Part 2 then… So, I want to take a moment to talk about the base models here, Stargrave Mercenaries. These are by North Star Military Figures, whom seem to do a lot in the way of support for miniature agnostic games as well as their own stuff. I know very little about Stargrave, but I am impressed with their plastics such as these mercenaries. They work out to a quid a model with a vast amount of additional bits like a missile launcher and numerous alien heads. If you want Scifi infantry on the cheap, they are a great choice. The only argument against is that there a realistic 28mm scale, rather than a heroic one. This means proportions aren't exaggerated for the purposes of easier recognition or style. This would be something I'd have to keep an eye on.
My first prototype was mainly about trying to feel things out, so I opted for a model without a rifle pose. I experimented with backpacks made from cable ties, additional armour, shoulder pads and cabling. I lengthened the gun with a bead, before detailing, and then I started on the helmet. I ended up with a vaguely, sort-of, classical Greek or Mandalorian look for it, but the detail was soft. Not entirely happy with it, I decided to put it aside, and try again with smaller amounts of putty.
With this one, I decided to be a bit less ambitious about what I was doing. I picked out a body with a lot of armour, and greenstuffed the legs so it looked more like plating than cloth. I went for a two-handed bullpup this time, lengthened the barrel, and tried to build up shoulder pads. The sprue presented a useful backpack piece, to which I added on some stick-on gems. To use up the putty, I then begun to modified numerous heads, trying to find a look that worked. The initial work on this took about 90 minutes, before deciding to let it cure prior to adding more detail. That detail ended up being attempts at pipework, and a few stick on gems to handle rounder shapes. I found myself leaning towards gasmask analogues like the Zaku II and the Mrk6 "Beakie" style of Power Armour.
I wasn't totally happy with these either, although the gun was satisfactory. The use of adhesive gems showed potential, but the shape wasn't quite there. The shoulder pads were similarly a step in the right direction, and I wasn't quite good enough to get the clean lines I wanted. At least not yet. So I decided to seek out some better shapes, and ended up bringing home some fricking tiny beads to make up for the skill deficit.
I didn’t get too far with these before hitting my cut-off point, but there seems to be some potential there. I just need to experiment more before settling on a style, put as long as I don’t paint them yet, it should be possible to recycle the rejected pieces to an extent. I think I’ll move away from the hemispherical shoulder pad style though. But whatever happens, there’s no rush. Better to run into problems now, rather than rush into them headlong.
More next week.
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