ScrapYard Armory

I picked up this miniature ages ago at a convention.  At the time IWM was selling these turrets and bases in a pick and choose format.  You picked a base and a turret you wanted for just a few bucks.  With plenty of weapons to choose from it was too tempting to pass up.  I went with a LRM variant although there were options for lasers or autocannons.  Sadly I cannot find anything in the IWM store that I could point you to if you wanted to buy one yourself.  This may have been a one time thing for conventions.

UPDATE:

A helpful reader has picked out the turrets on the IWN store!  Mix and match to your hearts content!

• Turrets
• Bunkers

The base coat for this miniature started with Slaanesh Grey (two coats) and Plague Brown on the details on the launcher face.

A quick wash of future floor finish and black ink worked wonders to shade the mini.

Highlighting was done with dry brushing on Stonewall Grey and then coming back with a few choice lines with the detail brush.  The yellow was brought up with successive coats of Plague Brown and Moon Yellow.  Some final details were added with black followed up with Gunmetal Grey to bring our fins or grids where I found them.  Very simple stuff here.  Its only a turret after all!

All together a nice and quick paint job and something to add to a raid or defensive objective game.

I got back to the painting table again and finished up some reinforcements for the lonely infantry I painted last time.  I used a very similar procedure as with the infantry.  The most notable difference from my usual routine is the use of The Army Painter Quick Shade.

The process was a simple one and produces decent table top ready results.  I did not opt to jewel the cockpits this time around mostly due to my own laziness and the desire to clear the work bench for something new.  I may do future painting efforts in smaller batches.  As it is, I still have another three Liao minis base coated and ready but just did not have the energy to push them further down the line.

Base coats were done with Khaki and Warpstone Glow.  After dipping in Quickshade I used Moot Green to highlight the green while the Khaki was brought up by mixing in some Bone White into the Khaki.

Additional highlights were easy as they come with Gunmetal and flat black.  The bases were done in Beasty Brown.  I dry brushed it up after shading with another coat of Beasty brown followed by some mixed in Dead White.

Not some of my best work but it feels damn good to scratch the itch.  I have a closet full of unpainted minis to dive into and I can’t move forward unless I am willing to be done with what is on the table.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Liao so it comes as no surprise that my miniature collection from that faction was sorely lacking.  Time to make amends and add some Capellans to my collection.

Truth be told I had intended to make this post about a full reinforced lance of Liao units (hence the ‘Mech and vehicles in the early pictures) but the way things were going I really needed to get something into the DONE column.  So here it is, my attempt at cooking up some excellent Iron Wind Metals infantry figures in a plausible Liao color scheme.

Preparation

One thing I’d like to mention is my selection of miniatures for this group.  I included some infantry figures from the 3075 line from Iron Wind Metals.  The sniper looking units are actually Word of Blake units.  But from two feet away (or possibly closer) I challenge anyone to positively identify them as anything but cool looking snipers.  That is one of the great things about the available infantry figures.  If they look like snipers, use them as snipers.  If they look like heavy shock troopers use them in whatever faction makes sense.  The WoB doesn’t have the monopoly on snipers and these minis fit for what I was going for.  No need to unnecessarily restrict yourself.

Rounding out the infantry squads are a motorized infantry squad and three Liao Battle Armor squads.

All miniatures are from Iron Wind Metals and were in excellent shape right out of the bin.  Not much to clean up.  Quick work with a sharp exacto knife made these ready for paint.

Base Coat

Base coat for this round of infantry was my usual collection of Vallejo Game Colors.  Khaki forms the base with some Snot Green highlights (not on all of them), GunMetal, and Stonewall Grey.  Very basic stuff here and not too carefully applied.  I hope it all looks good in the end and it usually does.  Base coats are just that, a foundation on which you will build the rest of the shades and highlights.  The shading is what is going to bring these miniatures to life so my base coat is pretty basic.

A New Method

I decided to try something new this time around.  A while back I picked up a can of Army Painter Quick Shade at a convention.  This is my first opportunity to use it on a painting project.  From what I’ve been able to tell the Quick Shade mini dip is normally used for human miniatures like historicals.  It works as a wash on steroids, providing instant and detailed shades on your miniatures.

So how would this product perform on BattleTech miniatures?  I was curious to see how it stacked up against my normal wash of Black Ink and Future Floor Finish.

After a vigorous shake I pried off the lid with a screwdriver.  This stuff stinks like turpentine so use it in a well ventilated space.  I used a set of pliers to lower each figure into the goo and shook off the excess.  I was concerned at the time that the presence of bubbles would impact the finish but it worked out ok in the end.

I set everything aside in my garage for the dip to dry.

After the Dip

This stuff took a very long time to dry to a non-tacky state.  Definitely not for use if you are in a rush.

One additional benefit to using this dip is the super thick layer it leaves on the mini.  This can act as protection of sorts from frequent use.  On the down side because it is so thick there is at least a chance for some details to be filled in if you don’t shake off excess well enough.

Some Details

Very few details were added to these minis.  I was pleased enough with the shading done with the Quick Shade that additional details and highlights were few.  Part of that was the small size of the minis.  Would you really see the difference from a few feet away if I added additional highlighting?  Probably not.

I touched up a few areas and added some blue to the snipers scopes.  Other than that I was good to go.  A bit of flocking finished off the miniatures and I applied a final finish of DullCote to take off the shine.

Final Verdict

I found the Army Painter product to work pretty well.  Not bad when compared with the ink washes that I normally employ.  I was skeptical at first but I think I would like to try out this technique on the rest of the lance when I get the time to finish them off.

Until next time, keep those dice rolling!

It has been a while but I finally have found the time to pick up my brush and get to work on a new project.  This time around is a Davion reinforced lance made from a Davion Lance Pack I got for a gift ages ago.

I started with the lance pack (which curiously had two Garms) and added in two spare vehicles with accompanying infantry.  I keep a stash of battle armor handy for just such occasions and found a lovely pair of Hauberk Battle Armor to add to the force.  Nothing says good times like a combined arms force ready for a tabletop battle.

The red base of the minis was a three step red drybrush starting with Scarlet Red and Gory Red.  After a wash of black ink Bloody Red finished off the mini with a final highlight.

The black streaks were simple enough.  Black lines were haphazardly painted on each mini and then highlighted with an accompanying streak of grey made from a mix of Black and Dead White.  Gun barrels were drybrushed with Gun Metal.  Missile tips were dotted with white to provide contrasting detail.

The bases were done with Beasty Brown to Plague Brown to a dusting of Dead White.  Some dark mixed flocking spotted the top for good measure.

The two cockpits available to jewel were done in a standard blue pallet that I have used time and time again.  Stormy Blue to Magic Blue to Electric Blue with the smallest Dead White dot to seal the deal.

Decals were from Fighting Pirannha Graphics.

It feels good to have a project completed.  I can’t wait for my next one, which I assure you I am planning right now.  I’d like to keep the brush moving if I can manage.

Clan Wolf in Exile

After a good long wait, I finally got around to finishing up this fantastically converted star of ‘Mechs.  These were sent to me by gamer and friend HassWerks.

The paint scheme is a carbon copy of an earlier Wolf in Exile ‘Mech.  The only major difference in the paint scheme is a different cockpit jeweling color.  In lieu of the faux reflection I did last time, I opted for a yellowish-brown mix that I thought would go well with the red.

Honestly, it is just something different and less striking than blues and reds which are my usual favorites.  It’s always good to experiment with new colors.  Yellow can be tricky, which makes it an ideal opportunity to practice.

Just to recap, here are the details on the paint palate.

The base for the red is Dark Fleshtone.  The highlights involve increasing amounts of Gory Red and Bloody Red mixed into the Dark Fleshtone.  The Grey is a simple Cold Grey to Stonewall Grey to White palate.  Gun barrels are Gun Metal with Silver highlights.  The base is a simple green flock job.

In Progress

Final Shots

Another round of miniatures to add the the ever burgeoning collection of reformed misfits for a friend.

These Word of Blake Militia add to the Shadow Division units painted previously.  The Protectorate Militia form the anvil against which the hammer of the Shadow Divisions pound their enemies.  No Word force is complete without at least a few Militia to swell their ranks.  The white is a bit dirtier than I wanted but it works.  I began with a pure white base.  It may have been better to begin with gray, but what’s done is done.

From there, I washed with black and dry-brushed back up with the white, adding details where I felt appropriate.

Simple execution and ready for the tabletop.  I hope they are well received.

I may be taking a break from Word of Blake and try to finish off some Lyrans next.  I still have quite a backlog to paint my way through.

This miniature is my contribution to the BattleTech Universe Miniature Exchange. What’s a miniature exchange you ask? It’s a simple arrangement where a group of fans get together and paint each other miniatures. Everybody paints a mini for someone else on the list and sends it off.

Besides just good clean fun, it is an opportunity to hone painting skills and give and get critique from someone you don’t know.

Wolves in Exile

This Orion IIC is an attempt at a Wolf in Exile color scheme.  The base for the red is Dark Fleshtone.  The highlights involve increasing amounts of Gory Red and Bloody Red mixed into the Dark Fleshtone.

The Grey is a simple Cold Grey to Stonewall Grey to White palate.

A few GunMetal to Silver highlights are mixed in for good measure on the hip weapon and exposed leg joints.

The base began primed Black which got a heavy drybrush of Beasty Brown followed by lighter drybrushes of Filthy Brown and a Filthy Brown-Dead White mix.  A touch of mixed green flocking finished the miniature.

Something New

New for me on this mini is a special jewel technique.  The effect is an attempt to capture a realistic glare or reflection of the surrounding terrain in the cockpit of the ‘Mech.

To gain some confidence I practiced on a piece of empty spure.  I’m not 100% sold on the result.  I think I need some practice to make it better.  There is a first for everything.

The Green is a shade from Dark Green to Sick Green to Goblin Green to Scrufy Green.  The Blue begins at Night Blue and fades to Magic Blue then Electric Blue.  An attempted fine white line separates the two colors.

I’ll be shipping this little guy out this week to a lucky fan and await what I get in return.  I hope she makes it in one piece and the new owner enjoys it and takes good care of it.

This lance is another addition to a long project for a friend.  They came together rather easily in a few days and I’m happy with the outcome even if it seems a bit bland.  It needs something to help it I think.  Maybe some time spent panel painting would do some good, but for now I am happy to seal these up and call them done.

Red always seems to work really well.  The only other thing I can say was lacking was an opportunity to jewel the cockpit on the Sunder and Hatamoto-Chi.  The Chi is just too small which is excusable.  The Sunder is simply not there.  I can see why this particular ‘Mech has a re-sculpt.  The new version is a definite improvement on this blocky statically posed mess.

Colors used were a Scarlet Red base coat followed by a dark wash.  Gory Red and Bloody Red dry brushes finished the highlights.  There are only a few GunMetal highlights here and there.

The cockpit jewels that are present on the Komodo and Jenner are a standard Stormy Blue, Magic Blue, Electric Blue combo.  Decals from Fighting Pirannha Graphics provide the finishing touch.

Are We Missing Something?

I know!  I was on a roll when I was painting this lance that I didn’t even notice until late that I was all out of hex bases.  So the Hatamoto-Chi is hex-less until I can order up some more.  It also appears from these photos that another coat or two of DullCote is in order.  There is still some shine showing.

These units will join the Shadow Division forces I already have painted and completes a Level II with some battle armor for backup.

All together they are part of a larger project that I started a while ago.  The battle armor were not in the original mass of miniatures I acquired but are an added bonus because I’m taking so long to get it done.

Like the others, these ‘Mechs came together very quickly with heavy dry brushing.  Only a few details are used to help them pop.  I’m sure they will get along nicely with the others and help to terrorize the Inner Sphere in future campaigns.

The 2010 limited edition ‘Mech carries on the tradition of jumping sculpts with the TDR-10M from TRO 3085.  I had originally wanted to get this mini done for the WAMP contest but ran out of time before I could finish.  I just wasn’t happy with the paint job until today.

This ‘Mech will be joining the ranks of my Free Worlds League Militia.  The mini did have some bad mold lines running along the shoulder pads but that was it.  The jumping pose was a bit of a pain to put together although that was expected.

I ended up clipping the foot of the exhaust blast’s base because it would not fit in a standard hex base.  I would think that would be a requirement for minis these days.  A minor gripe on an otherwise gorgeous miniature.

Overall the mini was a joy to paint.  The panel lines were crisp and there was plenty of detail to elaborate on. A great sculpt to paint!

I’m a bit disappointed in my pictures.  I’m afraid that my highlighting efforts on the colored bands ended up being washed out by my camera.  That could very well have been compounded by the fact that I did not have the right lighting available.  The day I took these pictures was very overcast which forced me to reply on spot lighting from desk lamps for illumination.  I’ve always gotten better results when more natural light was available.