Junker Update and Tiny Troops How to Guide

 Hi!

I've finished my Junkers for the time being and am busily working on and have completed my Exo Armour squad:

Junker Exo Armour Squad

Built from engineering rigs and armed with Grape Guns and Cestus fists, Exo Armour squads are the brutal close combat specialists that the Junker legions deploy into the thickest of combats.

Junker Exo Armour Detail

I'm really pleased with how they turned out and they've painted up really nicely too with just enough of the original vibe to be recognisable as the unit types they're supposed to be!

Junkers of the XVII legion

Here's what they looked like without a coat of paint:

Exo Armour Unpainted

As they only stand about 15mm tall, there's no need to go full on adding lots of little fiddly details, just the basic shapes. Compare the early 3d sprites for computer games compared to now!

Also the coat of paint makes a massive difference as its easy to paint in panel lines, small bits and bobs such as armour plates, etc that bring the models to life. They're going to be viewed at arms length after all so there's quite a few little cheats that can be done during painting .

So without further ado, here's the tutorial!

Supplies you'll need:

Some Sculpey or Fimo clay.

A sheet of EVA foam.

Superglue, Scissors and a knife.

The first step is to make the bodies and heads.

Roll out a block of sculpey and with a sharp knife, cut it into small cubes which will form the main body of all the infantry I make. For the heads, it possible to use beads but I tend to just roll out some sculpey or Fimo into small balls as I prefer not to have to fill the holes that beads tend to have in them.

Once the bodies and heads have been cooked, its time to start construction! I cut a thin piece of EVA foam into long batons about 4-5mm wide then cut them into small rectangles. I tend to just use scissors for this and aren't too particular about making sure everything is perfectly sized.

Once the heads have been glued on I add a small rectangle of EVA foam to the bottom to represent legs. I only use one but its easy enough to use two pieces one on top of the other to make the figure taller. Next add two small pieces of EVA foam to represent shoulders and voila, the figure is pretty much made. After this its just a case of adding details to give the figure definition.

Once the figure has been built, I glue them onto small buttons which have a slip of paper glued over the buttonholes as it makes basing look a bit better.

Small pieces of foam can then be used to add armour, backpacks, helmets, hats and uncounted other bits and bobs to make them look like a proper little person. Guns, swords, shields and whatnot are also made from EVA foam. I had been concerned about the durability of such little fellows, especially as they're made of foam and a bit of glue but I've dropped them repeatedly and they just seem to bounce!

Androsynths

It's very easy to substitute different shaped objects for heads, such as the Androsynths above with their larger cube heads or the knights I've made which have cylinder heads made from cut up sausages of sculpey.

The most important part of the build process it so get the general look and feel of the original figure and with a bit of experimentation and bodging, they are remarkably effective to represent whatever army you want

So there you are! Tiny troops can be made quick, cheaply and very easily for the fraction of a cost of actual miniatures. They've been a bit of a revelation for me as I've really enjoyed making all the tiny figures and am very happy with how they are turning out and indeed what a boon its been for my hobby!

My next unit is built and ready to prime and while I'm meandering through different projects there's a sense of industry and achievement to working on them all, no matter the subject. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up the momentum over the course of the year and build and paint enough bits and bobs to play all manner of interesting games as the weather improves.

Junkers vs Farpoint Salvage

Hopefully, I'll have another update later this week with the next handful of painted odds and ends but in the meantime, All the best!

Junkers in Star Mogul

 Hi!

So with my freshly finished salvage crews for Star Mogul, I got to thinking about some crossover forces from other settings which would fit in nicely with the wild frontier of Farpoint and have decided to have a bash at making some Junkers.

Junkers from Void 1.1 are a militaristic faction that are a cross between the Harkonnen from Dune and the Roman Empire and their use of convict troops combined with their tendency to salvage gear as well as ruthlessness fits in quite nicely in Star Mogul where I plan on making them one of the regional powers.

Junker battle gear is usually simple to operate such as shotguns and combat shields and swords but they also make use of other short range weaponry such as flame throwers, chainguns and explosive lancers which further lends itself to the industrial aesthetic that I'm going for in the setting.

Coupled with their exo-suits, retrofitted industrial booster rigs with guns and a bit of armour strapped on and their use of buggys and so on, I think I could port them into the setting and games with ease!

Back in 2022, I made a Junker force using my tiny troop method for games of Void 1.1 and rather liked how they turned out for the most part, but they were multi based for larger skirmishes so I'll be going back to the drawing board for the next batch I make.

Junkers vs Colonial Defence troopers and vehicles.

I'll need to have a think about what I'm going to make but I reckon a few convict salvage rats backed up by legionnaires, an enforcer and maybe a couple of exo armored rigs, I'll be ready to go!

Junker Infantry Squads

As folks have said they'd like to see how I make the tiny fellows, I think I'll also post a how to of the project with a step by step guide and will see about making a vehicle for them to ride around in too!

Sadly I'm back at work tomorrow so doubt I'll get much chance to work on them until the weekend but fingers crossed, I'll keep the momentum going and get the core done in a couple of hours cutting and gluing.

In the meantime, All the best!

Junker 750 Point Tiny Troops Army

 Hi!

I've finished the tiny warband I've been working on for the last week or so!

The force consists of two large Convict Legionnaire squads, a unit of Exo Suits, a small squad of Suicide Legionnaires and a captured Assault Androsynth squad led by an Enforcer to ensure the lowly convicts tow the line.

While the little guys are not particularly detailed, they will allow me to play a decent sized game using troops only from the core original Void rulebook which allowed any army to use a selection of models from other factions which is why I have a bunch of salvaged Androsynths fighting for Ironglass!

The Androsynths are possibly my favourite sculpts as they've turned out really cute! Game wise, they've got a pair of Cestus which allows them to really add some close combat power to my force. Their basic programming will force them to rush towards the closest enemy unit but I do like the idea of the Junkers having unleashed some poorly programmed and destructive robot assault troops on their unsuspecting foes!

The Exo Suits turned out ok but I think I'd rework them if I was to make them again as they're a bit blocky but in the game, they look like they're going to be totally bad ass with a mixture of Flamers, Grape Guns and Cestus. I plan on using them to crush enemies once the lowly convicts soak up any incoming fire from the enemy.

Suicide Troopers! Every despotic sci-fi army seems to need insane fellows strapped with explosive charges to hurl themselves at the enemy and it will be interesting to see how they actually work in the game.

Enforcer! This little dude can trigger the Convict Legionnaire's Neural Spike and instantly kill them to restore order to panicked units and is somewhat akin to the Junkers version of a Commissar but I'm suspecting he's going to be more effective at lurking behind the troops than getting stuck in to the thick of it and fluff wise, he's the leader of my force.

I've really enjoyed working on this project and I suspect I'll be making some more of the tiny troops for other games or forces in the not too distant future but I really want to get back to my Rangers of Shadowdeep and Planet 28 projects so will be taking a bit of a break from tiny troops for a while to allow me to get the other odds and ends I've got in various stages of completion out of the way before moving back to it.

The eventual plan is to get enough put together to allow me to play a 750 point game of Void to properly try out the system as I'm keen to keep trying out and playing different games and this approach is allowing me to churn out a decent little army with minimal time and cost and as I've previously mentioned, I think I'll be doing more in the future for the larger scale skirmish games I have in my collection which will be great as I've got so many rulesets that I'm highly unlikely to ever get chance to play otherwise due to a combination of the figures being too expensive or hard to get or just the fact that the prospect of painting an actual army in 28mm fills me with dread!

With that in mind, I've set my sights on getting the Void project out of the way first and will then move onto either Kryomek, VOR: The Maelstrom or 40k with these tiny chaps but I've yet to settle on which one I will do.

I've got quite a few more bits and bobs that are needing photographing to put up here but I'm struggling somewhat with lighting at present, especially as our spare room is currently stowed full of stuff as we're getting work done in the flat due to water damage caused by the great flood so getting a decent set up is proving a bit of a challenge. Still I'll persevere and get the stuff up this weekend so watch this space!

Until then, All the best!