Painted Miniatures At Last!

Hi!

Heres some pics of the first of the miniatures Ive painted for the Stainless Steel Rat project!

First off it seems fitting that I should have a go at painting up Slippery Jim himself. I used one of the laserburn thugs as a basis and swapped his head for one of the civilians and after a bit of repositioning of his gun arm he looks suitable as Jim diGriz. I painted him in his traditional silver suit (The books say its a one piece job but this looks ok!) Hes mounted on a 20mm round plastic base available from EM4 Miniatures.


Arch Criminal James Bolivar Digriz

Next up heres my painted representation of Angelina, Jims nemesis and later on wife! Im not too happy with the model as Angelina is usually described as wearing skirts but none of the miniatures I could find were suitable so it will do till I can find a better portrayal of Jims beautiful but deadly wife:


Angelina: Femme Fatale and known associate of diGriz

Ive also started work on one of the 15mm.co.uk Floatdiscs. I have to admit that I was quite disappointed with both the quality and cost of these chaps. First off the disc riders come in packs of two for £3.00 but when they arrived I found them to be pretty tiny and poorly sculpted (The disc isnt even round!) Saying that its painting up quite well but I doubt I will buy any more of them!

I will get a pic posted of the completed model once Ive finished basing it!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Delay Of Insufferable Irritation!

It looks like the troops I had requisitioned for the operation to capture the stainless steel rat have been lost somewhere in the ether! Consequently I am stuck waiting until they arrive which is causing me the utmost of impatient irritation!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Hi!

Alas my order hasnt arrived from 15mm.co.uk yet (I know its only been a week but I am really wanting to get something smaller and quicker to paint than the big stuff for my Leviathan project and had been hoping to get the stuff in the post over the last couple of days!) which has put a bit of a break in getting anything done! In the meantime I have been re-reading all the stainless steel rat books and taking notes on assorted characters, organisations and useful equipment which will allow me to get my teeth stuck into painting some suitable representations of slippery Jim and co when they do arrive (Hopefully soon!)

All the best

Orbital Assessment!

Using some very high tech and secretive methods I have managed to capture some early satellite imagery of one of the buildings on Beta Cygnus X. Note the Parambulator 5000 transportation robot in the foreground. As yet theres no sign of diGriz but hopefully this situation will be remedied within the next 48 hours.


Image courtesy of Special Corps Gnasher Class Destroyer.

Judging by its generally grotty appearance the scene is from one of the less well to do areas in the warehouse district. Just the sort of place that a stainless steel rat would be found scurrying around. The building itself appears to be a single story workshop (the crude transportation robot out front seems to back up this hypothesis

MESSAGE ENDS....

A Bronzed God Of A Scientist!

Good News Everyone! It is I Professor Coypu! Your guide to all things technology in the Special Corps! Alas as most of you low browed baboons wouldn't understand the inner workings of the likes of a time helix I will attempt to use small words!

Alas theres been some delay in the requested equipment arriving (The fools at shipping are no doubt to blame!) In the mean time the science lab, namely me, has stated work on a miniature representation of some of the buildings on Beta Cygnus X. Images will follow presently but you cant rush genius!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Stainless Steel Briefing!

"Slippery" Jim diGriz

Real name: James Bolivar diGriz

Planet of Birth: Bit O' Heaven

Age: Unknown

First Recorded Crime: Robbed the First Bank of Bit O' Heaven at age 17 and briefly incarcerated in the local prison before escaping to continue his career as a criminal. diGriz has never been caught since despite the valiant, if plodding efforts of many law enforcement agencies.

Favoured Crime: Bank Robbery

Criminal Record: Too extensive to go into at present but needless to say his life of crime is about to come to an end!

Known Vices: Cigars and Booze

Notes: Con man, thief and all-round rascal. He is charming and quick-witted, a master of disguise and martial arts, an accomplished bank robber, an expert on breaking and entering, and (perhaps most usefully) a skilled liar. A master of self-rationalization, the Rat frequently justifies his crimes by arguing that he is providing society with entertainment; and besides which, he only steals from institutions which have insurance coverage. He displays a strong morality, albeit in a much more restricted sense than is traditional. (For example, he will happily steal, but deplores killing.)

As you can see from the above briefing diGriz is a career criminal but does appear to have some scruples. It is for this reason that I plan on offering him the option of either spending the rest of his days on a penal colony on the Drudgery Worlds or joining the Corps as his unique skills will make him a valuable addition to the organisation.

Postscript: The wit who came up with the title for this briefing should be flogged!

INSKIPP

MESSAGE ENDS...

The Rat Has Been Sighted!

After a lengthy investigation I believe I have tracked the Stainless Steel Rat to his current con in the Beta Cygnus system. Latest reports place him on Beta Cygnus X where he is no doubt preparing for another of his nefarious crimes. I have contacted the local police and am traveling to the planet to personally oversee his capture with a Special Corps team.I have no doubt that the rat will be safely in our custody within the next 72 hours!

Local law enforcement have managed to retrieve the following image from the remains of the police robot that he criminally destroyed by dropping a safe on in his escape on Beta Cygnus III:


Note the self satisfied and smug expression. This criminal has eluded capture for far too long!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Introduction

This site has been created to chronicle the Special Corps investigations. First off I have asked our research department to compile a report on our current target of investigation: "Slippery" Jim diGriz aka The Stainless Steel Rat, De rat van roestvrij staal, die Edelstahlratte, El Escurridizo un criminale al nichelcromo and a host of other aliases.


The Arch Reprobate Slippery Jim diGriz

A career criminal diGriz is responsible for countless robberies spanning half the galaxy and I have ordered the best the Corps can offer to come up with a way of catching this reprobate. His crimes are legendary and the Corps has decided that its long past time that we curtailed his felonious activities and he be either jailed or ,preferably, recruited into the Corps.

Hence I, Harold Peters Inskipp as head of the Special Corps have decided to take personal charge of the investigation and have no doubt that the criminal diGriz will be captured like a rat in a trap!

MESSAGE ENDS...

Greetings!

I have decided to have a go at 15mm scale gaming and thought that as the Stainless Steel rat was may favourite book and pulp sci-fi seems to be getting a bit of interest at present I would start with him! The best thing about 15mm gaming is that you can collect forces on a really small budget and play a game on a smaller table (I only have a 4x4 foot board)

The plan is to first locate a suitable miniature to represent Slippery Jim, along with some flat footed police types and Inskipp with a small Special Corps task force. Following on from that I am hoping to add some of the characters that are featured in the books by Harry Harrison such as the beautiful but deadly Angelina, Professor Coypu, and a host of assorted heroes, villains and bystanders.

As I collect my forces I plan on posting them here, mainly in the guise of Inskipp although vehicles and high tech stuff will be reviewed by Professor Coypu and Slippery Jim will also make an occasional appearance with reports. Eventually the blog will also contain stuff from my other favourite books, movies and graphic novels ranging from Buck Rogers to Flash Gordon and feature organisations such as the mercenary company Star Risk and Cerberus Security Systems.

At present I have no really fixed plans on the site but am starting to place some small orders for the first of my protagonists!

All the best!