Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hi everyone,

[Not sure what the rules are for talking about "Unseen" mechs (if anyone knows, please let us know).]

After a few good battles of Battletech - playing as a tabletop game, we've decided to start a campaign of Mechwarrior. [Will share more about the adventures of Tim and Lester, Mechwarriors soon.]

We've scrounged some old rule books - there is clearly some nostalgia associated with using some of the older designs....

But, we've not had any models other than the ones in the boxes sets ---- that is, until yesterday.

Really nice guy was willing to part with his collection of metal models. Some of them painted much more nicely than we've managed yet (so this certainly raises the bar for us.)

Here's a quick link with some photos.
http://battlegaming1.blogspot.com/2016/02/battletech-more-mechs-from-craigslist.html

Thanks

Nice haul!

The Marauder looks like a Marauder 2 to me, not entirely sure as it has been a long time since I've seen the unseen version.

The Phoenix Hawk arm might be able to be replaced with some bits from Robotech RPG tactics. I'm sure someone has a suitable arm floating around. I might, but I haven't even finished building what I have, so don't exactly know which ones I would part with.

Those bulky mechs are from FASA Plastech box set. I had a set and thought at the time they were so horrible, I threw them away ( :( ). Except for this one, which I converted with a pair of plastic sprue, toothpicks and some plaster of paris.



This was back in the 3025 days, before Clan mechs existed; this was supposed to be my version of the MAC II Monster (from Robotech/Macross) for Battletech. Nowadays, it looks like an upgunned Mad Cat....

Looks like it's almost all unseen! That's quite a valuable find. As others have said, you've got some Plastech mechs in there too.

I'm not sure if the Maurader is a II, but it' may well be. I thought the II had fins on the engines but I could be wrong. It could also just be an alternate sculpt

For getting a replacement arm you probably won't find an original, but I recommend searching the Iron Wind Metals site. They sell alot of separate arm parts and such. If you were to contact them directly they might even be able to recommend a similar arm.

That Marauder is actually a 1st run Marauder, also referred to as a "Battledroid" Marauder. There were two versions of the "Battledroid" Marauder released by Ral Partha before the more common unseen Marauder sculpt was released in 1988. One version had a hex-base foot base which is the one you have. There is also a much rarer variant that has an oval foot base. Both are still very sought after by collectors, but yours is missing its dorsal autocannon and instead has a Rifleman's radar dish array glued on instead.

If you can remove that radar dish (use acetone to break the glue bond) you'll have a valuable bit that you could likely trade for one of the bits you need to complete another `Mech.

For the arm-less Phoenix Hawk I'd suggest picking up a plastic version of that `Mech from the Battletech 3rd edition box set and grafting an arm on that way. The P-hawk was a single piece miniature so you won't be able to find a replacement arm on the market unless you track down a very rare UK version of that design which had separate arms, but that would still require some modeling to get it to work. The plastic 3rd edition version is identical to your metal P-hawk, though, so should be an easy fix.

I recommend checking out this site, its really helpful for IDing the old unseen miniatures.

http://brianscache.com/
http://brianscache.com/battledroids/

And if you want to trade or buy for Battletech items, www.lordsofthebattlefield.com is one of the best places to go. Lots of old Battletech grognards like me on there with collections to trade.

Oh man... those Plastech minis. So awesome.

 megatrons2nd wrote:
The Marauder looks like a Marauder 2 to me, not entirely sure as it has been a long time since I've seen the unseen version.

Actually, I'm not sure that is either a BT Marauder or Marauder II (I have copies of both miniatures in my BT collection). The shape of the forward hull looks wrong and it should have a cannon mounted on top of the hull, not that antenna thing. It might be one of the old FASA "Battleoid" figures (which preceded the BattleTech game) or maybe one of the many Robotech/Macross Glaug miniatures released over the years?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Oh man... those Plastech minis. So awesome.

The joy of the Fatlas and the Fatapult...

 mdauben wrote:

 megatrons2nd wrote:
The Marauder looks like a Marauder 2 to me, not entirely sure as it has been a long time since I've seen the unseen version.

Actually, I'm not sure that is either a BT Marauder or Marauder II (I have copies of both miniatures in my BT collection). The shape of the forward hull looks wrong and it should have a cannon mounted on top of the hull, not that antenna thing. It might be one of the old FASA "Battleoid" figures (which preceded the BattleTech game) or maybe one of the many Robotech/Macross Glaug miniatures released over the years?

See my post above. It is a 1st run Ral Partha Marauder with a Rifleman radar array glued on.

Nice Find!

As far as the Phoenix Hawk with missing arm, you could (carefully) remove one from another PH and make a mold and cast it out of resin. Or on the missing arm, add wires to resemble battle damage. As far as the Marauder antenna, that was most likely a special mod the previous owner put there for his player character mech, a special one off which did happen in canon. In canon salvage is one of the ways you get paid, he probably upgraded the Marauders electronics to that of the Rifleman, hence the mod on the mech.

If you have any concerns or are interested in more information check out Sarna wiki. It covers everything in Battletech canon. www.sarna.net/wiki/
Also a good resource for mech sheets is Mech Factory. http://battletech.rpg.hu/mechfactory_frame.php

For the missing Phoenix Hawk arm, try getting in touch with someone who bought or backed Robotech RPG Tactics. A Valkyrie battloid arm should be about the right size and you get 4 arm options for every 2 battloids plus 2 more options for each gerwalk (Airmech) so they should have some spares. The Valks are equivalent to Wasps/Stingers, but are slightly bigger so their basic arms are about the right size. A Super Valkyrie's arms would be more accurate, but would be too big for the Phoenix Hawk.

That really is an awesome find! congratulations! I would kill to get my hands on a fatlas these days =)