MechLab recap so far

Just because it's cool to go back and see where you are and where you've come from as you look ahead to where you're going.  Next on the plate is likely a scratch build of the Axeman.  I enjoyed the challenge of scratch-building the Hatchetman and Archer.  Eventually, there will be an FCY Wolfhound incoming soon.  

The Wolf's Dragoon's lineup. 

The Mechs I have had the opportunity to build up so far:

Atlas, TimberWolf Mk II, Warhammer, Archer, Victor, Hatchetman, DireWolf.

 

AS7-D-DC done.

AS7-D-DC complete.

Well, as complete as she's going to get for now.  There are still just a couple things I'd like to do on weathering but overall I'm happy.

The camoscheme was ... interesting.  I liked the way it looked in the MechLab, and when I laid it down on the Mech, at first I wasn't sure.  Then I dry-fit the Mech together and I really ended up liking it a lot.  Weathering it proved to be a bit of a challenge though.  The gray, the black and the red all took shades differently and I found that I needed various shades of brown to get the right "dirty" look for each color.  Then, after I did all that, it had the look of different types of soil and I really did like the overall appearance. 

The lighting in the cockpit was simple and I love how it came out.  Doing a cockpit would really have been cool, but overkill and it'd be like superdetailing the engine in a Tiger tank model that you then button up.  You know it's there, but you only see it in the photos of the pre-work. 

Overall, this kit gets an A+++.  Seriously.  The fitment was fabulous and the cleanup was absolutely minimal.  Being the huge Battletech fan that I am, the Atlas is one of those super-iconic 'Mechs, and this version of it was superb.  I can't gush enough over the workmanship. 

It is, without a doubt, a BEAST.  It really was a test of patience to keep working at it bit by bit and it was only in the last day or so when all the final bits of weathering started to bring it all together that it had that "pop."  It was definitely a wonderful kit to work.  I really enjoyed it. 

So, enough "waffling" as a certain fellow is want to say, and moving on to the pics.  Below are the video links and the pics.  Enjoy.  I did.

Atlas Unboxing

Built Update 1

Build Update 2

Build Update 3

Build complete 

This is the view from my workstation.  I am kinda likin' that. : )

Atlas build update.

Because I just had to do it, I did it.  Guess "just build and paint it" isn't enough for me.  Since I really couldn't build a decent cockpit for this, I decided to go with the lighted eyes.  Ok, to be fair, I *could* have built a decent cockpit, but you'd never see it. At best, you might see the face of the pilot but there's no real point for that effort. 

The process for doing this is simple enough.  I took the head and started by drilling out the eyes.  I started with a 1.5 mm bit and worked in, taking the holes in deep enough to where I think I would end up with the holes from the bottom.  Then, I took a 1/8 drillbit and came in at an angle from the bottom until I felt the resistance give, which told me I made it to the eye holes. 

After the main holes were in place, then it was cleanup.  I took a carving bit for the dremel and opened up the juncture of the two holes to fit the lights.  As I did the work, I would periodically check it with a hand-held flashlight.

After that was all done, then it was a little bit of cleanup of the main opening at the face of the Atlas. 

Next up, I took two 1.8mm lights, bent them to a 90 deg. angle at the top and then soldered up the wires.  A quick check that the wiring was good and I positioned the lights up inside the head.  I held the lights in place for the moment with bits of electrical tape.

Once I was happy with the position and I had the lights taped in place, I mixed up some greenstuff and filled the hole, using it to lock the lights into place. 

The next steps will be to finish that up.  When the greenstuff is fully cured, I can pull the electrical tape and then fully seal up the hole with more greenstuff.  After all that is done, I'll fill the eyes with clear/translucent resin to give it a final finish. 

Talky update

Pretty much just a thinking out loud and get started on the Atlas video.

Linky to the video

Got some work ahead of me. :)

Next project: AS7-D-DC

So, it looks like the  next project will be the AS7-D-DC. 

I got tired of looking up at my shelf where the DireWolf once stood and I needed some Inner Sphere tech.  I have the WHM-7R that I need to make some decisions on, and the decisions are about the same for both of these.  Essentially, the cockpit for the Warhammer and the Atlas both have small windows for the cockpits.  So, I could go through the effort of making awesome cockpits and details for each of these, but in all honesty, you'd never see anything.  So, I have decisions.

Options:
    1)  backlight the windows for both.  So, put electronics in appropriate spots and backlight the windows for the cockpit.  (and the spotlight for the Warhammer, etc)
    2)  do a straight-forward build-and-paint. The windows are small, so maybe just do a glass-paint scheme and paint.

Other than that, the Atlas is going to be carrying a Gauss rifle rather than the AC-20.  I have the Gauss built and ready to go. (Pic below)  Also, I am not a fan of the head locked to the shoulders.  Looking at the pieces, I can put the head on a pivot, and there is room for the head to rotate at least 20 or so degrees in each angle.  To do that, I'm going to have to put some extra details in on the lower part of the head assembly.  Doing that, though, is easy enough.  Doing that will give the overall Mech the ability to have a more dynamic look. 

As for paint scheme, I'll go with the Grey-and-red I've been using for the Wolf's Dragoon's detachment I've been doing.  It's a start...

Well. Stalingrad.

Playing Soviets in Bolt Action, how can you not have a Stalingrad playing board?  I happen to really like city fighting and the cinematic feel of densely packed ruins on a game board.  Our local gaming store has a city board but it's in FOW scale (15mm) and it can work for Bolt Action, but only barely.  I could wait for Rob to build his own, or I could just do it myself.  I like making terrain, so I figured why not. 

Things for me to consider as I get started on a 4'X8' ruined city gaming board:

1) Barmaley fountain.  Gotta have the Barmaley fountain.  It's such an iconic image of Stalingrad, that square needs to be made to happen.  The scene where Danilov and Zeitzev meet in Enemy at the Gates is one that sticks with me, so yeah.  I think this is the only feature I really *must* make happen.  I have the model (Puppetswar made an awesome one in 28mm)

2) Balance of terrain.  The ruined city look has to have a balance of destroyed buildings and open-ish areas where buildings once stood.  One thing about city is the shorter line-of-sight.  Fire lanes and sight blocking makes city tactics more challenging, requiring units to maneuver and end up getting close.  I need to make sure I balance the layout so players can adapt their units accordingly.  What a city board lacks in open lanes of fire, it makes up for in elevated positions.  Units can get up into the upper levels of a ruined building, opening up different lanes and changing the scope of the game from a 2-d to more of a 3-D consideration.

3) Roads.  This is a big one.  A city board is either buildings/space where buildings once stood and roads.  Currently, wheeled vehicles can move 24" and fire, while tracked vehicles can move 18" and fire while on roads.  An infantry squad would take 3 turns to cover that distance while firing.  The new rules that enable transports to continue on the board and shoot while leaving their troops or tow behind will just add to the weight of mechanized units.  On turn 2, a wheeled vehicle can be all the way across the board while following a road.  There are two ways to balance that out:

                a) build the city on a diagonal. Have the board be at a 45 degree angle to the roads, forcing the vehicles to have to maneuver with turns, and cutting their distance traveled perpendicularly.  Another aspect of building it like this is that it will play with the minds of the players.  Most people think in straight lines, and are psychologically drawn to pre-set roads.  Setting the board on an angle will add a sub-conscious challenge to the players. 

                b) have the board be congruent with the streets, but have so much damage and fallen buildings in the way that it blocks direct road travel from one side of the board to the other. 

4) Factory district.  Another area of terrain I would like to have, but am not as focused on as I am for the Barmaley fountain, is the factory district.  Having a large area of terrain that is just one big destroyed building with multiple levels where infantry can spread out would totally eliminate vehicular advance, and also would be a challenge for players.  The question is: would it be too much of a challenge and so, not fun. The visual would be neat, but ...

5) I wanted to have a river feature, but I can't figure how to get that factored in.  Stalingrad had the Volga, but that would be an entire side of the board.  I could do a river through the city in a smaller scale, but I think that would take away from the feel I'm going for. 

These are my thoughts as I get started on the project.  There are plenty of makers of buildings out there and I'll also be doing my own out of foamcore and sintra for specific buildings I want to replicate. 

Below are just a couple images of where I am for now: 

A screen grab from Enemy at the Gates.. 

And the building I made for the board. 

well... NOW what?

With Prometheus finally completed, and us with a happy AngryHippy, I'm left trying to figure out what to do next.

I have several options in the pipeline I could work on.  In just the 'Mech arena alone there are the below:

Yamato Destroid mod and painted to Warhammer Widowmaker.
Armorcast Timberwolf
FCY Timberwolf Mk II
FCY Dervish- mod to a Trebuchet
FCY Atlas
Workshop Inquisitorial Knight Titan
FCY MadDog Mk IV
FCY Victor
FCY Loki
Dreamforge Leviathan

With that said, I'm also a little bored with the "rusted out factory walls" background I have for my 'Mech Display, and am seriously tempted to construct a Mechbay.  It would need to display at least a Lance, which would mean 4 work bays.  That'd put it about 36" long by about a foot wide and about 13-14" tall. 

Not to mention the Bolt-Action armor that needs to be painted and the dozen or so other projects in the works. 
-Stalingrad gaming table
-ISU-152 tank
-BT-7A Tanks 2
-Katyusha
-KV-2 tank (if it ever shows up)

Decisions, decisions. 

Prometheus Completed

ell, I finally have Prometheus completed and delivered to AngryHippy.  So, now I can put up the reveal pics and video. This was a bit of a challenging project in many ways, and I learned plenty of lessons.  I am becoming much more comfortable with the cockpit lighting techniques, and I think I have a few ideas on what to do going forward.  The Photo-etch cockpit details are great, they do a lot of good light-blockage and they can detail up places that are visible in through the view port/windscreen.  The DireWolf has a large canopy that allows for more visible detail.  Typically, a Mech's window is small and you only see the pilot and what is behind him. (like the Hatchetman or Victor.)   The Atlas barely would have anything visible, so there really isn't any point in building a cockpit at all, just make the main eye glow.  Same for the Warhammer.

The dust effects worked well on the panel lines and I liked the pin-wash effect of dust color rather than dark shading.  It gave me the option of fading into the panels better and cutting the bright green.  Buff shading the panels also did a nice job.  I wish my photos were better but you get the idea.

I still really hate the hard-edge tiger stripes.  It's the scheme AH wanted, so as long as he's happy, that's what matters.  I may do soft-edge/airbrush tiger stripes on my next Mech, depending on which Mech I do.  I have quite the selection to choose from. 

This Kit is very well done, and I think FCY did a great job with it. The challenges I mention above are all due to the modifications I wanted to do as well as the paint scheme and other not-kit-design issues.  The design is solid and well thought out.  The joints are capable of some very good modifications for dynamic poses.  It didn't take too much effort to modify the leg poses, although the arms would have needed some work on the elbows if I had wanted to alter those.  Still, the joint is pretty easy, so it wouldn't be too tough. 

Babbling done, might as well move on to the part yawl really want anyway: Here are a few pics I took of her, and the link to the reveal Video is Right Here.

 

Prometheus-continued

Prometheus work continues apace.

I've been away for a while and not had much opportunity to work on it, but am getting back into it.  As it is, I have the lower legs pretty much completed, with some final filtering details to clean up and finish.  I don't like some of the oil leaks on the back and I want to re-filter and blend those a bit more. 

I have the torso and upper arms being worked on now.  The cockpit lights work about where I'd like them.  I learned a lot of things on this one and I have plans to do more better going forward.  I like the screens and the way they light the pilot but I want to see them be a bit cleaner.  The small cockpit window of the Dire Wolf hides a lot of ugly, but it wouldn't work so well on something like a TimberWolf. 

I really do NOT like hard-edge stripes.  They're what Angryhippy wants, as it's what he sees in his mind for Prometheus and that's what I'm going for.  I pulled images from the interwubs and did the best I could.  Fortunately, he also really wants this to have a beat-up and battered look, so a lot of the things I don't like about them is going to get faded away in the weathering and damage. 

 

I still have to detail up the framework obviously, but there is the quick look at the installed cockpit.  

I put the torso on the leg assembly and took a few shots, so see below for where we are.  I'm only just getting started on the detailing painting and the weathering/battledamage.  The main "big strikes" are in but there's a ton of piping detail and the like that still needs to be done up as well as all the shading and so on. 

 

Above is the panel removed to show the switch for the lights.  The other panel also moves aside to reveal the LR-44 battery compartment. 

Movin on.. movin on.