UMC / Combat Androids pt.2 (TW)

I've now painted-up a fireteam & an AT RPG team of colonial combat androids.  I'm very pleased with the colour scheme - it's straightforward to paint on such tiny miniatures; striking, but also plausible for the setting.  To the right is the droid AT team, & below is the 4-robot fireteam.  Click on the images for a larger view.  As mentioned previously, the models are Rebel Minis Shalur Mercenaries.

I've also tried-out a 'jewel effect' on the visors of the UMC troopers (see right), which I think was semi-successful.  The models are Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines.  I'm still not 100% satisfied with the paint scheme for these human soldiers, but I'm not sure what it is - possible the camo scheme still needs work?  Any suggestions welcome, thanks.

UMC / Combat Androids pt.1 (TW)

I've been closing-in on final paint schemes for my Unified Marine Corps troops & colonial combat androids.  I want something that will look plausibly military but futuristic, whilst working in a colourful extraterrestrial jungle setting.  To the right is a rework of the UMC trooper camo that I posted a few days ago.  The visors are now plain grey, but I will add a 'jewel effect' as a final touch.  The camo has slightly bolder strokes, & the boots have base-green plates on the front.  I'm quite pleased with this scheme now.  The pattern isn't too riotous, & seems to blend the troopers into their surroundings well.  These models are 15mm Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines.

For the colonial combat androids, I'm aiming for something that will mark them out as an opposing force, whilst still looking military.  I've gone with a simple vivid green colour, with highlights along the upper edges of the armour plating.  This lends a slightly mantis-like appearance, where the camo is more about looking like harmless foliage rather than blending-in.  The model is a 15mm Rebel Minis Shalur Mercenary.

Possible miniatures for Tomorrow's War

I thought I'd do a list of miniatures that I have in mind to represent the units in the Tomorrow's War setting that my friend Tim & I are developing.  There are two factions - the expeditionary forces of Earth, primarily consisting of the Unified Marine Corps; & the disparate but increasingly high-tech colonial forces, who rely more on android & mecha units.  Items in orange below are things that I have already bought:

Trial UMC camouflague (TW)

I recently posted several pieces on the extraterrestrial jungle scenery that I've been putting together for Tomorrow's War.  Today I've been trialing a possible camo scheme for the UMC (Unified Marine Corps) infantry that will feature in this setting.  These soldiers will be part of an expeditionary force from Earth who are battling the more advanced but initially factious separatist forces in the jungles of a colony world.

The models are Rebel Minis Earth Force Marines.  I've used Citadel Paints.  I'm fairly pleased with the palette of colours - a base of Camo Green, with a Flesh Wash for depth & lightened Camo Green highlights.  On top of this I've painted a traditional 'jungle pattern' using Dark Angels Green & Liche Purple (the plants in this jungle are quite garish).  The webbing & backpacks are Dark Angels Green.  The visors will have an orange 'jewel effect' once finished.

The figure on the the left has his helmet & armour in the base green, & the one on the right has camo all over.  I think the left one looks unfinished like this, & as I will be using high contrast between armour & undersuits/mechanisms on the colonial forces, I think I should go with the right-hand approach. However, I think this scheme can be improved - perhaps with a larger, more angular pattern, to reflect the oversized foliage of the scenery?  Any suggestions & ideas welcome, thanks!

Converted French with GPMGs (FoF)

I haven't got much hobby stuff done over the past month, as I've been away at music festivals, ill with a heavy cold, & sorting out Christmas presents.  But here are four conversions that I've done as gifts for my friend Tim's French platoon in Force on Force.  He needed some figures armed with FN Minimi GPMGs to go with his Peter Pig French Foreign Legion; so I've converted some USMC gunners, using French beret heads from Peter Pig's Odds and Ends (Mostly Heads) range. 

These were surprisingly simple - for the standing figures I made an incision each side of the jaw using a Stanley knife, then twisted the original head slightly one way, then the other using needle-nose pliers.  The head came off in good condition, and can be used elsewhere!  I then used a fine-gauge hand drill to make a hole for the peg/neck of the French beret head, & glued it in place.  The prone figures were slightly trickier, needing the use of a small vice to hold the figures whilst I razor-sawed the heads off, prior to drilling the holes & filing-out indentations for the chins.  I'm pleased with the results, & will be using the 'insurgent headscarf' heads that I bought at the same time to convert various figures for my PLO force & Middle East civilian bases.

Iraqi T-55 (FoF)

Back to Force on Force - here is my T-55 with crew, to support my Iraqi platoon.  Not a very exciting paint scheme as I went with the basic bone-white desert hue seen on many Iraqi vehicles at the time.  I haven't yet tried any conversions on 15mm scale models, but ideally I would like to convert this T-55 with the characteristic side armour & turret plates of the Iraqi 'Enigma' T-55.

The tank & figures are from Peter Pig's excellent AK 47 Republic range.  I want my mixed regulars & Saddam fedayeen Iraqi force to look suitably ill-equipped & a little ad-hoc, so I left the fuel tanks off this T-55 & fitted the unditching beam in their place.  I purchased this tank a while ago, before Peter Pig added a turret MG & hatch crewmen to the pack, but I may add an MG if I can get hold of a DShK.

Even more jungle terrain (TW)

For a change... even more jungle scatter terrain for 15mm Tomorrow's War!  I've started to use pieces from the bag of more colourful plastic plants, which I think is helping to make this jungle project look more alien.  I started with 8 'average tree size' pieces, mounted on Ø30mm Fenris Games bases:

After that, I revamped some of my previous jungle bases with  pieces of the new plants, to help tie it all together visually.  Coming up with decent camouflage schemes for this terrain will be an interesting challenge...

More jungle scatter terrain (TW)

Next up... more jungle scatter terrain for 15mm Tomorrow's War!  Again, I've used plastic aquarium plants.  Not sure what to call this stuff.  Maybe 'mammoth grass'?  It comes set out on a regular grid, so I sliced it into pairs & trios so I could glue it out more haphazardly on the Fenris Games Ø50mm ply bases.  To hold them down more firmly, & to reduce the flatness, I textured over the ground using premixed filler/thickener.

I decided to paint the pegs which hold the leaf-blades in place as a flower or perhaps fruit.  I think this makes them look a bit more unusual.  The colour of these plants is very vivid, so I tried to break it up a bit by painting the veins of the leaves in pale green.  I enjoyed adding other details to these bases, such as severed stems leaking glossy sap, & a fallen blade.  So far greens have been the dominant hues of my growing alien jungle, but I'm about to try using some of the more garish plants I have in stock...

Jungle pitcher plants (TW)

Following on from my post yesterday, this morning I finished these 'pitcher' plants.  They are mounted on Ø50mm ply from Fenris Games, & use the same flock & undergrowth as my first scatter pieces.  Again the large plants are plastic aquarium decorations.  The materials are very cheap, & putting these bases together doesn't require as much precision as making buildings, although the process definitely benefits from batch-producing each stage of the assembly/dressing.

I may buy some water-effect resin to try & fill the 'bowls' of these pitcher plants, but for now I have gloss varnished inside each one with Games Workshop 'Ard Coat.