Odds and ends – Deathwatch Marines, Spugs and Godlike Pilots

I’ve been pretty busy lately but still have found the time to paint some minis.

Deathwatch – I painted these Deathwatch Space Marines in a fit of enthusiasm for the new RPG. They’re based on the pre-generated characters in the Free RPG Day Deathwatch adventure.

We’ve got a Blood Angels Devastator, an Ultramarine Apothecary, and a Space Wolves Tactical Marine.

This Space Wolf is a minor conversion. The head was bald but I molded some hair on with some putty.

I used shoulder pad decals for the Blood Angel and Ultramarine, but didn’t have any for the Space Wolf, so I painted his insignia on free-hand.

Next up, a test paint of a Spriggan Spug Warrior. I’ve been meaning to invest in a platoon of these guys for Stargrunt. I wasn’t so happy with my first color scheme, which was a lighter blue. This final blue came out all right. At first I painted the eyes green, but the red looks better I think. I dunno, I’m not lovin’ that blue as much as I would like.

And finally, the minis I’m using in my Godlike RPG scenario. The characters are pilots, or they can fly (yes, it’s that kind of game).

The Marine is by Reaper, and the pilots are from the Hasegawa 1/48 scale WWII Pilot Figure Set. I’m struck by how close the plastic pilot figures are in size to the metal Marine. I might look further into using 1/48 scale plastic models as sources for stuff for my 28mm gaming.

I did a quick job on these dudes, and while not the best, they’ll serve my needs quite well. I was pleased with how they came out, especially the Marine. I tried to do the 1943 camo pattern on his shirt – looks kinda crap up close but at table distance, no problem.

And I realize I forgot to take some pics of all the 1/300 scale planes I painted up for this game as well! Oh, well, I’ll save it for tomorrow.

New acquisitions and WIP

I went to EndGame, Oakland’s 2nd Annual Miniatures Bazaar on Saturday. It didn’t seem as varied as last year – perhaps everyone sold off a lot of stuff last go-round? Anyway, only Josh had any real variety (the rest being almost entirely GW stuff), and he had some good stuff!

The first good deal I got was these Old Crow Lancers. One assembled, the other still bagged, for $15 for both (they’re normally $32 each less shipping). These will definitely be making an appearance in our Stargrunt games!

Also from Josh, I picked up a boxed set of the old Starship Troopers Cougar Exosuits, which are now quite hard to find and expensive when you do find them. $10 for the set. Unfortunately, it had 5 right arms and 3 left arms (there are 4 exosuits). Mongoose quality control FAIL! I’ll figure something out though. I really like these minis – the exosuits are some of the best power armor in 28mm ever made, even if Mongoose did make them.

And now for something completely different – I am also an avid RPG player and I picked up some Hasegawa 1/48 scale pilot figures for a game called Godlike (it’s a WW2 game with super powers, kinda like X-Men meets Saving Private Ryan). I sometimes use minis for this game, and these figures will be used to represent player-characters in the game. I’ve stuck them on their bases and prepping them for priming.

That guy on the right there is obviously not part of the set. He’s U.S. Marine by Reaper Miniatures I believe, though I’ve forgotten the exact title.

All four of these guys will see some paint in the very near future.

Finally, I bummed a couple Cthulhu figurines off my friend Wayne. These dudes are made by FFG and I’m going to put the big one on top of my alien pyramid when I finish it. The smaller ones maybe go on the corners.

And finally, I’m working on a Spug warrior from Spriggan Miniatures. Just trying to get a color scheme down. No picture yet – I’ll post one when it’s done. Painting up a force of Spugs is going to be my next big project once I clean up all these little ones.

In the works

My project list has begun to grow again. I realized I would need to either build my own jungle temple for our Stargrunt bug hunt game or buy one. After much searching I did find a very very nice looking temple set that fit the bill perfectly, by Stonehouse Miniatures. The one I want is $75…

So, I figured I’d try building one first. I sketched up some plans, so my idea is firm. Then my buddy Chris suggested using the super cool Hirst Arts molds. I borrowed a set from him and I’m now considering my next step as a miniatures brick maker. If this fails or proves to be too much of a hassle, I can go with a faster and dirtier construction method (basically just building a couple of boxes and hitting them with spackling putty), or plunking down the 75 ducats for the Stonehouse model.

In other news, I’ve been inspired by Stephen, our most recent Stargrunt convert, to invest in the Spug Army Deal available from Rattlehead. The minis themselves are made by Spriggan and they do rock!

Actually, it was either $75 for the temple or for the Spugs. Deciding to build the temple and buy the Spugs was just me putting faith in my craft skills. We’ll see…

The Deal

When it comes to miniatures (and let’s face it, most of my hobbies), I find myself having to wheel and deal with my wife before (or sometimes after – usually after) I buy something. These days, the deal is, I can buy whatever miniatures I want as long as I paint them all before I buy more.

Now I know any self-respecting minis fan has piles of unpainted lead piled up. I mean, something cool catches your eye and you’ve just got to have it – now! Buying stuff and not painting it is just a normal condition for you and me.

Then again, when I think of this deal with my wife, it’s not that bad. As long as I paint what I have before I buy more, I can get whatever I want. Pretty good incentive to paint!

Seeing as how I want to get a force of Spriggan’s Spugs, I’m driven to finish up my WIP eM4 Spacelords!