BLKOUT: Harlow 1st Reaction Force

The strong right arm of "The Authority", the Harlow 1st Reaction Force are the elite mercenaries of Harlow Kinetic Solutions. Equipped with jump jets, smart weapons, and combat inorganics (AI robots), the 1st Reaction Force hits hard, and they hit fast.

The above is the quick snippet for this formation for the Science Fiction game called BLKOUT. Skirmish level, which hits my sweet spot for sci-fi action game played on a 2 X 2 with lots of terrain and a couple teams on each side.

The following I have painted up for a friend who lacks the skill or interest in painting. So now I have an opponent vested at least into the figures to game with. 

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Macedonian Elephant

I painted this for a friend as a commission for his Age of Alexander army for Saga. The model is from Wargames Foundry. It's an older figure line from them and is a metal model. I was not a huge fan of this model. It was metal parts that had to be glued together and it was clunky and had many gaps that I had to fill with green stuff. It was probably the top of the line for it's day but it hasn't aged well. I normally place my figures on thick paint sticks using blue stuff, but this model was to heavy for that so it was harder to paint.

But I trudged on and finally got it done. Here are the results.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers
Kevin

Carthage's Numidian Cavalry

Adding another unit for my Carthaginian Army for Age of Hannibal for the game system Saga.

Numidian light Cavalry were an important element for the Carthaginian Armies as they were not only good skirmish troops but more importantly vital to the reconnaissance roll.

Here are a few snaps of my Numidians.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Thessalian

 Finished up a friends Thessalian Cavalry for his Macedonian Saga Army. Working on the Elephant now. That will leave me one unit left to do, but that one will wait on the list while I move onto another project for another person. Rotating projects helps keep it fresh for me, plus I rotate something in for me in between those.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Carthaginian Libyan Javelinmen

 Well because of the simple paint job I was able to knock out 12 Libyan Javelinmen for my Carthaginian army for Saga in a couple of days. Per the Victrix site that sells these they supposedly wore red tunics, and were heavily tattooed. I didn't go nuts with tattoo stuff, just enough to get by on the game table.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Carthaginian General and Gallic Cavalry

 So this past week and a half I have been diligently working on my Carthaginian General and one point of warriors being Gallic Cavalry. 

I started out painting some Macedonian Cavalry for a friend and some Scifi infantry for another. The idea was to place paint on each grouping (including mine) to keep it fresh and to whittle away the pile. It started off okay until the cool models from Victrix, and the Little Bigmen shield transfers stole my heart.

Well that was that and I was off to the races. This project has been and on and off subject for two years and I now find myself within one point of fielding an army. Of course there are some odds and ends I would like to paint to flush it out and give myself some versatility, but I will maintain my focus on the next 12 levy I need. I’m going to try to put these and the other two groupings on the same plate again to see if I can get a little more done for my friends.

Here are a couple of pics.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Carthaginian War elephants, the Tiger Tanks of Antiquity

Wow! I finished my first 16 models for the Carthaginian Army for Age of Hannibal back in January 2021! Unbelievable! 

Since then I finished one War Elephant in early 2023, and just today finished a second War Elephant for the Army. 

Over the past few days I've assembled 12 light infantry, 8 warrior cavalry, and a Warlord for the army. I've completed placing media on the bases and have them all primed and ready to paint. That will give me the six points I need to play a game, but my goal is to paint two more units of 8 cavalry each, and two more units of 8 warrior infantry each. I've been wanting to finish these forever but other projects always seem to get in the way. Like painting up a Macedonian Army, Franks, and Byzantines for one friend, 24 WWI Russians for another, and around 10 or 12 models science fiction models along with around 56 WWII Bolt Action Soviets for yet another. Plus two Saga Armies for myself, but hey who's counting.

Here are a few shots of the finished one, along with a shot of the two completed ones together.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

 No this is not about Sergio Leone Western masterpiece. This is about my psycho, just over one year old, Shitzu. 

I had just painted up three NASA astronauts, three Russian astronauts, and was in my hobby room laser focused on building a lunar vehicle when I heard my little lad chomping away in corner. I was so focused I thought he was chewing one of his toys. Then he disappeared and soon after my Wife walked into my hobby room and handed me what you see in this picture. Somehow my foam tray of painted astronauts ended up on the floor upside down in the corner. Fortunetatly the way I pack them only one fell out. Of course he found it and decided it was an excellent chew toy. The head, arms, moon rock, and most of upper torso are gone. 

After having lost three other non painted models to the BAD, I thought I had learned my lesson and had model security under control. NOPE!

Though I swore a few times, no animals were hurt while going through this episode.

But mannnnn, it’s sooooo hard loving this cute faced dog sometimes.

Today I am assembling a replacement and hope to have it painted by weekend😞

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Blacksite Studios: Lunar

 Well I knocked out three more Astronauts for the Soviets, and three for NASA. This is for a game called Lunar by Blacksite Studios, and is based on the idea that the Russians beat the US to the Moon. If you watch Apple TV's "For all Man Kind" you'll get the gist. Oh and if you haven't watched it, why not? It's an awesome show.

I also had this Soviet Lunar Lander since April of 2023 and decided to put it together and paint it up. Had to really clean it up. There were parts broken, and I had to re-drill out holes for components to fit. But I've had it for almost two years now so I can't do much about it now, plus it's out of print and only available as an STL. Kevin don't do STL's. The shield on top that protects the cameras had a good size chunk broken off, and it was missing. Probably not broken off, just a misprint. I fixed that with some plastic strut. Not perfect, but it suits my gaming needs. I've painted the base coat metal and could leave it like that, but I will give it a heavy black wash, followed up with some highlighting of main color, and then on to picking out some other components and placing some color on those. It's majority metal color. So it shouldn't take me to long to complete. I ordered one of those eight inch across Christmas project wooden disc's to place it on as the model is rather fragile. 

Here are a few snaps.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers
Kevin

 

BLKOUT UN Raid Force Alpha

 A quote from the write up....

RFA-4390

The pinnacle of UN forces on Abol, UN Raid Force Alpha are genetically augmented to be at apex warriors. These two women fireteams reap a heavy toll on the battlefield, supported by the cold logic of their 'Golem' inorganics. If you see them on the battlefield, it's already too late.

BLKOUT is a new-ish Ultra Modern Skirmish combat game. It is played on a 2 X 2 but can be larger, and reminds me a little of Infinity, but way simpler. I was really excited about this concept, different planet, earth forces colonizing another planet only for it to end up not much different conflict wise. There are three fireteams available, with a new one just released, and they all have their own little story. I picked the UN as I was fascinated with the idea of an all female force as well as AI robots stomping any opponent coming up against them. Really got the juices flowing for my imagination. I've already have terrain available for this period from several different periods that will work, but my go to has to be what Anton hand crafted for me a while back for Afghanistan. 

My buddy Al (who is a non painter) is going to go in on this with me, which means I will be painting duplicates of the fireteams, but I'll paint them up to look different and it should be a gas. The game is supposed to only last an hour or less, so I am looking forward to setting something up soon. That is as soon as I finish his fireteam so I have an opponent.

Here are a few shots of my girls for now.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Russian WWI early war infantry

 I painted these up for Anton and at his request I did not do the bases. I am a firm believer in the mantra faces, bases, and banners. That's what makes the figure look good. So forgive the bases not being done, but he wanted to match stuff he's already done.

Russian uniforms during this period (color wise) were all over the place. Different manufactures, different dyes, and of course lots of fading on campaign. So I went with a photo that came from a book of people actually dressed up in the period uniform. This is my version of that.

Now I only have 46 to go... sigh...

As always thanks for looking. 

Cheers

Kevin

Battletech: 2nd Legion of Vega

 Well I started to place base coats on some WWI Russians, thinking I would be painting like 30 I got 70, and as slow as a painter as I am, it got in my head and I was like nope. So I set them aside for the moment. 

Well humidity, 4000 dollars in medical bills that insurance companies refused to pay, and yadda, yadda, yadda also had something to do with it. So I decided to do some feel good painting and painted up four mechs for Draconis Combine. I did what would be considered a penal unit in the 2nd Legion of Vega. 

Even though it was something I wanted to paint, I still struggled and it took me two weeks. Mostly because of the crappy weather bumming me out, and all the phone calls I had to make to hickory, dickory, dock to appeal the billing, which in the end looks like I am going to win. So here I am today. Starting to snap out of my feel sorry for myself and get off of the couch and stop watching useless TV. 

So for now here are a few shots of my boys.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

A new terrain piece!

 Today is my birthday, but I celebrated it yesterday with my gaming friends. One of my very dear friends brought me a gift of a 3D print that he assembled and painted up. It is just drop dead gorgeous! Presents weren't required but I was very touched that he took the limited time he has for painting to do this very special project for me. 

Another friend brought me some cough medicine (Jack Daniels), most appreciated later of course. Lastly I got a card from another that was a parody on Star Trek. Not appropriate for the blog, but it was funny as hell.

Anyways I had a great time with my buds, and other than being chased into my garage due to weather a couple of times, the day was awesome.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Battletech: Kell Hounds Victor

 This will be my last Mech for a bit as I have to move on to other projects. This Mech goes by the name Victor, another of the 80 ton plus big boys. Armed with an auto-cannon 20 located on the right arm, two medium lasers on the left arm, and finally an SRM-4 located in its upper left chest. The Victor can dish out the punishment as well as take it.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Battletech: Kell Hounds BattleMaster

85 tons of pure awesomeness! The BattleMaster has a PPC located on his right arm, 6 medium lasers with four located in the upper torso and two at the rear for those pesky Mech's trying to sneak up from behind, an SRM - 6 (short range missiles) located on left shoulder,  and lastly two machine guns located in the left arm to keep infantry at a distance. 

Master of Battle? Certainly this Mech was appropriately named... BattleMaster. 

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin