Creeping Along- 28mm Battletech Stalker

Well, Thor’s Mechworks is swiftly becoming one of the big names on the 1/60 scale Battletech marketplace. I wish I could link to his blog or user page, but he doesn’t seem to have one. Best I can do is send my readers to Wingnuts Cockpit, a blog which his kits are regularly shown on. I just received a “Creeper” ‘mech from him- literally a 1/60 Scale or 28mm version of the STK-3F Stalker battlemech, using the aesthetics from Mechwarrior Online.

The kit is 3D printed in ABS plastic, which results in a very subtle layered effect, almost like wood grain, with the finished model. This can be smoothed down with fine sandpaper or rubbing with acetone. I’ve never worked with a 3D printed design before, and I have to say that the results are stunning. The kit perfectly captures the MWO aesthetic, which (considering how much more complex the video game designs tend to be) you would think would be harder to print.

Unfortunately the initial shipping missed one of the lower legs….exactly the same as happened to the Catapult. Ironic, but no big deal, Thor is shipping a replacement part and it’ll take me plenty of time to clean, sand, and acetone…ify(?) the mech to smooth it out and ready it for building.

The main construction is very detailed and incredibly posable, with joints at the knee and ankle, and a hexagonal socket for the hips, so that they can be inserted in a variety of positions. There are a ton of extra little greebles which you can see piled to the left, some go to the railing on the torso and the AMS mount, while others I have yet to decipher.

One thing of note: as this ‘mech is made out of ABS plastic and not resin, it is ridiculously light. I mean the whole thing must weigh like a pound and a half. While this certainly doesn’t give the imposing weight of a fully-built Armorcast Atlas, it also means that this Stalker (as all of the parts are hollow) won’t shatter if it’s dropped or tips over. The plastic seems very sturdy, too.

I can’t wait to get this thing smoothed out and built- I realized that ALL of my ‘mechs so far have been ones with the backwards-canted legs, and the STK-3F Stalker is really just the Catapult’s big brother…and by big, I mean 20 tons heavier. This is also the largest 28mm Battletech model I’ve gotten so far, as an assault ‘mech, which seems to be scaled properly, it will stand around 9.5-10” tall depending on how I do the legs.

Stay tuned in the coming weeks to see the full build in all its glory!

On the Cat(apult) Walk- 28mm Battletech

Phew! Finally completed the Catapult in all its glory! Between all my different projects, and the long time I spend painting such large models in general, it’s taken me near a month to complete this thing.

The Catapult is a long-time favorite of mine, and finally getting my hands on a large-scale battletech model of this caliber is a dream come true. This is one of Scott Murphy’s kits, and he was generous enough to sell me his last one and even provide me the parts that were missing from what he initially shipped. I already covered my build of the kit in this blog post, so now on to the painted final product!

In keeping with the rough-n’-ready concept, I painted the catapult heavily with weathering effects and plenty of wear-and-tear. I decided on a reddish-brown Terra-cotta base, with wisps of sandy tan camouflage. This basic scheme however is barely visible beneath a heavy coating of sand-colored pigment.

Weathering pigments are one of those “instant professionalism” products that many companies sell. Like washes or shades, they provide an easy way to coat an entire model to provide a specific effect- in this case, sand built up over many long patrols. Luckily, pigments like these tend to catch on the edges of the model in a realistic fashion, making a miniature model start to look like a ver small, real vehicle!

To contrast the darker reddish tone, I applied a very bright, nearly fluorescent green color to the cockpit canopy. This is, unfortunately, the one part of the model i’m not satisfied with. I tried multiple coats of thinned-down paint, glazes, washes, thicker paint…nothing I used made me happy with the final result. Like 99.999% of Battletech players, I can’t get cockpit jeweling right and it’s frustrating. Oh well, i’m still pretty happy with the overall model. For further contrast I painted the barrels stowed behind the cockpit assembly a beaten, weather-worn yellow shade.

Lastly, I applied some decals to the rear sections of the model. I’m a bit low on decals since Piranha Games isn’t very chatty these days, so I had to make due with some 40k transfers. I used the two arrows to mark out the ‘mech’s vent outlets. And added some decorative kill stripes to the rear sections of the LRM launchers.

All in all, the kit is a fantastic build and an absolute pleasure to paint. I only wish my skills with the brush were better so I could do it justice.

Stay tuned folks, I should have more models in progress soon! And Tim Fusco’s Mad Cat MK II should be back from the casters within the month.

Warhammer 40,000- Imperial Knights

So….remember those Imperial Knights? Well I bought 3 of them, and spent the weekend assembling the models. They are massive plastic kits with almost 150 pieces, including two different weapon options and 3 masks that go over the head’s sensor array. I built two of the models as Knight Paladins with battle cannons, and the third as a Knight Errant with a thermal cannon. While the kits have quite a few options and a ton of little fiddly bits, I should point out that the lower half of the model is stuck in one pose unless you want to cut and trim quite a bit….which I did.

Now these pictures are of the models about 90% done. I left off most of the armor plates, because I am going to paint the skeleton and joints before attaching and painting the armor.

The first Knight I built is the Errant with the thermal cannon, going literally by-the-book (and then adding a few little detail bits). What you see here is the basic leg pose that all Knights are pretty much forced to take.

These kits are relatively easy to built….but take a long time to do it. You have separate sub-assemblies for the legs, arms, and torso, with many separate detail bits that you could miss completely if you don’t follow the instructions. Even after building three of these things I had to refer to the manual for where certain bits went.

Now what’s interesting about the Imperial Knights (aside from their awesome, flavorful background fiction), is that they can be fielded as an ally to your existing Warhammer 40,000 army, or as an army of 3-6 Knights on their own! I don’t have much of a playable 40k force anymore, so I plan on running these 3 Knights as my own army.

The second Knight- this one a Knight Paladin- required major repositioning and conversion work. I posed him mid-charge, wielding his giant chainsword as he tromps towards the enemy. The front foot is balanced on only two toes, while the back foot is off the ground entirely, in mid-step (there’s a small bit of plasticard tubing holding that foot up).

I’m very happy with how this one turned out, and I went the extra mile adding battle damage to his cowling and shield, as I imagine charging forward with reckless abandon takes precedence over taking cover or avoiding enemy fire.

I actually added a bit more to this guy’s base in the end too (not pictured), including a bit of piping and some heavy bits in back to counterbalance him.

The third Knight is by far my favorite. He is intended to be the Warlord of my army, and I put an entire day’s worth of work into building him!

The pose was my first priority. I knew from the start that I wanted his Knight to be standing with one leg atop a dead Tyranid beast. I cut and trimmed the leg and the knee, with the toes in front and back conforming to the slope of the alien’s dead body (i’ll take pics from another angle soon). The other leg required just as much shaving and reposing, mostly of the hip and ankle joint so that it stood correctly.

Whereas the other Knight Paladin has a heavy stubber on the left torso mount, and the other heavy stubber sitting coaxial to the battle cannon, I decided this one should have both on the torso, pointed downwards to ward off advancing infantry (like swarms of Tyranid gaunts). It gives the sense that the machine is sort of on auto-guard mode, standing aloof and at the ready.

The pilot is my favorite part of this model. As the cockpit hatch is a separate piece of the miniature, and the torso is entirely hollow inside, I took the opportunity to completely model the interior with details (pics in the next post soon!). I glued the hatch open, with some extra brass-etch details, and built my pilot out of a Death Korps of Krieg miniature from forge world, with the head of a Warhammer Fantasy Empire model. The way I see it, his Knight is triumphantly standing atop a vanquished foe, guns at the ready, while he surveys the battlefield before him.

Some last minor details included heavy-guage wire antennas in a cluster near the cockpit.

All in all, these three models are the core of my new army, and after I finish basing them and get the last scraps of work done, I will be painting them so I can finally play Warhammer 40,000 again.

Distractions and Flailanthropy

Sorry about the long wait folks, but I’ve been distracted lately, a lot of things going on in my life (spent the last week binge-watching all of Breaking Bad in between work hours, for one). I’m still hard at work on miniature models of course. But a brief update to let you all know what’s been happening:

Catapult: Built, primed, and partway through being painted. She’s been shelved for the moment to make room on my table for other works, but I plan on finishing in the next month or so.

Flea: Likewise, built (and big props to Tim for his mention of my work on his blog, much appreciated!) , based, and primed, with the first layer of paint applied. I still have a lot of work to do on the Flea, but it’ll be done likely before even the Catapult.

Battletech: Combined Arms- As some of you may know by now, Battletech: Combined Arms is my brainchild, the fruit of over a year of rules writing and refining. I’ve playtested it and run the numbers, and I think it’s almost ready for publication. I’m going to see if I can’t make headway on negotiating with Topps, the current owners of the Battletech license, to see if we can make it something official. Can’t say much more on that at this point, but it’s something I’m still banking on.

Warhammer 40,000: I don’t discuss it much on this site, but I’m a big fan of Warhammer 40,000 and Games Workshop. I’ve voiced my fair share of criticism on their business practices and attitude towards their customers in the past, and I hold by what I’ve said- I only speak my mind because I care. Anyway, a big new release was just revealed: Knight Titans. Small (by 40k universe standards) 8-inch models representing one-man combat walkers with the destructive firepower of superheavy vehicles, somewhere between an Imperial Sentinel walker and a Warhound Scout-Class Titan, the Knight is an ancient design dating back to Epic 40,000 and Adeptus Titanicus, 2nd-edition and Rogue Trader-era specialist games set in the same Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Needless to say, as a Games Workshop Citadel Miniature, the new Knight is an amazing feat of miniature engineering. What’s more,  you can run 3 to 6 of them as a full army with nothing else! I’ve always wavered between Warhammer armies in the past….but I have a feeling this is the one I’ve been waiting for all along.

Giant Melta-Cannon? Check. Huge-Ass Chainsaw Arm? Check. Yeah….I’ll take twenty. 

28mm Battletech- Flea

Hey all, I’ve got a new build to share with you. The 28mm/1/60 scale Flea battlemech! This is one of Tim Fusco’s kits, cast in resin based on a sculpt he did by JPG Productions.

The Flea is a small, fast light ‘mech that’s a staple of the Wolf’s Dragoons, and while not particularly powerful, it packs enough punch against battle armor, infantry, and other light ‘mechs that it’s a staple unit on the battlefield. Now first things first…this is the best 28mm Battlemech kit i’ve ever had the pleasure of building. Super simple construction, perfect scale, and it just looks fantastic, hats off to Tim for making this one work!
I made a couple of special modifications, of course. Like the Catapult, I added stowage to this little beauty, caging off the recessed area above/behind the cockpit to store some fuel canisters and kit bags.

I decided on a very active pose for this model, as if stalking forward in support of infantry- and to that end I based it on a Games Workshop large oval base (the kind they use to base monstrous creatures and flyers). I added a bit of ruined masonry under the Flea’s uplifted foot to allow it to stand with minimal stress on the joints. In between its legs sits a jersey barrier, with two infantrymen walking along one side of it. I feel like this gives a real scenic look to the model, and ties it in to the force it’s fighting with.

So who’s this Flea going to fight for? Well the Wolf’s Dragoons would be the obvious choice….but I never liked “obvious.” So I’m going to align it and its attendant infantry (more on them later) with the Free Rasalhague Republic, to accompany both the NightHawk PA(L) I already have, and Tim’s Owens once he decides to kit that out. I’ve already begun painting this model, so I’ll have a few updates soon.

One last parting thought…..since this Flea is based on the Mechwarrior 4 version, does anyone know which variant it’s supposed to represent? There are only three weapons on it (the chin gun and the guns on either side of the cockpit) and the only Flea with 3 weapons I could find is the FLE-20 with two medium lasers and a light ppc.

28mm Battletech Modeling- Basing Your Miniatures

Basing miniatures goes hand-in-hand with building and painting them. In Battletech: Combined Arms, with 28mm Battletech miniatures, this is no different. Unlike building the miniatures or painting them to a personal standard, basing often gets the least amount of attention from gamers and modelers, so I thought I would take today to discuss some great, easy options for basing your models to a professional level.

Almost every 28mm miniature has a base that it stands on- in fact, it’s the only way most models will stand at all, as balancing them and getting them to work as free-standing models would result in very boring, static poses. The term “basing” therefore, doesn’t mean literally just attaching a miniature to its respective base, but also pertains to how you decorate that base. Armies of miniatures for wargaming look best when there’s a cohesive basing scheme, all of the miniatures on bases decorated to represent the same environment or combat zone. It would indeed look odd if half your soldiers were on desert sand-themed bases and the rest were on dark urban grey.

So when it comes to 28mm Battletech, the question of basing is a valid one. This is especially true when considering the battlemechs themselves: the majority of 1/60 scale battletech models are freestanding, with no need for a base since their large feet and high center of gravity allows them to stand with no support needed. Only when you attempt an extremely de-stabilized pose will you ever need to base a battlemech, and even then you should consider how you want to base the rest of your force to look when deployed alongside it.

The Basics
The most common basing material people use today is sand. Pure, simple, find-it-on-the-beach sand. Back in the late 80’s and early 90’s the standard was flock, a sort of fibrous, lightweight material meant to mimic grass or earth. Nowadays the more realistic approach to basing involves sand, static grass to mimic, well, grass, and large or small pieces of slate used as rocks and boulders. This effect works just as well for 28mm Battletech, as 28mm infantry are the same size (ish) in every miniature wargame.

Kuritan Infantry (Defiance Games Chinese Militia), displaying a very basic basing style. 

Basing is most easily accomplished by using wood glue or white glue on your model’s base, painting it on with an old paintbrush, or using a toothpick to smear it on, making sure to avoid the miniature’s feet (or claws, or hooves, or whatever).

 After spreading on the glue, pour sand or flock onto the base, covering the glue entirely. Leave the miniature to dry after this, and then shake the excess sand or flock back into its container.

Some gamers prefer to simply leave the sand or flock the color it came in. There’s certainly nothing wrong with this approach, but for a much more professional touch, you can paint the basing material the same way you would paint the model (some painters say to prime the model, paint the base first, and then paint the model, other say to paint the model and then the base, either way works really). Sand and flock work equally well painted as asphalt or cement, muddy terrain, urban rubble, or red-tinted martian dirt.

Advanced Methods
While flock and sand make for great basic bases, many gamers and professional modelers prefer more advanced techniques. There are many different basing materials on the market right now. Among the best are those offered by Secret Weapon Miniatures. This company makes an extensive line of resin bases, as well as what are hands-down the finest weathering pigments, washes, and thematic basing materials.

Among these “advanced methods” I speak of are weathering and scenery effects that more accurately portray real phenomena, such as mud, snow, water, and grasslands. Mud mixtures and snow effects are becoming fairly common, even Games Workshop produces a Citadel Mourn Mountain Snow Texture paint, as well as a Citadel Snow basing material, which is basically white flock.

In fact, Games Workshop’s Citadel Texture paints bear a mention here. Citadel Texture is part of their new paint line, instead of liquid paint, the stuff is almost pure pigment with a gritty, grainy texture. It spreads onto a base (and will ruin a good brush, so make sure you use an old one), best done in a fairly heavy layer, and completely replaces the need for sand or flock, instead working as an all-in-one, easy-to-apply basing material. They offer it in 6 colors, with one other Citadel Technical paint that I will detail below. The colors available are Citadel Mourn Mountain Snow, Stirland Mud, Blackfire Earth, Astrogranite, Armageddon Dust, and Lustrian Undergrowth. Mourn Mountain Snow provides a very decent snow base for your money- though be warned, Citadel Texture paints do not stretch as far as other basing materials or even other paints. I used an entire pot of the stuff to get good coverage on 10 40mm-base models. Stirland Mud is a decent mud mixture, Astrogranite makes for damn-near perfect cement if you make sure to keep the application smooth and even, and Armageddon Dust makes for good sand on desert-themed bases. Blackfire Earth and Lustrian Undergrowth are unfortunately the worst two of the line, with colors that don’t really apply to anything in the real world.

Lastly there is Citadel Agrellan Earth Technical paint. Designed for basing as well, this one differs in that, instead of a generic pebbly texture, it is smooth and at first glance looks identical to normal paint. However, it is specially formulated so that, as it dries, the technical paint cracks and withers, and, once 100% dried, makes for absolutely outstanding cracked, dry dirt. We’re talking salt flats, parched earth, cracked mud, this stuff makes every other desert basing material look pathetic!

Citadel Agrellan Earth on the base of a Defiance Games UAMC Marine 

Decorating Your Bases
While a basic substrate is fine for many models (dirt, sand, snow, whatever), further decoration goes a long way not only in personalizing your army, but also in adding more depth and realism to the miniatures themselves. If you’re doing a desert-themed army, for example, why not add dry, dehydrated grasses with static grass? Or go the full mile with animal skeletons, cacti, or vultures perching on accompanying scenery (or…y’know, Jade Falcons I guess)? If you’re doing snow bases, try using water effects to make puddles of ice, or get the Games Workshop Northern Wastes Basing Kit, which for $33 gives you a whole mess of winter-themed basing supplies such as snow flock, slate, dried tan static grass, and plastic icicles which make a winter base look truly stunning. In fact, GW makes 6 different basing kits like this, each with a different scenic theme from the war-torn cities of Warhammer 40,000 (great for Battletech) to scorched sands of the desert. Adding a bit more of that “personal touch” to your 28mm Battletech miniatures can make an army go from “1st Genyosha” to “The 1st Genyosha During the Battle of Luthien in 3068.”

A fully based Battlemech (3 Guesses which one!). This one features a sand/slate mixture, several larger slate pieces, resin Jersey Barriers from Defiance Games, and two Defiance Games UAMC Marines, as well as a piece of ruined masonry from Games Workshop and a brass etched piece of bullet-riddled metal. 

1/60 Scale Battletech- Catapult

I’m back with a vengeance, and have another great build to share with y’all. Scott Murphy of Scott’s Messy Desk blog had one last Catapult in his inventory, which I was happy to purchase for a great price. This is a full resin kit with 20 pieces, and is simply a joy to put together. Although the model was shipped accidentally missing the upper leg pieces, Scott rectified the situation very quickly, and I appreciate both his quick shipping (even having to deal with customs between US and Canada) and his exceptional skill at casting these kits. A couple of the pieces were pre-primed before he sent them, but that’s not a problem for construction.

Now this Catapult is done in the style seen in Mechwarrior 4, marking it as a 3062 (Fedcom Civil War era) CPLT-C1 with 4 Medium Lasers and 2 LRM-15 launchers. I really love the Catapult design as a whole, and the MW4 variant is my favorite of all, with the slimmed-down frame, utilitarian aesthetics, and rugged construction.

Of course, I had to add my own personal touch to the miniature. After brainstorming a bit, I ended up settling on stowage. Stowage, in case anyone doesn’t know, is the baggage and ammunition and spare gear that is often strapped to fighting vehicles on the move. It was a common practice to stow fuel canisters, mess equipment, kit bags and the like on tanks and armored cars when military forces were on the move during World War 2. I took a similar idea for my Catapult. Although ‘mechs are different than tanks in a variety of ways, with moving limbs and standing much higher than the infantry they accompany, I decided it was nonetheless plausible for a disparate mercenary company or a long-range patrol force to use the heavy lifting power of their ‘mechs to carry extra gear. For it to make sense, I kept all of the baggage strapped to the ankle/foot armor plates, down where infantry can unload them once the convoy stops moving.

In addition to stowage on the legs, I rigged up a set of spare fuel/coolant tanks directly behind the

cockpit assembly, with a chain and winch system for loading and unloading. I think it gives the machine a very heavy duty appearance, perfect for a Catapult that needs to stick by supply lines anyway.

Lastly, I drilled out some holes behind the cockpit glass and inserted a pair of metal wires to work as radio antennas. I also added a pair of exhaust vents (all of these are old 40k bits, btw) to the upper hips, either as jump jets or heat sinks, whichever works better I suppose.

So who’s the mean machine going to fight for? Well…I did mention a disparate mercenary company. I was thinking Hansen’s Roughriders. I’m a big fan of this particular unit, and since they’re mercenaries, they fight for just about any cause imaginable, as long as the money is right- ideal for 28mm Battletech gaming, where at a tournament you could find your force facing any house or merc unit or clan imaginable. I’ll be starting on the painting job soon enough, i’ll need to order some new decals from Fighting Piranha Graphics so I can detail it.