Claw Patrol

Hell Divers theropod rider
15 mm

As intelligent and loyal as dogs, fast and immensely powerful; large predatory dinosaurs from the Chuhuac home world are used by some human allies as mounts for military expeditions.  Though vulnerable to weapons, their trainability and versatility make them ideal mounts for elite scouts in challenging environments.

Converted, as mentioned here, from a Schleich toy dinosaur and a Clear Horizon infantry figure.

Patrolling on a lush jungle world... beautiful, but hidden threats await.

Sneak peek (theropod rider)

As summer winds down, I'm finding a little more time to paint, and at the top of my queue is my dinosaur rider!  I'm still amazed at the detail on the Schleich models...

Also, I was recently surprised with a lovely birthday gift: a couple of Reaper Bones figures personally selected by my 4-year-old daughter.  That's never happened before!  She made good choices too: 77050 Lizardman Soldier, and 77092 High Elf Adventurer.  I don't paint much 28 mm any more but I'll have to have a go at one of those soon.

Riders of the saurian age

Hell Divers theropod rider
15 mm

Anyone on the 15 mm sci-fi Facebook group has already seen this, but I just started a fun little project.  I adapted a Clear Horizons "Hell Diver" figure to be the rider and sculpted a saddle out of putty.  There could be various explanations for soldiers in the future riding dinosaurs, but I can think of at least one based on fluff I've written in the past...

I mentioned the high-quality Schleich toy dinosaur in a previous post but never had a good idea what to do with it.  With a bit of putty added to cover up the embossed text on the belly, I think it's at least as good as most dino sculpts intended for gaming.  As oddly good as Schleich's paint jobs are, for some reason the primed model really gets my creative juices flowing...

Amphibious Attack

Amphibious Assault Hovercraft
15 mm scale

I was a bit stalled on my pirates, and my sci-fi roots must have been showing, because I whipped this off in less than a week which is pretty speedy for me.  The hover is of course an Ion Age "Adder Combat Lifter" missile pod variant I've had kicking around for a while.  A nice model; it has its own style but you could use it for a lot of different factions without it looking out of place.

 
The riders are Clear Horizons' Hell Divers, which were the only seated figures I had, but turned out looking perfect.  I painted them to look very "Star Wars clone trooper", without actually intending to.  I just wanted to distinguish them from my other squad and not be green.  I picture this vehicle doing high-speed shore assaults, rapidly disembarking a team of infantry and then falling back to support them with missile strikes.

Hell Divers Squad

Hell Divers
15 mm

Well my squad is finished, with some lovely floral bases as a bonus.  Time for some action shots...

Troopers emerge from rocky cover into a vicious firefight.

Sgt. Barnes prepares to messily dispatch two unwary Chloros.

Another day, another planet: the squad advances past a mysterious alien facility.

Hell Divers WIP, and a gift

Hell Divers are fantastic.  Really.  I'm working on another six right now and as good as the sculpts are, I think what I like most is no doubles!  I'm pretty sure that in the three packs I bought (Alpha, Bravo and Omega squads) every figure is a different sculpt, so no bending arms and cutting heads to avoid your squad looking like a chorus line.

Obviously I'm painting these to match my previous four, so lots of Ordic Olive/Okavango Swamp.

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Robot Monster (redux)
15 mm

I enjoyed painting this Khurasan figure again, this time as a birthday present for my brother.  Retro-licious!  I have to say I got a lot of use out of these packs...

First painted Hell Divers!

Crome Masters
Steel Warriors
Soul Stealers
Ripping out hearts
They're Devil Dogs
The Hell Patrol

Hell Divers - Sgt. Elias and Sgt. Barnes
15 mm

I was pretty excited to paint these figures and of course I started with a couple of the Omega Squad personalities, named by me after the better and worse angels in "Platoon".  Barnes (creeping) is as is, Elias (standing) is a basic head swap between two Omega figures.  I stuck with a classic military drab scheme, reminiscent of WW2 American uniforms, with red visors (below) giving them a sci-fi touch.

 

Hell Divers sniper team
15 mm

The Hell Divers' precision shooters can effectively eliminate key enemy personnel and even light vehicles from a safe standoff position.