Another Arkab Lance

So only a singular lance this time around with a pair of Locusts and a pair of Commandos. Like the previous vehicles they're not based as I still do not have any Vallejo Tan Earth. First step as always was the basecoat of the Vallejo Dark Sand.

Next up was the Bronze Green and Cavalry Brown. After that they got the Gunmetal Grey to pick out weapons, cockpits, and antennas.

And the last step for now was the Nuln Oil wash.

One I get some Tan Earth I'll be going back into the unbased and get them all caught up. That's it for now and I'm hoping to have some more Arkab done by the end of the weekend. I've got two each of Wolverines, Shadowhawks, and Grasshoppers lined up ready to go. Nothing else for now and I'll see you all next time!

What A Difference A Mold Makes

It's amazing what a difference a mold makes. There were some old metal versions of Battlemechs that just made me not like them more than I would based on what the Battlemech could do on the tabletop and then the opposite as well as I like some of the new iteration of the plastics less than the older metal versions.

One of those is the Crab Medium Mech. The old metal version just didn't do anything for me and the old artwork was just as bad. It reminded me more of an old B-movie monster than a weapon of war and the same goes with the King Crab. I love the new plastic versions of both of these while I wouldn't buy either of the two in the old metal version. With the maneuverability of the Crab and the survivability of the King Crab (ignoring the consistant ability of Urbanmechs to headshot said King Crabs), it's nice to start having these painted up and ready to deploy on the tabletop.

Another of these is the Ost variants (Ostsol, Ostroc, and Ostscount). While I do have a few Ostrocs which had a pretty decent metal mold, the new version is vastly improved. The Ostscout and Ostsol I didn't care for the old metal versions but love the new plastic versions of them. I'm looking forward to have multiple lances of all of them on the shelves in the future.

Lastly I would like to say that I have loved the Wolverine since I first saw it many many years ago (1994 or 1995) in the old CamoSpecs book as the Lyran Guard entry. I loved the look of the old versions (not you IIC or Phoenix) but the newest plastic by Catalyst was a masterpiece and has me falling in love with it all over again.

So how about everyone else? Do you have a miniature in the new plastics that you field now but didn't before or is there one that just really upped the game for an old favorite? I'll see you all next time!

The Arkab Picks Up Some Speed

Alright, so back to working on the 8th Arkab Legion. This go around we have a company of Hover Tanks with 4 Pegasus, 4 Harassers, and 4 Drillsons. All of them received the Vallejo Dark Sand base followed by the Bronze Green and Cavalry Brown camo. They also got the Gunmetal Grey for weapons and a couple other small details. I'd normally take a picture in the middle of that but just slipped my mind this time around.

The next stage was Vallejo Black for the plenum chamber skirts under the hovercrafts. This was followed by the obligatory GW Nuln Oil Wash.

That is not quite complete this will finish at for now as I am still out of Vallejo Tan Earth and between finances and weather at the moment, they'll be stuck at this level for a while. I still have plenty of my other colors though and I'll continue working on getting everything up to just needing the Tan Earth to keep making progress. Down the road when I get resupplied, I'll be going back and finishing them all. So that's all for now and I hope to see you all again next time!

Something That Got Missed

So last summer I did some Lyran Guard that I am currently tagging as the 24th Lyran Regulars regiment. I did a full heavy/assault company and then most of another company but ones that would be in different parts of the regiment if it was all filled out.

THe paint scheme was basing in my go to Tamiya Field Grey (which is oddly a green color) with weapons picked out in Vajello Gunmetal Grey, a few details in Vallejo Flat Red, and then trim was done with Vajello Tan Earth. Basing was a blend of small white gravel, snow flock, and small twigs provided by the oak tree beside where I live.

I don't know why I didn't get any pics of these when I was painting them but for some reason I didn't. So I thought I'd share them now and hope you all enjoy them. Once I finish up with the Arkab force, I would like to get back to these guys as they really make a nice lookng unit.

That's all for now and hope to see you all next time for more Arkab Legion which will be a company of hover tanks.

Another Diversion ... Into Clan Space!

So having run out of both the Gamers Grass Bracken as well as Vallejo Tan Earth, the Arkab are on hold while I get more supplies. So what to do for now to keep the progress going? Steel Vipers out of left field of course. I had four Clan omni-mechs and four Clan IIC mechs and then tossed in an old metal Hoplite I found in a drawer which gives me one omni-mech shy of a binary. Browsing through the Camospecs website for a fairly easy color scheme, I came across the Omega Galaxy of the Steel Vipers. Main body of mechs is basic black, bare metal for the limbs and each cluster gets to pick their accent color. Thus the 1011th Binary of the 10th Fang Cluster of the Steel Viper Omega Galaxy is born. I still need to get another Clan omni at some point to finish the unit up. Also the Locust is a 3rd party 3d Print that is standing in for a Locust IIC and the Griffin is a regular one missing the missile launcher so should be okay as a IIC proxy as well.

1011th Binary

Alpha Star
Star Captain Nicole Andrews
    Hellbringer (Loki)
Mechwarrior Mayhew
    Pouncer
Mechwarrior Clovis
    Nova (Black Hawk)
Mechwarrior Laurel Viper
    Fire Moth (Dasher)

Bravo Star
Star Commander Harrison Foster
    Hoplite
Mechwarrior Morwenna
    Crossbow (Omni)
Mechwarrior Pedr
    Griffin IIC
Mechwarrior Jacob Viper
    Shadow Hawk IIC
Mechwarrior Harisal
    Locust IIC

So for the painting part I started of course with a good coating of Vallejo Black followed by Vallejo Gunmetal Grey for the legs and arms (or at least the wigs and panels that the Locust and Hoplite call "arms"

Next step was Vallejo Carmine Red accent color.

After that I moved onto using Army Painter Metallics True Copper to do the cockpits, gunbarrels, and a few other accent spots to break up the base colors. I was happy with the overall look at this point so I didn't do any washes this time around.

Basing consisted of Natural Medium Talus gravel that I got from the train section of a Hobbytown many years back with some Gamers Grass 2mm Moss for some extra detail. The basing was finished off by painting the edges of the bases in Army Painter Elf Green which seemed to match the moss color best.

So there we go, another small shelf unit to look nice on display and hopefully I'll find another omni to finish it off one day. I should have the Bracken I'm needing arriving in the mail in a couple days and I still am working on getting some Tan Earth so hopefully I'll be back on track with the Arkab Legion soon!

Back to the 8th Arkab

So after a brief break for the Marik Militia lance, we're back to the 8th Arkab Legion backlog of Kickstarter vehicles and mechs. This go around are the 4 Bulldog medium tanks and 4 Hetzer wheeled assault guns. Step one was getting that base coat of Vallejo Dark Sand on them.

Second step was the Vallejo Bronze Green and Cavalry Brown camo strips on the vehicles.

After that it was picking out guns, missile launchers, drive wheel parts of the tracks, and wheel hubcaps in Vallejo Gunmetal Grey and the tracks and wheels in Vallejo Black. After that the needed layer of Nuln Oil shade over all of them.

Last step was the Vallejo Tan Earth on the bases. I could have probably done some sand on the base of the Hetzers but chose not to in order to keep all the vehicles uniform.

The only issue I have now is that I am out of the Gamers Grass Bracken for the mechs but those are on order and should be here in about a week and now I am also out of the Vallejo Tan Earth as I used the very last of the bottle to finish off today's batch of vehicles. I'll have to track down some more of this (hopefully without paying only crazy prices and all the shipping) or find a perfect match in another line. Anyone have any idea what the Army Painter or GW equivalent would be to color match as I do have a store locally that carries those lines. Anyway, hope you all are enjoying, glad I'm still making progress, and looking forward to any suggestions on the paint or anything else.

Slight Diversion

So I went to start the next batch of Arkab Legion and just decided that after 50 miniatures in the same color scheme I needed to take a slight break and do something different. Thus taking four of the Kickstarter mechs that weren't going into the Arkab, mainly the Wraith, Caesar, Shogun, and Devestator. Three of the four are post Clan Invasion which is as far forward in the timeline as I play 95% of the time. Three of the four are post 3048 with only the Shogun being from pre-3030. As to the Shogun though, it is far too slow to make sense in an Arkab Legion regiment. So I lumped all four together into a lance and they got to become my only Marik Militia lance. I feel like Cheef a bit for doing a small one off unit.

So after they got a base layer of Vallejo Violet, the red and blue stripes were done in Vallejo Dark Blue and Vallejo Carmine Red. This was followed by Vallejo Gunmetal Grey for weapons, antennas, jump jets, and other small details.

The wash layer was done with Citadel Drakenhof Nightshade. This was my first time using this Citadel wash as my go-to will be 99% of the time be the Nuln Oil if using a Citadel Wash. What surprised me though was it turned the entire minis a glossy finish which I haven't had happen before.

So I went ahead and based the lance using basic medium green grass flock and added a bit of Gamers Grass 2mm Moss to give the color some depth and variation. I didn't paint the base edges as I like the contrast the look had with the dark minis, brighter basing, and then the solid black clean base to contrast with the grass. With that done, after consulting briefly with Cheef over the glossy issue, they all got a layer of matte sealant and as he reassured that dealt with the finish issues.

So that is my Marik Militia lance and I'm pretty happy with how they came out. I have no idea if they will ever hit the tabletop but they'll look nice on the shelf. Next up will be back to the Arkab Legion by the end of the week.