Monday, May 31, 2010

Greetings from The Humungus! The Lord Humungus! The Warrior of the Wasteland! The Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla!

Here's a quick picture of some 15mm Wasteland Raiders for my 15mm Post Apocalypse project. The figures are from Rebel miniatures. I tried to give them an appropriately scavenged look for the figures, giving them clothing that could be scavenged from a destroyed department store or army base.

Saturday, May 29, 2010

On the Road Again...


The blog has been quiet for a while since I have been away doing dissertation research. Here are some 15mm Post Apocalyptic bikers from Rebel Miniatures. I have done a few conversion by swapping torsos with their PA gangers and a few head swaps using GZG heads. I really like these models. The casts are really clean and the bikes are ooze detail.

These are the first figures in a new 15mm PA project I'm working on. There are several good PA projects out there in 28mm but not too many in 15mm. Stayed tuned for more 15mm PA.

Friday, May 14, 2010

A fair bit of comparison


From left to right, West wind(heavily modified), GW, Privateer Press, Four A, Heresy

I wanted to post a quick review and size comparison of the new tophat miniature from Four A miniatures. Four A is a new company based out of county Durham. I'd like to add that, even though Andy at Four A and I are realtivly close in proximity, I am in no way affiliated with the company. I have only met Andy recently and I have never gamed with him. Rest assured this review is objective and independent.

Tophat is arguably the most promising figure form the new range. I was immediately drawn to the figure as a substitute in Malifaux for Hans, since I was not too fond of the stock Wyrd miniature. What I really like about this figure is that it dosent go overboard with the steampunk elements, somthing that Privateer and Wyrd have been guilty of in the past. This figure suits me fine. The details are crisp and the casting is very clean. Although, I would expect this since its coming out of brand new mold.

The figure is listed as being 38mm from the feet to the top of the hat. This has drawn some flak on the LAF, being rather large for a 28mm figure. The turth is that this is a very large 28mm figure, but a 28mm figure none the less. You can see from the comparison above, that Tophat is much taller than other heroic 28's. That being said, the proportions are similar to the more popular lines out there. I think he'll fit into my existing figures as a taller man.

Overall I would recommend this figure for any steampunk or sci-fi gamer. Despite its size, it fits well with most existing line and should fit even more with official Malifaux miniatures. I hope that all of Four A future figures are not all so big, but I think this one provides some good variety in a Malifaux crew. A great start for the fledgling miniature company.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A Thin Skin Against the Void



I've begun a new 15mm sci-fi project. Skirmish being my first love, I wanted to utilize the benifits of 15mm's small size. I designed these paper ssci-fi corridors and textured them with free sample textures that I got from Marlin Studios.

Some of you may remember my ship sections built around junction boxes. I really like the results I got from this method, but it was too expensive and slow. I designed the paper corridors in order to cover a 4'x4' table quickly and cheaply. The complex above cost me £6 and took me the better part of an afternoon to cut and assemble. Its not quite finished. I need to make more door clips and lots of stuff needs to be black lined. But it is playable as is.

I also made some adverts and signage for the corridors. I wanted this terrain to have blade runner/star wars feel. I imagine that residents in the had city would be constantly bombarded with advertising and holographic images. Right now, I only have signs printed on paper. Once I figure out to print hem onto acetate, I will hae a whole bunch of holo screens and signs.

I have three sizes of section so far. a 4"x4", a 6"x4" and a 2"x7". I plan on making other sizes. The system works by butting these whole sections against one another and connecting them with door clips. The door clips are made out of styrene with a paper texture pasted to them. I'm really pleased with the system.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Unusual Suspects


Here are some pictures of some 15mm sci-fi stuff I have painted recently. These are mostly Critical Mass Games mercenaries with some 15mm.co.uk stuff thrown in.

I really love the Critical Mass aliens. They are not only the cleanest models I have ever taken out of a package, they are a joy to paint as well. Simple but characterful. I wish critical mass would make a few more packs for this range. When it comes out. I would love to play AE Bounty in 15mm.

These models will be residents of a 15mm sci fi city I have in the works. I have been designing some paper ship/installation corridors similar to my plastic ones I made over Christmas. I hope to get some posted when I get them done. Hopefully paper will enable me to make them faster and cheaper. My goal is to fill a 4'x4' table with them.

Its Electric! Boogey Woogy.

Here is a pic of a more unusual figure for my Malifaux Arcanists. As far as a know, Wyrd doesn't make a figure for the electrical creation, which is essentially a walking bomb that the arcanist can summon to the battlefield. There are a few versions of the construct on the web. I made mine from a foundry Ancient German that I had lying around. I removed the head and the bits from the figure and replaced the head with a ball of greenstuff. I really wanted this figure to be humanoid, but have no distinguishing personal features. I really think Malifuax is an opportunity to play with some subtle horror themes. The fantasy Inuit and the electrical creation are a few 'studies' I did with faceless miniatures. I'm trying to use that facelessness to make the figures slightly disturbing.

The painting was really simple. I tried again to practice the source lighting. This was a really interesting piece since I wanted to give the effect that the whole figure was glowing and casting a pool of light on the base. Overall, I'm pleased with the results.