ScrapYard Armory

Here again is that Warhammer I painted up a few posts ago.  I’ve tried out a new technique for this series of miniatures and now I’ll be sharing it with you.

I apologize for the poor lighting and framing at times.  I’m getting the hang of this video thing as I go.  With each one I learn a little more.  Sorta like painting.  To get better you have to give new ideas a try.

Materials List

• Woodland Scenics Fine Buff Ballast
• Woodland Scenics Medium Buff Ballast
• Woodland Scenics Talas Rock Debris
• Woodland Scenics Fine Yellow Turf
• Woodland Scenics Static Grass

Paint List (Vallejo Game Colors)

• Black (Base Coat)
• Stormy Blue (Base Coat)
• Cold Grey (Base Coat)
• Stonewall Grey (First Drybrush)
• White (Final Drybrush)

I knew I wanted to do something exciting with this miniature.  The Reseen Warhammer’s left leg is sculpted with a slight bend at the knee.  Perfect for a walking pose or stepping up onto something.  I had some extra pieces of miniatures I did not have all the parts for.  It all just came together.   Here is how it went.

Starting Out

Like most Reseen scuplts, this miniature came in an impressive number of pieces.  Just great for those wanting a little flexibility but an added trouble to put together.  I ended up pinning each and every part and let me tell you those arms were a bitch.

But not nearly as bad as those hips.  In the picture you can see the early stages of assembly.  I spent a good few minutes figuring out just how I was going to go about putting the legs together and keep the hips level.  Nobody likes a miniature that looks like it is in a limbo contest.

See the leg on the right of the picture? I put one pin in that and then drilled a hole straight through the hips to the other leg which had a matching hole.  I wish I had a secret technique to share, but honestly, I just slapped superglue on the thing and held it together knowing I would have at least one adjustment before the glue set fast.

The base was a simple matter of slapping green stuff together with the MadCat torso.  I drilled in some bullet holes for good measure as well as some laser burns cut with a file.

Adding Some Color

I slapped on the first coat of green both on the Warhammer and his little friend.  The Warhammer is based in a mix of Dark Green and Camo Green (These are Vallejo Game Colors acrylics).

The MadCat started out with a coat of Jade Green.  Simple so far.

Note I am working on the Warhammer using a cork.  That way, while I paint, I won’t have to touch the mini itself.  I have already at this point dry fit the Warhammer on the base and drilled a mounting hole in the MadCat for a pin coming out of the Warhammer’s foot.

A Quick Wash

Just about every miniature I do gets a healthy dose of magic wash.  You can see in the picture how the dark ink leeches into the crevasses of the miniature.  If applied properly, you get a great base onto which you can highlight and bring the color of the miniature back up to a final shade.

It is slowly starting to look like something.

Beside the Warhammer you can see the quick job I did on the MadCat torso.  I added in progressively greater amounts of Scorpy Green to my Jade Green and dry brushed in the highlights.  A final panel line of Scorpy Green in all the right places finishes it off.

Final Touches

Both green and tan sections of the miniature get at least two dry brushed highlights and sharp panel lines.  A quick cockpit jeweling and some final yellow dots put on the final touches.

And now… I have to get the damn thing off the cork!  The super glue stuck a bit too well.  I ended up scraping off the paint from the toes on both feet.  A did a quick repair job with  several dark green mixes.  Bet you didn’t pay that much attention to the feet anyways!

I was sweating bullets when it came time to glue him to the MadCat.  I used epoxy because I wanted a super strong bond that wouldn’t crack under heavy use.

In the final image you can see the Avatar from an earlier post from which I practiced the paint scheme.  I think they look good together and I can’t wait to paint up the rest of the lance.  I’m thinking a T-Hawk and maybe a Sunder.

One thing I do know for sure, this is not the last time you’ll see this Warhammer.  That’s a promise.

As a player and a collector I love seeing large uniformly painted forces in my battles.  I kicked off this quest with my first demi-company of Free Worlds League Militia.  For the most part, the militia were easy.  The colors just worked and I found little trouble duplicating the color scheme later on when I added a Perseus and a Cerberus for the Twilight of the Clans collection I painted for a friend.

So I moved on, and started an even bigger force, this time a reinforced company of Regulan Hussars.  For whatever reason, orange is just difficult for me.  The worst part of it is, the full company is sitting on my work bench on corks waiting to be finished because I am not happy with how they are coming out.  Since I decided to do the whole kit and kaboodle at once, I have all those miniatures waiting for me to break out of a color confused malaise.

Test Pieces

Make a test piece before you embark on anything larger than a lance.  Get a representative miniature, not something too difficult to prepare or anything with a complicated pose and slap some paint on.  Work out the details and don’t be afraid to toss the results and try again.  Pine Sol cures all woes.

Since I’m a little embarrassed to show my Hussars, I’ll let you in on a few other examples that I am working on for a friend and ScrapYard commenter Quigs.

In the first picture are two different tries at an admittedly difficult 2nd Donegal Guards.  I’m not happy with either attempt.  The first (the one on the right) came out far too flat and the second (the one on the left), far too dark.  I am going to Pine Sol both and adjust my technique for a third and hopefully successful paint job.

Moving on, I attempted another Lyran scheme in a color I think I am usually pretty comfortable with.  The 15th Lyran Regulars use a familiar drab green with khaki highlights.

Suffice to say, I am much happier with the results.  I think the only thing I would change is making the highlight color a little bit lighter.  It looks more light brown than it does khaki.  For the most part, this mini seemed to paint itself.  I painted him up start to finish in a single day.  Dry times between coats were absorbed with other tasks, like coding for Solaris Skunk Werks and writing this blog.

I’m looking forward to replicating this paint scheme to give this lonely Avatar a lancemate or three.

Take Some Chances with Your Brush

You never know what is going to work and what isn’t until you try.  You’ve got to pick up the brush and give it a go.

Life’s too short to play with badly painted minis.

Remember that painting competition I wrote about earlier?

Well it seems myself and one other person submitted entries.  Ouch.

The competition sponsor was kind enough to offer us a miniature of our choice just for participating.  I politely declined.  I’d rather that miniature be used in the next contest when there is a good turnout.  Something tells me that will be sooner rather than later.

Something to Think About

See this miniature?  It was the very first miniature I ever painted.  Notice the grainy texture all around?  The obvious brush stroke on the right torso?  The far too light to be noticed cockpit color?

The thing is nobody is perfect.  Everyone has to start from somewhere.  I’ve much improved since this humble little Spider.  Regardless, I’ve always felt a sense of pride when I was able to plop one of my own painted miniatures on the tabletop to play a game.  Even if the painting wasn’t perfect, it was mine.

You can only get better if you practice.  And now is the perfect opportunity.  You see, that painting competition is going to be restarted.  Clean slate people.  Anyone can enter with any Battletech miniature you can paint up between now and the contest deadline.  Now is as good a time as any to work on those painting skills.

Sometimes the Classic Battletech forums can run you into some curious situations. Case and point, I opened my big mouth a few months ago while discussing Iron Wind Metal’s recent price increase.

If you’ve been around the CBT block a few times you already know how IWM went a little overboard when they had the Project Phoenix ‘Mechs sculpted. I’ve put together a Marauder and can attest to how crazy they are. Even the new Archer is a pain when you have to go back to the TRO to decide just where the extra bit you have left over goes.

So anyways, Quigs chimed in on the topic which made me think.

Which will make the guys like me, who think assembly is the worst part of a mini, less likely to buy the new product. I’ve bought a few designs which I absolutely loved, got home, and opened the package to realize how long and arduous a process it would be simply to get to the painting part. My bits box is heavier then my fishing sinkers box because of that nonsense.

The plain and simple fact of the matter is that the people willing to go that extra mile to customize a miniature, still can if the mini is a single piece, it just takes them a bit more work. More work that the people who don’t feel the pressing need to meddle with everything they purchase don’t have to put up with by hopelessly fiddling with joints that don’t make a lick of sense.

So I just HAVE to say something back.

Give me all of your ‘Mechs and a case of beer [Quigs], and I’ll assemble and paint the lot of them.

To me, miniature painting is an art and I don’t see it as manual labor in any way. In either case, it’s awesome that CBT does not require minis to play anyways. But if it was not an option, I would not like the game half as much.

Well, a few weeks ago before the holidays Quigs delivers the case of beer and a heap of miniatures to my door.

That’s A Lot of Pewter!

So here I am, with over a battalion of miniatures ready to be stripped, built, primed and painted. I’m honestly excited about this opportunity to practice. Like I said earlier, miniatures are not required to play the game but if they were not an option, I wouldn’t like Battletech half as much.

So over the next few months I will be (hopefully) making progress on these miniatures. I will post whenever I get a mini done. Looking at it all, I think I may have underbid with that single case of beer. Live and learn.

Tip of the Day

Pinesol. Pinesol is amazing at eating through old paint. I’m going to have to buy another bottle myself. The first soak did not succeed nearly as well as I had hoped.

I’ve gotten a few requests for a tutorial on how I make bases for my Mechwarrior figures.  Well, I’ve finally put all the pieces together and made a video.

And by the way, page 387 in your Strategic Operations points out that Mechwarrior figures make for great miniatures games.  The only drawback of MW minis?  No hex base.  With a few dollars and some time, you can have all the hex bases you will ever need.

Quick Strike rules anyone?

I have just now sent off two entries into a Battletech specific painting competition.

The original forum post is here.  The submission rules are other specifics are here.

The submission deadline is tomorrow, so if you happen to have a few recently painted miniatures lying around, now is as good a time as any to get some photos.  There are actual prizes to be won in this competition, which is something I am very excited about.  It is a very nice precedence to set, even if the prizes are small compared to other more prestigious competitions.

I actually had four possible submissions.  I picked the minis I felt had the best chance of success.  I hope my choices are the best ones.  Here are the minis that did not make the cut.

Let me know your thoughts.  I’ll post again with the competition results when they are made available.

The economy sucks.

But there is no reason that should get in the way of your Classic Battletech fix.  Even after Iron Wind Metals raised prices twice in as many years, you can still get a decent Inner Sphere company for under a Benjamin and a Jackson.

Here is a full company of ‘Mechs available from Iron Wind Metals.

Scout Lance

Strike Lance

Command Lance

Battlemaster 20-210 $12.95

Total cost is $120.00 to the penny.  You can probably do even better if you look at other retail shops available online such as Exodus Roads.

I tried to pick good group of ‘Mechs not included in the Intro Box set that would give some options to players while keeping the cost down.  Obviously you are not going to be able to get a proper Lyran company but I can’t perform miracles. You have very good proxy material including a full lance of lights, a full lance of mediums, two heavies, and two assaults.

It goes to show you that minis are not always that expensive if you keep you options open.

Happy hunting.

I am excited.

I’ve been slowly collecting figures since I completed my Free Worlds League Militia.  I wanted to be able to assemble and paint my next unit all at once rather than piece by piece over time.  I wanted to avoid the inconsistencies I fought with before.

So here it is.  Twelve ‘Mechs, four combat vehicles, two aerospace fighters, and an assortment of infantry.

Tonight, the project begins.  I’m interested in seeing how long it takes to finish.  I’ll be trying some new painting techniques along the way.

A recent post on the official Classic Battletech forums got me thinking today. The Click-tech Mechwarior game is on the ropes. No new products have been released at all in 2008. Supported organized play is also coming to an end this July.

Mechwarriors troubles can be to our benefit however as the market floods with cheap miniatures that can be used to play out games with Classic Battletech.

I have personally converted over a battalion worth of Mechwarrior miniatures to use in Grinders. And all of them are ‘Mechs! There is a wealth of infantry and vehicles that can be easily used for a combined arms experience.

Lets look at some of the reasons Mechwarrior figures can be a worthwhile addition to your Classic Battletech collection.

Cheap and Plentiful

The market is flooded. eBay is ripe with good deals and lots of online resellers are flush with unsold Mechwarrior inventory. Flea markets at the last several conventions I have attended all had Mechwarrior figures for sale for pocket change.

When I decided to brew up a Grinder with Mechwarrior figures for NJCon08, I paid out $60 for a full batallion of ‘Mechs from an online reseller. An equivalent number of figures from Iron Wind Metals would cost well above $300.

No offense intended to Iron Wind. Metal miniatures are always going to be of superior quality and detail.

Easy to Throw into a Game

They are already pre-painted and ready to go. If you wanted to get fancy as I did, then you can pop them off their click-base and mount them on a hex base but that is all extra. All you really need are the figures, a 2″ hex map, and your usual Classic Battletech utensils.

A Bridge for Potential New Players

There are going to be disenfranchised Mechwarrior players out there potentially searching for a new game. What better way to get them into Classic Battletech than presenting them with something familiar to wet their appetite?

They are walking around a convention or friendly local gaming store and instantly recognize figures they used to play with, being used in an entirely new way. Their curiosity is piqued, and they ask a few questions. The rest is history. The snowball has started down the hill. Before they know it, they are on the Classic Battletech leap page, then picking up an Introductory Box Set, then Total Warfare. Another gamer joins the ranks!

Mechwarrior figures can be an invaluable tool for the Classic Battletech community. Mechwarriors loss can be our gain if we are conscious enough to take advantage of the opportunity.