scratched steel templates that make it easier to cut masking tape into shapes and stripes that can then be transferred onto bases for spray-painting. I've mixed a few dirty iron and steel paints and added to them useless transfer bits to make first few bases, but not knowing what the gaming surface will be, I am more than a bit afraid to continue. But then... I could get some really parrot-spotty mats from local Deep Cut Studio, nothing would look too bright on these...

I actually like those bases in the photo quite a bit- and I think they'd blend with a lot of playing surfaces.

I don't remember the texture in earlier pics, but now I'm confused about the bases. Are there any sci-fi textures that came on the bases, or is that all hand painted on? They remind me a bit of the textures sci-fi bases from Sedition Wars, except for the numbered ones which are a nice touch.

Meer_Cat wrote:I actually like those bases in the photo quite a bit- and I think they'd blend with a lot of playing surfaces.

Thank You, Meer_Cat, I'v trying. I'd go to our underground club to check them against some table mats there, but I have neither time nor health, so poor paper background and hope is all I do have now.

Syro_ wrote:I don't remember the texture in earlier pics, but now I'm confused about the bases. Are there any sci-fi textures that came on the bases, or is that all hand painted on? They remind me a bit of the textures sci-fi bases from Sedition Wars, except for the numbered ones which are a nice touch.

Unfortunately, no textures. So far it all hand painted with some decals added on to the flat Renedra bases. I drew inspiration from Deep Cet Studio table mats and some of the flat painted bases on Dakka gallery. But! While thinking about pre-scratching bases for future painting, I was looking for texture paints and this is what I've found - looks better than the usual sand-and-mortar acrylics: MIG Jimenes stuff, one and two Two different grades, premixed and even colored. If I can justify paying shipping from Spain, I'll definitely get them!

Last three enforcers from now and two previously painted but now with bases done. No more enforcers for a month or two...



And a test zombie. Not happy with her, will be thinking about something weirder...

The zombie looks good to me, but maybe if you decide on an odd color for it’s eyes to help set it just a bit more apart from just a person who drank from their brush pot instead of their coffee mug. Maybe a vibrant yellow to really make it pop

 Theophony wrote:
The zombie looks good to me, but maybe if you decide on an odd color for it’s eyes to help set it just a bit more apart from just a person who drank from their brush pot instead of their coffee mug. Maybe a vibrant yellow to really make it pop

It is most funny to read that, Theophony - I've actually painted her eyes fiery orange before thinking I've screwed up and going for an easy fix.

I hate traveling by air. No liquids, no greenstuff in hand luggage, not even think about sculpting handles or blades or scalpels... So here is something I've finished some time ago - terrain piece for Infinity or Deadzone, an Ariadna/Rebels UAV:



It's a heavily modified scale model... if there is such thing as a scale model of an aircraft that never existed... So I've hacked and sawed it with impunity and no remorse - and that's the result. I've also brought it to our club to photograph it among some scenery there - sorry, these pretty landing pads are not mine. If You are interested - ping that person - CragHack




I will probably stay with terrain for a month or so - on the Fantasy side of things, though. Maybe even sculpt a little...

Love the drone , cool camo on it.

 Theophony wrote:
Love the drone , cool camo on it.

Thanks! I am trying! Another idea was to grab a huge "Chinook" kit in 1:48 by Italeri... but by the time I've caved in and reached for money that kit was already sold. No battlefield taxi for my troops!

Terrain is taking more time than anticipated (my error margins becoming wider... and wider still), but a few more zombies -



I was told that they are too clean for zombies, so here they are with a bit of pigment dirt. I don't think there should be a lot of dirt on a spaceship or in a secret research lab to fully enjoy it pig style, even for zombies.



Next - zombies AND terrain!

Zombies... I am becoming one myself...



... or at least getting in line of painting them. Or liking them. I still like trying things, and there are lots of things to try on these zombies.



I've even crawled outside to take a photo under a natural light to show them off...



... and their bases.



Best thing - there are only two more!!!

looks like you're going for some small details. What things are you thinking of trying on the zombies?

 Syro_ wrote:
looks like you're going for some small details. What things are you thinking of trying on the zombies?

Basically - mixing my own washes and glazes, thatfrequently do not work as intended. But at least I am getting some hand with them. That - and the sombies are finished!



Despite working on these two for almost three weeks (on, off and repainting from base) - meh. Not good. But good enough to move on, onto space dwarfs, most likely.

Space dwarfs, 'nuff said. Nobody expects green dwarfs, r-right? Well, mine are green, and not very polite at that too.No idea how to decorate their bases except that the rim should be green. This pair was made like base - wash - wash - details. Next pair I'll try in reverse - base - wash - details - wash. It will probably require an extensive repair afterwards, but that is almost normal for me.



Maybe I should have painted grenades and mines black metal... Expect a lot of dwarfs, at least until autumn sets in.

Those are cool models. I like the color choice, and the detail highlighting

A lighter version of space dwarfs. Some sort of lasgunners, probably? Can't say the change in painting queue made a lot of difference. Less highlighting, more error correction (and some errors still remain, arrrgh!!!). I am getting into the overhighlighting zone, Syro!



I will probably try wet blending on the next batch... but the other question remains - should I do their bases similar to enforcer and plague style, with plating and grating and tiles, or try something else? But what else? Fake stone? grass (for a change) - who would expect grass on a spaceship?!

For all that there is a lot of green coming at the viewer at first glance- there is a very surprising amount of detail packed into these guys- really well done!

As for the bases, if they are supposed to be spaceship boarders, then I reckon they'll need the plates and numbers and things underfoot. But the body postures and foot placement make me think they could be doing extra-vehicular boarding action- you could actually paint the bases as 'space' (black, with starscapes flecked on with the brush bristles) and they'd look like they were EVA-ing and trying to force an airlock hatch someplace!

Wirecat,

Black bases might contrast the green and let you do the green sides.

Just a suggestion.

Cheers,

CB

OK. I've tried some things, and You have convinced me - heavy infantry will be doing EVA. At least their suits have backpacks that look like they can house some rochet engines. Rifle squads stay indoors. And if I screw up, it will be relatively easy to repaint everything back to metal... We will seein a week or two.

Now, the rifle dwarfs. I've tried to make them brighter, but they turned out darker. Hmmm... I wonder why. Probably I've messed up with home-made shade. :(



Will go back to the previous recipe and check what went wrong...

I think I am burning out. Painting brings less and less fun, there is no time to play or do anything else. But I have set a goal of weekly updates, and I ma trying to stick to it. Some heavy weapons enforcers this time...



Dirty and uninspiring. Sigh.

I find these pieces _quite_ inspiring, Wirecat! My personal style (having been an Infantryman myself, once upon a time) is to slather everything with three coats of Agrax Earthshade followed by two or more of either a) the Camo Green one or b) Nuln Oil or c) both; you're work shows me that oftentimes, less is more. That a restrained brush and a good color scheme can achieve more than the most outrageous weathering could ever hope.

These heavy weapons guys are great! There is the uniformity of pose, equipage and coloring, but each is a distinct member of the greater team- just what an Army painter is trying to achieve. When you mix these guys in with all the others you've produced, it will be quite the Force Shot, I think.

Having said that, it is, at the end of the day, all about the fun. If you feel you're forcing yourself to meet a schedule, fun just became work, and we all get enough of that. I'm in no position to lecture or even recommend anything to anyone, being a hard-nosed, OCD, work-a-holic myself, but what works for me is to change up the routine once in awhile- try something completely unlike me.

For instance, that's why you haven't seen a wizard's cottage yet, even though I mentioned it weeks (months!) ago- I've been having too much fun leaping from project to project, which is very unlike me. Eventually I'll switch back and get into painting some more infantry, or kitbash (or scratchbuild) a vehicle, but for now I'm all 'bout da terrain.

I very much enjoy our considered and considerate comments- both in your own blog and in others'. And I find your work interesting, of great variety and well executed, with lots for me to learn.

Rock on, brother!

Sorry to hear you're feeling burned out Wirecat. I hope you can get some games in sometime soon, that's always good for enthusiasm. Would changing gears for while help (like Meer_Cat suggested)? Maybe switch to some sculpting *nudge nudge

Thank You.

Games and miniatures are, probably, not the reason. It is work problems spilling into the rest of my life together with health woes that make everything gloomy. Maybe I'll take a short break from small things to concentrate on most important... Until the end of August, perhaps? Making a schedule and sticking to it make me forget the things I have no control over. Unfortunately, sometimes they are just too much for this cat.

Anyway, as I try to build a small demo-table of my own for this autumn show, I need more scatter and thus I had to break yet another wow - to stick to hard plastic for the entire year, and get some sandbag walls from China. No idea if these are recast or not. Could have made them myself, but the caster sells them for the price it would take me just to get materials, not including the time and effort to sculpt them.



Probably would have made them better myself - and not of resin too, but of some sort of air-hardening polymer clay instead. But they have good size, useful shape, just enough weight not to fall too frequently while gaming and they paint up quite nicely. And they are cheap, about 2-3 Euro per piece. Perhaps I'll get a few more pieces and add to them some scratch-built - or just some battle junk. I should have some scale models laying around missing pieces...

Will you be posting pics of your table for the autumn show?

 Syro_ wrote:
Will you be posting pics of your table for the autumn show?

Sure! Just, uhm, don't hold Your breath for that long, Syro - the first preview is likely to be in Orctober. The show is sometime in November, so that is the actual deadline...

Cool, it will be something to look forward to in a few months. Best of luck working on it

 Syro_ wrote:
Cool, it will be something to look forward to in a few months. Best of luck working on it

Thank You! I haven't painted a thing this week, but here is a random bit of schematics for a secret weapon I am working for that table Hush now, its very-very seek-ret.

My gosh- this creature has stolen the plans for the Q-X Space Modulator- that's why there was no earth-shattering KABOOM!

Agent X- you know what to do.....

I was actually thinking towards "Your tree has no ground (Earth) connection, it will not work", but Your idea is also good, Meer_Cat! I'll have to invest in defensive countermeasures.

Daffy Duck as "Duck Dodgers in the 24th and half Century" for the win! Or Bugs Bunny versus Marvin the Martian- one of those!

Hmm-m... Hmm-M! Yep! Meer_Cat, that Marvin the Martian idea migh actually work! I am considering more and more memorial theme for my futuristic decorations, and that little pesky armor with eyes of pure terror might be a good addition. Thank You!

In other news - support, advance! My mine-brothers, burn and smite these infidels on the cosmic anvil!


Did them not wrong but differently. Instead of basecoating in usual green I've used metallic red, gradually overpainting with greens and browns. This time I've decided to try brown cloth instead of green for more variety, don't know if I'll continue that on other Forge Fathers miniatures. Maybe I'll try some green-grey combination next. Otherwise - no change from previous recipe. I just hope my Iosan and Gnarls greens from Privateer Press survive long enough for me to finish painting these dwarfs.

And that's it for a sci-fi year of 2019. I dread to look at the pile of stuff I haven't painted - and even built! Well, that makes the beginning of 2020 busier, but not right away. I will take a break from the hobby for a week or two, need to settle some other issues first! Happy New Year!

In the thumbnail the beard of the one space dwarf looked like a duck bill to me , it's clearly a beard when I clicked on the image to see a larger version.

Happy New Year Wirecat, good looking dwarves to end the year with. We all have more models than we can paint, but hopefully it's fun to look at them to decide where to go next.

OK, new year, new plans! Finish what has been started, get rid of PVC (wishes, wishes...)

Dwarfs: finish infantry, all of it already undercoated
Enforcers: finish assault company, scouts and peacekeepers
Rebels: finish infantry, the scum of the scum. Browncoats!!!
Elves: just a few infantry/robots and a firing platform, maybe turn it into scenery piece
Scenery: assemble and paint what little Mantic stuff I have, add some scratchbuilt stuff so that I can at least show something at this year autumn convention.

Phew... Let's start with dwarfs, that will take me through the January and February, then some assembly - until the weather turn warm enough. Go!!!

Ambitious goals, good luck Wirecat!

"A journey of a thousand point army begins with a single brush-stroke..."

Confusedus, or one of those guys!

Sure, and that brushstroke was laid so many days ago! It is really a pleasant feeling - to see that all models, remaining to be painted for a specific project, start fitting on a single palm (although in much disorder).

Blue-grey uniform under green armor has brightened them considerably. I am almost sorry for not trying this combination right at the start - was too afraid they will end up too similar to enforcers and security corps. Well, now that enforcers are grey-white and security corps are black-red this is no longer a problem. And rebels are too rag-tag to have anything coherent to them and elven drones are all metallic...



Just 6 more light infantry to go, and then it is time to finish all these bases in a single sit in.

Always nice when a project starts looking finishable.

Nice to know I'm not the only one with a base backlog waiting for the right mood.

Oh, it is a problem of my own making, Vejut. Usually I just throw some sand, scatter and grass on a base and call it done, but for this deadzone project I've decided to make armies as uniform as I can get them, thus I am delaying actually finishing bases with the rest of the mini to make them all in one go, with one mixing of colors.

Meanwhile - three more troopers, two grunts with missile launchers and an engineer/leutenant:



And three more with rifles -



This means it is time for basing!

Not much to say here - light infantry is done.



On to heavies!

Congratulations on finishing the light infantry

The old Napoleonics painters were right: in mass lies perfection! The group shot looks great- on to the next!

(The bases came out ace!)

Don't You tell me, Mr. Meer_Cat! I keep making a wish to go to the only really real wargaming events - field reconstructions of Napoleonic battles, but this wish just keep slipping away. :( There is something creeepily exciting to once in awhile trade individuality (or at least an attempt at in in our age of pre-made clothing and trendy accessories) for a regimental uniformity - and without the inconvenience of likely death in a most painful fashion.

You can't have a proper society without pants-color-segregation!

Well, I am once again limited to a single room and a single bed (most of the day), but that doesn't stop me from starting on heavy dwarfs in space.



I think I've already mentioned my main problem with them - constant shift of mould parts! Arrrrgh! It is not a mould lines to scrap, it is an actual ladder, going across all these small details on legs and arms. I've tried to do something about it, got the idea how much effort it would take to recreate all details that would disappear and then stopped doing anything about it. :( There are only 10 of them, which means there are only 6 left to paint - and then to base them all.

Yeah, i know that feeling. I had some khusuran stuff with a bad mold slip and it just sucked all the enthusiasm out of them for me. Hopefully you can get it back for the last few.

Ha! I'd forgotten about the vehement discrimination between pants and jacket colors, or the bitter and unending argument as to whether the British trousers should be painted white (which they were, when they had them to issue or in Home Regimental Station) are grey (for the over-pants they wore to protect the white ones) Almost as silly and nonsensical as Jonathon Swift's Lilliputions and their turmoil over which end of an egg one should crack when eating.

I've got to tell you, even with the picture enlarged I can't see the 'laddering' you mention- either it is such a natural texture with the armored suits, or your paint job has blended it in- or both- that it isn't a distraction. Those Jotun look proper good!

One day I want to go to Waterloo (my Belgian wife can't understand why I want to visit a place noted for a) low water and b) a nasty guy like Napoleon) if for no other reason than to see the Cannonball Monument. Apparently, it didn't start as a monument, it was just a where everyone piled the expended cannon balls fired during the battle to get them out of the way for the plowing (farmers' fields make such nice battlegrounds, don't you know). To see the big re-enactment would be terrific. But at least for now I've got the Internet and coffee table books!

Keep on keepin' on- the unit is shaping up nicely!

Cool looking space dwarves. I agree with Meer Cat that I can’t see the defects and they look great painted up.

Pants and hats are serious business! Englishmen in that department are pretty bland (I specifically address the thin red line and skip all sort of highlanders and cavalry, that's where things start to differ), compared to Landswehr, where You need to buy or mix 32 colors before going for washes and highlights.

Anyway, these dwarfs are run-off-the-mills, but I've went through most of my tabletop inventory for them. Three greens (Gnarls Green and Iosan Green from PP, Duck Egg Green from AV) - and I am glad they lasted this whole project but will be dry before summer. Five metallic (silver, brass, blue, red and gun, all from AV). Three miscs for optics (Menoth White Highlight from PP, royal purple and blue from AV). Two washes (strong and dark from Army Painter "quickshades"). Phew! I... actually... am starting to miss Burrows-n-Badgers, where there are no such things as a "recipe"!



Yay, all heavies are done, it is basing experiment for the next week!

Meer_Cat wrote:But the body postures and foot placement make me think they could be doing extra-vehicular boarding action- you could actually paint the bases as 'space' (black, with starscapes flecked on with the brush bristles) and they'd look like they were EVA-ing and trying to force an airlock hatch someplace!

Captain Brown wrote:Black bases might contrast the green and let you do the green sides.

A-and... it's full of stars! I've enjoyed painting these stars, even though some were failures.



And that almost concludes the dwarf part. Almost - because there is a special character and his dog... and a little bit of scenery that I've already started. But all that will have to wait for a time when weather allows spraying undercoat and working with resin. Till then - fantasy!

I like how the stars came out- and the Cap'n was right: the black bases set the armor off very nicely. Great to see this project coming to a successful conclusion!

I like the stars too, especially the ones closer to the bottom of the photo.

Still unable to undercoat and thus paint anything new, I turn to more Mantic rebels. Monopose, PVC with plenty of mold lines, but with a sharp knife and proper glue I've learned at least to make some weapon swaps between them. I will try a trenchcoat for one of them, but that may be beyond my skills. :( So much for progress...

Can't recall if you tried it and didn't like it, but I'll mention it anyways: if you can get a hold of some airbrush polyurethane primer it can be applied by brush fairly well. (I know vallejo's works, less sure about others, like Mr.) Especially for PVC models that you've already decided won't come out top shelf, may let you at least start in.

Trenchcoats I haven't tried, but IIRC I was told the key was starting with a thin peice and trimming to a rough shape before applying. Good luck!

After the intricacy of some of your other sculpts Wirecat, I have confidence and faith that you can do justice to the trench coat. Rock on and have fun!

Thank You for votes of confidence! I am not a high-fashion designer, so this looks more like a camo-cape than a trenchcoat, but... still beats sameness of these miniatures.



First I've glued some PVC cuttings, shaved off from sprues these figures come with. This gives more rough surface for greenstuff to hold onto and also the basic shape support, allowing to build on it. Next I coat the plastic with freshly mixed greenstuff, trying to cover as much surface that needs to be covered as possible. Fresh greenstuff has the best adhesion. Then, after two hours, I add more greenstuff to bulk the shape out and start on folds and wrinkles. Detail and trimmings to taste.

Probably will try the same trick on another rebel, the one holding rifle up...

Coat came out nicely, I didn't think of a sprue backer for that.

That looks good Wirecat, and I really like how you used sprue shavings for an armature. You do very impressive work with sprue and I'm guessing x-acto knife.

Same story, part two. With weather improving AKA "approaching +18 centigrade I've got some primig done, so possibly this month I will start working on painting these rebels.

Syro, I believe it was You who asked about tools? This, then, is the shot of most of them, sans improvised ones I make from rods, tubes and wire at a whim of the moment. Left-to-right. Dentistry sculpting scalper I've got long time ago - and never felt the need to sharpen or polish, even though it has got some scraps. A not so exact X-acto knife - cheap Chinese modeling knife set I've got almost as long time ago. Snapped quite a few blades and lost a handle (or two), but there is still a lot of them left. Two of my favorite spread tools, flathead and edge, both from Goya Caucciu. They are considered medium size, I've got smaller ones as well, but they don't get as much use as these two. A very big oval flathead rubber spreader from Lucas, this I use for larger areas such as bases. I've also got some spreaders from Derwent, here is the smallest and sharpest of them... unfortunately they feel neither rubber nor silicone and quickly develop microscopic cracks. As soon as greenstuff or any other putty get into these - they are finished as they become very sticky. This is the last I have. Lastly, a two sided pinhead for shaping small holes or rolling grooves, also from Derwent, nice...



Sprue... Well, there is an old joke: Back in the USSR model kits/toys were so rare and expensive that we had to build two from a single kit. This is only a half-truth, but from these times I've learned that the best way to start modding a plastic kit, if You have a melting glue (!!!), is a small bit of the exactly the same plastic. That trick still works.

Yes that was me who asked about your tools. It still blows my mind what amazing sculptures you make with very few tools. It really shows it's the sculptor that make the sculpture, not the tools. When you have time, I would love to see the homemade sculpting tools you made also.

Passing time and subjects, here are some enforcers. Trio of pathfinders and a ladder-climbing guard. So far - my favorite Mantic HIPS kits, but there are more, so final judgement is delayed. As are their bases... I need to sit down and make some rubble for pathfinders and some rust for guard. Luckily I have some small terrain project in the work where these things will be useful, so, hopefully, one day...



I am making them more and more splotchy. :(

Pathfinders were finished over the weekend, but the week was so stuffed with problems that I haven't had a time to upload them. Seasand is so much better IMHO than anything off the artistic shop shelf. It sure takes some effort to prepare, but I feel it is worth the extras. However, I think figures need to be mounted higher than usual to account for the thickness of the layer.



No washes, except on the weapons. Just mixing colors from the darkest to the brightest on the palette. My eyes (and everything) are getting worse, so this should be the trick for some time. Tried to dirty mecha-dogs paws to match the terrain colors, even though he hasn't got a base.

Now, I should turn to rebels... and add bases to the Convergence models. Sand with stones and tufts of grass, perhaps?

Looks good so far, and hoping your eyes hold out.
Not sure how I'd approach the cyriss models, possibly aim for a "lab" or "industiral floor" feel?

Your path finders look good Wirecat, I agree with your choice of sea sand, it has a really nice look to it. I think you matched the color well on Mecha-dog's paws.

And so it comes again that moment when I have to skip weekly blogging due to "serious reasons and real life". But I have at least finished another wall of sandbags. It's in front of the one I did last year. Tried some more rusting with Vallejo pigments, feels less wrong than the last time around.

Ended up looking very nice. Obviously, real life priorities come first, and hopefully the problems get dealt with.

Thank You, Vejut, but it is not only real life priorities, but also a seriousl lack of gaming that makes me less excited about painting things and posting them here. Nothing even remotely progressing now, so here is a picture for thoughts. Three, actually...

I know this thing is supposed to be some sort of space/landing transport/troop carrier:


But the more I look at the rear part of it, the more it resembles some other sort of stuff - stargate of a kind.



Now, if only I'd settled on one specific configuration for it - and found a way to make a suitably rippled glass for a boundary between worlds...

Both configurations end up looking pretty good. First thought that might work for ripply transparent stuff would be looking at water effects resin, doing two thin sheets with ripples to taste, then cutting to shape and gluing ripply-side out. Probably easier ways though--and I can agree that there's nothing like getting games in, or at least the idea of them to get one motivated.

I like the Stargate idea Wirecat, and Vejut's idea with the resin.
With how pricey GW stuff is, probably not a good idea but If you want to go cheap you can also make the portal out of hot glue on something it can be peeled off of. You can easily build the ripples on top or carve them in with the hot tip of the glue gun. Flip it over to texture the other side, then paint and use a gloss varnish.

And resin it is. However, having played with clear stuff from Pebeo this year I think I've found a middle way. At least it sounds good, I haven't yet produced good results with this method. The idea is as follows. Get a suitably sized pot, fill it with very hot (50-60) water and then drop a good portion of melted candle wax into it. This produces all sorts of ripples and bubbles and since the water is hot You can still shape it with hands and tools. After wax solidifies You make a mold from it with silicon rubber, melt the wax away and fill the empty space with resin. Sounds easy, but so far all my attempts produced too thin layer of wax that does not supports itself well enough to allow making a mold. When I tire of this I promise - I'll make a plaster mold! Unfortunately, this will mean the mold will have to be separated and therefore its back to Vejut suggestion with gluing two parts back to back. But this can wait...

Meanwhile - two last pieces for space dwarf force are done, the forge lord and his bodyguard mastiff.
Typical Mantic metal as of late, 3D modelled and master-printed, You can even see printer layers on some parts. I used the same color scheme as for heavy armored troop, but with a matte varnish from a different manufacturer. Well, it is not that matte. But for armor suit it is OK. Dok was OK too, but with oh so many scars! It also has a very peculiar molding defect on his right side, something of a crescent moon sign, funny,

I have a few PVC dwarf models from Dreadball, these will be "dwarf civilians" and then - then I'll be done with this faction! Woo ho?

Doggo and friend look nice, especially the fur and scars on the dog. Always nice when a project, or at least a decent sub chunk of it, gets within shouting distance of being done.

On the gate idea, if you're messing about with silicone molds, possibly do up the shape you want in green stuff or milliput, then make a single peice mold and cut a side flap with a box cutter or snap blade to allow removal after curing, especially if you're only making a few bits? I think Adam Savage's Tested or one of the other youtube channels in that space has video of the method, though can't find it right now.

Good luck with the wax, I'm sorry it's giving you some trouble. It sounds like you are doing "Lost-wax Casting" like is often done with casting metal?

Exactly, Syro. Except I am planning to do it with silicone resin instead of "earthworks". Making model in plasticine or any kind of sculpting mass is possible, but it ... sort of wastes the whole idea "let physics do it". Anyway, this can wait - weather is bad, temperature low and I have plenty of things to worry about.

But I did got enough free time to finish these dreadball dwarfs. Sure they are supposed to be playing a game but they are unarmed yet angry enough to work as dwarf civilians - or zombies.



Probably I will do some more civvies and/or rebels...

Looking good on the dwarfs. Be interesting to see your take on more rag-tag groups.

Nice work differentiating the dwarves with the spot colors on the cloth. Wouldn't want to go up against them in a ball game

A-and - I'm back. Sort of. Mostly. Very little good new, but I've a sight suspicion that this can be said for most of the world. Anyway, rebels do not falter in the face of overwhelming adversity. They persevere, therefore here are some Mantic rebels.

Average sculpts, made worse by poor early PVC and my painting. I've tried to make them less single-pose, sculpted them a pair of cloaks and turned them browncoats to pay tribute to "Firefly". This craziness won't take the sky from me!



Unfortunately, it has been two years since I've painted the two in the back and the last drops of Menoth White and Menoth White Highlight from Privateer Press Paints I've used on them have dried up. Curse the flip-top paint tanks... So, I had to make do with sand colors from Vallejo and Scale75. Close, but not very close. Still, maybe that will be a return to something regular.

Nice to see you back! Models looking good, hopefully you can get back into the swing of things.

Nice work on those old models. Good on you for trying to individualise two identical models.

It's nice to see you back Wirecat! Sorry to hear about the paints drying out. Nice looking rebels you have there.

Thank You all! I see, the good old Dakka still goes strong. So much inspiration! Next to Your painting, JoshinJapan, my Deadzone does not even shine. But while we live, we learn, don't we?

I have way too much Mantic enforcers, so I think I can waste a few for a stranger cause. Another homage to another old fictional universe. Maybe this is already considered ancient? IF anyone remembers these...




They were "almost painted" for a long time, but now they are done. Good riding!

For the new year, I'd like to (plan to) get nothing but paints and brushes (Roubloff 1010 kolinsky size 2 is my new old love), finish all the remaining Mantic, mostly Deadzone and some Warpath and at least somewhat progress with terrain projects. With this resolution I defect to the festive crowd and wish You all the very happy, healthy and safe New Year!

Welcome back Wirecat!

"I aim to misbehave." Mal

Rock on.

First miniatures of the year 2022. Went from bare plastic to this... in a week.

Can't say I like this peacekeepers kit from Mantic a lot. They are almost monopose, probably enough variety for a 10 man squad but not much more. Plus (that is, minus) they had only four shields per five figures. Enough for the Deadzone or other small skirmishes, I think. Further, the old restic captain/lieutenant in peacekeeper armor looks rather minute next to them...





I've tried new bone colored brush-on primer from Scale75. Works reasonably good. I'd say it is more necrotic flesh colored, but it has good consistency for brush, easily recolored white (which is always a good thing) and does not smell like industrial solvents for hours. Probably will get more of it, in different color.

Next there may be some special character from Deadzone or Infinity... or I may go to something really old.

Nice work cranking those out. Mantic is kinda famous for 'almost' quality, but I think you managed to make them look pretty good.

Echoing earlier comments- nice work and output from the materials you began with.

Looking at the figures, and thinking about your 'mono-pose' observations: would it be possible to make a 'space opera boarding Roman-style testudo out of those jokers without it becoming a massive conversion project? I'm looking at the two guys with shields front, they're just about perfect as is for the front rank. The guys with the shields to the side- can they be swung up to form overhead cover? Do you have enough of these figures to make it worth trying?

Keep knockin' 'em out!

My camera decidedly refuses to fire its internal flash even with fully charged battery. Either battery is near-dead, or there is something with internal wiring. Meanwhile the sunny weather produces very interesting results. Yellowish sunlight and yellow coat...



I continue trying out instant colors line from Scale75. Quite interesting stuff, but mixing them while still wet can produce very unpredictable results. Here I've undercoated everything bone white, generously splashed grizzly brown on the gun, ogre brown on everything else, then repainted head and coat with grey and started highlighting edges with dark sand (AV) and white (Koh-i-noor). The result is actually less golden then on photo, but I am still satisfied with such an easy result.

Regarding the testudo idea, Meer_Cat, it is very impractical. There are only 4 shields per 5 figures, not every body looks equally plausible with shield raised up, so You would need about 40 miniatures to make a tight formation of 25.

I am inclined to say photos come out better without the flash anyway, sir.

Nice to see you back, the latest figure looks really good! I like this combo of colours and application.

I was afraid the juice might not be worth the squeeze for converting figures for a boarding testudo, but thought I'd ask.

These came out very well though- extremely nuanced shading throughout with the extra work you've put in.

Rock on!

The idea was cool, Meer_Cat. It just isn't viable with this particular kit. I personally know people who bought an entire kit for a few bits but, well, I am not one of these, and I doubt that such people can be tempted by Mantic level of coolness. Anyway, big thumbs up for the idea!

Now, I was really, REALLY surprised to find two more heavy forge fathers in my "primed things box". And am I glad that I have found them before the last drops of the green paint I've used on them dried up! So, this week it is two forgotten fathers finished in style with the rest of them (actually, I had to paint the base rim with a different green color because I did run out of the paint) and a single non-human rebel. A little creepy restic creature showing its nasty tongue.





And on a sour note, I can't ignore the politics and stuff, so here is a little terrain piece too. Bought it long time ago, from Kombrig, I think. 1:35 resin base, which makes for grossly oversized barrels, but all in all - almost proper for Infinity or Deadzone. You can hide three troopers behind it and it would not look completely out of scale. Painted and dusted with AV model colors and pigments.



And now it is back to fantasy as I need to assemble a lot of stuff to be ready for a warmer weather.

Forge Fathers look good- the terrain piece looks really good

I've started to mess around with pigments instead of washes et al, but so far my playing hasn't achieved results like this, very realistic.

I've got testudos on the brain now- saw a supplier on Etsy that does riot police in three specific poses to form such a unit. The temptation to buy 'just a few' for 'proof of concept' is almost irresistible.....

Fortunately, I have Make Something March to keep me focused!

Rock on, Wirecat!

Those Forge Fathers look really great, annoying that you don't have the right rim color anymore.

I swear - every time I make sure no more unpainted enforcers are to be found... here are four more! FOUR!!! OK, I will persevere. Here are four PAINTED enforcers!



I've tried to continue with my boarding party theme, but these are definitely dirtier than the ones I've started with. And a special character to go with them, lieutenant sniper. She should have some scatter on her base, but I am still looking for something to fit in. Probably will do a barrel or a canister of some sort.




Her gun is ridiculous beyond the normal Mantic standard. That is closer to GW...

BTW, I was a bit surprised no one either here or elsewhere I've posted my previous trio of enforcers remembered the Saber rider and the Star Sheriffs. I am becoming ancient myself...

Yeah, I know I watched that, but I was so young I don't recall it. Liking the faceplate effect and the hazard stripes!

I will never not have unpainted Enforcers, having gone all-in on the first Deadzone KS, but seeing yours makes me want to break out a sprue and assemble some more. The second guy from the right, in the running position, is particularly inspiring. Is he straight from the sprue or did you do any modifications?

Great work on the Enforcers!

I vaguely remember the Saber Riders, but only because after over 30 years (seriously, it's been that long ) I still occasionally have the theme song in my head. But the rest eludes me

Another weird kit I've built and painted, again from AVD models. This time it is their ZiL-132P amphibious wheeled transport. Planet Dawn has its share of rough terrain and unbridged rivers and swamps, so my Ariadna would appreciate it!



Unfortunately, getting Russian kits is now problematic. Some places no longer carry them and others have terrible service. The kit that I've got had no transparent parts, no etched parts and no cabin "bath tub", with seller refusing to replace or return. Well, As usually I had to resort to cardboard...



What was in the box: two parts body, top and bottom, removable tent, wheels with tires and a small sprue with steering wheel, rear view mirrors, extinguisher, silencer and a searchlight. Really nothing worth special note, but still - casts were almost clear from flash, no mold slips. For such a big purely resin kit parts fit quite nicely... except where they didn't fit. I chose to make front fit as tightly as possible, leaving rear with some gaps...



Without etched parts some areas look a bit too plain, but since this will be a blocking terrain piece and not a true scale model... I am willing to say it is "good enough".



Painted it with less "flat earth". AV equal parts of flat earth with Scale 75 arphen jade for bottom, two parts flat earth with one part jade for shadows, AV flat earth with AV dark sand and two parts jade for flat areas topside.



Tent is left removable for cases when I need to hide something under it. Assembled this vehicle is tall enough for a space marine to hide behind (unless heroically posed), which makes it biggest in my "moving terrain" collection.



Lately I really don't like to paint places that are not seen from above, but in this case I just show the level of detail in this kit. All suspension, drive shafts, water jet gratings and towing hooks are there (and cast as a single piece).

That's it. Now for Asterian Marionettes...

Looks good, very nice wear and tear painting. Possibly try blister pack plastic cut to shape for windows if you feel the need?

Vejut, are You saying I've actually succeeded in making PVC windows so transparent that they can be missed in photographs? Yay! I've got a sheet of transparent PVC, which is used in some sort of packing machine. Thick, hard and very transparent, on par with "native" HIPS parts used in AVD kits. Cutting it is a bit difficult, and fixing pieces in their places requires a few resin drops in corners, but the result is quite good.

No marionettes finished (or even started), but I am still alive so at least something unfinished must be posted. Here is the present state of my "stargate project". Still needs another layer of resin and a fresh bottle of glue, which may not come until the next warm season (if I survive the winter)...



... and a lot of chaotic wiring over yet to be designed base!

Apparently on the PVC!

Stargate is looking interesting, hopefully you make it through.

Wirecat wrote:
Vejut, are You saying I've actually succeeded in making PVC windows so transparent that they can be missed in photographs? Yay!

Actually yeah, I didn't realize there were already windows in that truck either. I can't tell in any of the thumbnails, and even opening them up I can only see one window in the first pic. Impressive work

That stargate looks cool too.

Slow to start, slow to finish. This time its Marionettes. Nice kit, but legs+torso cast (injected) as a single piece make pose selection very limited. I've tried to cut off the torso to add some variety through rotation at the waist, but it didn't work. Plastic was quite brittle and variety not enough to warrant extra hassle. I've just slapped them together and put on conic bases.



I am still playing with Scalecolor "potions"... Frenzy orange over bone white was bright... but felt wrong. Rage brown over AV steel was better. Rage brown over black was very dull and required several layers of red and purple to make a good highlight. So, I settled for the middle version with a few tweaks, like basecoating with different metallics to save some time cleaning up later.



This change resulted in slight difference between repainted minis and those that were painted to the "new standard".

Final images, with entire "warband":



They still need some support drones...

Nice work on the Marionettes. They're pretty nice models in a bunch, but as you say the lack of variation makes them a little less interesting individually. The shoulder pads were a little frustrating-- they aren't symmetrical, but there is no indication of which is left or right. How did you deal with that?

Very nice work and I appreciate the break down on what layers went over what base colors and which you lied and why. I write these things down in my notebook for when I have a similar need and then promptly forget to consult my notes.

The unit en masse looks great!