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

So, I started this one in November, but it had been sitting on the old pile for a good long while. I'd picked it up when my interest in BattleTech had just peaked, but I went onto other things. I think the absence of a local players group is what did it. I may have to have a go at founding one again. Another reason is that painting Battlemechs got a bit samey, at least with the level of skill and patience I have. Still, I quite enjoyed those urbies, and maybe I could use this opportunity to revamp my painting techniques?

So, let's have some context to tie this together. The Inner Sphere Battle Lance is a set with a deeply unimaginative name, but features favourites from the very start of the game. All four are part of the Unseen, designs subject to legal issues, which is fucking hysterical/tragic as two of these are meant to be super common in universe, and the other two being legitimately famous. Although, in the case of the Rifleman "infamy" might be a better word. Notably, all four originally hail from the anime Super Dimension Fortress Macross, have been around long enough to get a load of variants, and the larger two have been subjects of Tex Talks BattleTech videos. My basic approach here was to attempt my preferred green colour scheme, but to change the order and some accents. I drybrushed green over a brown first, then coming in with a dark grey and a gunmetal for things like weapons and feet. Once those were done, I washed the lot with Agrax Earthshade, drybrushed green again, and then stuff like the cockpit glass. These were idly painted over several evenings, so while I wasn't pushing myself here, it was relaxing.

The Wasp is the smallest of the four, and functions as an inoffensive little scout guy of unusually low cost. Canonically, its the first mech equipped with jumpjets, making it excel as a scout, although this absolutely isn't something you want doing actual fighting. Its a fine model, although its pose obscures its SRM2.

The Phoenix Hawk is something that exists mainly to bully Wasps and the like. By my understanding, this is an agile medium weight mech, capable of keeping pace with scouts and overpowering them. Its less good at punching up though, and it's one of those designs than dedicates space towards machine guns, a weapon I don't like. As a model, its got a nice pose and presence, but also a somewhat involved cockpit.

 

The Rifleman suffers in universe from various design flaws and doctrine issues. Its principally an anti-aircraft platform, but in its typical configuration runs hot, doesn't have much ammo, nor a lot of armour. This is a bad combination should the mech be in direct combat, and people did try that in a shortage of better ideas, although it does have its defenders. Personaly, I find it to be a machine that argues against its own existance. As a model this is alright, although I was initially unsure of where the chest lasers were.

 

The Warhammer, no-not-that-one, is my favourite design, although that's mainly because of Tex. Like a lot of the OG Battlemechs, the Warhammer has its eccentricities, but a pair of PPCs at a reasonable price has aged well. As a model, the recessed head is tricky, and that searchlight broke off at one point, but otherwise is the nicest sculpt.

Job’s a good ‘un.

Plamo: The UrbanMech Lance (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

You know what? Let’s do a bonus article.

 

I've done UrbanMechs before, but its been two-ish years since I did anything BattleTech, so a brief summary is called for. Presented in 4 variations, the UrbanMech is a meme. How much of a meme? Well, Tex felt it necessary to do two videos on it, an initial short six years back, and a recent chrimbo special which was more extravagant. Think something along the lines of a Ball, or a mobile bunker. Its basic purpose is garrison duty in cities, and is known for being a light but slow mech, two words that do not go together well. The BattleTech setting is however not without some nuance, and if used correctly the humble Urbie can be a capable ambusher on its home turf. This lance box features models to represent the classic version and three variants with more specialist weaponry. I am especially fond of the one with triple missile racks in SRM6, I can see that being a nasty surprise for someone. I was certainly surprised to chance upon these in a shop.

when I painted these, I opted for a simple scheme which I then made over-complicated. My inspiration here was Robocop, specifically the blue tinted version seen on the Robocop 2 poster and some other depictions. You might ask why I didn't go for an ED209 scheme? Well, the Urbie isn't a chicken walker, and if you haven't noticed, the text of the first film is that the ED is objectively awful. The UrbanMech has flaws, certainly, but its not that bad. Applying the Robocop scheme to an Urbie prompted applications of blue ink over metalics, and experimental uses of glossy black for the cockpit windows. I'm not entirely happy with either aspect, although I can see the techniques having applications elsewhere. Maybe this idea would work better on a more humanoid mech...

 

The bases were also a touch experimental. I added a few random bits to the bases, before a layer of the GW Astrogranite Debris technical paint. This was then drybrushed with Dark Reaper, a bluey-grey I'd picked up for another project. This was a reasonable approximation of urban concrete decay, although I will admit my inexperience with such terrain at this scale. I need more practice and more size appropriate bits. The three donuts on the base of one was a happy accident; the three beads I'd put there were intended to be vaguely industrial at first, but I painted one in brown, and things flowed from there.

 

I remain a bit unsatisfied with the end result, but that may just be perfectionism. I'm a bit rusty, but people seem to like these.

 

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

 

After my somewhat mixed success with the Command Lance, I resolved that I would back go to a green paint scheme. Its always good to try something new, I just wasn’t happy with how they turned out. So, I went back, checked the article where I wrote down the paints I used, and decided to practice on a lance box I would not feel too bad about messing up: the Support Lance. Consisting of three Star League era designs of increasing rarity and one flagship product, the theme of this set is a little harder than usual to tease out. It's support in the sense that here's 3 heavy dudes with a little guy for spotting, although beyond that it's a touch generalised. So, to start in order of increasing chonkitude.

The Spider is a notably agile scout, known for its jump jets. These take up most of its back, with eight visible thrusters, bulking out what is otherwise a stick-thin machine. Otherwise, I find it a bit strange. Occasionally, you get some quite oddball designs in Battletech, and the Spider puts its armaments in the chest. That makes some sense from a game mechanics standpoint, but I would have put something in the arms, if only to increase the fire arcs. My regular readers, somewhat hypothetical as they may be, might notice I’ve based these like the UrbanMechs. That is so say, Citadel Technical Astrogranite over plastic scraps. I opted for this as I do an awful lot of mud with my Orks, and since it works quite well, why not? I also used Liquitex Acrylic Ink “Transparent Raw Sienna” as the wash for these models, something which seems to have been a boon to the lance as a whole. It looks to have helped their finish.

 

Up next there is the posterboy of the Draconis Combine, the Dragon. A solid performer in its class, this is a good all-rounder with some good quirks. I can see a Lance doing well with a pair of these. My only concern is with, well, the entire concept of the Draconis Combine. Not a nice place on the surface, and the ethnic coding in play needs a proper unpacking. Anyways, this was quite good to work on, minimal fuss.

With the Thug we're back to relatively rare Star League vintage stuff. This was designed to rival the venerable Warhammer, and in the process popularised the idea of a "zombie mech". The Thug can absorb a frankly unreasonable amount of damage, but much of the technology that enabled this became lost. Comstar is the only organisation to really hang on to them, and that was a bit of a surprise to folks. I regrettably didn’t notice a mould imperfection on the head until it was too late, but the Citadel Technical Soulstone gave the PPCs a real nice glow.

 

Finally, we have the Cyclops, a 90 ton assault mech whose job description implies it probably shouldn't be getting its hands dirty. It's a dedicated command vehicle, and good in that role, but as with the Thug, the technology enabling this was lost during the Succession Wars. People only tend to want one if its got a working battle computer. Personally, I'm less than jazzed about this one as a concept; you generally don't want your enemies to know where your command centre is, and this appears to be a flashing neon "shoot me" sign. Mind you, the eye came out really nice. My usual method of Citadel Contrast Iyanden Yellow over Wraithbone is admittedly a touch random, but it worked very well here.

So, here’s the thing, I really like how these turned out, and this was basically a light warm-up for me. I’ve produced nice, table-worthy, results with simple techniques. But I don’t wish sound like I’m dismissing my own work by saying it simple. I put the effort in by finding/perfecting those techniques, and while I’m not entering a Golden Demon or nothing, I’ve got my confidence back with respects to BattleTech.

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.

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

 

Plamo: The STK-3F Stalker (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

And for the final part of the Heavy Lance, we have this. First, there was the Trebuchet, the asymmetric baby of the group. Then there was the Zeus, an oddly buff generalist. This was followed by the Longbow, which is reasonably described as a missile rack on legs. And finally, we now have the Stalker, a mech that resembles nothing so much as a chicken walker's angry dad.

It's actually quite a glow-up from the original art, which had more of a "phallic symbol on legs" thing going on. Its still easy to make jokes, TBH. It's not an especially sleek or elegant, but it gets the job done. As a machine, the Stalker feels a lot like something that grew out of game mechanics rather than in-universe logic. I. E it exists because someone thought it presented an interesting gameplay experience rather than something an actual military might order. Its characterised by having a selection of powerful but progressively shorter ranged guns, with the intent of firing each in sequence as the mech closes. Its very slow, but it's equally as durable, making it something akin to a self-propelled gun or siege weapon. That's the basic definition of an assault mech of course, although they usually have more going visually than the Stalker does with its "weaponised acorn" vibe, and these usually have more weapons coverage too. That said, you have to respect the minimalist brutalism of the thing. It's daft until you have one shooting at you, I imagine. The design has a few stripped down variants, which operate oddly in game terms, as the thing tended to wear its frame out as it aged.

I think we're entering comedy territory again.

I painted it my standard style, and like the Longbow, attempted to pick out the missiles. This was slightly more difficult as the LRMs are flat, but it came out table-worthy. I was also pleased with the glow effect on the tiny cockpit area. Its a very recessed area, so I’m glad its noticeable from at least some angles.

Up next: a change of pace.

 

Plamo: The LGB-0W Longbow (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

 Aye-up, its Unseen o’clock.

 

Like the Crusader, the Longbow has its origins as a design from Super Dimension Fortress Macross, a series known for both its influence on the genre and its courtroom appearances. FASA licenced multiple mecha from the show for BattleTech, which they would later regret, and in the Longbow's case things seem more convoluted than usual. It's associated with the Destroid Phalanx, a support mecha from the show, which to the best of my recollection never did anything of note outside of crowd scenes. Destroids in general weren't cutting edge, and played defence. The Phalanx was notable for being something built on the titular Macross itself as a unit made from spares, which were hurriedly applied to a simple body structure. The Phalanx was a stopgap at best, but that's not same as saying its bad. No. When you are 40% missiles by volume, and your job is air defence, you are probably on the right track. The mech it inspired in BattleTech is a slightly more professional product but still follows the same orky brute force approach to its single purpose. While classed as an Assault Mech, the Longbow handles the task of fire support by lobbing a total of fifty missiles at the target. From behind a nearby and obscuring hill, usually, so you might not realise until its too late.

I suppose this a good place to talk about how BattleTech handles missiles? It's a mechanically interesting thing, and my comments on painting are going to be a bit brief, so it will help pad the word count. Missiles make use of the Cluster Hits table, which serves to dictate how many missiles in a volley connect on a successful hit. While other weapon types use this chart, and there's a lot of missile related stuff, we're limiting ourselves to the Longbow's LRM20s and LRM5s. In the case of long range missiles, the stated number gives its maximum, so this usually an overstatement of their lethality. The chart usually averages to about half that, although the spread of numbers gets more granular the more missiles you have. The final factor is that LRMs bunches these hits into groups of 5, each potentially hitting a different location. This explains the LRM5s to some extent, as you get a single grouping for low heat, while the 20s get several groupings for more heat. The fact you have 4 distinct systems also helps with their minimum range and other modifiers. Its about having options. 

 

I think this may be the best BattleMech I’ve painted. Its not got an especially sophisticated colour scheme and I wasn’t trying anything new this time, but the design of the model worked well for me. While some clean up was needed, the model lent itself to drybrushing, and the ever-so-delicate matter of picking out every individual missile. Its something that takes time and a fine brush, but the results speak for themselves, if hard to photograph. The cockpit glass was also a highlight, although its worth me pointing out there seems to be conflicting art as to what area is the cockpit, and I followed the Sarna entry. I even figured out how to get a better finish on the black bits of the base too. Good times, although I would advise against dropping it like I did... The missile pods are glued on.

Up next: something less subtle.

Plamo: The ZEU-6S Zeus (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

Probably the most odd thing about the Zeus is how normal it looks in the context of its lance box. It's an assault mech and so by definition its a bruiser, but it's Mr Average when standing near the Trebuchet. Or the mechs coming in future posts. The reason is that of the four it's the one with the most conventional body plan, at least until we talk about the missile rack you can punch people with. It leans towards the generalist role I suppose, as while mostly long ranged, it's a "light assault" meaning it can move relatively quickly and doesn't fear a melee. I feel its possibly a bit under-gunned, but then my frame of reference is the Orion and a later-era Banshee, so what do I know? 

 

Painting was relatively straightforward, with the design offering an opportunity to switch around the placement of colours. One thing I keep doing with these is forgetting about the bases, neglecting them until I was already doing major colours. I still like to use a thin layer of green stuff for texture, and that is something I should do before undercoating. No harm done, it gives a reasonable "soft ground" effect, I just need to get a better finish on the black around the base. The cockpit area took me a little by surprise though; there's a collar segment obscuring glass segments. This required a certain level of care and correction, but it pops.

 

Up next: something bigger.

Plamo: The TBT-5N Trebuchet (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

This article is dedicated to the memory of Jean-Pierre Jean, A CHEF, and force of nature, as played by a RPG friend of mine. This is not because the character is dead, more that he cannot be forgotten. And this battlemech looks like something he'd pilot.

So, having finished up the bits and pieces, I decided to do another lance box, and work on it over a month. A legitimate one this time, I feel I've done the "dubious" dance enough, and I'm in two minds about 3D prints, but this left me with somewhat minimal options. I ended up getting the "Inner Sphere Fire Lance" which continues the trend of somewhat bland, non-indicative names. There are some notable chonkers in this set, which yes, do fire a lot, but it's a name that suggests deliberate understatement. And because this is me, I'm starting with the mech that's the smallest, the 50 ton Trebuchet. Intended to do similar work to the Catapult, see the naming theme, the Trebuchet is a medium mech specifically designed to operate in a Lance of 4 similarly equipped robots. Specifically, it was meant to be paired with the Centurion, a purpose built escort with a different but complementary naming scheme. Its noted for having modest ammo stores, but being easy to reload. Less noted is its status as victim of technological decline, loosing the benefits of double heatsinks and C.A.S.E during the Succession Wars. Maybe that's why it is so mismatched and asymmetric in appearance. One arm has an LRM-15, a medium laser, and a hand. The other has two medium lasers, offset from each other diagonally. Meanwhile, one LRM-15 takes up the right side torso. This strikes me as a somewhat confused setup, or a compromise in the boardroom.

As you may have suspected from the amount of text above, I don't too much to say about the paint process this time. I did this in my usual manner, with colour variations arising from the sculpt and my mood at the time. I will however highlight the Iyanden Yellow though. Its weird how it behaves, golden here, but often orangey on bigger surfaces. It works either way though, and the model as a whole came out quite nicely.

Up next: something bigger.

Plamo: The WVR-6M Wolverine (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs, “dubious”)

I have three of these now. Da fuq?

What can I say about the Wolverine then? Well, throughout my Battletech experience, I've been trying to get a handle on what counts as a mass-produced generalist everyman in the setting. To an extent, BattleTech doesn't work like that. While things vary with era, your average battlemech is more a long-term investment, like a family estate with a leaky roof, or a naval asset refitted endlessly. Unless you go way back to the Star League, or an especially favoured unit, things are are bit piecemeal with mixed units everywhere. Furthermore, the rules are sufficiently granular that a mech chassis can be specialised in numerous ways, and then there's the easily forgotten non-mecha stuff you get in Total Warfare. The Wolverine does however edge closer than most to my idea of a grunt. The reason for this is a mix of weaponry with solid performance and no heat issues. It's relatively quick, durable, and can fire everything without stressing the heat sinks. It's a got an answer to most things, and the benefits of a humanoid body plan. It's main weaknesses though are it's reliance on physical ammunition and the circumstances where those weapons don't compliment each other. If the optional quirks are in play, of which it has 7, the Wolverine takes a command role but becomes tricky to pilot.

 

Having done two of these previously, and several in the same basic colours, this Wolverine was a fairly simple project. To a point. It came in the same “dubious” auction as the Catapult, so the flash and mould lines were similarly not ideal, but no great problem. I seem to have found my grove so far as table-worthy mechs go, and as it seems that colour scheme is going to be on a book cover, I feel less inclined to vary it. It works, if a little dark on this one, and I spent a lot of time figuring it out, so why not? Things went extremely well, until a point late in the process where I dropped the figure and the left arm detached at the shoulder in the manner of brittle resin. I was was more bewildered than annoyed. I don’t think I’ve ever had a plastic figure break like this before, if it is plastic, like I said, its dubious, so do let me know in the comments if this has happened to you. This prompted some careful gluing and repainting which will no doubt haunt me for sometime to come. Otherwise? He’s looking good, and I’m happy to call this 60 ton lance a success.

 

 

Up next? A boxed lance over a month or so.

Plamo: The CPLT-C1 Catapult (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs, “dubious”)

 

Along with the Blackjack, the Catapult is a battlemech I know mainly from the Tex Talks Battletech series of sweary-but-raises-cash-for-charity video essays. It's a little hard to top that summary, but it did endear the Catapult to me. It's almost iconic really, a platonic ideal of the whole "chicken walker" Concept. Sometimes, you just need missiles in an uncomplicated delivery system that can run if it needs to. In related news, I now want a Warhammer or two. 

 

This model is categorised as "dubious" as it comes from another eBay auction that had the look of the grey market about it, although this had a more professional listing this time. This, and a Wolverine I'll be talking about next, came with their own bases, which was a plus, but also a bit of flash. The basic design seems I'll-suited to a plastic this malleable, so I had to use hot water to correct things, but otherwise this was no worse than my first one.

I’ll get to the point: I'm really pleased with this one. Its at the point where I could go further to correct some imperfections, but I don’t want to risk spoiling it. I stepped back from the two-tone green idea and instead went for the olive drab I used on the Heavy Lance. Citadel Moot Green is prominently used on the launcher doors, but otherwise its Vallejo dark grey and leather brown for detailing. Meanwhile, a liberal application of the Citadel Contrast Iyanden Yellow came out good with the cockpit glass. Its fine. Possibly the best I’ve done so far.

Up next: the Wolverine.

Plamo: The CRD-3R Crusader (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs, “dubious”)

I know I talk about the Unseen a lot here, but it's kinda unavoidable. It was a big rolling legal battle that featured one of my favourite animes. So, I was very pleased when a mixed lot of "dubious" figures presented me with one from SDF Macross, the Crusader. Like the Orion, this ended up being used as a paint scheme testee, before I decided to give it its due as a proper playing piece. It joins the Griffin in a 60 ton lance.

Even by the standards of the Unseen, the situation with the Crusader and its kin is somewhat convoluted. Its based off a specific equipment load-out for a transforming jet fighter, namely the VF-1A with armour add-ons. Yes, someone thought the best thing you could do with a plane was to turn it into a tank, just go with it. Its a highly toyetic concept which only really mattered in one episode. Subsequently, early BattleTech split what was one machine into several, and largely walked back from the transformation aspect. The armour would of course obscure such things, as would the legally distinct reinvention, but the proportions give it away. There's a lean frame that has been over-built. As a weapon of war, it leans towards the heavy support bracket, but has some oddities befitting is origins. Its got a lot of missiles and armour, some literally shooting from the hip. The forearms feature the most missiles, as well as welcome secondary armament like medium lasers and less-welcome accessories in the form of machine guns. While supposedly a good melee combatant, the design lacks jump jets & has heat issues. I think I may field this as the CRD-3L version, which addresses these issues to an extent. In either case, the contrast to the Catapult is an interesting one. A Crusader does not lack for dakka, and is certainly versatile in its base form, but I’d say the Catapult was more optimised for the “shoot and scoot” tactic.

 

Painting this one posed a few minor problems, some of which I probably created for myself. Through some combination of dettol and manufacturing fault, this model didn’t have an especially good finish when I came to paint it seriously. And I didn't notice the mould line on the head until I'd finished, arrgghghgh. While well-suited to drybrushing, I made things difficult for myself by attempting a two tone green, which didn’t come out especially well. You see, I wanted to highlight the exaggerated proportions by having the biceps in a lighter green, but the contrast wasn’t enough. I ended up using Citadel Moot Green, and possibly when too far in the other direction, but it don’t look bad. The main innovation here was the use of “Gamer Grass”, which I regret to inform you that it is not some kind of cannabinoid energy drink. Rather, its a range of basing materials for miniatures, taking the form of stick-on static grass. With a bit of PVA glue to secure it, I’m now a huge fan.

Up next: ..and speaking of the Catapult.

Plamo: The Griffin GRF-1S (BattleTech, Catalyst Game Labs)

My days of painting BattleTech models seem to be coming to a middle. At the time of writing, I've done up 17, not counting test models. Today's subject is however one we've seen before, the Griffin. As you may recall, this was a model I was unhappy with at the time. As I have since moved onto full collecting, I decided to give it another go, as the first of a new lance I've pieced together from eBay and such. Expect to see its squad-mates in the coming weeks...

 

Obviously, I've talked a bit about this one previously, but before I start nattering about shades of green, I suppose further context won't hurt the word count. The Griffin, as part of the whole Unseen business, was based on the Soltic H8 Roundfacer from Fang of the Sun Dougram. This explains the glass canopy and broadly human shape when compared to later, home-grown designs. The canopy look is not something I'm a huge fan of, BTW. Yes, this is a valid stylistic choice, especially with non-humanoid designs, and you can claim magic space glass, but it looks fragile to me. This origin also explains a weapon fit I'd call unbalanced. Categorised as a sniper, the Griffin carries a Phased Plasma Gun (PCC), which as weapons go is a fairly intimidating one. The thing is, its a single shot doohickey with a lot of waste heat, and a minium range. Its secondary weapon is a long range missile rack (LRM), which compliments the PCC, but also doubles-down on its weakness. You don't really have a close range option, nor an option for volley fire. Unless, you happen to be using the optional quirk rules, where upon it can ditch the PCC and punch like Mohammed Ali. I see myself using this in concert with mechs of comparable reach and/or slightly more varied gun selection.

This model was stripped via the Dettol method, which revealed how stupidly thick the original canopy paint was. It also prompted a new base, as the original wasn't looking that great. Things came out much better this time, although there's something about the head area which I just don't get on with, the curved surfaces I think. I also mixed up the paint scheme as I went, using the AK Lime Green in two different ways as the plastic fought back. It just came out dirtier than I would have liked, and the glass still isn’t perfect, but its still a clear improvement over my first try.  Which even accounting for my bad camera skills...