SubScale - Creating the Miniature World

Spartan Cowboy

2009-10-02T12:56:00.003-05:00

As some may know I've been working with a friend to develop a miniature skirmish game.
In this game, anything can happen. Romans v/s cybercops v/s wizards v/s aquatic dogmen... anything.

So I decided to add a little flair in my group of Cowboy miniatures by adding a converted Spartan.
The body is from Black Scorpion and the head is from a Reaper helmet set.

The Thomas Dolby Effect

2009-07-17T13:56:00.006-05:00

I've been putting together an Army for wargaming playtesting and wanted something with a 50's Sci-Fi B-movie feel. Reaper has recently come out with some scientist and there are a hand-full of doctors and scientist from other manufacturers so I created the Thomas Dolby Effect.

Most of the miniatures are Chronoscope. The Lab Tech is from Hasslefree and the Morgue Attendant is a Horrorclix fig. The Tesla Cannon is a converted $5 Tonka toy. It still has sounds and lights too.
I have many more to add to this army but at least I have enough to start playing.

Necrons

2009-03-30T09:45:00.007-05:00

I play Necrons. That is to say, I have Necrons. I’ve played just a couple of times but, for some reason, buying and painting my Necron army is more fun that playing them.
I like variety but the Necrons are known for their uniformity so I created a back-story to allow for more creative freedom. My main Necron Lord is called the Collector and he gathers the survivors from lost battles to his army. This allows the mishmash I was after.
Here is one from each of my three squads of warriors which chow their color diversity. I never was a fan of the Green rods for their Gauss guns so I replaced then with blue, yellow, and red ones.

The Immortals are nice, but they look too much like warriors so I created my own using an over the shoulder look using the old immortal blasters. Their gold is a little more striking that I would like, but I wanted to continue using different colors.

I do love the Monolith. I painted mine with color shifting paint which looks great in daylight but not so much indoors. I stole the idea from here. I also added a white LED below the center crystal.

And, of course, I needed the Collector. I’ve always liked the older Necron Lord best but I had to do something extra so I added a light. I replaced the Staff of Light with the same red rods I used for the warriors. I placed a small red LED in the base and allowed it to shine up through the new staff. It has a pretty cool effect. The resurrection orb is actually an Ice Breakers liquid breath mint. It looks cool, but if it breaks my mini will be minty fresh.

Like more 40k players I have only half my army painted and maybe one day I’ll finish them all.

Warlord Dire Bear

2008-09-30T13:00:00.003-05:00

This time I’m painting the Reaper Dire Bear from their Warlord line. I’m not good at fur because I think it looks so fake when painted but I gave it a shot.

Assembling this model was easy. The two arms required a little green stuff to fill the gaps but it was pretty easy to generate some fake fur at those spots. I primed the model with some very dark brown and dry brushed three different version of brown with some mud wash to blur the layers. Some touch up on the nose, paws and claws and some pink and white in the mouth and I’m done.

The figure is not bad but the picture is too bright. Taking pictures on my kitchen counter against a yellow wall with the flash is not the best option. If I’m going to keep photographing models I’ll need to build a nice photo booth and stop using the flash.

Funny Bunch

2008-09-23T22:43:00.002-05:00

This time I’m painting a pair of Reaper Hyenas. Pretty traditional here. I based coated one of them with Tanned Leather and the other with Amber Gold. Then, bring on the wash. GW has a new line of ready-use washes and I picked up the set earlier this year. I covered both of them with Devlan Mud which soaked into the recesses really bringing out the fur. I then mixed up a thin mix of Earth Brown and Brown Liner. I spotted the beasts and added some fur trimming to one of them. A added a little more liner to darken the mix and painted the faces. Some Amber Gold dry brushing over everything with a little thicker on the others trim. Light Yellow eyes and some Linen White teeth and its all over.
I’m not very good at painting fur, but the GW Washes are amazing for something like this. I should have spent more time preparing the models, but the end results is not bad for such a quick job.

Reaper Chronoscope - Col. Edward Titchener, British Officer

2008-09-21T22:30:00.003-05:00

I love the new Reaper Chronoscope line. For those who do not know, Reaper (well known for their fantasy miniatures, have created a non-fantasy, multi-genre miniatures line. Street thugs, cowboys, sci-fi troopers, even Sasquatch is hiding in there. I picked up just about every Chronoscope miniature they had at Gencon.
A friend of mine wants to create a Lost World themed miniature skirmish group and the British Officer from the Chronoscope line was a good fit.
When I get a new model I search for web for painted pictures to see how others have taken on the project (ahh, coolminiornot). Being so new I was unable to find a painted picture of this model but I was not without inspiration. The good Colonel has a striking resemblance to Van Pelt from the Jumanji. I wanted to darken this version up a little, but basically the same Khaki uniform theme complete with pith helmet.
While the figure is riddled with all kinds of details (canteen, pistol and holster, sword and sheath) the level of accuracy went downhill once I starting putting paint to metal. There were gaps and blurred seam lines between the extras and more flash that I would expect for such an early cast but all in all, it is a nice model and, like all Reaper models, it’s a total bargain.

Here he is, painted in Reaper paints with Reaper paint brushes. Any hidden brand loyalty?

The Velvet Vanguard

2008-09-17T12:14:00.003-05:00

Let’s start at the beginning.
In 2004 I started playing miniature wargames. I was introduced into the hobby with Necromunda, the Games Workshop forgotten stepchild. Like most all of my gaming choices, I chose my gang based on the models and I had a liking for the Van Saar figures. Having a background in model car building I used Testers Model Master Purple Pearl which I had purchased to make a tricked-out ’59 caddy hearse. I also used the Plaid Apple Barrel paints for the other colors. OK, not the best quality paint for this kind of thing, but I was just starting and did not know any better.
I named the Underhive gang after two Drum and Bugle corps: The Velvet Knights and the Santa Clara Vanguard. Here they are in their purple glory.