Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Forestieri 01

 

As I've already mentioned, one of the nicer things to happen lately have been how the local nerd shops are stocking models I like. This has recently included 30 Minutes Missions kits, and we look at one of those today. 

 

So, the Forestieri 01. This is characterised as a drone in universe, and as a project demonstrates how 30mm has changed in the last year or so. Conceptually, we're looking at a no fuss kit with two weapons and a Roy Roy, basically an Alto but smaller. It's uses the Spinatio joint sprue, which is both good for hands and seemingly the new standard. Where the Forestieri 01 starts to feel different in how these joints re used and overall runner layout. It omits the swing-out shoulder joint, which makes it slightly less nimble, and there a few duplicated runners of small size. It's not as elegantly organised as older kits. That said, its got both a gun and a beam saber, and the armour gimmick seems to have fallen by the wayside, so it's more feature complete than some. Plastic colours are also remixed a fair bit, with white weapons, and none of that gunmetal grey. In terms of overall vibe, I'm put in mind of Virtual On with its use of translucent plastic, white, and polygonal shapes. With the head and proportions though, I'm reminded of a rodent or possibly a kangaroo. I went for a straightforward build, with some light weathering. As always, it's a lovely therapeutic experience, where Bandai's collective talents in model kit design is evident. 

 

This was largely a palate-cleanser project, so there’s not a huge amount to say. I gently weathered the kit, and had a good time of it.

 

 

Transformers: Legacy G2 Universe Jhiaxus is Something That Exists

Jhiaxus' wiki profile picture

I don't think it's controversial to suggest that British writer Simon Furman was the main reason people liked the Marvel Transformers comic. This is not to downplay, or throw shade at, other creatives like Bob Budianski. Furman's long form narratives and characterisation are a big part of why the comics have aged better than the cartoon. For a time, Furman was the pet writer of the fandom, his presence adding prestige to many a project. However, Simon Furman has slowly aged into the Embarrassing Grandad of the brand, his presence being akin to that of Arnold Swatzengger in an action film made after True Lies. While he did good work back in the day, he needs to retire. And if you see him approach gender issues or Arcee? For primus' sake, rugby tackle him to the ground for the common good. Furman, I mean, not Arnie. Arnie's still mostly OK I think, and while the dude is in his 60's, I wouldn't want to try my luck. 

 

The 2003 Robots in Disguise Jhiaxus toy  

 The 2014 Generations Jhiaxus toy

Jhiaxus has the distinction of being one of Furman's more singular creations, created specifically for the Generation 2 comics series as a non-toy character. A noted bastard with a punny name, Jhiaxus was a Decepticon whom ran off to found a galactic empire during that 4 million gap, under Leige Maximo, a character whom eventually become important in the deep lore sense. Jhiaxus served as the primary antagonist of the comic series, gradually loosing his grip until he famously punched the mouthplate right off Optimus Prime. That is not hyperbole, its what he actually did. Jhiaxus having made his mark, made an unprecedented jump to plastic with a 2001 repaint, although it was something of a nameslap. Furman would bring the character back in a more of a mad scientist role, giving us the deeply troubling Spotlight: Arcee, a comic which IDW spent a lot time course correcting from. You can look that up yourself, but the misogynistic and transphobic themes put me off the man. This somehow didn't stop Jhiaxus from getting another toy in 2014, a retool of the concurrent Armada Starscream. That's not a bad toy, it does a lot with the retooling that it didn't need to, but it's more a melange than a specific Jhiaxus. Finally, we come to today's subject, Legacy Jhiaxus. Which, against the odds, is very definitely the G2 version. Although it may become someone else. 

 

So, let's start with the weakest aspect of it, the jet mode. As a comic first character, Jhiaxus' altmode was rarely seen and not especially well thought-out. It was a Cybertronian jet, but it wasn't immediately clear how he got there. They could have gone for a shellformer approach to replicate that, but they instead followed the visual cues of the robot mode, and extrapolated from there. So, what we have is a seeker-styled form in white & yellow with green bat wings. It is not, in the strictest sense, hugely good. The arms are just hanging out the underside and the translucent cockpit area serves the highlight a few flaws. Like the head. The general appearance of this form makes me wonder if this guy is sharing engineering with another toy, and put me off buying this until the price was right. In fact, I had a suspicion before this toy was revealed that history would repeat, and this would be a retool of Starscream again. This obviously proved to be incorrect, and given some legitimately clever touches in the leg transformation, I find myself wondering if this is purpose built, rather than merely optimised for reuse, but I honestly don't know at time of writing. Idle speculation aside, the mode is rough around the edges, but functional. Jhiaxus confirms to Siege standard 5mm ports and guns, with an undocumented feature involving his shoulder pylon. Is this alt mode good enough to stand on its own, within the voyager price point? Honestly no. You'd have to be a very lovestruck fan boy to say otherwise. But, there are other merits to this toy. 

 

Putting Jhiaxus into robot mode reveals where they put the budget, and it was money well spent. It's like Derrick Yanniger’s art just leapt off the page, personifying that seeker-but-also-a-beef-mountain build that G2 Jhiaxus had. I mean, just look at him. It's the new gold standard for such things, clean, minimal hollowed out bits, and modern touches like flight stand compatible ports worked unobtrusively into the sculpt. But then, a question presented itself, is this actually a good robot mode? Or is just a pretty one that traded its alt mode for steroids? Well, let's think about that. Legacy, to the best of my knowledge does not do bad robot modes. Since Siege there has been a lot of standardisation with respects to articulation and the 5mm port system, with toys moving the same way and having accessory options. While there is the occasional stinker, the baseline is pretty high these days, so is Jhiaxus doing enough to keep pace, and excuse the jet mode? Well, he's got nothing to apologise for, and opening hands. His construction tends towards universal joints rather ball & socket joints, but these are all well-executed. Posing is something that comes quite easily, with the hands presenting opportunities usually not available to mass market Transformers. The two guns he have also suit him very well, a large rifle and submachine gun for varied murder. It is a good robot mode, and certainly one that will please fans. Is it good enough to make you forget the jet mode? Well, dear reader, I think you're gonna have to make your own mind up on that one. 

 

My point? Only that Legacy Jhiaxus is something that exists. He's some distance from a great toy, but what he does well, he does very well. Also: Trans Rights are Human Rights.

Revisiting Gundam: The 08th MS Team

As I have mentioned before, there is an official Gundam Youtube Channel. It has free Gundam anime on it. What it actually has up at the moment can be a bit of a dice roll, wth stuff being rotated in and out. What is up at time of writing is the late 90’s OVA, Gundam: The 08th MS Team. Well, most of it. They haven’t added episode 12, for some reason, but no matter. 08th MS Team set during the timeline of the original Gundam show, The One Year War, focusing mainly on land combat in South East Asia, and the exploits of a fairly mundane unit fighting for the Federation. Its a personal fave of mine, but I hadn’t seen it in donkey’s years, and here we are.

So here is the thing about 08th MS Team, its doing two rather different things at once, and people tend to only talk about one of those things. The anime is known for being a generally grounded attempt at military realism. There's no child soldiers, just a lot of actual soldiers trying to get on with it. On first impressions, it ends up feeling lighter in tone than some Gundam media as its characters are neither miserable or overtly unsuited for combat, but it is still a war story, so things don't stay that way. Playing into that is the series' main mecha, a limited production, ground combat only variant on the old RX78-2. Its a very "tacticool" design, rationalising the core fighter out of the machine, and adding broadly sensible stuff like its distinctive shield and stowage backpack. It is treated as a good but mundane weapon of war. And one with limited spares, so the three identical machines of the 08th become unique as stuff breaks. This, along with generally good execution, means that the series is highly regarded by military types, and has a solid claim on "best action sequence in Gundam". That's in episode 10 BTW. The other thing it's doing though is the "Star-crossed Lovers" style of romantic tragedy, which isn’t immediately obvious from the gunpla or promotional images. This is evident from approximately 8 minutes into episode 1, when protagonist Shiro Amada meets his love interest Aina Sahalin, and they are on opposite sides of the One Year War. It's something of a tonal mismatch, and brings a number of anime tropes that don't play nice with military realism, like a secondary love interest, Kiki Rosita, whom is girl trope central. On the whole, 08th becomes more of a standard Gundam melodrama as it goes on, and that is not necessarily what the armchair generals are here for. It's tempting to point a finger at the production history as a cause for this, as if you replace both Director and Writer at the same time, it looks like some creative difficulties happened. Then again, this went down 20 years ago, and I don't speak Japanese, so I won't speculate further. Anyway, to stress my point, this anime is doing two things might be considered mutually exclusive, and most people are gonna like one aspect more than the other. However, this anime is doing what would count as military realism in the retro-future, Tominio making up a genre as he went, space nazi robot fight, hey, why is that dude in a mask? that is the Universal Century setting. Its not a mismatch so much as working with what you have. To put it another way, it is a war story with good character and robot bits. But it is also an anime where two people make a light saber hot-spring atop a mountain. It does go places that your average war diary doesn’t usually go. 

 

To illustrate this, I want to talk about Shiro for a bit, then Aina. First and foremost about Shiro, he's a nice guy, knows the job, and cares about those under his command. He's not a gifted pilot, but he has balls so big a mobile suit was probably necessary just to help him get around. You could not ask for a more earnest and capable squad leader, but one whose attitude is fundamentally unsuited for a gritty war drama. He's a paragon of virtue in a war zone, and the sort of guy you’d expect to have a very bad time once he meets actual reality. Then it turns out that he already has. While the specifics are unclear, it seems that Shiro witnessed the poison gas attack on Side 2, when Zeon forces invented a new means of genocide. This guy is putting a brave face over a war crime, desperately trying not to let anything like that happen on his watch again. When you realise that, everything he does in episode 1 is cast in a new light. Its also what makes things with Aina so fraught, and then intense. She's exactly the sort of person he should hate, but he can't reconcile how she is as person with Zeon as a group, and indeed his fundamental good nature. This causes him to flip a switch as it were, becoming a pacifist in all but name, which everyone else in the series challenges to hilt. When it becomes known that he and Aina are a thing, it puts him and the entire team under suspicion. Not unreasonably, to be fair. And Aina? Well, she has less screen time, so her arc is more subtle, but she has agency, and is going through much the same growth. She is very much his female counterpart, in that she's also a paragon and more innocent than a lot of other characters, although more in a “her ladyship” sense. She is in a position of relative privilege, but it is also a position that binds. Not only is she an aristocrat in reduced circumstances, she spends her time supporting her brother Ginias whom has ambitions. And issues, which I will talk about shortly. She has as many prejudices to overcome as Shiro, while finding what she's a part of as distasteful, but she's much less free. To an extent, Shiro represents an escape for her, but by the finale, neither have anywhere to go. In the later half of the series, events take a bittersweet angle as attempts to play nice simply don’t work due to the sociopaths on both sides. While Aina and Shiro struggle with their idealism, the entire anime is basically about the pair taking a more nuanced view of the war, and giving both the Federation and Zeon the finger. That's actually very appropriate for a spin-off set during the One Year War.

 

Weaknesses? Well, putting aside the absent episode 12, which is an unnecessary epilogue, the animes main weakness lies with its antagonist. Ginias Sahalin is one of the more, say, stereotypical Zeon characters and a lesser aspect of the show, if I am honest. Its like this, you go back and watch the original Gundam TV show, not the movies, the show. What do you get? An awful lot of Monster of the Week type stuff, where the latest Mobile Armour Wunderwaffe prototype goes up against the Gundam and looses. You know the type, some hugely expensive, and equally specialised weapon platform, probably made by a nutjob. Gina's is one such nutjob, an example of why Zeon thought it could win a war with the Federation, and how it lost. The wider plot of 08th, the bones of events, is one such project being played out in more detail. Its almost a deconstruction of such things. Where the anime goes wrong is not selling Ginias decent into madness. As near as I can figure, Ginias was a bastard in the first place, then goes off his meds as a result of Aina not being around to remind him, plus the war going badly, and he goes into full mad scientist territory. This is another trope that is somewhat at odds with the military realism stuff, but is kinda typical for Zeon bigwigs and certain real life militaries. I just wish they spent more time on his characterisation and maybe spelled out what exactly he was taking medicine for. One fan theory suggests he suffers from the obscure Wilson’s Disease, but I’m more inclined to blame the writing. Thematically, if Aina and Shiro are paragons of good, he’s the paragon of evil, and you need a proper bastard in a narrative like this one. Its just the execution that falters, and so he looks a bit cartoonish next to almost everyone else, whom have more nuanced depictions. Fortunately, we have a rather good supporting character whom deals with combat stuff for the Sahalin family, one Norris Packard. Sitting somewhere between a trusted family retainer and Aina's bodyguard, Norris doesn't say much at first, but is effectively characterised, and very much the star of that combat scene I mentioned earlier. People love this guy.

 

All this having been said, does 08th MS team hold up? I'd say it does and it probably benefits from its OVA format allowing for more creative freedom. Consider it a solid introduction to the franchise, with some problems, but generally a good time.

Plamo: The Inner Sphere Command Lance (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

A shop near me started stocking BattleTech. You know what that means? Impulse BattleMech purchases! I ended up with three, and put the choice to twitter and here we are. I decided to use the UrbanMech colour scheme as well, which kinda worked…. But I’m not totally happy with it. Otherwise, I don’t have a huge amount to say here, so I’m just going to give a brief description of each. Now in order of chonkitude...

The STG-3R Stinger is a light scout mech based off the VF1-A Valkyrie from Macross. In universe, its a competitor to the Wasp, which has similar inspiration out of universe, a factor that has prompted legal action both in and out of universe. Its a nice little mould this, the flat panel cockpit being no fuss.

So, the VLK-QA Valkyrie? Well, they were clearly reaching for names at this point. This is based on the VF1-J Valkyrie, basically the same mecha as above, just with a different head. The BattleTech interpretation however makes it bigger and adds a missile rack. It's still a relatively light mecha though, but it punches above its weight with a LRM10. I'm not found of the cockpit glass on this one though.

The MAD-3R Marauder is something a bit different. Macross had aliens too. They were called the Zentradi, were mecha-sized, and seemed to have a genetic predisposition towards otakudom. The Marauder is based of their Roiquonmi Glaug Battle Pod, which is probably their second most memorable design. This explains its size and odd proportions, there was originally a big dude in a rather cramped torso cockpit. Performance-wise, the Marauder is considered a design classic, and the model holds up to that legacy. My paint job? Not so much.

Going back to the human designs of Macross now, the ARC-2R is based off the Destroid Spartan. As an associate commented once, this is pretty far removed from the source, as they took a close combat design with a club, and repurposed it as a missile boat. It's basically a Catapult with arms, more actual missiles, and an overheating problem, but the model came out quite well.

To be honest, I don't think this is my best work. It's fine for tabletop, but I'm inclined to go back to my greens for the next BattleTech project.

Transformers: Legacy Burn Out Is Something That Exists

While Legacy promised a return of variety, its taken a bit of time to make good on that promise. Wave 1 had the look of business as usual, with a very high percentage of G1 characters, repacks, and toys that could have been in Kingdom. The Prime Universe toys, the main exceptions, screamed repaint fodder, and it would have been very easy to assume Hasbro would not go further. Happily, the balance is definitely shifting with wave 3 and what is known about Evolution next year. The first real evidence that Hasbro was serious came from the “Velocitron Speedia 500 Collection”, a sub-line of exclusive repaints that replaced Netflix Siege. This went hard on the whole alternate universe thing, visiting 6 different continuities immediately, whereas Legacy wouldn’t really begin to branch out until wave 2. This brings us to today’s subject: Burn Out, a massively obscure repaint of a rather obscure character that plays homage to something that was Transformers before Transformers was a thing. Burn Out is also notable for being, well, a girl. The Speedia stuff has a good gender balance, which does mean I have to talk about gender issues again, although I’ll try not to repeat myself. I picked this one up on sales on the last day of a vacation, with the hope of returning to work in a good mood. It worked.

The Diaclone Honda Turbo, and its variants, circa 1982/83

Now, I had to shelve my first draft of this post, as I was struggling for a focal point. I had skipped the original version of this toy, Skids, because I already had a toy of the character. Its kinda hard to avoid mentioning him, but also hard to talk about for any real length of time. He had a very limited fictional presence until the highly regarded More Than Meets The Eye comic series by James Roberts, and basically everything that happened there probably counts as a spoiler. There is something of a tradition of comics writers taking blank slates and making them desirable, its called the Furman Effect, although it seems that it didn’t stick. Legacy Skids, and for that matter the unexpected Masterpiece version, is very faithful the G1 iteration, which as mentioned didn’t get much to do. Burn Out has even fewer fictional appearances, and is very much in the exclusive/obscurity bracket. She’s a character with a distinctive paint job, but is so far from the mainstream that nobody would mind that she is an exclusive, unlike, say, half of Earthrise. Her singular claim fame is that she’s based off a colour variation from Takara’s Diaclone, one of the toylines that would provide raw material for Hasbro’s Transformers. Diaclone is kinda of a big thing in collectors circles, with a boutique modern reboot, but in the Transformers context its mainly a convenient source for repaint ideas. So, yeah. Burn Out is obviously part of the black repaint phenomenon, but given that she is referencing a rare variant from 1983, this is about as deep as cut as you can make. If you want actual legacy in Legacy, why not homage the gestation of Transformers brand, and something that was probably only one marketing decision from a western release?

Righty, that’s the context established, on with the show. Burn Out's vehicle form is a legally distinct copy of the Honda City Turbo. Its a vehicle type that isn't really seen in Transformers that much, unless realistic cars are the main thing that year. It is more blocky than big or speedy looking, but it is distinctive. I have read that this car is a big thing in japan which is probably half the reason Skids gets any attention at all. Nerds like myself may recognise it from the anime/manga You’re Under Arrest. As to how much this differs from Skids? More than is immediately obvious, but once you get past the black its a bit subtle. Burn Out retains the stripes, red plastics and translucent blue of Skids, which is faithful to the source, but possibly faithful to a fault. Less obvious are the grey wheels, gunmetal front bumper, clear sunroof, and tail-lights. All-in-all its a nice looking car, with plentiful 5mm ports for weapon storage. The basics are there, and in black, so that’s good. Of course, the vehicle mode also inherits the same problems of this mould, such as overuse of translucent plastic, clip-on wheels, the face visible from the underside. While Burn Out has seemingly has not suffered the issues with tolerances Skids did, and mine seems fine, a certain degree of care is recommended with regards to anything blue.

The transformation ticks all the boxes you'd expect it too, presenting a similarly pleasing robot form, but if you were paying attention to the first picture above, you may have clicked what is different. Yes, Burn Out has a mouthplate, whereas previous iterations have either used the Skids head, or a new feminine sculpt in the case of the Masterpiece. This brings us to the promised, if brief, discussion of gender issues. Burn Out is on the other end of the scale from Elita-1, and is a toy which makes no attempt to use gender coding at all. On the one hand, this totally sidesteps the design compromises that affected Elita-1 and others. Burn Out is not a shellformer with a mannequin body shape, and is instead a classical "door wings" carformer with merits that I will shortly get into. There is no requirement for a robot to fit gender norms in the first place, and if this means a better toy, maybe this is a justifiable route? I mean, I we’re getting a Gobots character this way too, and then there’s Override, whom probably needs her own article. People seem to like them a lot. On the other hand, if you told me this was gonna be Crosscut, until someone realised that they could save him for later and thus get more repeat sales on the mould, I'd believe you. I’m cynical like that, and a black paintjob is the sort of thing you get an intern to do. For its faults, the Elita-1 mould tried harder. That having been acknowledged, Burn Out’s status as a premium redeco is more evident in robot form. The shoulders that were neglected on Skids are picked out in red and blue, with the limbs having more grey and black. Burn Out lacks chromed thighs, but the there’s a smoother transition between chrome grill, gunmetal bumper and charcoal grey plastics. Its a good look, if understated still. She also benefits from an earnest attempt to improve on Skids’ characteristic weapons storage. The two silver ones can be either forearm via dedicated ports, combine into a bigger gun, and further combine with that blue axe thing for a bigger gun. I clearly wasn’t paying this energon weapon business due attention, because its working out pretty well here. Posability is similarly pleasing. Its a good toy.

My point? Only that Legacy Burn Out is something that exists. And exists in the shadow of rather obscure character in the first place, which I wasn’t rushing out to buy. I’ll admit to having been a little unimpressed by Transformers: Legacy at time of writing; I’ve liked what I’ve chosen to post about, but I haven’t brought much, and I have yet to find a must-have. Wave 3 and Evolution look like more my sort of thing. Burn Out however suggests maybe I should have taken a few chances.

 

 

Plamo: The 30 Minutes Missions Gardonova (Brown)

Ah, there's nothing quite like a 30MM kit as a change of pace, is there? Having spent a lot of time before & during Orktober plotting & painting Orks, there's something to be said for quick build that rewards basic techniques. It's possibly an autistic trait at play, a clearly-defined task with elements of repetition and precision. With a 30MM kit you can be quite sure of a quality product with minimal stress. The Gardonova as an experience is very much that. It tweaks the formula a little bit, which merits discussion, but I had a good time. 

 

The Gardonova was released alongside the Revernova, and to my initial surprise, actually shares a high number of components with it. Granted, there’s a lot of overlap between 30MM kits due to the common joint runner and customisation being a stated feature, but I honestly didn’t realise until I was building it. The central body and major joints are the same, but the extremities are completely different. I’d compare the differences to be akin to a WW2 era tank destroyer conversion; the base vehicle is there, but the loss of the turret changes the profile rather dramatically. The Gardonova actually omits the head completely, shifts the main sensor to a chest piece, goes for stumpier legs, and the big, eff-off, claws. This gives it it a much more bestial appearance, if prompting some changes in articulation. It gets another double-jointed elbow and nice interlocking armour panels in each arm, but the added weight makes the shoulder joints a little prone to popping out. I also feel that the gun is a touch out of place, maybe that should have gone where the head used to be, maybe I’ll give it to another mecha, but there’s nowt wrong with it. The reason for the parts sharing is the “combination” feature, which is less Power Rangers and more like a formalised kitbash.The instructions spend a page highlighting what parts you can swap out, which has an appeal to it, but I think I’ll wait for a pair of kits with matched colours before trying it.

I applied some light weathering techniques, and I think it came out well. Since the grunt Spinatio and the like, I seem have nailed some effective and therapeutic methods for detailing, which this kit benefits from.

Like I said, a good time. My RPG group named him "Tickles".

Scratchbuild: Deff Dread Mrk2 "Spud"

All my scratch-building projects so far have been about learning new techniques or relearning old ones. That and the therapeutic aspect. It's often also about feeling I'm good at something, and achieving something. And being a tight-fisted miser. Modelling has the potential to be a hugely expensive hobby, but there comes a point where, if you're good enough, you can just buy the raw materials. Am I that good? I like to think I'm getting there. So, a brief break to build up a backlog of posts, I went back to my roots, and try another Ork walker. But better.

 

With this, I was mindful of a mistake I tend to make, overbuilding. My creations tend to be about 20% larger than stock, and while that's fine in context, going smaller is the path to more intricate works. I'd say this largely worked, although it kinda came out with the proportions of an angry potato. Hence the name “Spud”. The key component was a multi-limbed fidget toy, you know the one, whose joints were harvested and then built up with my usual materials. Wooden beads were of immense use in getting simple but consistent shapes, helping with arms & rokkits. I do recommend this approach as an alternative to a solely plastic build, although I would suggest you remember to pin things. The main body meanwhile was a deodorant top wrapped in EVA foam and scrap plastic, while water pistol innards returned, mainly for the generator. Wall filler paste for gap filling and basing. Hole punch rivets were also applied. 

 

The main thing I did different though was to copy a few ideas from one earthmanbrick, a fellow scratchbuilder with an informative YouTube channel. This gave rise to the buzzsaw arm, which I was rather happy with and the use of Das clay for armour plates and glyphs. I've been messing around with one and two-part moulds for a while, and built up a little box of crudely cast bits which I applied liberally here. Das Clay is an air-drying material which is quite cheap, but fairly narrow in application once dried. It's not as durable or crisp as milliput, which was also used in this project, but if you need to mass produce armour plates, and precision is not a concern, it's worth a go. Use milliput for two part moulds and fine detail instead. I've been toying with the idea of a scenery piece or Stompa based around Das Clay... maybe later. 

 

Painting continued in my usual style, stippling, drybrushing, homemade texture paint, and discovering which bits hasn't quite stuck. Working the metal revealed just how zoggin many rivets I'd created, and I decided keep the exhausts the same gunmetal as the body. I also went for a brighter blue, and slightly more in the way of orange rust. The rokkits were something of a problem, colour-wise, but no harm done.

I’m quite happy with it turned out. I’m proud of how it turned out. Shame I had such a hard time photographing it.

 

Work in Progress Pics 

 

Plamo: The UM-R60 UrbanMech (BattleTech)

 

While I have been very heavily into Orks and Orktober recently, I do try and vary things. Catalyst Game Labs recently put out a lot of new stock, some of which will hopefully be posted soon. Today’s subject was completed in and around Orktober stuff, but was pushed back due to the time of year. Orktober means Orks first, although I can honestly see them fielding something like the UrbanMech, so maybe it counts.

So when I write one if these, I like to waffle a bit on the context. This is because BattleTech is still very new to me, and the actual painting of them doesn't help with the word count. With the UrbanMech, it's less about the fiction so much as the fandom. As mechs go, the "Urbie" is a beloved mascot and a meme. It has a plush toy, a wave of blind boxes, a pack of 12, and a famous (life size?) inflatable. People love this thing, often wildly out of proportion to its actual battlefield performance. Its like the Ball, or the Gretchin slaves that Orks abuse. Its not something that is good by the conventional metrics, but it is quite adorable, and has a very specific niche that can surprise people. It's a dedicated ambusher, for, as the name implies, city fighting. Not a fair fight. Of course, I got myself two.

As the UrbanMech's natural habitat is the city, I decided to try urban camo of greys and black. This went disastrously wrong with the first attempt, as I made the mistake of trying Contrast Paints again, but I was pleased to see the Astrogranite Detritus technical paint worked well for a city-styled base. The first Urbie went in the dettol, and the second benefited from the experience. Here I did a Vallejo Dark Grey drybrush over a black undercoat, before picking out panels in Light Grey and Gunmetal, before eventually doing my usual cockpit glass method of Iyanden Yellow over Wraithbone, with ‘Ard Coat for shine. I call this "Urban Camo- Anime", its got the right colours, but it's still somewhat stylised to look cool. I once it was stripped, I tried something more intricate for the other Urbie. Here I tried the "blu tack" camo technique to randomise this grey a bit. Turns out that's not ideal at this scale, but it looks a lot better than my first try. 

 

Overall, this was a learning experience with a few bumps in the road. I now know a few things that don't work, but some things that do. One happy thought though is that I seem to have chanced upon a good dark grey for "special forces", which I want to use on future mechs. 

 

The first attempt

 

Blog: Status Update November 2022

I feel OK. It feels maybe a bit strange to write that down, but it is a positive thing. My daily life hasn't really changed that much, but I'm more inclined to be kind to myself, and not look for magic bullet solutions. I've rediscovered old joys, and find myself with supportive friends. I drive now, it took a while, but I got used to it both as a freedom and a responsibility. Work is at least tolerable, and I've had job interviews for the first time in years. I've had some holiday time of late, that probably helped. Maybe, I'm getting good at this life thing, you know?

What does this mean for the blog? Well, probably not much. I find myself writing more because I enjoy it than out of routine, or the need for escapism. That's an improvement over where things where last year. The problem might be one of overproduction instead. As one of the maybe three people whom reads these, you may have noticed additional posts of a Monday, and the combination of Orktober with vacations has left me running more than six weeks ahead. This will likely work to my advantage however, as the festive period does tend to tire me out, so I'm confident there's a buffer. With that in mind, here's what to expect from me as we enter 2023.

The return of BattleTech

30 Minutes Missions also return

More Orky stuff

A 08th Ms Team retrospective.

Various Transformers that exist

As Christmas falls on a Sunday, no posts that week

Tl;dr: in a good mood, still posting, Xmas break.

Orktober Project: Bubble Chukka Mek Gun

This project has its origins in the last few days of vacation time, early Orktober 2022. Actually, before that. A few years before. The Orkish answer to artillery, Mek Gunz were a fairly big thing in the 8th edition of 40k, a bandwagon I'd jumped on, only to jump off the game entirely at the next stop. By most accounts, they aren't as desirable now, but still suffer that unfortunate pricing paradox where a unit with a low cost in game has an unreasonably high plastic cost, if only due to its size. These replaced the much smaller and simpler Big Gunz units, incidentally. As it was Orktober, I was running ahead on my blog posts, and I was bored, I decided to revisit the concept. If all went well, I could slide it in the schedule, and if it didn't? Well, I had plenty of stuff to buffer delays. Fortunately, I proved not to need the buffer, and here we are. 

 

So, let's get some context for Mek Gunz then. Crew-served artillery is a pretty fundamental unit type in 40k, with examples present from first edition. Along with bikes and walkers, these were a concept easily implemented with the casting technology of the time, which is why so many disparate factions field them. Artillery is however is much less popular than those other two, and mechanically have been a touch inconsistent and obscure over the decades. Previously, rules variously treated the gun and the crew as separate entities somehow, but the convention used for Mek Gunz presently is to treat the crew as purely decorative, with the gun having a combined profile representation of their efforts. Putting aside the paperwork though, Mek Gunz are interesting mainly for their crew, the humble Gretchin. I.e. small, green, goblin types known for being generally unthreatening until they are entrusted with a suitable weapons platform. Mek Gunz offer effective and inexpensive firepower, while the Orks do the fun bits. 

 

The construction of the gun carriage was broadly similar to my trukks and such, using part of a connect 4 game as the foundation. This was built up with flat packers, scrap plastic, EVA foam and so on. The wheels are off a Transformers Construct-Bots toy, and possibly a touch big, but it works. It's gun was also something a little different, which used a wooden bead for the business end. Here I applied gap filler to roughen the texture of the orb, attempting to approximate the brassy effect of the official model. I didn't really get that, I'd need different materials, but it helped roughen it. I placed the completed gun on a 100mm base even though I didn't need to on the grounds of pragmatism. Its probably simpler all round this way.

The somewhat optional crew meanwhile were largely metal models from the old Big Gunz kit, with the "gunner" being off the dethrolla sprue. Painting was attempted in what I suppose is my signature style now, although this is the first time in years where I've attempted what amounts to infantry and a vehicle at the same time. I tried to optimise the steps so washing & basing happened as a group. One of the grots is a rougher than I'd like, but its fiue in a group

As a project done with minimal preparation, I'd say this worked out pretty well. I'm getting a handle on what I' m good at, and what I enjoy doing. This sorta stuff is very therapeutic for me. But, with Orktober coming to a close, I'm gonna take a brief brake from Orks, and clear some of the aforementioned buffer/backlog for a few weeks. 

 

Work in Progress Pics