Battletech:The Dragon speaks

The Captain has left the bunker.... 

I haven't done squat these past two months. I won't bore you with details as to why and yadda, yadda, yadda. 

Been re reading some Battletech novels written by a favorite of mine, Michael A. Stackpole. One of the first books written way, way back when it all started was called "The Warrior Trilogy". All kinds of stuff goes on in this crazy story. One of the intertwining themes is the Kell Hounds (Elite Innersphere Mercenary unit) vs the Genyosha (Elite Draconis Combine unit) and their on going feud with each other. 

Of course it inspired me to paint some mechs up. Hell I haven't played or painted Battletech in over 20 years. But it felt right to do so this past week. Simple, fun, and the damn rules haven't change every two years like some other asinine companies do to make you keep buying their shit. YOU HEAR THAT GAMES WORKSHOP!!! 

So I painted up some of the new plastics from Catalyst Game labs, a battle lance of Genyosha. Where will this take me? Who knows. All I know is that I successfully completed a lance of four mechs this past week. The mechs are in order: Warhammer, Rifleman, Shadow hawk, and the Locust.

As always thanks for looking and maybe I'll see you in another two months;)

Cheers

Kevin

Rangers of Shadowdeep another addition to the company

 Having a bit of Covid fall out with my schedule as I have responsibilities of watching my granddaughters for the summer due to childcare issues and my Daughters new hours for work. I am not complaining as I feel fortune it enough to finally be able to spend more time with them at a moment in their life's that is important for a grandparent not to miss. We are having a pretty good time of it so far, but at the end of the day I am mentally worn out and head straight for the TV chair and not the hobby one.

The last two days I've had off, after a bit of cycling, I meandered into my hobby room and finished up another one of my excellent Dark Sword Miniatures from their George R. R. Martin Masterworks range. These figures are absolutely brilliant. Trying my best to give them the paint job they deserve has been a challenge, but I was able to complete Ygritte over the weekend. 

So here are a few photos of Ygritte and one of her with the entire group I have painted so far.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Clever girl! My Freeblades Velozar Knight finished

 One of my favorite movie lines ever, "Clever Girl" from a movie everyone should know Jurassic Park.

So I could not help myself when I went to take some photos of my completed Knight (after all he is riding a velociraptor) and doing up a little staged play based off that famous line. 

I downloaded a jungle image as a backdrop for my photo shoot of my last Velozar Knight, and painted up one of the members of the Eclipse Sisterhood who are in rebellion against the patriarchal Traazorite Empire.

The story in the picture unfolds. Having received information on a possible assassination attempt on the local governors life, the local commander sets up a trap with troops hidden in the area to ambush the rebel attempt. A Throatseeker is spotted by a Velozar Knight who charges through the Jungle undergrowth having completely surprised the Eclipse Rebel..... or has he? You decide. 

Here are a few more shots of my finished Knight as well.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Freeblades Velozar Knight

 I finished the first of two of the Velozar Knight's I have for my Freeband (models from DGS Games). I did a bit of modifying to it to make it different from the standard pose. Both arms are from a Victrix model kit, as well as the shield, and I replaced the spear with a brass one. I added a pennant and a shield decal from Little Big men. 

I posed him perched up on a rock overlooking the battlefield with his banner fluttering in the wind. He is not afraid to be seen. In fact he wants to be seen, as he fears no man or beast. 

The rock is from the garden and I primed and painted it. I like how it profiles the model.

I hope you like what you see, tell me what you think.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Space Hulk commission done! Yeah!

 Just a quickie post, I finally finished the last two Blood Angels for my friends Space Hulk game. Thank goodness and all that is divine, I am finally done!!!!! 

Painting only for me from now on! It's hard to let these go. When you paint up a model they become your babies. Going to another home just don't seem right. 

Anyways here are a couple of photos.

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

MA.K Maschinen Krieger 15mm

 Slave 2 Gaming, a small company with a big vision for the Maschinen Krieger universe (aka S.F.3.D.) has recently released several of the models in 15mm scale for gaming purposes. SF3d as I have known it since the 1980's had to change the name to MA.K or Maschinen Krieger for legal reasons back in the 90's, but that's beyond the scope of this article. 

I have to say that I have NOT done anything in 15mm scale in years. Seriously, years! I'm getting to old to paint anything less than 28mm scale and still be able to see it and enjoy painting the subject. The difference here is that most of the models are in Powered Armor, and on top of that Slave 2 Gaming did an excellent job in sculpting these little gems. They say they are in the works to continue to add to the line, and I certainly hope they do so. It has something of a niche following, but has never gone away. The problem they may have is that this has been mostly a modelers realm in 1/20 scale models, with the odd few in different scales, but definitely a modelers hobby. 

Science fiction miniature fans may know little about this Sci-Fi themed subject, but I hope they are able to reach out to those that game and are successful at getting interest so they continue to make more stuff. Of course that is me being selfish for my own wants, as I will buy every single thing they release. So everyone buy this stuff now! 

Right now there is no specific set of rules for these miniatures, but Gruntz seems to be the rule set of choice. I bought a copy after purchasing these miniatures and have to say there not bad. I even bought the tactical cards to add a bit of flavor. You'll have to come up with your own unit stats, but the Slavers and a small fan base are working on that. So that should not hold anyone back. 

Ordering from Australia (where the company is based) to the US can be a pain, but that has nothing to do with the wonderful customer service that this company provides. It's the getting stuck in the pipeline trying to get it on board a plane to US because of Covid restrictions. This is something I am sure you all can understand. But trust me you will get it. 

I've corresponded with Drew (I believe the owner of company?) and I must say he gives pretty darn good customer service.

Anyways, here is my first batch of models painted. It's the Gustav powered armor suit, and the unit name I have given it is the Sundowner's.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, this is not post WWII, or weird war or anything like that. This is actually where WWIII has happened, earth gets abandoned by the main players, starts to heal herself up with the few people left, and then the people who left come back and...... you'll just have to read the story about and;)

As always thanks for looking.

Cheers

Kevin

Freeblades Traazorite Keshark finished

Quintus (ie fifth) Albus (ie White, bright in latin) the Lion of Isarchael a title bestowed upon him by the Emperor himself for his courage and bravery in the many rear guard actions he led that saved many a Legion from certain destruction during the final days. The Emperor has decreed that he is allowed to carry his family crescent upon his shield. There is not a Traazorite that has not heard the fabled stories of Quintus riding upon his famous Velozar Azrael in their many battles together.

Now we move on to the conversion bits. I replaced the mount with an Etsy 3D print Velociraptor which was a perfect match in size to the actual mount that came with model. To modify the Keshark figure I had to really work out the bits in the crotch area with my dremel to get him to properly fit on mount. Next I converted the cloak as the one he came with was a short shot, so I used a Roman General cloak from Victrix plastic sprue and then used green stuff to tie it in. Lastly I liked the large round shield in the concept art so I needed to replace his arm as it is cast onto the baseball diamond shield that comes with figure. I took a Victrix Carthaginian arm from one of their plastic sprues and cut it off on the elbow, and a round Hoplite shield also from Victrix plastic sprue and used them to replace his shield arm. I used a shield transfer that covered about 60 percent of shield so I had to use some blending skills to match the paint and tie it all in.

On another note, today, I discovered how fragile these 3D prints can be. I suppose material used to make them has something to do with it. I proceeded to work on my Velozar Knight conversion, when my clumsy butt dropped the model onto a carpeted floor. The dino shattered at the ankles, with one leg breaking into three pieces. I was pissed as hell since I had put a lot of work into painting it. Super glue wouldn’t take, and I’ve decided that 3D printing is not where people think it is at. While it’s cool to get something special, to replace something that you can get without a good reason to do so is just a waste of time and money until we see some quality improvement in 3D printing materials.

Anyways, tell me what you think of the Keshark.

As always thanks for looking!

Cheers

Kevin