28mm Battletech Stalker- Factory Fresh

While I was out of the state on a mini-vacation with my family this weekend, I was unable to paint the Stalker. I did, however, think I should post one last time to give a few shots of the finished product.

I made a number of minor alterations to the ‘mech in the final stages. I wanted to add a bit of extra detail to this beast, since with such a large ‘mech, the details are everything. You will notice I have a 60mm base under each foot.  I did this because, unfortunately the model’s feet aren’t perfectly flat, and I couldn’t sand them any flatter, so I settled on a base under each foot to give it a solid stance that won’t tip over easily.

I’ve also added some rounded half-round plasticard to the sides of the fuselage and the rear section,
giving a bit of interesting surface that I can paint maybe with hazard stripes or rank markings.

Lastly, there was a vacant, recessed spot opposite the AMS system, which I filled with a beaten and bent piece of copper grating, making it look like a vent or heat sink that’s been torn open in battle.

Get Outta Here Stalker D: - 28mm Battletech Stalker

So…the Stalker. An 85 ton assault ‘mech built for breaching fortifications and taking the enemy head-on, weapons blazing as it slowly closes range. This ‘mech is a beast, for a long, long time I’ve loved the description of the design, but hated its art in the Battletech Technical Readouts- those weird, double-hinged legs swiveled so that it was either backward-canted like a Mad Cat or Catapult, or normal-kneed like any humanoid design.

With Mechwarrior 4’s MekTek packs came a much beefier, permanently bird-legged Stalker, which was clearly what the new Mechwarrior Online takes its design cues from, and I LOVE it! The MWO STK-3F Stalker captures the essence of its Classic Battletech Roots and translates them to a much more likable aesthetic. Thor’s Mechworks, as advertised on the blog Wingnuts Cockpit, produced a 3D-printed “Creeper” (so as to avoid copyright BS….though to be honest, I don’t think Catalyst enforces it, and Topps doesn’t care). This is a dead-on accurate depiction of the MWO Stalker, so let’s take a look at what we get in the kit:

The kit comes in about 15 (ish) main pieces, with a good dozen extra little giblets for detail work, some of which I STILL don’t know where they go, even after having built the thing.

The model is 3D-printed ABS plastic, entirely hollow and extra light, making it feel almost more like a toy than the resin kits produced by some other regular manufacturers. This is not necessarily a bad thing, the lighter construction means it won’t break as easily if it falls, and it’s generally easier to stand and display or pose in a more active….well pose. However, there is one major drawback: the ABS plastic results in a layered effect, almost like wood grain, which needs to be filed, sanded, or rubbed with acetone to make smooth. This layered texture is almost insubstantial on the bigger pieces, but there are some fiddly, recessed areas where it gets very bad, and I found even with sanding and acetone that it doesn’t wash away smoothly.

The finished kit, however, looks beautiful. Most of the unsightly layered areas end up being either in the rear of the ‘mech, or hidden pressed against the fuselage or joints.

Speaking of joints, the design is VERY posable. Thor has done an amazing job making the Stalker as detailed and flexible as possible. I discovered while building it that not only are there flexible joints at the ankle and knee, but the ball-and-socket hip joint moves as well, and can be reposed very easily while also maintaining a tight seal, so the joint doesn’t loosen. I tend to glue my models in a single pose, it’s just the way I prefer them. I did that with this kit as well, with the joints at the missile launcher “arms,” the knee, and ankle all fixed, but kept the ball-and-socket hip free so I can reposition the legs somewhat.

The one recognizable extra bit was the AMS system, which I applied to my Stalker. I replaced (what I presume was) the barrel with a gatling gun style assembly from a Warhammer 40,000 assault cannon, but kept the ammo hopper, so it now heavily resembles a real-world CIWS (Close-In Weapon System).

Other than that, I made no real modifications, and am extremely happy with the final build. However, if anyone can tell me what the extra bits that come with the thing are, I would greatly appreciate the info.

So how does the “Creeper” stack up compared to other 28mm Battletech models? Glad you asked! As an 85 ton assault ‘mech, the STK-3F Stalker is much bulkier and taller than either my Timber Wolf or CPLT-C1 Catapult. It stands (in the pose I gave it) at just a smidge under 10” tall compared to the Mad Cat/Timber Wolf’s 8” exactly and the Catapult’s 8.25”

This seems the perfect size to me, and after building this kit, I must say Thor’s Mechworks does, indeed, do great work. I will be ordering more kits from him in the future for certain.

I’ll have this bad boy painted up very soon here, though I’ve got some brainstorming to do for a color scheme. Keep your eyes peeled and stay tuned to Myomer Dreams for more updates!

A Few Wrinkles….

So as most of you know, I play Warhammer 40,000 in addition to being a stalwart fan of Battletech and Mechwarrior. In the last year or so, I’ve been working on multiple projects related to hobby modeling, as well as writing the rules for Battletech: Combined Arms, a 28mm scale Battletech game meant to complement the excellent models produced by Scott Murphy, Tim Fusco, Ravenstar Studios, SMT Kelly, and the now-outdated Armorcast.

While the game is, so far, not yet sanctioned by Topps or Catalyst Game Labs, the next stage of the project IS working out a publishing deal with them, and it will come to fruition fairly soon.

I’ve given a lot of thought to the rules of this game, however, and need to do some rewrites after analyzing the current state of miniature wargaming- I believe the initial rules are overcomplicated, and need to be smoothed out and toned down to attract new players and make gameplay more fun, and less unnecessarily complex. I should have another update for you guys in the near future here.

In other news, I finally got a Warhammer 40k game in with my Imperial Knights. In fact, it was the first Warhammer 40k game I have won in over five years…..and yet the victory was extraordinarily hollow. Imperial Knights are incredibly tough units, and, in my mind, overpowered in a standard 40k game. In fact…they require almost no tactical skill to use, and that worries me. While I do like winning now and again, I don’t want to just steamroll over my opponent- I’ve been on the receiving end of overpowered army lists far too often and know that it’s not fun to lose like that.

So while the models have turned out fantastically, and you can see pics on my Facebook page….I will likely be shelving these in favor of another 40k army that I’ll work on down the road.

My point in mentioning this is because Warhammer 40,000 is a great influence on my own game design. Now, I didn’t even remotely borrow any rules from 40k for Battletech: Combined Arms, but I am aiming for B:CA to compete with 40k directly. I want a game that players will want to play at tournaments, that suits casual gaming as well as competitive, and offers an exciting hobby in addition to a game. Hopefully with the coming rewrites I will be closer to that.

Other Projects:

Stalker- working on cleaning and sanding, should have assembly pics by Monday

Flea- need a pin vice and new base, won’t be able to make progress until next paycheck

Mad Cat MK II- Tim should be sending these out in the next few weeks, I look forward to the build.

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.