Chernobog

The kitbashing urge remains strong... even as the painting urge remains zero! Fortunately, the Stargrave plastics offer ample opportunity to muck around with plastic and build some random stuff!

Since I first saw the AK-looking weapon in the Mercenaries kit, I've known that it would eventually find its way onto a Stalker-type model to accompany my existing zone raiders. Moreover, one of the torsos in the same kit (the one with the chest pouches) was a vaguely near-future SOF-style get-up. I even grabbed a helmeted head, backpack, and grenades from the same kit, causing me to worry that I was building a 'stock' figure for the first time in ages!

Fortunately, my desire to add stuff to the model to really kit him out like a seasoned zone raider meant that I had to dive into my bits box to find some random gubbins. There's a Geiger counter bit of tech on his left hip that's off the Necromunda Van Saar sprue, and a bedroll from... somewhere. Canteen, holstered pistol, knife, and a couple of extra pouches from various Warlord WWII kits rounded out the ensemble.

So, I give you Chernobog, an ex-Spetsnaz operative, now active in and around the Zone. 

Still need to finish off a couple of things (filling some gaps with green-stuff and drilling out the gun barrel), but otherwise he's ready for basing and painting!

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

Space Dwarf

Having built my Space Devils the other week, I was still in the mood for kitbashing with the new Stargrave sprues. Fortunately, the sample Crew sprue had arrived, so I had even more options to play with!

I love Dwarves in Fantasy, and I love Space Dwarves in Sci-Fi. Normally, I'm not interested in 'Fantasy in Spaaaace', but there's something about Dwarves that transcends that. Perhaps it's the 'dour engineer' stereotype meshing so well with the classic Fantasy Dwarf stereotype. Whatever it is, I have no problem with Space Dwarves even though I might scoff at Space Elves/Orcs/Goblins/etc.

I've been sat on a box of GW's Kharadron Overlords Arkanauts for quite some time, without really having any plans for them - I like their boiler-suited look, and some of them aren't overloaded with bits, pieces, gubbins, and skulls. All told, a cracking starting point for a more industrial Space Dwarf. To this, I added one of my favourite heads from the Ghost Archipelago Crew sprue (the last time I used this particular head, I managed to mangle an ear... happily, I avoided that this time!). The arms are both off the Stargrave Crew sprue - I've been waiting to use this shotgun since I saw the digital renders! This was the trickiest part of the kitbash. While the separate supporting arms make porting across to different kits easier, the Arkanaut body is very wide, and the flat surfaces where the arms attach slope in towards the chest. I had to flatten those surfaces out a bit, and actually used a different supporting arm than the one intended for use with that particular shotgun. A little slicing and filing, and the judicious application of polystyrene cement, and it's worked out pretty well!

Incredibly chuffed with this guy, and looking forward to getting him painted up!

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

Space Devils

I've been in a real lull minis-wise recently (since, umm... July), but am, finally, back on the horse! 

The other day, I got a parcel containing something I've been eagerly awaiting for months - a pair of test sprues for the Stargrave Mercenaries and Troopers (still not seen the Crew!). Having checked these to get them rolling for production, I couldn't resist kitbashing a few crewmembers. Naturally, I also couldn't resist mixing in a variety of components from other kits...

I've always had a soft spot for Star Wars' Devaronians - the space-demon-looking chaps. No idea why, really - I just like the look!

Devaronian, by William O'Connor, from The New Essential Guide to Alien Species

Fortunately, I also happened to have a sprue of the Frostgrave Demons, which includes a couple of heads that work perfectly for Devaronians and also fit nicely with the Stargrave figures in terms of neck joint and scale.

My first one was a simple kitbash - Trooper arms on a Mercenary body with a Demon head. The only work that was needed for the head was to flatten off the ball joint on the bottom of the neck a bit to both reduce its length and fit better in the socket on top of the body. He's not quite finished - I still need to base him (once I've decided how I want to do that) and drill out the gun barrel.

Having got this guy done as proof-of-concept, I decided to try something a little more involved for my second one. The base elements of this second Devaronian were the same - Demon head, Mercenary body, Trooper arms (this time the machine gun from the sprue). Given that he was toting a big, ammo-chewing gun, I dug out the large backpack from the Frostgrave Knights sprue. This didn't quite fit flush to the back of the Mercenary body, but a little bit of filing and carving soon fixed most of that, while a knife from one of the Stargrave sprues filled a small gap and some ammo pouches from a Bolt Action sprue over each shoulder helped make it feel a little more heavy-duty. At this point, I felt that the backpack itself was a bit plain, so I found some random pouches from my bits box and mounted them to the sides.

Really enjoyed both of these and am very happy with how they came out. My kitbashing was a little rusty after going so long unused, and my use of polystyrene cement was a little heavy-handed, but it's good to be back!

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

Stalk The Line

A distressingly long time ago (November 2017!), I built myself a Stalker for Eastern European post-apocalyptic action. He has seen little action, as it happens, but the recent release of Zona Alfa has given my interest in the genre a kick in the pants.

As before, I grabbed a load of Warlord Games WWII plastics and a bunch of their modern zombie-survivor special forces, and bashed the lot together!

First up, a shotgun-toting scout. This chap has actually been sat on my desk since November 2017, as I built and started painting him immediately after finishing the first Stalker! The arms from the special forces sprue aren't as generic as the WWII ones, so only fit on certain special forces torsos (usually at a strange angle). This is the only figure I was able to put together that had a relatively natural pose! Still, I really like the hunched, cautiously advancing pose.

This guy is, hands-down, my favourite of the bunch. At first, I worried that it was a little too close to the pose of the original Stalker, but it ended up coming together perfectly. The balaclava head is from the special forces sprue, and didn't sit particularly well on the WWII body, so I went to the green stuff and added a fleece collar. This bulked out the shoulders a bit, and blended the head into the body, while also giving a bit of pop to a mini that might have come out a little dull otherwise (due to the grey balaclava). The AK has had the magazine clipped off, while the spare mag in the left hand was originally intended for an StG 44.

Another greatcoated guy, this one hauling some salvage, while attempting to keep his rifle at the ready. The head is actually from a Frostgrave sprue, and required the collar be carved open a little wider to fit. I reckon it works out with a decent parka-ish effect. This one got a similar paintjob to the original Stalker, though I tried to keep the weathering a little more prominent, as if from fresh splashes rather than worn-in dirt. I'm not sure how well it worked out - I quite like the effect, but it might be a bit too different from the original model. My favourite aspect of this model is the sawn-off shotgun on his backpack - I found a full-sized field shotgun on a zombie survivor sprue and sawed it down to suit! There's nothing holding it onto the backpack, which would normally be a peeve, but... rule of cool!

This last one is my least favourite of the bunch. It just didn't really come together the way I'd hoped. While I do like the pose, the single rolled-up sleeve is a little odd, and I really had a hard time painting the face on this one. Getting the thin fringe of fleece on the cheek-flaps of the hat was a personal victory! He'll be an expendable scout, I suspect.

All told, I've now got a viable Zona Alfa gang of five figures (viable in terms of numbers - I still need to stat it out properly), and a hankering to kitbash some more!

The obligatory group shot. The original Stalker is at centre.

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

Los Vochos

I had so much fun putting together my last car for Gaslands: Refuelled that I snagged a couple more Hot Wheels and set to building a couple more. Both cars are VW Beetles - one a '49 Beetle pick-up, the other simply labelled as "Custom VW Beetle" and so fit together really nicely... so nicely, in fact, that, rather than fill out the team I'd started previously, I immediately thought of them as a new team.

With some education from a friend about the Beetle's Mexican connection, it didn't take long before I started thinking of them as part of Team Caudillo, a Puebla-based subsidiary of Rutherford. For all intents and purposes, though, they're a Rutherford team. Unlike previously, I planned out the full crew before starting on the vehicles.

El Técnico

El Técnico		Sponsor	Rutherford
Vehicle Type	Special Rules	Cost	Build Slots
Car	-	12	2
Weapons		Cost	Build Slots
Handguns		-	-
Mortar (forward-facing)		4	1
Mine Dropper (rear-facing)		1	1
Upgrades		Cost	Build Slots
-		-	-
Perks	Badass & Military	Cost	Total Cost
Well Stocked		-	19
Televised Carnage		-
Fully Loaded		2

El Rudo

El Rudo		Sponsor	Rutherford
Vehicle Type	Special Rules	Cost	Build Slots
Truck	-	15	3
Weapons		Cost	Build Slots
Handguns		-	-
Heavy Machine Gun (front-facing)		3	1
Heavy Machine Gun (front-facing)		3	1
Upgrades		Cost	Build Slots
Armour Plating		4	1
Perks	Badass & Military	Cost	Total Cost
Well Stocked		-	31
Televised Carnage		-
Rapid Fire		2
Loader		2
Dead-Eye		2

Following on from Dusty Roads, I maintained the wrestling theme - lucha libre in this case - with these vehicles. "El Técnico" is the lucha equivalent of 'Face' or 'Good Guy', while "El Rudo" is 'Heel' or 'Bad Guy'. El Técnico is a basic car armed with a mortar and a mine dropper. I also gave it the Fully Loaded perk to make full use of the boost to both weapons' ammo rating. El Rudo is more of a blunt instrument, designed to hurl out vast quantities of bullets from its two heavy machine guns. This is achieved by piling on the Rapid Fire, Loader, and Dead-Eye perks, while armour plating helps to keep it in the game for longer - it's a proper gun truck. Combined, the pair add up to a full crew's worth of 50 points.

The build was really swift and simple. El Técnico's roof rack is already on the model, so it was a simple case of gluing a mortar to it. Similarly, El Rudo got two machine guns on its roof. Both weapons are resin test casts from North Star's upcoming Implements of Carnage sprue for Gaslands. Very nice pieces, and all I really did was clip down the gun barrels so that they overhung the cab less.

Painting-wise, my original plan was to continue the lucha libre theme, using a lucha mask stamp as a team logo. A test-run, however, revealed that it proved just a little too large for the doors, and an awkward fit on the ridged bonnets. Plan B, then was to just keep it simple, with a blue-and-metal palette reminiscent of the mask of Blue Demon. Drybrush pretty much everything with khaki and metal for weathering, then coat it all with a brown wash, before picking out the tyres, windscreens, and weaponry with a dark wash. Varnish and add a bit of static grass - job's a good'un.

I don't know if they're going to win any races, but I'd hope that they'll be able to blow up some other vehicles.

Until next time...

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

From The Vault: A Little Bit of Cyberpunk

I can't remember any particular reason behind buying and painting these figures – perhaps I just fancied doing some Cyberpunk minis.

The borgs in front are from the Urban War game (a spin-off of iKore's Void setting, now carried by Scotia Grendel), the troopers at the back are from East Riding Miniatures.

I do like the borgs – they're nice sculpts, and a doddle to paint, with sharp details and clean lines. Their size is all over the place, though!

Speaking of size, these basic troopers are immense! I really like the aesthetic, with the stubby carbines and the Dredd-style helmets, but they definitely don't mix well with regular 28mm figures. Alongside the larger borgs, they're fine, but they do dwarf the one with the chain-gun arm...

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.

Here Comes The Vroom

With the release of Gaslands: Refuelled just around the corner, the Osprey Games office is once again full of Hot Wheels cars, random components scavenged from various sources, and the smell of superglue. A challenge was leveled - build a Gaslands car from the selection that was already to hand. That was it. No rules, no prizes. It really should take more than this to spur our competitive streaks into full flight...

Well, I think my car is the first one finished, so I win on that score if no other...

The underlying vehicle is a Hot Wheels Solid Muscle, which is described by the Hot Wheels Wiki as "a futuristic flatbed truck with what appears to be two nitrous tanks in the rear. The model has an adjustable front splitter."

First things first, the front splitter was rendered non-adjustable with the judicious application of superglue, as were the wheels. While Gaslands is really designed to be played with cars not mounted on bases, I prefer the look of based models and found some the perfect size from Renedra - just a little longer and wider than the car itself, but not so much that it interferes with measurements etc.

So, with the car in hand, I needed to figure out how to stat it up for Gaslands. It's obviously a truck of some kind, so I started with the Truck statline. This gave me a starting cost of 15 and 3 build slots to accommodate larger gear. The two tanks in the back of the truck are already intended to represent a nitrous system, but I don't really see myself (or a truck, for that matter) speeding to victory - gutting out a win by immobilizing the opposition is more my style. Flicking through the available weaponry, I lit up the Napalm Dropper... which does exactly what you'd expect. this is a pretty inexpensive, yet fun option that takes up 1 build slot. With one dropped weapon already equipped, I thought of Verney - a sponsor that specialises in dropped weapons. It's a perfect combination, and I furthered that synergy by adding a second dropped weapon - the Oil Slick Dropper (pricier than the Napalm Dropper, but 'free' in terms of build points). There are also two large exhausts on the Solid Muscle, presumably also for the nitrous system, but these take little effort to reinterpret as some form of weapon port.

At this stage, I had a decent rear-facing arsenal, and reckoned I could do with adding something to make me as dangerous to the vehicles ahead of me. Machine Guns are always a good option, so I took a couple of forward-facing ones to fill out the build point allowance. I could have spent a lot more time finessing and juggling different weapon options, but I wanted to skip to my favourite part of any project - kitbashing!

The long, flat roof of the cab looked perfect for the machine guns, so I raided my bitz box and found a couple of MG42s from Warlord Games' Bolt Action plastics. Clip off the stock, pistol grip, and that was it. I did consider mounting them on the bonnet, tucking them against the ridge, but I couldn't shake the impression that they looked to be shooting slightly downhill (the bonnet slopes very slightly) and the roof mounting offers a more interesting silhouette. I also found a random bit of plastic (maybe spare tank tracks? Ammo cases?) and glued it up against the exhausts to represent the Oil Slick Dropper.

That done, the vehicle was pretty much ready to go, but I thought it needed just a little something extra. I snaffled a load of jerry cans (another Bolt Action find), and mounted them against the rear of the cab. It makes very little sense to store petrol right next to a napalm-based weapon, but, then again, it makes very little sense to engage in high speed death races...

The painting was a doddle - grey basecoat, drybrush the edges with metal, then drybrush the lower areas with brown. Pick out the jerry cans in green, the napalm tanks in yellow (I considered the classic black-and-yellow stripes, but it was just a little more awkward than I cared for!), and a stray cable in red, then an all-over brown wash, and jobs's a good'un.

One touch I added, just to bring a splash more colour to the vehicle, was a smear of blood across the bonnet. It doesn't really fit with a game of Gaslands, but it does lift the generally dark vehicle a bit. I haven't done anything with sponsor logos or numbers or anything - it would look better with something along those lines, but I don't have any bright ideas right now. Something to return to, perhaps.

So the final vehicle looks like this:

Dusty Roads		Sponsor	Verney
Vehicle Type	Special Rules	Cost	Build Slots
Truck	-	15	3
Weapons		Cost	Build Slots
Handguns		-	-
Machine Gun (front-facing)		2	1
Machine Gun (front-facing)		2	1
Napalm Dropper (rear-facing)		1	1
Oil Slick Dropper (rear-facing)		2	-
Upgrades		Cost	Build Slots
-		-	-
Perks	Technology & Built	Cost	Total Cost
Trunk of Junk		-	22
Tombstone		-
That’s Entertainment		-

I've not spent any points on additional perks, but coming in at 22 points, it gives me a bit of leeway on that score if I want to improve this vehicle or invest in a more expensive teammate.

Coming up with a name for the vehicle was the hardest part! The theme for this team will be motoring puns based on the names of old-school professional wrestlers. This truck is named for the late Dusty Rhodes, 'The American Dream':

Hmmm... I might need to go back and add some polka-dots. Future vehicles for this team might include: The Macho Van, Harley Racer or 'Chassis' Freddie Blassie. Other suggestions welcomed (but no prizes for Diesel, Blacktop Bully, or Thurman 'Sparky' Plugg...).

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Disclaimer: All links to third-party sites are solely for the purposes of sourcing the products I have discussed, if anyone is so inclined. I have simply linked to the original manufacturer or the source I used (but feel free to shop around!) and make no money from people clicking through.