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 Thraxas Of Turai wrote:
I like the Afterlife minis a lot, what material are they made of? Good to see the work on the old Stormtroopers too, I have always loved those sculpts.

The Afterlife figures are all resin. The stuff Joel uses for them is really good though. I don't think I've received a single item from him with any imperfections. The resin on these has got just the right amount of give to it that it almost feels like slightly soft plastic. It's actually a little more flexible than what he'd been using for his Steamlord or Miniatures of the North lines.

Got another update.

My dad was so pleased with how the robot officer Optio turned out, he ordered himself a Robot Legion Centurion. He showed up on Friday and I just banged this out just now.

The raygun still needs paint, which I'll do in white with red rings like on Optio. Beyond that and possibly doing some highlighting, he's done for now. I'm not sure what color the eye should be. While I'd prefer it to stand out against the cape, I suspect my dad may want this guy's eye to be red as well. I'm sort of leaning towards green though. It doesn't really matter thought until after I've dipped him, so I've got time to figure that out.

Today though, I finally got back to my Aoshima 1/24 Garland kit. I'd built a few parts from it a long ass time ago and it's just been sitting unbuilt ever since (much like Vatshu has). I finally built up the nerve to actually work on it and actually finished it today, too.

This kit is specifically Shogo Yahagi's Proto Garland from Megazone 23, part 2. Personally, I didn't care for part 2 at all. The violence was ridiculously gratuitous and generally really nasty, the characters were generally unlikeable, the overall message was kind of iffy, and I hated the ending of it, not to mention the fact that since the first part, they kept building up the supposed aliens they were fighting against, and then not only never actually showed them, but the writers killed them all off almost instantly towards the end without even a second thought, like they weren't quite sure what to do with them and just said "screw it." Anyway, I'm getting off track here.
The kit is produced by Aoshima and I believe this particular version was a supposed limited edition version. The red parts are sort of metallic and it came with the heavy machinegun you see it holding. I believe the two figurines that came with it were unique to this particular version as well, but I didn't really care about them. The engineering on the kit is decent in parts. The kit does transform, but it isn't a perfect transformation. The legs have to actually be removed and there's other small pieces that have to be inserted. The way the torso section transforms though is pretty neat. The reason I don't have a picture of the bike mode though is because the damn thing broke almost immediately after I'd transformed it the first time. The wheels on the sides of the torso are and these fold out arms that are jointed using these tiny, thin rods that had absolutely no business supporting the amount of weight that they had to hold.
Beyond that issue, articulation for the kit is decent and about what you'd expect and actually managed to have a better range of movement than the non-transforming kits WAVE put out at around the same time. Unlike those kits though, the joints on this thing are FLOPPY AS HELL! This is primarily an issue of the arms though. They flop and spin all over the place and pretty much cannot hold a pose let alone the weight of that big ass gun. Speaking of the gun, it too broke almost immediately after assembling the thing. There's a tiny little wire attached to a sensor on its side that just snapped right off. Miniscule and unnoticeable, but annoying none the less. Also, this thing does not include the regular gun from the standard version of the kit. Parts of it are on the sprues, but there are major parts from it missing and the instructions don't say how to build it either. Oh yeah, there's also a bunch of metallic pieces that probably should have been used, but the instructions tell you instead to use the matte grey pieces. What was even the point of including the metallic ones then?

And, as you can see, it's kind of largeish, thus preventing it from really being used with any 28mm wargames.


Lastly, we have the Soviets mentioned in the thread title. I've been wanting to do these guys for a little while. I've had the figures sitting around, but I've been waiting to work on them until I had some gasmask heads to give them. These guys come from West Wind's Secrets of the Third Reich line and they're listed as Soviet Survivors.

I love the look of them. Their uniforms are ratty, full of holes and ripped apart. They just look haggard unkept and those gas masks just seal the deal for me. They look like they'd be just as much at home in a post apocalyptic game as they would in a WWII game. Now, these guys are only two from a set of four, so I've got a couple more left. They're fun to paint though. I can't wait to have my sci-fi Germans face off against my post apocalyptic Russians and make pew-pew noises.

Well, the mech is about the size of a "knight titan" so if you did collect all together, you could fight someone with that as a heavy support

perhaps, but I'd know that the scale is way off and it would annoy me to no end.

^Heh.

Everything looks good, sucky that your robot is kind of flimsy jointed. Still looks like he could roflstomp that spacemarine just fine.

Didn't we talk about using 1/144 mecha at some point?

Or am I just confusing that with the Lego rules we used that one time?

Because you know I could field an entire army of SDs. Squads and platoons of them in fact. with heroes, support, vehicles... it would be quite sad and/ or scary.

I too hated Part 2 of Megazone. Did you ever see part 3? Did I ever own it?

I don't remember having plans for using 1/144 stuff. Though, if we did, I'd auto win since I have the Turn A.

As for Megazone 23, I have part 3. Still do, in fact. It isn't all that good, but I find it to be kind of a guilty pleasure. If nothing else, the mech battle scenes in it look really cool.

I'm liking the way that Infinity stuff has turned out. The four-armed ...thing is very impressive.

You know what else is funny? When I saw that zombie the thought that came to mind was "they reminds me of Fry." I then read your text (and the rest of the posts!)

I don't know what it was about that figure that made me paint it that. That figure really does seem like it was meant to be a zombie Fry.

Someone around here was asking me about the Iguana's pilot. Was it you, Grimdork? Well, here he is.




I'm going to attempt to attach the ammo belt tonight. Hopefully I don't feth it up.

I've also been trying to paint my Maghariba Guard. I think that might just be the most annoying figure I've tried to paint.
Also, I'm picking up Destiny today. Not sure I'll be getting a whole lot done mini-wise in the near future.

Ahh cool beans, good work on the pilot. Gotta paint him up for when his rig gets shot up and he's got to go seek retribution on his own.

I think I might add some battle damage to him, actually.

Now this sort of came out of nowhere. I knew Bandai was planning a line of "action figure" model kits for sale outside of Japan, but it seemed like it was something that was just always in the works. I took a detour by Toys R Us today and low and behold, I actually found Bandai's Sprukits series on shelves!

"Barzam, what the feth are Sprukits?" you might be asking. Good question!
Sprukits are basically Bandai's latest attempt to try selling plastic models in the US and other Western countries. They'd given a half-assed attempt when Gundam was on Cartoon Network, but really, it was pretty lame. Their attempts to market the Mobile Suit in Action toyline was much more successful. This new line is essentially a rebranding of the MG-Figurize series of Master Grade class figure kits Bandai's put out in the last few years. Whereas those kits though were based on Japanese heroes, namely Kamen Rider, these ones are American heroes. There's so far two licensed lines, DC Comics, and Halo.

The Sprukits series is supposed to have 3 classes. The most basic- level 1- consists of simplistic 4" figures with limited articulation. As far as I know (I may be wrong), there's only 3 figures at that level right now: Batman, Superman, and Joker. Level 2 is larger and should be around 6" or so when finished. At that level, there are kits of Batman, Superman, Master Chief, Spartan Thorne, and Spartan Palmer. Level 2 should be equivalent to the Figurize-6 line of 6" kits. Level 3 should be equivalent of the full sized MG-Figurize line and so far only consists of a Master Chief figure. Hopefully, if the line proves successful (I have serious doubts about that) they'll add more licenses and have Halo stuff in the small scale line and DC stuff in the large scale line.

As mentioned, I have my doubts about the success of this line. I'm sure none of you have heard of this series even until just now. And that, that is the reason it probably is going to fail. Bandai is not doing any kind of marketing for this series.

There's also another line in the Sprukits series. They're using Sprukits to market the Danball Senki series of robot kits and like the other ones, there's to be 3 scale/difficulty levels. Unfortunately, I didn't see any of the Danball Senki stuff. Not that it matters because the line's been out for years now in Japan and by now, if there's anything I want, I've already bought it. Plus, I doubt the line will last long enough to get to the really cool stuff (like my flying guy with the sword bits from earlier in this thread).

Since I can't resist a good model kit, I did feel the need to buy one of the Halo Spartans. So, I picked up Thorne.

As you can see, they're marketing it almost like a Lego kit rather than a plastic model. I will note though, the little "Designed in Japan" blurb on the Sprukits logo. In fact, these kits are actually MADE IN JAPAN! That means these were made in the same factories as Bandai's Gundam kits. That's pretty cool and pretty much guarantees that these should be of pretty decent quality.
Here's a shot of the box back.

You can see the Master Chief and Sarah Palmer cross-sells there on the bottom of the box. One little bit about the box that I like is the (somewhat simplified) exploded view of the kit.

Here's what you get in the box: 2 baggies with a total of 5 sprues, a tiny decal sheet, and instructions.


I'm going to say right now, I really don't like the package design on these. The art isn't eye catching (unlike most Japanese boxart) and the box itself is super flimsy. That ring of cardboard is used to support and protect the sprues on the inside. Just, ugly package design. The parts look very crisp and sharp though. Lots of very nice little sculpted on details, like the hexagon patterns on the undersuit. Everything seems to be molded in color (yay) and the thing even looks like it might have extra hands and a stand.

However, I'm going to hold off on building him. He's going to be a weekend project. For now, I'm going to be playing Destiny.

New game huh? I'm out of the loop and my rig is too.

Neat halo man.

You must be out of the loop if you haven't heard the hype for Destiny.

As it turns out, I actually do have an Infinity figure to share. I finished up my Zerat sniper. I decided to try a different scheme with her since she's part of the Morat Special Missions Regiment and is meant to be a sneaky Morat, as much as one can be, at any rate. So, since she's part of a special unit, she gets to have a different scheme. I've included the yellow markings since Zerats are supposed to be elite units. Though, I'm going to remove the markings from her chest and they just don't look that good.

Well it's just for consoles isn't it? Lame. Plus FPS is meh unless I've got someone to play it with. Enjoy though, sounds like a lot of people will be around to play with you.

Sniper looks good. I definitely like the colors.

 Barzam wrote:
You must be out of the loop if you haven't heard the hype for Destiny.

As it turns out, I actually do have an Infinity figure to share. I finished up my Zerat sniper. I decided to try a different scheme with her since she's part of the Morat Special Missions Regiment and is meant to be a sneaky Morat, as much as one can be, at any rate. So, since she's part of a special unit, she gets to have a different scheme. I've included the yellow markings since Zerats are supposed to be elite units. Though, I'm going to remove the markings from her chest and they just don't look that good.

Lanky! yet curvy, but Zerat Males are so bulky and such.

She looks good like that. good colors. I might have to try destiny see how it plays and such. I am used to the Fallout and Elder scrolls universes on my 360

Destiny's been kind of fun. But, I enjoy post apocalyptic games in general.

Did a little more work on the Zerat. Got rid of the yellow on the chest and did some highlights to try and brighten up the green, not that it came through on the photo. Also tried to lighten up the hair a bit.




Automatically Appended Next Post:
Let's throw this in for tonight as well. I had a hard time coming up with how I should paint this guy. I think he turned out pretty good there.

Here you go, a Farseer for my Hojo Clan Eldar.



And here he is with the Warlocks I've done so far.

Looks like he fits in pretty well, to me.

I've also finished up my Soviet Survivors set. Here's the other two guys from that pack.



And here's all of the Soviet Survivors set II.


I really like these guys. I'm a bit disappointed that FRP doesn't have any of the others on sale besides the RPG guys, who look terrible, and the zombies. I'm actually rather looking forward to seeing what West Wind does with their SOTR 2nd edition.

Damn you and your industrious painting.

In the span of you doing all that, I primed one guy. One.

Work and kids certainly haven't helped.

I think you did a good job on that Farseer. Your freehand came out nicer than mine would have! Nice detail on that guy.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Damn you and your industrious painting.

In the span of you doing all that, I primed one guy. One.

Work and kids certainly haven't helped.

I think you did a good job on that Farseer. Your freehand came out nicer than mine would have! Nice detail on that guy.

Well, my thread would also make you upset, I am working on several squads as seen in it of late as well.

 Barzam wrote:

I really like these guys. I'm a bit disappointed that FRP doesn't have any of the others on sale besides the RPG guys, who look terrible, and the zombies. I'm actually rather looking forward to seeing what West Wind does with their SOTR 2nd edition.

Me too!

And then I'll be looking forward to seeing what you do with them!

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Damn you and your industrious painting.

In the span of you doing all that, I primed one guy. One.

I managed to do that with a new game distracting me, too.

I got my Deadzone stuff in today, too. I literally came home, threw a few figures together and slapped some paint on these two to see how they'd look.

I'm not feeling the Tron style colors on the Cypher as much as I thought I would. I'm going to try throwing a different scheme onto one of the special weapon Cyphers from the booster bundle and see which catches my fancy better. The zombie I did to see how well the fantasy bits mix with the new bits. I'd say they work very well. The legs and head are from the new plastics and the torso is from the fantasy set. He fits in pretty well with my other kitbashed zombies, too.

Here's a trio of Cyphers from the Asterian Booster bundle. I redid the Tron one in blue. I was kind of leaning towards doing the basic Cyphers in blue and black, so these two here were tests for that.

I hate to say it, but I'm not really feeling the blue, either. Thankfully, I have two Asterian starter packs, so I think I might do one of the sets in green. Greens usually tend to come out well for me.
The Black Talon on the far left, btw, I did up in the colors of the Black Tri-Stars from Gundam. It seemed fitting to me.

Well I certainly don't think they look bad, though I dunno if its a color I would choose myself. Black talon is interesting. Black armor and white cloth/flexible/less armored areas is what I'm looking into doing for my enforcers going forward.

Models look like they really lean towards a two-tone approach, not sure what I'll try myself. I'd like to do some kind of fancy airbrush nonsense but I dunno what it would be.

Got my Guilang sniper done last night. I'd wanted to keep his colors simple, but pretty much up until I'd had him dipped, I wasn't quite feeling the scheme. Now, I really like it. This is a neat little figure.



I've really been ignoring the faction that actually got me into this game lately. I think that'll be changing a bit in the near future. I just won a set of Tiger Soldiers for about $6. So, they ought to be arriving fairly soon, I hope. They ought to be fun to paint.

Here's the usual dio shots, too.

Looks good, the helmet and eye are especially striking.

I finally bit the bullet and started work on my Police Squalo. I knew this thing was going to be difficult since it'd involve a lot of white paint. Add in the fact that my usual super glue is dead and my backup isn't that good, and I wind up with a lot of frustrations.

I know the blue I used is kind of bright, but trust me, it looks better once it's fully assembled.

I'd initially planned on building some light bars on the back next to the sensor fins, but I decided that it would be too much work and just wouldn't look very good. So, instead I've decided to just incorporate the light bars into the fins.

Here's a closeup of the head/torso area so you can actually see the MP decal on its forehead.

You can also see a small gap on its right antennae since the thing didn't quite want to fit in all the way. You can tell that this is definitely an early sculpt since there's quite a few little fit issues here and there on it.

I also painted up a Mercs figure. I really like the Sefadu team's designs. They've got really cool looking armor, but their figures leave a lot to be desired. Their default color scheme is not my favorite and most of them are posed really badly.

This guy is Sefadu's Grenadier. His posing is okay. Him and the shotgunner look the best. The leader is kind of cool, but the lineartwork for him makes him look much cooler than his actual figure. I'm not sure why I chose green and yellow for his armor, but I like how it looks. Same with the white rifle. I might add some extra color to that, but I'm not planning on changing the gun's color. It sort of reminds me of the rifles the MNU used in District 9.

The sefadu guy looks interesting, good job. And the Squalo... excellent I really really really like where you're going with that. The sensor fin things should be pretty easy to make into light bars too, can't wait to see it done. I was on the fence about maybe getting one of those or maybe waiting till they eventually re-do them. This has pretty well convinced me not to wait for a re-sculpt (though it may still happen before I get one ).

The sculpt is a little funky in terms of proportions though. It's got a long torso, but it is kind of neat looking.

I figure being an older figure, I could explain it away as being an older model TAG handed over to the police.


And what would be a Police TAG without some police to hang out with it?

Well, I got my Tiger Soldiers today, but there's a bit of a problem. The HMG guy's arms/gun were mispacked. He's got a right arm with a combi rifle from... somewhere. It sure as hell isn't the arms though. On top of not having the right arm packed in, the little missing product slip is missing as well. I'll have to contact CB to see if it'll be possible to get a replacement or not. This is mildly annoying.

On the plus side, the figures I ordered from Noble Knight earlier in the week also arrived and all three seem to be just fine. I've got another robot soldier for my dad and two cyborg ladies for me.

The light bars turned out well, and the police look good.

Sucks to hear about the arms, so far I haven't had a problem myself.