Posts Tagged ‘Pig Iron’

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It’s ruined!

July 21, 2014

I’m getting back to painting after one of my hobby-uninspired periods (see this blog post from four years ago). Sort of like exercise, you have to ease yourself into it after a break, so I figured I’d start easy and built a few ruins for my Pacific Rim project. After all, those cities are going to be hit and wrecked, so I’ll need plenty of replacement pieces for destroyed buildings.

After buying a bunch of Monsterpocalypse buildings and popping them off their bases, I was left with plenty of empty plastic bases which I didn’t feel like throwing away. These provided a great base for ruins. I then simply slapped on rubbish – mainly plasticard cut-offs, sprue pieces, sand and small rocks, undercoated with black and gave the whole thing a quick drybrush treatment. They turned out quite nice, and I wasn’t going for beautiful diorama pieces anyway as they’re rather just glorified tokens.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

The pieces work nicely on the battlefield. Here’s a shot of the kaiju Knifehead with one of the ruins. I like the way the base fits in!

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

As and added bonus you can combine them and they work well with 28mm too, which is always a good thing:

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Setting up the mini diorama above prompted me to throw together some ruins, Knifehead and some of my city terrain and smoke pieces to show you what it’s meant to look like eventually:

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

As always, all comments welcome!

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Killer elite

October 9, 2013

With the little time I’ve been able to devote to hobby activities, I’ve unsurprisingly been working on some more Utopia related minis. While my painting work on the Pig Iron Heavy infantry (see the previous two posts) continues, I’ve also done some converting. You know how it goes, “I’ll just take a look at this plastic kit…hmmm..oh, this gives me an idea!”

This time the kit in question was DreamForge Games’ set of Eisenkern Stormtroopers, produced by Wargames Factory. Like the major part of my current scifi stuff, I picked these up at Salute this year. After finally opening the box, I was struck by the quality of the set – crisp castings, not too many mould lines and so on. Like I remarked when I bought these, I’m not keen on the whole space nazi look. Luckily I had a bunch of extra Pig Iron System trooper heads, so a few quick headswaps later my Stormtroopers had an all new look. 

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

I think the end result is pretty nice! They look lean and mean, the Pig Iron heads work a treat and I can easily imagine them being elite, high-tech troopers – you know, cloaking technology and the like. I also gave one of the troopers a heavier weapon taken from the Defiance Games UAMC set. In the marine set the gun is a support weapon, so I think the Stormtrooper using it as a heavy assault rifle emphasizes their bad-assery. I gave the trooper some shoulder pads as well to make him bulkier – he’s the team “heavy”.

What do you think, dear readers?

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From the painting desk #24 – Ethnic diversity

September 22, 2013

Finished another three of Pig Iron’s Heavy infantry. I hate batch/assembly line painting, so I try to do my best to keep it interesting. This usually results in me adding different ethnicities in units. It not only makes the unit look more interesting, but also better reflects real world and my scifi visions. While WH40K’s Space Marines might be a race of genetically enhanced super-Aryans, I like to make my units a bit more multi-cultural. To illustrate, in 2008 Black and Hispanic members made up over a third of the US Army, and I think the diversity has been, is and will be on the increase.

Realism aside, it serves to break up the monotony of a unit wearing the same armour and BDUs. In the latest group of three, I picked three different skin colours. One was my regular caucasian skin tone, one a reddish mid-range brown and one a very dark brown.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

In my opinion the end result is quite nice, what do you think?

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From the painting desk #23 – OPFOR

September 7, 2013

I’m slowly getting my painting groove back on, which means I finally finished a few models. They’re both Heavy infantry by Pig Iron Productions, a part of their mighty fine science fiction range. Like most of my scifi stuff, they’ll find use in my Utopia project. The Pig Iron minis will represent the heavy infantry of the Outer Colonies, a counterpart to the UTOPIA troopers the players are commanding.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

I used the casualty miniature to test the colour scheme. I wanted something very down to earth, so used a combination of browns and grays. In order to keep them from not looking too monotonous, I added a simple horizontal stripe camouflage. Another reason for the simple camo choice was that I wanted to keep these guys quick to paint. A lot of both models is painted using drybrushing and washes, with scratches in the armour and the camo adding extra detail. The casualty won’t be based, I just put him on a base to ease photography.

A special mention must go to the flag patches. To go with the typical “opposing force is always red” mentality, I was about the make the flag red as well. Luckily I decided to ask a non-gamer friend what she thought would look cool. “Maybe try green, with some yellow?” she said, and that I did. I love how it turned out, as the green really pops from the muted overall look.

The Pig Iron minis are a joy to paint. They have a lovely simplicity to them, reminiscent of Mark Copplestone’s work. As Mr. Copplestone is one of my all time favourites, this is high praise indeed.

As always, comments and critique welcome!

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Salute shopping

May 20, 2013

I promised to do a breakdown of what I bought at Salute, so here it is – a month after Salute due to all sorts of hassles. I’ve also listed my intentions for their use, to show they were perfectly sensible purchases aimed at use in games of Utopia. As photographing them all would’ve been a bit of a chore, I’ve used photos from the manufacturers’ websites.

In no particular order:

Time Lift Security by Crooked Dice

I’ve liked these miniatures since their release, but never got around to buying them. They’ll be painted with a paint scheme more toned down and less retro scifi, and they’ll be used as generic security guards.

Click for a larger version, photo © Crooked Dice

Click for a larger version, photo © Crooked Dice

Click for a larger version, photo © Crooked Dice

Click for a larger version, photo © Crooked Dice

Get the Time Lift Security here.

Station crew by Ainsty Castings

I’m always on the lookout for good, generic scifi civilians, and these guys fit the bill nicely. They’ll find plenty of use, milling around scientific complexes, battlefields and other places they’re likely to be shot at or otherwise attacked.

Photo © Ainsty Castings

Photo © Ainsty Castings

You can find the station crew here.

Eisenkern rifle squad by Dreamforge Games

This is another set I’ve been eyeing for quite some time. These heavily armoured shocktroopers will probably become high class PMCs or Union of Terra special forces. I’m not too keen on the whole space nazi look, so headswaps are probably on the way.

Click for a larger version, photo © Dreamforge Games/Wargames Factory

Click for a larger version, photo © Dreamforge Games/Wargames Factory

The rifle squad is available here.

Troopers, officer and inspectors by Heresy Miniatures

Yet more sets of miniatures I’ve had my eye on for a long time (starting to see a pattern here). The troopers are a welcome addition to my pool of generic scifi infantry, the officer was nice enough to warrant a spur of the moment purchase and the inspectors are some of my all time favourite models. In fact, I’ve previously bought one of them, shown painted and converted here. They’ll serve plenty of generic roles, I’m sure.

© Heresy Miniatures

Photo © Heresy Miniatures

Photo © Heresy Miniatures

Photo © Heresy Miniatures

Click for a larger version, photo © Heresy Miniatures

Click for a larger version, photo © Heresy Miniatures

You can get all the minis shown from Heresy’s online store.

Resistance fighters by Statuesque Miniatures

I’ve had my eye on…for Utopia..blah blah. Same story as before. These are some of the finest miniatures sculpted in recent years. They’re actually nice enough to go into the “minis I want to buy even if there’s no use for them” category. Luckily they’ll fit my games nicely. I also bought a pack of spare heads, since I need some more female troopers. The sniper will likely be painted in Colonial Marine colours, for when our current sniper croaks.

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Photo © Statuesque Miniatures

resistance

Click for a larger version, photo © Statuesque Miniatures

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Photo © Statuesque Miniatures

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Photo © Statuesque Miniatures

All of these lovely ladies can be bought directly from Statuesque Miniatures.

Heavy infantry by Pig Iron Productions

Yet another long time want, I ended up buying a whole lot of these at Salute. Actually, I only bought two packs originally, and then mentioned this to a certain frothery badger.

“Oh, I’ve a box of those I’m looking to unload!” he said.

“I’m running out of cash!” I said.

“No stress mate. It’s a great deal though!” he said.

“I’ll hit the ATM.” I said.

And so I’m now an owner of a sizable force of yet more scifi infantry – it was a great deal though. These fellows will likely serve in Utopia as Terran Union infantry.

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Click for a larger version, photo © Pig Iron Productions

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Click for a larger version, photo © Pig Iron Productions

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Click for a larger version, photo © Pig Iron Productions

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Click for a larger version, photo © Pig Iron Productions

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Click for a larger version, photo © Pig Iron Productions

Hungry for more? Go check out Pig Iron Productions.

Dog tents by Renedra

With lots and lots of new troopers, I better have a place for them to sleep in. Renedra had these small plastic tents on sale, so I bought a few packs.

Click for a larger version, photo © Renedra Limited

Click for a larger version, photo © Renedra Limited

These and more are available in the Renedra webstore.

Tokens by Litko

We frequently tend to run into situations where we need various tokens and counters in games of Utopia. We’ve been using a variety of dice, washers and whatnot, but I’ve been eyeing some groovy plastic ones for a while now. A retailer was stocking these wonderful Litko counters at Salute, so I picked up a few bags – one of overwatch counters and another of casualty markers. The casualty ones have already seen use in games of DnD!

Photo © Litko

Photo © Litko

Photo © Litko

Photo © Litko

If those look tasty, take a look at Litko’s site, there’s plenty more!

Phew, if I’m not far wrong, that’s pretty much what I picked up…no, wait, I did pick up a Platformer construction set from Artemis Black, but this post has gone on long enough, so I’ll leave it at that.

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From the painting desk #21 – More Utopia

April 14, 2013

Wow, this is actually my 250th post. While the blog hasn’t been updated as frequently as before, I ensure you it’s still going strong. As the blog now has a quarter of a thousand posts, I figured I’d give you a look at what’s up.

As you can’t have failed to notice, I’ve been running a near future military scifi campaign for a while now. With seven games played (AAR #7 coming soon!) this is the longest campaign I’ve run in good long while, and both I and the players have really enjoyed it. You can find the associated posts by checking out everything tagged Utopia. The campaign has not only allowed me to use a lot of my miniatures, but also has really inspired me to paint minis and build terrain a lot. Deadlines help too!

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Anyway, it’s on with the minis in chronological order. First up is a hunting beast for my Predators. The miniature is actually a hellhound by Heresy with the choice of a skeletal head. I really liked the idea of Predators using dog-like hunting creatures as shown in the Predators film. This one’s by no means a full match, but I think it looks fearsome and alien enough. Like practically all of the Heresy multipart minis, I had plenty of work getting the hound to a paintable state. There were some heavy mould lines and the fit of the parts really wasn’t stellar. After I’d all but finished painting it, I found out to my delight that I’d missed a glaring mould line on the hound’s side. As I didn’t want to ruin the paintjob, I painted some scarring over it, which I think turned out nice.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Next up is a conversion. While originally painted for Utopia, this fellow hasn’t appeared on the field so far. It’s actually the late-ish Pvt. Jane, who was captured fighting the Terminators. As you can see, he has been subjected to horrible experimentation and has been made into a cyborg. The model is a warbot from Pig Iron Productions with a head from Puppetswar and a minigun from Maxmini. I think the parts work nicely together and combine well to make a really intimidating figure. The paintjob is super simple, with basically just washes and drybrushing on the bulk. I paid more attention to the face, and I think it turned out looking pretty good. That resin head is pretty awesome, and I basically made this conversion just so I could justify buying the head…

L to R: Trill, Cohl, Abdul, Dastevan. Click for a larger version

L to R: Trill, Cohl, Abdul, Dastevan. Click for a larger version

Up next is a bunch of Utopia troopers – Trill, Cohl, Abdul and Dastevan. Nothing too special here, they were all given my typical trooper treatment. Trill is a Hasslefree mini, Cohl is a SWAT sniper from Foundry and Abdul and Dastevan are both from em4. I think Cohl is a good example of how a paint job can really change the way a model looks.

Click for a larger version

Click for a larger version

Topping off the post is General Hyun – set to appear in the upcoming Utopia AAR #7. Hyun is a Copplestone Castings miniature and I’m really really happy with him. Somehow those greys just turned out lovely and the uniform looks very crisp. I rarely get the feeling that I really nailed a mini, but with this one I’m patting my own back. Please refrain from posting ego-crushing comments!