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Both of those pieces are seriously cool,,, ideas for paint??

Thank you for looking in and commenting Meatshield and Alaricuk!

I'll use the blue-gray shaker can I've got to do the base color the same as the other Winterguard vehicles (the Kitty Karriers, Snow Leopard and the Windstorm tank) but I saw pictures of Wehrmacht vehicles in the Soviet Union in 1942/43 with horizontal faded white stripes overlaid, I think to help distort the outline of the vehicle if not actually help it blend in with the winter landscape- I may try to carry that off.

More follows soonest!

Pretty impressive conversion there Meer_Cat. The kitties will have some teeth.

Cheers,

CB

Thanks very much, Captain!

Some progress tonight, the Bagheera is basecoated and a fair start made on the crew for basecoating also:



I need to dig out a 1/35 crew figure and stand it next to the vehicle- this thing was intended to pull alight artillery piece and have its six-man crew ride on it- it's an artillery tractor and really, really small. The head of a man standing next to it would be about level with the gun tube (the driver and where the bow gunner woul dsit would have had them folded up like an envelope to get into that tiny cab). But for my little Winterguard- it's the size of a King Tiger- lots of room for anime crowdedness! I think I explained it badly before when I was saying how I liked early WWII German and Soviet vehicles- some French and British as well but not as many- because they are smaller in real-life.

The commander figure almost made me have to invent another paint scheme for a Nekomimi Winterguard General Staff, as she is wearing a plastron/breastplate and has a ton of doodads and ribbons and epaulettes and such dangling about- but I decided she's just a highly decorated Panzer Pixie, so nothing to worry about.

And to give the Panzer Pixies a fair go, the next vehicle project for them is the Smilodon Main Battle Tank- super heavy equivalent. It was going to be next, before the Bagheera, but it's going to be a big job and I wanted something I could turn out sooner.

Thank you for looking in.

More follows soonest.

Not a lot of time to paint last night, so here is two nights' work, and maybe some time a bit later:



Still thinking about doing the horizontal 'snow streaks' on the Bagheera, but think that technique might carry off better on a vehicle with larger flat surfaces- not a lot here on the ole Baghie. Instead, may just winterize the heck out of it- slush in the corners, streaking, rust.

More follows soonest.

Some progress tonight:

* Crew are complete for basecoating and ready for the several washes each will need to be complete
* Some more doodads on the vehicle chassis are basecoated
* Started detailing the gun



Next steps are to apply the washes to the crew and finish them up, then complete the basecoating on the gun and install it permanently. I'm going to glue it down, so it will have no traverse (the historical one did, but couldn't use it for fear of flipping over sideways) but will have elevation and even about 10 degrees of depression. I have decided to 'winterize' the whole thing, s lots of application of AK's snow and snow balloons to simulate hoarfrost and slush. Not entirely consistent with the driver/pilot's state of en deshabille but it must be awfully hot inside a Bagheera.

More follows soonest.

Thank you for looking in.

Love where this is going,,

Great updates Meer_Cat! The Bagheera looks awesome!

Thank you much, Alaricuk, Olthannon, for looking in and your encouraging words- it means a lot.

The crew is finished tonight (nine different washes):





Commander, Master Gunner, Driver/pilot, Assistant Gunner and Loader/Fuse Trimmer.

I had an idea to use an old can of Citadel Overcoat that had gone bad and made for a great misty/frosty look. but the nozzle and the valve in the can under it had finally solidified after nearly twenty years and it just isn't usable anymore, so tomorrow- all other things permitting- I'll hit the chassis with the airbrush and start that 'winter yuck' look.

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

The Bagheera (Black Panther from the Jungle Books) is done. Lots of pictures:





I was pleased at how well the little vignette within the diorama piece came out, with the Master Gunner reaching down with her power gloves to take the shell from the Assistant Gunner.





Suitably leading from the front, but she probably wants to be out from under and in front of the gun when it engages.





Leftside view featuring the driver/pilot.



The ammo carrier/fuse cutter, a cut down 'parade rest' Winterguard trooper.









A last shot of the Bagheera next to my other tank hunter, the Snow Leopard:



In real life, the Leopard would be about twice the size of the Bagheera- different scaled kits. All the snow effects- which were a blast to play with, I'm very pleased how they came out- are Snow Sprinkles and Microballoons from AK Interactive.

The airbrush gave the layered look I was hoping for, with the rattle can base coat of Rust-o-leum Blue Harbor, overlain with brushed on Nuln Oil wash and airbrushed Vallejo Brown Wash, then airbrushed Scalecolor White from their Non-Metallic Metals set.

I have to say this was a lot fun and came out better than I planned considering:
-the kit was a fething bear to put together
-I had no real plan and was modeling by the seat of my pants
-I haven't done a lot of other 'winterized' pieces- just the one squad of Snow Pixies and the BA-64 Snow Cat

Thank you for looking in and for your constructive criticism.

Next up: A squad of Winterguard Rifles Doom Pixies or Snow Pixies (whichever I have enough figures on hand to do) and then the Smilodon Main Battle Tank & Scratching Post.

More follows soonest.

The next Doom Pixies project is started: three more heavy weapons and crews.



The Etsy seller that I get all these from very kindly included an extra autocannon on one order, so I used a Master of Ordnance figure as the crew leader and modified a Blizzard Company trooper (on the right, kneeling, in the pic- they're kind of like Scions with a hot shot lasgun) by cutting away the cables and extra bits for the hotshot.

The weapons themselves are primed, basecoated Rust-o-leum Harbor Blue and have had a wash of Nuln Oil:



They'll get rust washes and some chipped metal/scratches drybrushing and be mostly done. The muzzles aren't grimed because I needed someplace to hang onto them, so I'll either catch them up with Nuln Oil on the muzzles too, or maybe try for some heat color distortion.

And I've made a start on some basing for everything:



The plaster pieces I cast from Hirst Arts molds, the metal junk is all from my bits box(es).

Thank you for looking in and your constructive criticism. More follows soonest.

Those thanks look great mate! It's great fun if you don't know how it will turn out, innit? I've nothing to add in the way of constructive criticism, excet to say - if you transport them anywhere, pack some superglue

Thanks very much, PaddyMick! Yup, when gaming, I carry superglue in the convenient 55 gallon drum!

Progress tonight:

Heavy weapons systems got the rest of their Nuln Oil and I added decals to the gun shields (went back and retro-fitted the lascannon previously completed):



Got some primer on the bases:



And have the major areas basecoated on the Doom Pixies:



The Master of Ordinance and converted medic figure (the Unhealthcare Specialist- hat tip to the Fat Electrician) have a surprising amount of detail to them nd will require some thought and care in completing, so as not to waste it.

Also, the people that made these also recently had a Kickstarter with a new set of figures that are sort of more than Scions but less than Space Marines- they announced today that physical production is complete and shipping will start on Monday- yippee! This streak of painting Doom Pixies may just continue for quite a bit longer!

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

I really like the heavy weaponry.

That said, is one of the vehicles here a zis 30 based model?

Hi NotOnline!!! Yes, the Bagheera is based on the Maquette kit of a ZiS-30 self-propelled anti-tank gun- which was itself a 'wartime-emergency' kitbash of a towed Zis-10 57mm anti-tank cannon and the T20 komsolent artillery tractor. The machine was so small it could flip over backward from recoil if the recoil legs weren't deployed.

The other tank hunter in the earlier pic- the Snow Leopard- is a DUST model based on an actual WWII Soviet machine. In this case the DUST pieces are 'way underscaled (in my opinion) and the vehicle makes the Doom Pixies look big.

The kit I used is 1/35 scale, and the Doom Pixies are 'small' 28mm figures, so they make it look big. In reality, the areas on the sides is actually the space that the bench seat would normally be and seat only two (pretty small) men. The driver's position in the cab must have been positively claustrophobic!

Thanks for looking in and commenting!

I can hear the kaboooom of those artillery pieces,,, real nice meer_cat,,,

Thank you, Alaricuk- these have been fun to work on, but you bring up a good point: the one thing the Doom Pixies don't have yet is really heavy artillery- that's something I'm going to have to think how to resolve going forward!

Progress tonight:

The crewcats have their TA-50 web gear done and hair appointments complete:



The guns themselves have their rust (and another coat of Nuln on top, as they were looking 'way too orangy without it may still be too much and I'll have to dilute with a thinned out blue-grey, or maybe a brownish dirt):



And the bases now have a layer of 'crackle spackle'- I've tried this stuff before and don't remember if I liked it, so am trying again. The worst that happens is I drown it all in glue and sand and paint again:



Thank you for looking in and I look forward to your comments.

More follows soonest.

I like the bases.

Thanks MeatShield! I'm trying to introduce some more styles/variables in the way I do some things, since I've been on this Nekomimi Winterguard kick for so long- don't want to get stale!

 Meer_Cat wrote:
Thank you, Alaricuk- these have been fun to work on, but you bring up a good point: the one thing the Doom Pixies don't have yet is really heavy artillery- that's something I'm going to have to think how to resolve going forward!

Progress tonight:

The crewcats have their TA-50 web gear done and hair appointments complete:



The guns themselves have their rust (and another coat of Nuln on top, as they were looking 'way too orangy without it may still be too much and I'll have to dilute with a thinned out blue-grey, or maybe a brownish dirt):



And the bases now have a layer of 'crackle spackle'- I've tried this stuff before and don't remember if I liked it, so am trying again. The worst that happens is I drown it all in glue and sand and paint again:



Thank you for looking in and I look forward to your comments.

More follows soonest.

Seems you are progressing fast.
And very well.

Heavy artillery is always a chore to find though, unless you are willing to fork over far too much for things like FW.

Thanks very much, Not Online!!!

Even looking through the bargains on Etsy and eBay, you're right- heavy artillery can run to some coin. I may get ambitious and scratchbuild something from the ton-plus of scrap pieces in my bits (box doesn't seem an adequate descriptor) dumpster- that would let me anime it up a great deal more than a more "conventional" science fiction artillery piece!

Be interesting to see what you come up with for super heavy artillery,,,

Interesting question, isn't it? To model something that mimics an Earthshaker, or even real 20th century artillery? Or ot loose the bonds of surly earht and soar to heights unimagined by mortal man, and make something really crazy!!!

I'll figure it out when I gets there!

Finally got some painting in this week- it's been a busy time.

I tried adding some more schmutz/Nuln Oil to tone down the rust and don't think it really changed anything, so I'm leaving these alone and calling them done:



The crew are finished for basecoating- next up the nine washes:



And the bases are basecoated and read for washes, highlighting and some additional doo-dads:



I backed the Kickstarter for Scale75's Dro & Paint which are supposed to be good for airbrushes, so I'm going to try some ideas on the 'junkyard' base to see how they go. The Crackle Spackle wasn't very impressive after it dried, until it had a basecoat of paint on, then you could see all the cracks and it's really quite cool.

More follows soonest.

Some great updates, the bases for the heavy weapon teams look fantastic. Great stuff!

Thanks very much, Olthannon- I hope to be able to get some more work in on Monday!

A week night and back at it, the guns and crews are now complete and the bases well along.

After touching up the base colors, I used Vallejo Game Washes Flesh Wash to give the crackle spackle some depth of color and provide something besides another shade of brown to look at:





And the crew are ready to install as soon as the bases are done:





With a bit of luck I might can get the bases finished tomorrow night and final pictures on Wednesday, but we'll see- I'll take the time as I get it.

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

Work got busy, so not as much time (or energy!) to work this week, but here;s the progress on the bases, I think they're nearly done:



I'd like to add some drybrush dust effect on top, and that's it.

The guns and crews are finished, so then it's just a matter of assembly. Next time I think I'd like to try some Snow Pixie heavy wepps, and work with the AK Interactive Snow Effects some more. Plus, I have a resin-cast aerosan that's just itching to become a Snow Pixie ride, so there's that. And then new Ice Warriors, Space Samurai, and a bunch of other things.....

Thank you for looking in. More follows soonest.

This set of heavy weapons is finished. Lots of fun, tried some new things, as Yancy Butler's character tells Wesley Snipes in the movie Drop Zone "You jumped, you fell, you lived, it's a good start."

Autocannon #1:









I may go back and reposition the gunner so the butterfly trigger plte lines up better with the breach of the receiver.

Autocannon #2







Heavy Bolter:







The only thing I think I'd do differently is pick either a different color for the soil of the bases, or not use the rust on the wheels and frames- they seem a bit close in color. Although maybe its just that the wheels are covered in rust colored mud!

I'm torn now, because I've wanted to get to the Smilodon MBT for awhile now, but my Idunni Mining Consortium kickstarter figures are here (to be used as either powered armor infantry (which the IG could have back in the Book Before Any Codexes) or maybe as Scions. I don't have a place to game at the moment, so the question is somewhat moot.

Thank you for looking in.

More follows soonest.

Looking fantastic with these bases, really nice work to make them more entrenched.