Stargrave Water Gun Spaceship Part 3

In this phase I need to tackle a few tings.  First up was the top handle gap.  I decided to put some card stock over the gap to give it a cockpit type feel.  I used some of the faux credit card plastic that comes in the junk mail that we occasionally receive in the good old snail mail.

 

Next step was to clean up some of the details.  I grabbed some spot putty to fill in some of the gaps, screw holes, and other 

I had to keep reminding myself that the goal was a finished model, not a perfect model.  Next shot is the first prime in black.

I'm planning on trying the salt weathering technique on this so first up was an undercoat of black, then some large salt chunks are applied.  now for the 2nd prime in grey.  The white specs are the first salt application.

Now for a touch of grey!

As you can see in the second black primer photo I will have to do some more work on the top of the main body to eliminate the connection seam.  I'll give it another round of spot filler to see if it holds up.  More updates soon.

Stargrave Water Gun Space Ship Part 2

The bulk of the structure is worked out with the exception of the rear cargo area, I'm going to need a bit more time to figure that out.  I moved onto some detailing.

Front nose communications array was just a few odd bits I had around.  I think one was connector, another was a plastic missile from a toy gun.  

Landing gear is actually made of of old leftover windshield wiper parts.  They were the connectors that I didn't need for my vehicle and turned out to be very useful.  

Top weapon is actually a bad wire connector that we cut out of a piece of equipment that I immediately saw potential in.

This alternate weapon is from a line of toy soldiers that Dollar Tree sells and at a $1.25 I couldn't pass it up.  My original thought was to use it as the main weapon until I stumbled on the electrical connector.  I plan to pick up a few more of these for other projects.

Drive units are have a lot of misc greebles from various things like the inside of a bourbon bottle, tops from kids squeeze fruits, etc... 

Next step is to finish up the prep of the main body and get to some painting!

Stargrave Water Gun Space Ship Part 1

 As I have been working on various Sci-Fi projects I got the itch to do a space ship for scenery and because I seem to always need something new to work on.  After some searching I found several options.  One was a foam board lander that was originally designed for Reapers CAV miniatures.  The scale and design we such that while it is a 1/285 is scale it can easily pass for a 28mm with a few modifications.  I downloaded the pdf's for it and have plans to give it a go.  As I started to get things prepared I realized that I had missed that one of the templates had a piece that needed multiples cut out but only provides one template for it.  Given I printed on full page stickers and just slapped them onto the foam board I will need to either make a few more or do a design modification.  I have decided to put that one to the side and work on another example I found that was made out of squirt guns.

There was a video online by Dark Matter Workshop, that caught my imagination and off I went.  First up was to get the squirt gun, I managed to find the exact one in the video online and made the purchase.  

 At least I thought it was the same one, I clearly didn't read the dimensions before I purchased it.  While they are identical in design, the one in the video is rifle sized and mine came in pistol size.  After reviewing the dimensions I realized it was my mistake.  I contemplated sending it back but decided to make the best of it and try to make some thing out of it.  I went to Dollar Tree and found some nice looking pistols as well and started to make my plans.

Dark Matter cut the handle of his and that made good sense to me so I followed suit.  I had always intended to use the smaller pistols as some sort of drive unit.  I considered keeping the grip intact to use it to attach to but had concerns about cleaning up the trigger areas and just decide to cut their grips off as well. 

Now came the fun part, I just started to play around with different configurations, taping them together with painters tape.  I landed on this configuration for the drive units.  I just need to work out how to connect them.  I tried a few different bottle tops, I really liked this bottled tea top but couldn't figure out how to make the attachment.

Figured out a connection after several tries.  I landed on the top of a pop bottle cut just below the top thread with a cap.  I had a couple already done so it was more out of convenience.  Turns out it was very useful as I had to adjust each side slightly, just had to tighten/loosen the cap!

I got them connect and realized they weren't quote square or level.  Then I had an epiphany, of course they aren't square since the area you are gluing them to isn't level!  D'ou! The areas that I planned on using as the connection point slant in towards the nose at a slight angle.  I realized that I wasn't making a model to enter into some contest, it is intended to be used as table top terrain and doesn't need to be perfect. Once I got past that I reworked the connections.  I have a few more modeling things to address like the nose, a front landing gear and the back section.

 

The Force is strong in this one...

 With this post I'm venturing into the Star Wars universe, specifically the Star Wars Legion line of miniatures.  I have not purchased the core set as of yet, I wanted to make sure I was interested in the figures first.  My wonderful wife and sons got me a couple of expansion sets of Imperial forces because clearly the universe needs structure and order!  

I'm obviously a fan of Star Wars, who isn't?  I saw the original premier in the theater as a kid back in the day.  There have been a few iterations of Star Wars miniatures from the West End Games Star Wars Miniatures Battles to the Wizards of the Coast Star Wars Miniatures collectable line.  While these have always been intriguing to me it was Fantasy Flight Games release of Imperial Assault that got me to dip a toe in the water and it was Legion that got me to jump all the way in!  

I started off with a used copy of Imperial Assault which is more of a board game than a wargame but it was packed full of miniatures, 34 to be precise.  

I picked up a copy at Half Price Books at a ridiculously low price.  Some good pieces like Darth Vader, Luke, recon droids,  Stormtroopers and some miscellaneous rebel forces.

I started to do some research into the Legion line which was released shortly after I picked up Assault.  There was a lot of chatter online about the scale difference between the two.  After some thought I decided to go with the Legion line since it was also announced that Assault was being discontinued.  I got a couple of the expansion packs of Stormtroopers for Christmas to try out.

 First thing to do was get one assembled for a scale comparison.  One of the droid probes came off its base so I was able to get them on the same base.  The Legion bases are notably taller and thicker than those from Imperial Assault.  Any crossovers will likely need re-based to the Legion bases.

Now lets take a look at the Stormtrooper comparison.

Clearly the Legion models are a bit larger in scale and definitely more detailed.  In a large mass of them its unlikely that you would notice it much, especially from an overhead view while gaming.  I do think that non-identical figures will probably mix well together.

Being honest, I'm not a big fan of white as a primary color for miniatures but given my proclivity for all things Empire i dont have much of a choice.  I'm going to give 4 different base color schemes a try: white base, grey base, black with just grey apex and black with grey and white apex.

 

Next update will feature the results.

Attention Pt 2

 A follow up to the last post.  I'm calling these finished.  I might clean up some of the details but I'm happy with them.  Not my best paint job but not the worst either.  As for the Reaper Bones product, these are the original white product that they first debuted and the detail is ok.  Clearly not as sharp as metal in some cases but not horrible either.  That is partially the reason that I'm calling them done, I don't know that I have the skill to improve on the areas where the detail isn't good.  With that said, for the price I can live with the minor detail issues.  I was looking at a new blister of the Black Bones product and it looks to hold detail better.  I'll have to give them a try soon.

A few individual shots

 

 

 

 

I originally gave the Illyrian's a purple color but wasn't happy with the results.  I then found that an old pot of Warlock Purple (more on the fuchsia spectrum) that was actually still good.  Used the new jig saw mixer and some of the Army Painter stainless steel mixing balls to reinvigorate it.  Put a little on one of them and was much happier with the look and converted both over to that color.  I need to work on the pluggers eye above.  On Keith's website he shows them painted similar to a human eye, I might go something alien looking for the iris.  I'll post a pic once I decide.

 Yes that's an old one.

But not as old as this one!

This is the first group/project that I have wrapped up in awhile.  I will shift focus to the Diehard bounty hunters and try to get them wrapped up over the next few weeks.

Incredible Deal!

 

Look out, two posts in 2021 which is two more than 2020!  During holiday shopping I stumbled upon an incredible deal that I thought I should share.  I was looking for some board games at Walmart, as I strolled down one of the toy isles I noticed some Aliens toys hanging on the rack.  I’ve always been a fan of the movie franchise and was intrigued by them.  The xeno figures were actually pretty good, very true to the Geiger design for what appears to be a cheap 3-1/2” action figure.  The human figures, well they just appear to be some space or military figure and not specific to the colonial marines.  That was enough to dissuade me from impulse buying anything.  Then I looked down and was shocked to see this!

It is listed as Alien-Xenomorph Attack-Advanced-APC Vehicle!  Holy crap, it’s the APC from Aliens.  Now action figures aren’t really my thing but I picked it up and gave it the once over and realized it was way out of scale for the 3-1/2” action figure but it was probably perfect for 28-32” miniatures.  Better yet it was on clearance for $7.  I couldn’t pass it up so I secret Santa gifted myself.  Here are some out of the box pictures for details and size reference.  I wasn't impressed by the stickers so I peeled them off with ease.

 

My Wallyworld only had one but I’ll check some local towns if I’m out and about and see if they have any.  Looks like it is still available online for $10.50 as of today.  I’d like a second to modify and make a bit more realistic like removing the top door hinge as you can see in these pics.   

 

Possibly opening up the side slide door.  

But I won’t do that until I have a 2nd given my propensity to start a project and not complete it.  I wouldn’t want to be without a functioning copy for game play.  I might have to break down and order one online!  Not sure how or if it will take paint since it appears to be a softer plastic, again it would be nice to have a 2nd one to experiment on.  Looking forward to more posts on this in the future.

Is that an Earthquake? Nope just an OGRE Pt.2!

It has been a very fortuitous month for my hobby life!  I received the limited edition Chaos War Alter off the Oldhammer Facebook group.  The Diehard Miniatures Kickstarter arrived as well as a dice one that I supported.  Then this morning there was a thunderous thud at the front door.  Well actually the postman did a heck of a job sneaking up and dropping off the box on the front porch.  My wife commented around noon that there was something out there and to my pleasant surprise I found this!

 Well it was an easy guess as to it contents.

The Ogre 2nd Kickstarter arrived and all I can say is WOW! What a beast of a box full of miniatures.

These miniatures were on the top of the box, 4 complete sets of the 2nd Kickstarter.

In addition there is a complete set of both Kickstarter miniatures underneath the pile of plastic.

I've always been a big fan of the game, I have a 2nd (or maybe 3rd?) edition, pocket box version of the game that saw me through a rough time in high school with a knee blowout and surgery.

I am pumped and can't wait to get these and the 1st Kickstarter set out and get them painted up.  Oh I can feel that twitch to drop the current chaos warriors project and jump into this one.  I must fight it!

The feature pieces of this set are the Mk IV and the PanEuro Fencer with both turret options.

I'm also looking forward to the 3rd Kickstarter which I believe is slated to have at least a Mk VI in it.