15mm Sci-fi Gubbins

Hi!

Heres a couple of quick pics of some 15mm bits and bobs I've been working on of late!

Crimson Fist Space Marines!

I have had these chaps based and primed for AGES so I figured I should do something with them and after a very quick paint job, Voila! Some ersatz Space Marines! Looking through my bits boxes, I have literally dozens of the little fellows so I may end up fielding a few full squads!

Next up I mentioned a couple of days back that I had played out a small skirmish using Rogue Trader in 15mm scale. Sadly my camera battery is running low so I've only just had chance to take some quick pics of the two forces prior to the game thus far but have taken lots of notes of the action as it played out so I will post a complete report in the next few days once my camera is fully charged!

 The Red Redemptionist Menace

Ert Peacekeepers and Imperial Advisor

As you can see the game takes place between two very small forces but it was rather fun and had a rather unexpected outcome!

Its interesting to note that despite going on a 28mm spree of late, I seem to find myself once again attracted to 15mm too. Who knows, maybe my STAINLESS STEEL RAT BLOG will get some much needed love in the not too distant future!

Finally heres a quick pic of a test piece I have done for my Kryomek project!

Talos Unit

I must admit I was planning on doing a more high tech paint scheme on him but as I looked at him with the simple bare metal effect, I thought it looked fine, especially for a bunch of colonial marines. And speaking of which, I finished speed painting a squad of five plastic EM4 miniatures last night who will be acting as proxies for the real deal and have come to realise that I hate group painting models!

Don't get me wrong, the finished effect is fine but the effort that goes into essentially producing a production line approach just doesn't appeal to me and I would far prefer to churn through each figure individually, even if it takes far longer.

All the best!

First Ork Squad Complete!

Hi!

Well its taken a rather long time but heres a quick pic of my first Ork squad:

Waaargh!

Now I have got the first five finished and out of the way, I need to crack on and get the rest finished which I suspect will take an age but is proving quite an entertaining process. I will also be working on their bases a bit as they are a tad plain at present so there will be some static grass and assorted bits added when I get the chance.

Heres Goff Ork number five:

Ork No5 

He's a bit of a cut and mix of one of the old plastic Orks and arms and hands from the 2nd edition 40k box set Orks. I tried painting one of them up entirely the other day but ended up cutting its arms off and throwing it away as the sculpts are just so hideous!

In other news I have put together a small squad of EM4 Miniatures plastic troopers who will be seeing double duty as Imperial Guard and Nexus Marines along with a rather battered Talos unit to give them some much needed hitting power. Once I have them painted, I will post some pics along with some background for the mini campaign I am hoping to get up and running once I have enough stuff painted!

On a side note I just found this little chap too:

15mm Scale Warboss!

He's a 15mm scale sculpt I completed just before moving house and its taken me till now to find him! I also have another four or five of the little fellows kicking around and when combined with the 15mm.co.uk stuff I produced for a commission a while back, theres enough to field a decent little force which will be seeing action soon as I attempt to play some more games!

All the best!

Kryomek!

Hi!

I've been spending a little time thinking on some of the games I liked back when I first abandoned the GW hobby and struck out on my own. back in the mid 90s, the only non GW store in Edinburgh was Macs Models which stocked an eclectic range of figures ranging from historicals to Flintloque, Leviathan and Kryomek (on a related note, there is now no non GW store in Edinburgh which is a real shame!)

I picked up a copy of Kryomek and some of the figures, mostly down to the rather lovely cover and interior artwork produced by some of the leading lights in the UK comic industry at the time:

What really captivated me was the background, instead of the Grimdark cartooniness of the mid 90s Warhammer 40000, Kryomek seemed a lot more believable and revolved around a setting where mankind had expanded throughout much of the galaxy by using high tech gateways to travel faster than the speed of light.

On one such expedition they jumped into a system inhabited by the Kryomek, a xenomorphic race of monsters, somewhat like the creature from Alien but with the ability to use all sorts of gribbly firearms and swords too!

The idea of mankind in a fight for survival, but with lots of high tech and an actual chance of winning was quite a revelation for someone who had been immersed in the GW Grimdark for years. To be honest the whole background was like the film Aliens and that was a real pull too with dodgy megacorps sending out colonial marines to do battle with implacable alien foes and the writing was very interesting too as it covered all sorts of randomness from first encounters to how the Nexus government dealt with rebellions, convicts and even colonisation and terraforming.

The result was a very rich setting that had lots of plot hooks for campaigns and some really original ideas. The rules themselves were solid but the rulebook was let down somewhat by some slightly unclear elements which were only somewhat resolved by the release of Hivestone, the first and only supplement to Kryomek.

Sadly as with so many of my projects, it went the way of the dodo when I got out of the hobby entirely soon after. Step forward to 2009 and I found myself at University and discovered that the company that made the stuff for my Leviathan project also still produced the original range. Soon after a FORUM was set up and quite a few folks posted interest and Scotia Grendel even made some noises about releasing some new stuff for the game but as time went on, interest waned and Kryomek once again found itself languishing in the unloved list of forgotten games other than the excellent work a chap called Bagpuss who runs a blog called HIVESTONE INCURSION and has pretty much singlehandedly kept the flag flying for Kryomek.

Which brings me to the present. To date, Kryomek is still available along with a lovely range of figures and the rules themselves can even be downloaded for free from Scotia Grendel but there has been no new releases so both the Marines and the Kryomek are incomplete. I am hoping to try and collect a couple of small forces with the hope of getting some skirmishes played in the Kryomek universe and see if I can inspire folks to give the game a try!

I would highly recommend downloading the books HERE. They are free and are worth taking a peek at for the background and artwork alone and who knows, if enough folks show interest, maybe Kryomek will get a much needed shot in the arm from Scotia Grendel too but if for no other reason, it will be fun to paint up some Marines and send them on a bug hunt!

What Kryomek needs is a revised rulebook that covers all the niggles that the original had (interestingly the mechanics were actually based on Stargrunt!) and the range needs completing and expanding a little too and if folks are interested then please feel free to start posting over on the forum with suggestions and ideas!

All the best!

Ork Progress!

Hi!

Well I've finally finished a Nob for my Goff squad (I think he's officially only a Scarboy according to the catalogue but will do the trick for now!)

Goff Nob!

He's got quite a bit of character and I only added a plastic jaw from my bits box and beefed up his plastic arms a little but am quite pleased how he turned out. I mounted him on a 30mm round base as he looked a tad silly with the normal 25mm base.

Here's a shot of the squad so far:

Goffs

The Nob stands a little bigger than the rest and I am rather enjoying painting up the lot of them, even if its at a somewhat snail like pace. Next on the painting table will be a special weapon Ork to give them some hitting power, and will be either a flamer or meltagun. 

I also took a shot of him alongside some of my Carnosaurs (available from CP Models) Despite them being aimed at 15mm scale gaming, they look quite alright next to the bigger fellows:

Carnosaurs!

I think with the addition of a few more of the large jawed ones and a runtherd, it could make for an interesting little unit!

I also managed to play out a small skirmish using Rogue Trader and featuring my 15mm scale Red Redemptionists and some alien Levy and will post a short battle report when I get chance!

All the best!

Dwarven Order of the Axe

Hi!

Just a quick update to show the completed Dwarven commander figure from the Leviathan range:

Order of the Axe Commander

It has to be said he's a big Dwarf standing well over 20mm tall but has lots of nice little details on him such as his warhelm and severed elven head. 

Hopefully I will have the Golem ready for an update over the weekend too and I have even found my 15mm stuff so there might even be a battle report coming up too!

All the best!

All the b

Wargolem Part 1

Hi!

Heres a quick peek at something I'm working on for my Dwarf force!

Wargolem!

Its a bit of a hodgepodge of different models with some shoulders which I've made from Milliput, Greenstuff and Procreate. Theres still quite a lot to do before I get to the painting stage but I thought it was high time for me to actually get on with some big resin stuff!

The model consists of the MkII Black Thunder body and legs along with the MkI Wargolem arms. The mace hand has been cut off, pinned and reposed to give it a slightly more dynamic pose and most of the casts irregularities such as small air bubbles and mould lines have been removed too.

The right shoulder still needs a lot of work and the left needs more studs and spikes adding and I am thinking of adding some large pieces of scale mail to make it more closely match the original concept art. 

The reason I decided to do this project is that the MkI Wargolem kit I had was rather badly miscast and was covered in mould lines where the mould had been mis-alaigned which would have resulted in having to clean up a considerable amount of resin, something I really wanted to avoid as its not unlike trying to chip off rock and even my dremel would have struggled!

Hopefully by this time next week I will have him primed and ready to paint and will post another update then!

In the meantime all the best!

Syntha Androsynth Test Piece

Hi!

While rummaging through my box of unpainted figures, I found my old Syntha figures that I had collected from various places with the intention of painting up at some point and figured it was high time I actually did something about it and heres the result:

Syntha Androsynth Test Piece

Sadly the photo seems to have washed out the colour a little but it gives the general gist what the eventual force might look like! He may get reworked a bit with his shoulderpads and knees getting redone in black as he is a little bland at the moment.

Once I get the force finished they will be seeing action as either a Megacorp security force for Void or Kryomek or even a Rogue Traders retinue for Warhammer 40k!

All the best!