Project Sulaco: Part 6

So, Prometheus exists, doesn't it? Not a good film, even by the standards of trend-chasing prequels. It's got one honestly scary moment among the mediocrity, like a shiny penny in a wastepaper basket. Speaking of which…

 

So, I had now moved on to the painting of these guys, having done research on methods for painting black. This research led me to contrast paints and the concept of "slapchop" or more properly "underpainting". For this technique, instead of applying a contrast to a white undercoat, something I loathe, you apply it to an intermediate colour, usually drybrushing a grey or white over black. This removes some of the unpredictability of contrasts, here being Black Templar and Fleshtearer Red, setting a foundational tone for the colour work. Clearly, I need to learn a bit about colour theory as I ended up with a darker ruby red, but that works. As did the black; its subtle, but there's more to it than merely spraypaint. I wouldn't be opposed to using this approach again in future, although I will admit my brainworms giving me trouble for the entirety of the process, until I finally decided pull the plug.While these meet the three colour table-worthy standard, I’m not happy with how they look. It had become a chore, and given earlier difficulties, its probably for the best that I draw a line under this, and maybe come back to it with fresh eyes and/or better skills.

It seems that I don't merely dislike slogging through Ork Boyz, I dislike slogging through Space Marines too. I'm just more of a kitbash, rusty scratchbuild, drybrush robot kinda guy. A shocking revelation there. The contrast paints here, while clearly having uses, just aren’t sitting well with my paint style. I’m not having fun here, and if I’m not having fun, or happy with the end result, what’s the point? So, I’m ending things there. I’ll take a week or two to think about what happens next. I may start another long term project, perhaps one with more of the bits I find fun, I may revisit the vehicles I planned, but just now I’ll take a break.

So what have I learned here? Well, I think I’ve managed to get useful practice with sculpting, and picked up a few painting tricks. I was probably over-confident from the outset, but I wanted to try something different, and there’s no shame in that it didn’t work out. But whatever I do next, I’ll have better idea of what I can actually do, with a few extra tools in my toolbox. Its said you learn more from a fialure, and that's a positive view I'm choosing to take.

Cheers for now.

Project Sulaco: Part 5

I suppose I could make references to Aliens Versus Predator here. A few well-liked games, some decent comics, and a couple of mediocre movies.

While I don't have anything earth-shattering to report, I had found my groove with the process at this point. I'd opted to change the putty mix, and go thinner, thus improving the look of the fabric. I’d decided for the right shoulder pads to be covered that way, as it meant I didn't have to muck around with unit markings, adding an adhesive gem to suggest a clasp arrangement which was suitably gothic. The second five followed, and while their look was a touch less varied, their weapons were modded into what I'm gonna call heavy lasers. This involved three shapes of bead and a tiny gear to suggest something not a flamethrower. In Xenos Rampant terms, I imagine this as the Armour Piercing rule weapons for an Elite Infantry unit, with the flamer guys having Close Range Doctrine and maybe Demolitions. The squad leader was a little more involved, as while the other four models had uncontroversial firing poses, he his gun stowed and that's not something you need to see in every unit. I placed the gun onto the bolt pistol arm, and on the other a knife cobbled together from a Stargrave bit, putty, and an orkish knife. Said blade then broke off, bastard son of a bitch. So it became a knuckleduster instead. This left the final tidying up prior to painting, which meant I'd have decide on a colour scheme.

What I'm leaning towards currently is the Black Shadow scheme. That's black as the main colour, red for the fabric, then silver and grey, etc to pick out icons etc. I don't think camo is the vibe I want for these. It was however touch & go for a while as if I could get them painted and photographed in time for the cut-off, and ultimately I decided to leave that until next week. Just imagine the above sprayed black, with some metallics on them, and you won’t go too far wrong.

 

One thing I did manage to do was make a start on was the Autoguns. These were pulled together from the bitz box, mainly from Ramshackle Games and their robot range. I had some tracked lower bodies which I'd disliked for the robots, but they are good for machine gun turrets. It was just a matter of finding three matching guns and joining things up with nanoblocks. They need finishing it off, but seeing them alongside the marines gave me a long-overdue feeling of progress.

Up next: hopefully some paint, and maybe an APC.

Project Sulaco: Part 4

Part 4. Well, Alien: Resurrection was far from a great movie, but at least it had Ron Perlman. 

 

Right, with my initial plans shelved, I was very much starting from scratch, and I was awaiting a delivery, I couldn't really get into things until Friday night. Even then, I was still a little uncertain where to take things. Looking at the models in question, the Infernus Squad from the 10th Ed Leviathan starter set, two options presented themselves. The first was to lean into the tacticool look, possibly replacing the flamethrowers for more conventional firearms. The second was to lean into the GRIMDARK and do them in cloaks and robes, or as I choose to call it, the not-suspicious-at-all-Dark-Angels look. Furthermore, while I was aware that the models were fixed pose, but I was honestly surprised at how limiting the sculpt was. I mean, James Workshop, your production values speak for themselves, I can't fault you there, but I feel you are being purposely obtuse here. There is no standardisation between each model and it's just a bunch of guys two-handing the same big gun. Is this the chapter house thing again? Anyways, as the GRIMDARK option provided the most opportunities for sculpting, I went for that, and started push-fitting the pieces to feel things out. They go together very nicely, but they don’t come apart easily once they do. This meant the initial five were sculpted/modded as whole figures rather than separately, which would have been sensible.

 

In terms of colours, chapter markings and name? That’s still very much in flux. I’d had the idea of using those tiny beads as the basis of an eye icon, this leading to assorted names, before choosing the working title of “The Watchful Wardens”. Yes, I can’t help being a bit daft about this. If you think that’s too much, read up on Ferrus Manus sometime. The bead idea didn't really work, but I felt I was on to something, and tried again with adhesive gems. I’ve gone for inverted version of The Eye of Providence, a symbol with a storied history, like the Freemasons, but is best known today for its use in conspiracy theories. I’m sure there’s a level of meaning I’m missing, but as far as stupid faux symbolism goes, I feel that’s pretty 40K. Relatively easy to sculpt too. If looking like a pizza slice.

Hopefully, I’ll be onto the other five in time for the next update, which will have modded guns I think.

Project Sulaco: Part 3

Part 3: the sequel! Thinking about it, isn't Alien 3 where it all went wrong? I mention it for reasons. 

 

 

As I was no-longer on holiday, my progress was a little bit patchy, but things moved forward regardless. The use of size 11 & 13 beads proved to be a good call, and having tried a few styles of head, I found one I was happy to upgrade to paint prototype. The style was a gasmask and goggles with a radio antenna. This put me in mind of both an insect and the somewhat obscure AD Police uniforms from the original Bubblegum Crisis anime. Although once I had an undercoat on it, it was more of a hippo. Not great that... The body meanwhile was simplified, going for proportionally smaller shoulder pads, a backpack made from a cable tie, and gun receiving a barrel extension.I also started experimenting with Caucasian skin tone again, and around this point I had something of a realisation. I wasn't good enough yet to get a look I was happy with, and I'd been putting this project off as it was less fun than certain other things I was working on. The Stargrave Mercenaries are perfect if you want to do some Imperial Guard or Heavy Infantry on the cheap, but not for my purposes. They are too slight for my green stuff modifications to look right, hence the scaling back of my ideas, and aren't especially uniform. And because it's not going smoothly, it's not especially therapeutic either. So, I decided to pause, and sleep on it. I ended up falling back on something I mentioned in part 1, the secondary market. I’d been reminded of Infernus Squads, a newly-introduced unit specialising in flamethrowers. And, just to get it out of my system:

Hey Beakies! The Burnaboyz called, and they want their zoggin’ gimmick back! That’s a really nuanced and tactical flexible unit you have there too! Does Big Papa Smurf know about that? Maybe don’t tell him, he’s depressed enough already!

<cough>

Anyways, I’d passed on these in the first place as they were too specific a unit and monopose. With the Stargrave minis being an immaculate square peg in a round hole though, I reconsidered these pyromaniacs. Then a had a really silly idea for a chapter. Then I remembered that flamethrowers are a thing in Aliens. Actually, didn’t Ripely basically invent the combi-weapon with a role of duct tape? I digress. So I went for ten of them, and pencilled in some ideas for what to do next. 

 

I’m going to call it there. The Stargrave prototypes did allow for useful practice, but I need to mull things over some more, while I await delivery.

Project Sulaco: Part 2

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.

Project Sulaco: Part 1

OK, time to introduce a new project then.

 

This one arises from several assorted shelved or abandoned ideas, the most recent of which being custom spacemarines. Before I decided to work on Project Tankbustas, I'd considered converting loyalist marines into traitor marines with green stuff, horns, tentacles, icons and so on. It looked fun as a change of place from Orks and scrap metal, but the costs of doing so was prohibitive. You would have thought, even with inflation, you'd be tripping over cheap beakies on the secondary market, but no. Going further back, you may recall my dalliance with Xenos Rampant and my attempts at human scifi infantry and vehicles. That had progressed to point where I was trying to nail human skin tones, unsuccessfully, but then 40k 10th edition happened so I got distracted. When Project Tankbustas was nearing completion, I was very aware that I need something to do lest my brainworms act up, remembered the Stargrave models I had unbuilt. One thought led to another, and this lead to Project Sulaco, a numerically small force for my Orks to fight in Xenos Rampant games. Something I could introduce people to the game with, practice sculpting with, and hopefully perfect a method for skin at the same time.

What are these gonna look like though? Well, obviously like Beakies, the idea of genetically engineered soldier in powered armour is a fairly common concept. See also the Brotherhood of Steel from the Fallout franchise. Or the Terrans from Starcraft. Or the Hero’s Duty game from Wreck-it Ralph. Or the Mobile Infantry from Starship Troopers. But mainly the novel and cartoon series for that last one. You know, macho warrior types walking around wearing/somewhere-inside a large amount of metal, often with fascist leanings. The ur-example as far as old people like myself are concerned though is the 1986 film Aliens, and its Colonial Marines. These were allegorical to the Vietnam war to an extent, but have since become the baseline against any scifi soldier will be measured. Hence this projects name, and overall vibe. A tribute to the film, a thematic reference, rather than a 1:1 recreation.

 

Stage 1: Prototyping. The modification of at least one Stargrave miniature into a powered armour style via greenstuff and kitbash work. Also begins the search for satisfactory method of achieving human skin tones, and a colour scheme. I may spend several weeks on this bit, I have some diverse ideas, but not a strong mental image.

Stage 2: Rank & file. The creation of two squads of five marines, or two units of Elite Infantry in XR terms. This may include the recasting of custom bits, but we'll see. Assuming stage 1 is successful, this might be more time-consuming than actually difficult, but I don't want to rush it. Probably two weeks.

Stage 3: Sentry Guns. Yeah, these are the automated guns from the Special Edition of Aliens. I expect this a brief affair, possibly run alongside stage 4. Although I haven’t quite decided if I want these to be fixed weapons or mobile drones. Definitely Mechanoid Support Infantry in XR terms. Probably a week, or run concurrently with stage 4.

Stage 4: The APC. Yep also a direct lift from Aliens. I'm unsure the extent to which this would be a scratchbuild or kitbash, but I'm thinking blocky passenger vehicle, which is also the army commander. Remember that bit where LT Gorman watched everything go wrong via the marines' personal cameras? Yeah that, but hopefully working as doctrine intended. In XR terms, this would be a Transport Vehicle with Transport(10) and Line-breaker. I've sourced a few vehicles already, plus some tracks, so I'll see how I feel on the day.

Stage 5: The Powerloader. As mentioned, this is going to be more of tribute than a direct adaptation, but I do want have a clearly civilian/industrial mech piloted by a woman. Out of deference to Ripley, I'm going to have to source some female heads for the operator from somewhere, and I'm not doing the "boob-plate" thing. Rules wise, it would be a Softskin Civilian Walker. Physically? A Killa Kan but much neater. There is a Stargrave version of the concept that exists, but I want to make my own.

This should be fun.