Some 15mm SciFi Recon Troopers

After interviewing Curt Campbell for the podcast a while back, I decided that I’d like another go at his Analogue Hobbies Painting Challenge, partly for the community, and partly because it’s a great incentive to be productive.  I’ve set myself a modest goal for this year, but have gotten three entries on the board so far.

Here are five 15mm SciFi troopers from Darkest Star Games.  DSG is a small but ambitious mini maker, that was recommended to be by Ivan of Nordic Weasel Games (@weasalnordic) when I asked on Twitter for some advice on sourcing 15mm SciFi figures.    I placed a small order, some humans and their humanoid canine (!!) allies to fight what I call my Space Kitties.  Readers with long memories may recall that in 2019 I started a SciFi project that was loosely modelled on Larry Niven’s Man-Kzin wars.   I knocked off a satisfying number of space cats, and then decided to back burner it while I looked for human figures for solo games.

Here’s the first contingent.

I had the idea of painting them in desert colours, using Citadel Zambezi Desert and Tallarn Sand as the main colours, while retaining sections of the dark undercoat to suggest segmented armour.  Vallejo German grey was also used for their clothing visible under the armour.

I wouldn’t want to use these in a stand-up fight but I could see them being used as Special Recon, in some SOF or LRDG role, the first to be inserted on an enemy occupied planet to scout landing zones, work with friendly indigenous inhabitants, attack high value infrastructure, that sort of thing.  All very sneaky beaky.  I gave them blue/white identifier markings on their shoulder armour, which I think is a pauldron if I remember rightly?  Which makes these guys almost Space Marines?  :)

Everybody I ever served with liked their unit patches, even on camo uniforms, and I don’t imagine the future will be any different.  Hopefully I’ll have more SciFi figures to show soon.

Thanks for looking. Blessings to your brushes!

Cheers,  MP+

The Canadian Wargamer Podcast Episode Ten Is Out!

  

In early January, my Pod Partner (hmm, that sounds awkward!) and I had a chance to speak with Jason Weiser, the genius behind Military Miniature, the first miniature wages magazine to be published in North America in almost a generation.   Jason had sent us a complimentary copy of their first edition, and we were quite impressed.  Here are the podcast notes.

In our January Episode, we speak with our guest Jason Weiser, the genius behind the first hobby magazine aimed at North American readers in twenty years!  Jason's been on a tour of all the posh podcasts, from Yorkshire  to the Great White North. We slaved in the studio to get this month's podcast ready just a day before the second edition of MM is released!   It's a nervy thing to do and we applaud the chutzpah of Jason and his team.   Listeners may recall that we talked with our guest Don Perrin about the demise of hobby magazines on this side of the Atlantic, so we wish the newcomer every success.

The interview begins at 14:45 in the podcast.  You can check out the magazine at https://militaryminiature.com and we encourage you to subscribe or at least order an issue.

Elsewhere in this podcast, James talks about getting the Russian Napoleonic army for Christmas, Mike talks about his problems and hopes in getting started in 3D printing, and we nervously cross our fingers as we discuss plans for Hot Lead 2022 in the Time of Omicron.    

Links for some of the stuff what we talk about:

Tadenac Games Canada:

@TadenacGames  tadenac.canada@gmail.com 

Legions IV Hire:

https://www.legionsivhire.ca/index.php?

Hot Lead 2022:

https://hotlead.ca

Our March Out this month is in honour of the Royal Canadian Navy and of ou Canuck wargamer friend, @Medical_Int (Cheers, Thomas!).  The HMCS Naden Band:

https://youtu.be/8YTl5jFnhPs

 

Contact Us:

Mike: madpadre@gmail.com

@MarshalLuigi

www.madpadrewargames.blogspot.com

James:

jamesmanto@gmail.com

@JamesManto4

www.rabbitsinmybasement.blogspot.com

 

28mm Foundry Victorian Civilians

Hello friends:

I can’t believe it’s almost the middle of January and I still have some finished projects from 2021 that I haven’t blogged here, so today I can offer these four Victorian ladies and gents from Foundry.

These minis were primed in Citadel Corax White and then painted with the Foundry tri-tone paint system, which I’m slowly feeling more comfortable with.  I’m happy with some of the colour gradients in the men’s suits and the blue dress.

These four were a test paint from several bags worth of Foundry’s Victorian civilian range.   I’m happy with them and plan to paint the rest for ACW (and my alt-ACW) tables.

Cheers and blessings to your brushes,

MP+

More 6mm Napoleonics: Baccus French

On the heels of my last post about 3D printed 6mm figures, here are some “old school” (do we call them that now?) cast metal 6mm Napoleonic French from Baccus that marched off the painting desk just before New Years.

 

The figures are Baccus code NFR02 French Elite Infantry 1806-1812.   I’ve painted them all with red hat plumes, cords, and epaulettes to make them easily distinguishable on the table top as an elite or veteran unit.  Flags are likewise from Baccus.

This is my standard base for 6mm foot or horse figures, and is the Base Width that I use for measuring if using Sam Mustafa’s LaSalle or Blucher rules.

I have a considerable stash of Baccus figures yet to paint - Bavarians as well as Revolutionary era French in bicornes, so I have lots to work on while I get the teething issues with my Elegoo Mars 3 printer sorted out.  Elegoo thinks the machine shipped with a defective LCD panel, which means the light came out everywhere and the print pattern was impossible.   They’re sending me a replacement part from China, so I may order a second machine to play with while I wait.

Cheers, and blessings you your brushes,

MP

 

6mm Napoleonics 3D Print Update

Happy New Year friends:

I hope that the year is off to a good start for you and yours.   Joy and I had plans for NYE which had to be sadly but prudently cancelled.  Here in Ontario the spread of Omicron is so rapid that the provincial health authority has given up on testing and contact tracing for the general public.   While we both have our three doses of vaccine, we decided to cocoon at home and have a low key start to the year, which meant that I got some figure painting done.

Several weeks ago I described here getting some 3D print 6mm Napoleonics from V, the owner of the local gaming store.   V really wants people to play LaSalle in 6mm with him, and while I have a large collection of old school metal 6mm Naps, I was intrigued to see how these figures would paint up.

They didn’t paint up badly at all.   Since these figures all have bicornes I painted them as Spanish.   As a painting guide, I used the Spanish 8th Regt. de Soria from The Wargaming Company’s Campaign Guide, To Assure My Dynasty: 1808 in Iberia, which is an excellent resource to b featured in another post. The 8th’s Fusilier uniforms are white, though there is some purple facing on the cuffs and tunics, but I doubt anyone will notice that on the table top.   

Front:

Back:

They are very well equipped and uniform for a Spanish army, but again, the 3’ rule applies, and is especially true of 6mm.  If one wants historically accurate and ragged individuals, 28mm is the place to go for that.

I’m rather proud of the handpainted flag.  As you can see from the rear stand below, the second rank of figures in each stand has very little detail on the front face, so other than the two figures at either end, I contented myself with painting the muskets, red hat cockades, and flesh for the faces.   Otherwise only the rear of the back rank figures required painting.

Just for fun, here’s a comparison shot of these two stands facing off against two stands of recently painted metal Baccus French figures.

If you didn’t know better, you might think that just from this shot, these two forces were from the same manufacturer.   Because the Baccus figures are cast in strips of four, they have 360 degree detail and can be painted individually, but again, looking down at the table while standing, I think the differences are minimal.

While I’m not sure that I would want a whole army of these particular printed troops, there are definitely producers out there who are doing 6mm 3D files in luscious detail.  I have my eye firmly on Turner Miniatures, for example, and hope to get some of their sample figures printed as soon as I get the teething issues with my new machine sorted.  That’s another post, so for now I’ll wish once again wish you a happy, and happier, new year.

May God bless and keep us all in what lies ahead, and give us good gaming and friendship.

Cheers,  MP