Sunday, December 31, 2023

31DEC23 Haydon Commando Pt. 3

 Figured I'd put in the good shots I took of these here in the last hour and a half (at time of writing) of 2023!  I need correct what I mentioned, you can only get the STL files through Kickstarter (we'll see if Mad Robot has any coming up)!  However, their resin casting is pretty top notch.  You can order a complete squad (10) or fireteam (5) troopers.  Just look for these specific items to match my build if you like: beret heads, heavy field packs, Haydon Pattern Las Rifles, Commando Torsos, Commando Standing Legs, and Commando Arms.

As far as seeking advice for how to paint DPM, and for that matter US M81 Woodland, I found the following blogs handy:

Tim's Miniature Wargaming Blog (for DPM) from 08OCT08

Arcadia Prime (M81 Woodland) from 11FEB13

Both contained helpful, common sense, ideas on these patterns that worked out just fine for both of these patterns in 28mm.

"Alright Lads, lets give these Xenos, Traitors, and Heretics a rough go!"






So, prior to painting the Haydon Commando Paras above, I painted the "Rescue Team" (not assassins) below, following along pretty faithfully to Arcadia Prime's article linked above.  I need to find better photos of the Woodland, but it turned out just fine for this scale.

The Major

The Tracker

The Suit

The Heavy Fire Power

The Long Distance Connection

"If it bleeds, we can Cleanse and Purge it." -The Major

Saturday, December 30, 2023

30DEC23 Haydon Commandos Pt. 2


Figured I would start off with a photo of the nearly finished leader (in my mind, an NCO like a Sargent or Corpral equivalent).

My attempt to capture a 28mm scale UK DPM temperate climate pattern camo was...  Pretty OK.  Looks like my M81 Woodland in he same scale!  

Color selection for the major parts:
Medium flesh and black to pick out face, hands, an the headband of the berets.
Just that little touch of black went a long way!
Forest green kicked off the start of the DPM splotches on the base of plaid bone.  
Followed by burnt umber.  Here I realized I hadn't added enough mid and high lights!
So I went with more khaki earlier, over the darker areas and the gators over the boots (as planned initially).  I probably should have started on the khaki as a base coat, this paint is translucent enough!
Back to black for camo splotches and picking details like buckles.
Hippo gray made good Las barrels, scopes, and battery mags.
Ivory was applied to the patches and lenses.

Finally, I went back and detailed with every color and few others to tighten things up and finish.

Friday, December 29, 2023

29DEC23 Haydon Commando paiting, base coating

Been a while!  Earlier this year I got an Elegoo Mars 2 Pro resin SLA pinter and really took of 3D printing miniatures.  Mostly through MyMiniFactory purchases, Patreon support of artists, or in this case a Kickstater campaign by Mad Robot Miniatures.

Haydon Commandos are clearly inspired by British Royal Commandos, but just as easily the Para Regiment as well.  My choice is clear with the red berets of the Paras in lieu of the green Commando.

After assembling the miniatures I primed with a dark brown camo spray paint that matches burnt umber near perfectly.  I followed this up with dry brushing raw sienna as a mid tone, and ivory as a highlight completing my basic underpainting.

As you can see, nothing fancy here.  Inexpensive camo spray paint, and cheap craft store acrylics.  Results were great, my photographs are terrible!
Now, the more expensive paint, Army Painter Speedpaints.  Here are my paint selections and what I painted with each:
Made a great khaki base
Missed the web gear with this color in this shot...

After painting the web belts, I used Mr. Super Clear Matt to seal the speedpaints before proceeding to apply regular acrylics.  Part 2 forthcoming.

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

18OCT2023 "Phantom of the Usurper" an Alpha Strike Scenario

 Has it truly been THAT long since I published anything?  Shame on me...  I blame social media for the distraction!

This last Sunday, my local gaming group (well, myself, my sons, and two of my wargamer friends) all got together and played a modified Alpha Strike (a streamlined Battletech game allowing for more mechs on the table without taking three weeks to play a company level combined arms engagement...) scenario.  I took the Alpha Strike: Commanders Edition book, and the King of the Hill scenario, and modified it to fit our local lore.

I will be adding this to my files section here shortly (Phantom of the Usurper!).


Above is the "Hill" objective, well, okay, the center marked "1" is the actual objective.  Around it, are three 'anomalies' that need to inspected real close to figure out what they are (markers "2-4").  There are some narrative elements in the scenario, so it's best run with a Game Master/Referee.  I think this would make a perfect party game, especially in October.


Here is the set-up, and the player's first move.  I had four players, each commanding a 300 point force and forming two teams of 600 points.  So, there was some interesting player dynamics going on as my two sons faced off against my two very experienced wargaming buddies.  Part of the modification was the elimination of the 12" deployment zone on the ends of the table.  I wanted the first move to be onto the table.  It added some extra time, and didn't allow any one side to get too close to the Hill on the first turn with speedy light mechs.  Also note the manner in which the hills were placed to prevent easy access by non-jump capable mechs, and any ground vehicles.  This was an important part of the scenario!

We ended up going six full turns!  I took a few hours, about 4 or so, however there loads of tangential sidebar giant robot science fiction conversations, so it was all good and fun!

Tuesday, January 5, 2021

05JAN21 - Paper Sentinel Build Video


In tune with my papercraft armor as of late, the above is my video slide show of my build process with photos I took to document my build on the Zealot forum.  No music yet, and not narrative either as I'm slowly learning Shotcut and creating these kinds of videos to grow my channel as my hobby video channel!



Finished product here for all to see!



Monday, January 4, 2021

04JAN2021 - Stryker Interior Detailing! A decade of WIP...

 So, my most recent posting about my 1:35 AFV Club TACP Stryker build was all the way back in June of 2009...  That is 10.5 years ago, but lets round up...  errr...  Okay, maybe not...  OUCH!

Well, during that time, I am glad it sat on shelves and in boxes, not touched.  I discovered some much needed details I wanted to add from the start 12 years ago when I bought the kit in the first place.  Namely, interior details by Black Dog models out of the Czech Republic on Amazon.  I am going to modify the M1126 interior detail kit to suit my memory and reference photos of the M1130 I lived in for a time.  Sure, not all of the details are going to be present, but that is fine with me (and Operations Security [OPSEC]).  90% of what I remember is there, albeit in a slightly different location.  Not a problem what so ever really.  I'm not going for 100% gnats arse accuracy, just general shapes on the inside.  Most of my issues are going to be covered up by aramid (Kevlar as a brand name of the ballistic cloth) blankets on the floor of the Stryker anyway.

After some grinding, and forgive me for not getting dimensions from starting to finish... I forget how long ago I found the Black Dog interior kit (years, like five or so...) and I started the process with my rotary tool way back then...  I finished with a rasp and some rough sand paper last night.






As you can see, not everything fits perfectly.  This is my fault alone as I am taking an M1126 detail kit to a completely different kit and modifying it.  Such a gap, as shown with my calipers, is going to be largely out of view.  Sure, I intend to make the top and bottom mate with magnets to show details; but like I said, we used A LOT of Kevlar blankets on the floor of the Strykers when we rolled out.  Such gaps are easily hidden with legitimate stacks of rations, ammo cans, and Kevlar blankets, even near the escape hatch.  There is a reason Stryker Brigades kept soldiers alive more than other units until other mine resistant vehicles came online.  


Friday, January 1, 2021

01JAN2021 Paper BMP continued (Part III)

 As promised, albeit too many months later (and at 2AM on the first day of a new year), I have returned to bring some more paper craft goodness to the blog.

Today, I'm going to show some photos of my laminating process and some of the details that worked, and some that didn't go as planned...



Figured I'd show a couple things that didn't initially go well, namely the vents.  For these I attempted to use regular typing paper of my templates and slice slots where I would insert a flat object while the paper was wet and drying on the hull.  It sorta looks like vents, that got stomped on by a careless soldier during a hail storm...  Yeah, I'll find a way to make good looking paper vents...  Someday...  Until then, don't do this.





Next up, this is what worked.  I guessed, and made a good assumption, about the thickness of card the next few details needed to be when they got glued onto the hull, and on top of each other.  Wicked simple, realistic, and just damn good looking.  Sometimes you just have to wing it and guess how thick you want each layer in a detail to be, or replace the paper with a found object like a cotton swab stick, toothpick section, or candy stick (for cylinders).  Next up I used a toothpick to carefully dab a drop of glue onto each rivet head detail of each layer of detail.  Again, you have to think ahead a few parts and try to add such rivets to the lower level of lamination before adding parts on top, otherwise you might not be able come back and get those rivets in place because your tool wont fit in some spots!







Tracks were pretty easy and strait forward, just tedious.  I cut out the strip on a single sheet of index card stock for the base of the track.  For each tread, I cut a strip from my cereal box stock the with of the tread pad, and then cut hundreds of strips to glue into place on the track before wrapping them around the road wheel/drive/idler assembly (thankfully those weren't individual details as well...).







Finally, we get to start making magic happen.  Here I used a dark burnt umber while assembling to get the lower recesses that gave me a hard time the first time I built this model (seen in the background in a few places).  By the time I got to the third one, I just left the tracks assemblies off completely until everything was painted!  Learning to think ahead by pre-assembling saves time later as you find these recessed areas and pre-paint before assembly (especially the insides of gun barrels and exhaust tubes...).