Monday 27 June 2011

Merc/Rebel Walker, and thanks Arjun

Hi guys, firstly a big thanks to TMP member Arjun Choong, he saw some of my previous walker conversions and liked them so much he sent me a spare Kolossus, we talked about a swap but I didn't have anything he needed, he is making a Star Wars droid army out of the Star wars collectible figures using Battle droids #28 and #30, I have looked in the local stores with no luck, if anyone reading this post has any spares I'm willing to buy or swap for them, and will pass them on to Arjun.
So onto the Kolossus, wow this is a great model, it is a really good size for 15mm, I wish I had 2 or 3 more of these (anyone with spares, I'm willing to swap or buy for more) it will be used as the center piece of a mixed race mercenary/rebel army, it will be made up of Felids, Humans, and CMG mixed alien mercs, should I leave it with this paint job (its pretty nice, but links it to its original origins) or should I paint it? not sure what colour scheme I will make this army, any ideas? I don't think I will convert it in any way, it is to nice as is.


Colonial Marine force so far

Hi guys, this is my Colonial Marine force so far, I still need to add, 3 Vtols, 3 fighter bombers, 1 Grav APC, 3 4 wheeled APCs, 2 8 wheeled APCs, 2 large walkers, 1 recce inf platoon, 1 rifle platoon, 4 grav cars, 3 light grav tanks, 3 large tanks, 3 heavy APCs, 1 heavy weapons support platoon, 1 power armour platoon and anything else i think of.











15mm mini exchange WIP

Hi guys, these are my entry into the TMP 15mm mini exchange, a tough crew of adventurer looking for their big pay day, they can often be found working as runners, bounty hunters, or mercenaries, I will undercoat these today and start painting tomorrow, should I leave the bases bare for the recipient or base them up?

Saturday 25 June 2011

WIP PSC P IV F1 and Gs

Hi guys, there have been a few reviews of the PSC quick build Pz IVs lately, however these reviews seem to usually be done by war gamers with war gaming in mind, my WWII modelling to date has all been static display models, so I will do a review with war gaming in mind but a static display background, I have decided to build mine into 1 F1 and 2 Gs for a Mid war German force.
I have experience with a range of models from the very basic quick build Armorfast to the very detailed, fiddly but accurate Dragon models, and everything in between, so where do the PSC Pz IVs sit? somewhere between the 2, they are much more detailed then Armorfast, with more parts, especially the tracks, I have used Armorfast hulls (which are generally correct in shape and dimension) as the basis of several detailed model conversions, but the Armorfast tracks/running gear are probably the worst out there (for static modelling, but sensible for quick builds) PSCs are much better, there is inside and outside detail on the tracks themselves, which come in 2 parts, and they have accurate looking track pattern (missing on Armorfast tracks)and track sag, the addition of an outer idler and drive sprocket give good detail, the only let down is the solid road wheels, this can be forgiven as it is a quick build kit and adding outer road wheel parts starts to get into the realms of detailed modelling.
The general shapes and dimensions look pretty good, and I'm happy with this, however old habits die hard, as I was building these three kits, I started thinking of how to improves them, this road leads to madness, I have to decide, am I making a detailed model or a war gaming kit? and the answer has to be an accurate, but fast built, war gaming kits, so I will only do some minimal detailing.
Firstly the hull machine gun had to go, the original is a thick stump with no detail, the barrels and exhaust need drilling, I have beaten up the fenders for some realism. Next I will add some stowage, and finally I may replace the headlights and notek if I can find some in my spares box, the ones on the kit are just detail less lumps.
I have mixed feelings about the figures, PSC figures have a tendency to have no necks, and this is the case here, there are 2 poses and they are both rather bulky figures, 1 has a side cap and looks like he is doing the chicken dance, his elbows are supposed to be leaning on the hatches, but he doesn't really look comfortable, the other is in a peaked cap and is standing higher in the hatch, I prefer my tank crew commanders to be low in the turret so have carved them to sit with just their heads out, and they look good like this.
One thing I learned during display modelling is to use references rather then build instructions when building kits, the perfect example is here, if you build using the rather poor instructions the command cupola will be wrong, it should have a vision block facing forwards, the other issue with this kit is that it is not possible to build an accurate Pz IV H out of this box, the Pz IV H had a round commanders hatch, only split hatches are found in this kit, this may not be a worry for most war gamers, and its not hard to scratch build one, but its something to be aware of. I am not 100% sure but I don't believe it is possible to make an F2 out of this box either, I believe (please let me know if I am wrong) that most if not all F2s were armed with the KwK 40 L/43 with a round muzzle break, the G later recieved the KwK 40 L/48 with the squarer muzzle break, and this is the only long barrel present in the kit.
There are no decals in this kit, and the build instructions are very basic and inaccurate.
Overall, with 3 kits for almost the price of 1 Dragon kit these are a brilliant buy, with the exception of the Hs commanders hatch, they are exactly what they are advertised as, a pretty accurate and not badly detailed fast build Pz IV that can be accuratly built into either an F1 or G, and a partially accurate F2 (apart from the muzzle break) or H (apart from the hatch), I highly recommend this kit, lastly this score is not one with display modelling in mind, it is taking into account, ease of construction, value for money and end result once built as a war gaming kit, 8/10.

Friday 24 June 2011

Berserker heavy infantry bots.

Hi guys, some heavy infantry bots finished, these are from the scene, I also have the man sized ones, these are very details figures and are an imposing size, with lively poses, there is 1 pose that the master must have had his face a little squashed before making the mold, but he isn't that noticeable, I would give these guys an 8/10. I will take a full army shot when the man sized bots are finished.






Colonial Marine wheeled APCs finished

Hi guys, the wheeled Colonial Marine APCs finished, I will need to order another 6 of these to convert, when the light is better I will take some pics of my whole Colonial Marine force so far.























Colonial Marine Grav APCs finished.

Hi guys, the suns a bit bright this morning, so the pics are a little washed out, but here are my Colonial Marine grav APCs finished, pretty happy with how these guys turned out.





















Thursday 23 June 2011

Gearing up for war

Hi guys, some mates and myself have decided to start a 1/72 WWII war gaming club, we will be using platoon-company size forces for skirmish style battles, (not sure of the rules yet) so I am starting a project to make a flexible infantry company plus assets and armour of each major country, so here is the first unit, 3 stug III Gs, 2 from Italeri and one from Trumpeter, I'll be giving the models a little bit of detail without going over the top.
Th Italeri kits hold up well with age, they have link and length tracks, but these are very average in detail, LnL tracks are good for static display models but not so good for war gaming kits, detail is a bit chunky but this will lend itself well to painting, overall they look right 6.5/10, the Trumpeter kit is a little more delicate, an looks more accurate, it has rubber tracks, these glued easily to the wheels, 7.5/10, the gunners hatch is closed on both kits.






Saturday 18 June 2011

WIP Colonial Marine APC crew

Hi guys, I have converted some command decision German tank crew into crew for my Colonial Marine APCs, I am going to do the recce (3 grav APCs) crew as SF types with bush hats beards and sunglasses, just need to add the beards and sunnies, should I do the other 3 with bush hats or give them NAC helmets? I was a little nervous about attempting NAC helmets.

Thursday 16 June 2011

Update on WIP Colonial Marine APCs

Hi guys, the Colonial Marine APCs, well on the way, just weathering and basing to go, I have 6 crew figs on the work bench, so they will all have crew commanders in the turrets, I'm pretty happy with how they are turning out.