Friday 31 July 2009

Mining Robot

Greetings!

Heres a couple of pictures of the Crustacean Q class 3 Super heavy mining robot (classified as CRA-B1) I am planing on using as an objective and random big beast for some villains to use to crush and stomp on unfortunate civilians!


Large Crabby Robot!


Another View!

I actually sold this chap a few years back but have another which is part painted and will be finishing it off over the course of the next few days. Its originally a huge crab droid produced by Wizards of the Coast for their plastic Starwars game but with minimal work it will make an excellent (Not to mention HUGE!) vehicle for 15mm scale gaming!

All the best!

Royalty!

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of Queen Hildegarde of Freibur with her lady in waiting/bodyguard Miss Potts:


Hildegarde and Miss Potts

The miniatures are both from Peter Pigs pirate range and painted up quite nicely and are just the thing for scenarios as whats better for a villain than kidnapping royalty!

All the best!

Thursday 30 July 2009

Hussar Squad

Hi!

Heres the first completed squad for my Rdenrunt Hussars:


Rdenrunts Finest!

The squad has turned out rather nicely and its going to be interesting to see what the entire force looks like with its rather sriking colour scheme!

In other news I received my order from 15mm.co.uk so will be spending a little time organising and basing them before cracking on with a bit more painting. Amongst the order theres my first squad of patrol marines, a squad of Stellar Guard, more thuggish types with guns, a few more droids and even a small selection of characters!

All the best!

Wednesday 29 July 2009

Damsel In Distress?

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of an as yet unnamed character from Freibur:


Damsel!

The miniature is one of the Pieces of Eight pirate range from Peter Pig and fits in quite well with the backwards tech level of Freibur and isnt in too much distress as shes wielding a large pistol!

I suspect she is going to be used as either the queens maid (or bodyguard!) or even as one of Angelinas alter egos!

All the best!

Tuesday 28 July 2009

Transportation Ponderings

Greetings!

Ive been pondering what vehicles to get for my assorted forces as the Stainless Steel Rat universe covers all sorts of tech levels from stone age to ultra high tech.

At present I need some vehicles for my police force and the armed forces of Rdenrunt. The police are fairly high tech while the Rdenruntian force is more early 20th century level. At present I am leaning towards getting a couple of British Saxon APCs for the police (available from QRF) as I really like the chunky look of them and while they are essentially military vehicles they look quite good as police trucks. Its got an oddly angular sci-fi appearance which suits the purpose Im looking for:


Saxon Police Carrier.

As for the Rdenrunt armour, I am looking at some of the British and Soviet WW2 armoured cars as I need something that will fit in with the lower tech level and doesnt have a huge gun!

Im quite tempted by some of the Battlefront WW2 miniatures and may have to look into my local Hobbycraft to see what they look like in the flesh so to speak.

At present I am aiming to finish Count Cassitors force first and it needs an armoured car to provide some much needed fire support for my infantry while they are performing nefarious deeds for their leader...

Hopefully I will be able to sort something out over the next couple of days but in the mean time any suggestions would be most welcome!

All the best!

Rdenrunt Uniformed Underlings!

Hi!

Heres a pic of the first two of Count Cassitors Rdenrunt Hussars!


Dapper Minions!

The miniatures are from Peter Pig and although they are WW1 dismounted French Hussars, they have an excellent retro sci-fi look to them making them perfect for Stainless Steel Rat Gaming!

I suspect I will order another pack of them allowing me to field a full platoon and will also be getting them some support in the form of a machine gun and possibly a couple of steam driven armoured cars! One slightly disappointing thing about the packs thus far has been the lack of an officer. The Peter Pig website shows a great pistol wielding type who would have been perfect for the squads NCO but there were none supplied!

Its not too much of a problem as I plan on ordering another pack and will simply request a couple of extra officers!

All told the Rdenrunt force will come to about £20 which isnt too bad for an entire army!

All the best!

Monday 27 July 2009

Femme Fatale

Hi!

Heres a pic of evil Angelina from before she joined the Special Corps and was a homicidal evil doer!


Evil Angelina!

The miniature is as usual a Laserburn adventurer and is armed with a large calibre pistol. I went for a bit of a black leather look somewhat like the main character from Underworld as I thought it suited an evil type quite well! The miniature itself is really rather good apart from the fact she has a cloak which doesnt really work with the rest of the outfit.

Ive also finished a hover van, again from Laserburn:


Yellow Truck!

I ended up going for a bit of a beaten up looking finish as I hadnt given it a thick enough undercoat so the yellow appeared patchy. I think it looks quite nice and the vans design is excellent. I just wish someone would release some more sci-fi civilian vehicles (preferably with a choice of hover, grav and wheeled!)

Im now waiting on a couple of orders arriving before I do any more so it may be a couple of days before I can update the blog!

All the best!

Saturday 25 July 2009

Count Cassitor of Rdenrunt!

Hi!

Heres a pic of Count Cassitor, a treacherous nobleman of Freibur. Hes actually one of (at the time) evil Angelinas pawns. Having ambitions after the crown of Freibur and with a sizable army of retainers he makes a perfect character for Slippery Jim and the Special Corps to operate against!


Count Cassitor!

Hes in the uniform of the Rdenrunt Hussars, his personal guard unit. Again the miniature is one of the Laserburn range and with the impressive uniform and swirly cloak hes a perfect looking villain!


A Giant Rat!

I also painted up a giant rat to act as a random monster to menace civilians and impede the heroics of the good guys. Hes originally a Citadel rat miniature which Ive had in my bits box for years and found it would make a perfect nasty in 15mm scale.

Ive still got an evil Angelina to paint and a few civilians but thats about all until my orders arrive from 15mm.co.uk and Peter Pig. Its quite refreshing to be able to paint up twenty plus miniatures in the course of a single week!

All the best!

Friday 24 July 2009

Uniformed Minions!

Hi!

Ive just placed a small order with Peter Pig for a couple of packs of infantry amongst which is two of packs of WW1 dismounted French dragoons:


Minions!

These guys look just the part to act as uniformed underlings for the villainous Count Cassitor of Freibur. Their slightly Flash Gordonesque helmets were perfect for the dastardly villain Cassitor. Freibur is a new member planet of the Galactic League so there is quite a clash between traditional and modern equipment and technology. The minions will be given snazzy black and red uniforms so they can swagger around oppressing people. I also need to get some more suitable troops for King Willelm IX and the old Duke Radebrechen so will check out some nineteenth century uniformed types.

Also required are a couple of steam driven robot servant types and the dastardly Count Cassitor himself. I think another order of some Laserburn miniatures may be in order!

UPDATE!

The rest of the budget has been spent with a small order with 15mm.co.uk in the form of an assortment of adventurers, villains and a few more minions!

All the best!

Thursday 23 July 2009

Thugs!

Hi!

Heres a pic of a group of thuggish types which act as minions to one of my super villains (after all what decent villain can do without some disposable underlings?)


Street Thugs!

Again the miniatures are all from the Laserburn range. Ive done a few head swaps to add some variety to the group but need to find some more to supplement the group. Armed with clubs, knives and pistols they wont be much of a match for military or police groups but could cause some hassle for individuals...

15mm Ponderings

Hi!

Im thinking of making the change from 28mm stuff to entirely 15mm as I have a limited gaming space and my gaming board is only 4x4 (no to mention a very limited gaming budget!) My Leviathan project is still underway but with the approach of another term at uni I dont have the time to spend days painting a single miniature.

I still plan on working on the Leviathan stuff during the hols but have found myself struggling a bit of late with it and need a change for a while.

Ive started off with the stainless steel rat stuff to see how I go and am quite enjoying painting at a smaller scale as I have been able to collect several small forces and paint them for a fraction of the money and quite a lot less time and have been thinking of having a go at the following next:

Space Captain Smith! The books by Toby Frost have got tons of really good ideas for gaming in the British Space Empire. Forces could include Smiths crew, British forces, Ghast Empire bugs, Mlag savages and of course Lemming men!

Warzone: The old 28mm scale game has such a good setting its just asking to be converted into a smaller scale!

Flash Gordon: Another excellent setting (Ive been following the Mad Welshmans blog and its got me re-reading my Flash Gordon graphic novels for inspiration!)

To help me decide what to have a bash at next Ive started a poll to see what folks would like to see done next!

All the best!

EDIT!

Ive had to remove the poll as it was making the blog go haywire! In place of it please feel free to post suggestions in the comments section of this post!

Most Confusing!

Wednesday 22 July 2009

Getaway In Style!

Hi!

Heres a pic of Slippery Jim and Angelina with their getaway car:



Getaway!

The miniature is one of the vehicles available from 15mm.co.uk as part of the Laserburn range and paints up really nicely. The model needed a bit of cleaning as it had some nasty mold lines round the edges but is otherwise an excellent little piece of kit. I now need to find some police cruisers to chase it...

All the League Characters

Hi!

Heres a pic of the completed League characters I have:


League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

From left to right theres the tactical sergeant, Captain Steng, Psi man and finally theres the fleet bodyguard.

My next aim is to get some generic thugs painted up and then I am going to see about ordering in a few more miniatures as I need specific characters, not to mention some troops!

All the best!

Tuesday 21 July 2009

More League Stuff!

Hi!

Heres a couple more pictures of the League forces Ive been painting up:


Psi Man and Tactical Sergeant

The psi man is armed with a pistol and is in full uniform while the tactical sergeant is armed to the teeth with pistol, combat rifle and sword. I decided to make him a little less uniformed by giving him a flak jacket and quite a bit of assorted armour. Hes thus far been the most enjoyable miniature to paint for my in this scale as the level of detail on him is great and hes been quite a joy to paint. The psi mans uniform looks quite thunderbirds but the black makes him look a bit more sinister even though hes a good guy!

Ive still got another League trooper to paint up whos equipped in much the same way as the tactical sergeant I have already done. I am tempted to buy a couple of packs of the Peter Pig militia troops to act as patrol marines but need to get the rest of my stuff painted before I try to order any more!

All the best!

Rat Catcher MK1 Scout Drone

Greetings!

Heres a picture of the Rat Catcher Mk1 Scout Drone recently brought into service by the Special Corps to aid in the capture of Slippery Jim. The drone is equipped with a plethora of high tech cameras, tracking and communication gear. Hopefully the drone will see more use over the coming months after successful testing during the hunt for the criminal diGriz!


Rat Catcher!

The drone was built from an old plastic space ranger backpack (still available from EM4 miniatures) and with the addition of a few pieces of wire. Its a really simple scratch build and turned out quite nicely as the vents on the rear of the backpack look just like intakes for the engine.

Ive got another one to paint up and have enough backpacks to make another four. I think the remaining versions may well be armed with a mixture of stun guns and possibly even a heavy support version with some sort of rapid fire weapon.

All the best!

Captain Steng of the League Navy

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of the latest miniature I have got painted up:


Captain Steng

Steng is from the first of the Stainless Steel Rat books and is a member of the League Grand Fleet so gets a rather dashing black uniform with gold braid. Distrustful of Slippery Jim, Steng will make both a useful ally and opponent in games.

Its a bit difficult to paint highlights on black at this scale but he turned out alright. He has got a couple of patrol marines to back him up and a psi man to add some telepathic communication skill. Also needing painted are a couple of Rat Catcher mk1 scout drones which I have been working on. I will post an update later on this morning with more images of the Leagues finest!

The miniature itself is from the Laserburn range of ships crew available from 15mm.co.uk and is a really nice sculpt. I think that if he was painted in lighter colours he would really shine. Alas the fleet uniform is described as black so black he is!
On a side note this miniature would make a perfect captain for any imperial guard army for those interested in gaming 40k in a different scale!

All the best!

Monday 20 July 2009

Completed Police Force!

Hi!

Heres a pic of the entire police force consisting of police chief, police droid, patrol skimmer and two squads of beefy law enforcement!


Law Enforcement!

This is the average size of force I plan on collecting for Stainless Steel Rat gaming. Essentially there will be two to three squads, a couple of characters and the occasional vehicle. My law enforcement goons will eventually get a couple of light transports in the form of a pair of cruisers and some mono-wheel bikes!

All the best!

More Police!

Hi!

Heres a quick pic of the police I finished painting last night:


Armed Police


Rear View

Ive added a rear view to show the slung shields. Its a pity that they couldnt have done a better job on the sculpting of them though as the detail is decidedly wonky. Still it does give them a somewhat beaten and used look which works alright!

Another slight niggle with the miniatures is that despite them being from the same pack, none of their uniforms are the same requiring a bit of cunning to get them to match. Also one arm is quite a bit longer than the other, fortunately the weapons tend to cover this discrepancy so its not too big a deal!

I may need another pack to give me two riot squads with shields and two general purpose patrol squads with small arms. Once Ive painted the remaining two police I am going to paint up my league navy crewmen as its an opportunity to paint some nice black and gold uniforms and the sculpts are a lot better than the polices!

Alas I have picked up the new Space Captain Smith book this morning so no work will be done until I have finished reading the latest volume of Smiths derring do!

All the best!

Sunday 19 July 2009

Another Update!!

Hi!

as requested I am keeping this blog up and running as it seems the public needs to see Slippery Jim in all his glory on his own blog! So without further ado heres a few more bits and pieces Ive finished over the course of the last couple of days!


More Rozzers!


A Civilian and Transport of Delight


Still To Do!

The police have now got themselves a sergeant (complete with tiny sergeant stripes and an inflated sense of self importance), completed police robot and patrol skimmer!

Have made a start on the civilians too in the form of a delivery guy with his walking robot (one of the more unusual vehicles featured in the books which moves by hopping. It is also on record as being a bit of a bone shaker!) The robot is scratch built from sculply and assorted bits. It also illustrates whi I have gone for the more colourful bases as I found the tarmac look seemed to make the miniatures appear dull and lifeless!

And finally I added a pic of all the stuff I still need to paint! Theres a mixture of thuggish types, femme fatales, more police, criminal masterminds, sheeplike civilians, vehicles and even a giant Sumatran rat to add a touch of peril!

Somewhat foolishly I managed to leave all the Peter Pig stuff in Edinburgh at my parents which is a real shame!

I will crack on with the police tonight and hopefully have nearly all of them done for tomorrow!

All the best!

Saturday 18 July 2009

Police Chief and Guards!

Hi!

Ive updates some Stainless Steel Rat stuff onto my other blog but heres a pic of the police chief and his guards:


Police Chief and Guards!

As requested heres a review of the miniatures themselves!

The miniatures are from two of the ranges available from 15mm.co.uk and theres quite a bit of difference quality wise between them.

First off theres the Laserburn adventurer with cape. This guy is really nicely detailed and paints up very nicely and has proven to be just the thing to represent my police chief. Hes armed with a pistol and sword and needed to be painted up to look a bit flash so hes got a nice red cloak, gold belt (possibly concealing a shield generator) and the green and white uniform of a police officer. I also gave him a bit of a perma tan!

Next the troopers themselves. Armed with riot shields and body armour, not to mention shock mauls the thuggish law enforcement types act as both a riot squad and as a good bodyguard unit for the police chief. The miniatures themselves are pretty poor quality to be honest and their thick base makes them loom somewhat over their charge. I ended up painting them with facemasks as their features were so blocky that they just didnt look human. The high point of the pack is that they seem to be based on the police in the movie the Fifth Element. Maybe I need to find some suitable proxies for Corban Dallas and Leeloo...

Ive got another half dozen police ready to paint which are armed with a mixture of pistols and riot guns to give me a bit more hitting power. I also plan on fielding a couple of detectives and a pair of float disk riding officers and some generic uniformed police as well!

In future I doubt I will be ordering much from the newer ranges from 15mm.co.uk as the quality just isnt there for the price they are asking (coupled with rather extortionate postage and 'handling' costs!)

All the best!

Monday 13 July 2009

An Update!

Hi!

Ive been doing some organising on my old wargaming blog and have decided to add all my stainless steel rat stuff onto it as it will need a lot less faffing to post everything from my assorted non Leviathan stuff onto one blog!

Heres a link to the blog:

http://leutenantbrittan.blogspot.com/