Pugnacious Prang

Prang Commando Squad
15 mm

Pod-leader E'Li and his crew of heavily-armed marines storm yet another pirate vessel, rescuing captives and capturing or eliminating the criminals.  Their effective use of heavy blaster rifles and industrial-strength laser cutters make them very dangerous shipboard adversaries.

Originating from a swampy, water-rich planet, Prang are bulky amphibian-like bipeds slightly larger than humans. Their resistance to injury and astonishing regenerative abilities, coupled with their culture's strong values of fairness and justice, mean that in addition to forming a formidable self-defense force on their home world, Prang expatriates can be found serving fearlessly in police and paramilitary law enforcement forces across the galaxy. In Prang society, an honest person presents their thoughts plainly, so in addition to a reputation for bravery, Prang are known for having no concept of tact whatsoever.

Figures are, of course Eli Arndt's batrachian Prang from 15mm.co.uk.

War Lizard

Kada Pirate
15 mm

Descended from powerful crocodile-like apex predators, Kada are the true high-tech savages of the galaxy.  Eschewing subtlety or diplomacy, they prefer to attack swiftly with powerful blasters and cantoloupe-sized concussion grenades, or claws and teeth in close quarters.  Of course, such vicious fighting generates quite an appetite, so fallen enemies and any unlucky captives are eagerly devoured without delay.  Kada are often found engaging in opportunistic piracy or working as mercenary shock troops for other warlike species.

A 15mm.co.uk "Draccian" figure.

For the Emperor!

Sister-Captain B'than
15 mm

The "Human Empire" is barely an empire at all by galactic standards; a single moderately resource-rich star system with a handful of inhabited worlds.  Their massive and religiously fanatical military, on the other hand, are a force to be reckoned with.  Brethren and Sistren of the Imperial Forces are indoctrinated from birth to worship the mysterious Emperor and perform any sacrifice or atrocity in his name.  Highly xenophobic, the Empire have already enslaved and slaughtered one sapient species in their home system, and would set their sights on others nearby if they were not restrained by the close proximity of the Cultural Collective.

B'than, an elite veteran, has distinguished herself in numerous border conflicts against humans and alien "abominations".  Her unrestrained purity of purpose against uprisings among the agricultural and industrial helots of the Empire has earned her both Orders of Faith and the admiration of her comrades.

The figure is Ion Age's "Lady Arachne".

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Rude Mechanicals

Droid buddies
15 mm

I thought I'd do something fun with some of the robots I got in a recent 15mm.co.uk order.  Honestly, these aren't the crispest figures out there, but with a bit of work I think they turned out... okay.  Any resemblance to anything else at all is purely coincidental.

Originals: HOF43, HOF45 and HOF70

Multiverse Apartment Block

The second kit Multiverse Gaming Terrain sent me for review is from their "Metropolis 15" line (which could just as accurately be called "Gotham City 15").  It's a small apartment or office building in a style I believe is called "brownstone" and is reminiscent of working-class boroughs of a 20th-century big American city.  Perfect territory for a pulp RPG, cops and crooks, or super-heroes themed game.

Each storey of this kit is a discrete unit, removable to change the structure's height and allow figure movement inside.  Being cocky from having one MDF kit under my belt already, I actually departed from the instructions for this one and assembled the storeys attached to their floors, rather than ceilings.

Apart from leaving walls around the rooms when it's opened up, this also allows assembly as a one-storey building, which isn't possible using the stock method.  I'm surprised this worked, but it did.

Not huge apartments, but big enough for some indoor drama.

As with the bunker kit, the fit was exceptionally precise and assembly was smooth.  The instructions are basic but fairly clear, pointing out a few tricky areas, but I still made one mistake: one of the end wall/window pieces (for the first floor rear) is different from the rest, and I didn't even notice until halfway through the build:

Remedied by cutting the decorative rectangles out by hand to match the others, and using it for an upper floor, but this really should be pointed out in the instructions as it's an intentional element of the design.  I've contacted Multiverse about this, and it should be clarified in an update.

The end result might not get painted for a while, but here it is!  Another strong initial offering from Multiverse.

"Let's move this fight to the roof!"

Pros:
- perfect fit
- classic urban design
- large gaming space
- modular and expandable

Cons:
- plain side walls when used as a stand-alone structure
- instructions need to be more detailed

Multiverse MDF bunker - finished!

Continued from my previous post...

Multiverse has clear assembly instructions on their website in PDF format, so assembly is simple.  After ensuring everything dry-fit nicely, I began gluing.  I glued the surface applique to the outer walls first, since it made alignment easier and allowed me to press them flat with a heavy book.

The bunker's vertical walls are totally plain inside and I thought maybe they could use some detail too, but in the interests of getting this all done in a timely fashion, I resisted until later.

Rubber bands used to clamp the main walls and roof.

That flat, plain roof was still bugging me, so I added some details to make it into a VTOL landing pad.

... on the cheap: window screen and cardstock.

Once assembly was complete I gave everything a generous coat of spray primer.  As it turned out, I probably should have done this twice, since when I put the acrylic on with my airbrush it seemed to soak into the less-primed areas and leave an uneven finish.  But once I drybrushed and weathered it I think it turned out looking pretty good:

In retrospect, it would have been smarter to finish the inside before assembling the parts, as it's harder to do it afterwards.  But I came up with a decent solution: a printed cardstock "liner" to give it a more appealing (and customizable!) interior space.

This is supposed to be a review, so I guess I need to sum up my impressions of this set.  Some of these may be typical of many/all MDF kits but since this is my first, I'll just list them.

Pros:
- attractive design
- excellent fit
- simple instructions
- easy to customize

Cons:
- limited detail
- challenging to produce an even paint finish

Overall, as you've probably guessed, I really like it!  Most of Multiverse's designs are more elaborate, but if they're as well-made as this one they should produce great tabletop terrain for minimal effort, even for a beginner.

"I know you can hear us in there!  This can be easy, or it can be hard!"

Multiverse MDF terrain: out of the box

Andrzej over at Multiverse Gaming Terrain made an enticing offer on Facebook recently: he wanted to send sample sets from his new laser-cut MDF terrain lines out for bloggers to review.  Because I'm not an idiot, I jumped at the chance. So the other day, I received two kits, "Command Bunker" and "Apartment Block".

Pics from the Multiverse website, with dimensions.

IKEA fans will appreciate "flat pack" terrain.

Being an MDF kit noobie, I wasn't sure what to expect from this puzzle-piece approach, but a quick dry fitting of the bunker kit was promising: everything just slid together snugly with no sanding and no wiggle room:

The surface detail is thin matte board and really improves the look of the outer walls; I feel the large, flat roof could use something similar.  But it'd be easy enough to customize with card or bits, which I may do later.  As for construction, Andrzej has told me that PVA glue and spray paint will work fine on these.  In my next post, I'll assemble the bunker and start painting.

Cult Movie Alien

Cult Movie Alien
15 mm scale

"Sorry to interrupt your recreation, fellows, but it is time for Sgt. Pinback to feed the alien."

John Carpenter's 1974 film, "Dark Star", is a weird, fun, low-budget story about a cranky crew of oddballs dealing with life in space and trying to save themselves from an intelligent bomb that has decided it wants to explode.  A major subplot features the shenanigans of a maliciously mischievous beachball-shaped alien (obviously made from... a beachball, and a pair of Halloween fright hands) which wreaks havoc on the ship while moving around via the ventilation ducts.

Dark Star was co-written by (and co-starred) Dan O'Bannon, who went on to write a rather more well-known 1979 film about a cranky crew of oddballs whose spaceship was destined to self-destruct, confronting a malicious alien traveling through the ventilation ducts:

"Look, we have actual money now!"

Skyward Sentinel

Colabreta Anti-Air/APC Combo
15 mm scale

A distaste for excessive military production leads the People's Planetary Partnership to design flexibility into much of their equipment.  Although this armored infantry transport currently mounts a pair of radar-guided hypervelocity cannons to engage enemy dropships and ground attack flyers, the turret can be rapidly exchanged for a variety of other weapons, sensor suites, or even rescue apparatus for disaster emergency use.

Although it's often frustrating, I still find conversion to be fun and satisfying.  The AA turret here is made from an Ion Age "Moth 88" gun, plasticard, greenstuff and the end of a novelty pen.  Sometimes it's about working with what you've got in your bitz box and not being hung up on your original design (which was rather different).

Ten Years of Painting Agency!

What?  It's the tenth anniversary of my first post here?  How is this possible?  That's positively ancient in internet years.  To put it in perspective, in 2005 there was no Instagram, no Twitter, Facebook was for students only, and "Cool Mini or Not" was still my hobby website of choice.  I'd never painted a 15mm figure in my life, and this was my first work posted:

There have definitely been some changes over the years: fewer trivial WIPs and "look what I bought" posts, more comments and followers (thanks, guys!).  I got started painting smaller figures when I tried "Flames of War" WW2 models, and now I don't often paint 25/28 mm figures.  The 15 mm sci-fi renaissance has provided endless material that suits my new interests and time constraints.  On the downside, I think my technique has stagnated a fair bit from not being pushed, but I've also shifted my style to one which complements smaller sculpts.

Will I still be doing this in a few years?  I don't know, life goes on.  I certainly hope so, and right now I enjoy the synergy of painting/posting, and definitely appreciate all the feedback I get.

Danger Doctor

PPP Combat Medic
15 mm

The armed factions of human space place a high value on military medics, who are equipped with nanite injections, flesh plast, and organ stabilizers to treat wounds inflicted by numerous exotic weapons.  In keeping with the PPP's philosophy that enemy warfighters are themselves victims of their commanders' imperialist aggression, PPP medics are unarmed and will treat any wounded they encounter on the battlefield.

I sculpted some nice flippy hair on to the bald, male medic in the Planetary Militia command set to produce this now-female character.  I think it was a good idea, since honestly I felt "he" had a bit of a scrawny head originally.

"This is the third case of Arcturian space herpes I've seen today.  Honestly, guys!"

People's Protectors

PPP Home Guard
15 mm

The People's Planetary Partnership have the odd distinction of being the only sustainably functioning anarcho-socialist society in human history, existing across multiple star systems with a government based on group arbitration and consensus-building.  While no official apparatus exists to enforce ideological conformity, this governmental structure is sufficiently popular that dissenters generally find themselves facing social scorn and little cooperation from their fellow citizens.  Consequently, outsiders have variously described the PPP as "stodgy but egalitarian" and "numbingly conformist".

 

The PPP remain technologically inferior to their main stellar-political rivals the Cultural Collective, largely because of their refusal to create sentient artificial intelligences.  They maintain that "leashed" AI's constitute slavery while unrestricted ones represent an existential threat to humanity.  They loosely ally themselves with the photosynthetic Chloros, whose biological collectivism they admire.

The models here are The Ion Age's Planetary Militia and Hazelwurm Patrol Car.  I'm hoping to paint up a bunch more of these troops in the near future, they have a nice mid-tech look and the sculpts are easy to paint well.

Blades of Vengeance

Ghost Warrior
15 mm

This figure "Xin Youxia" was the Ion Age monthly giveaway for February.  I tried to diverge from the catalogue paint job and give her a distinctive look; I think I succeeded...

Dome Sweet Dome

Ion Age Geo Shelters
15 mm scale

Geo Shelters are the smaller of Ion Age's two basic building types, the other being the Hab Dome. I painted up two types, the laboratory (left) and the habitation (right).  More than just a high-tech tent, they still appear to be cramped temporary structures erected for military or exploration use.

Sgt. Barnes and his troopers discover what really happened to the exobiology team.

Stealthy Slayers

“When we’re on a mission, I keep count of how many ninja my father kills. He says not to keep count, only to pray for their souls. But if I don’t keep count, I don’t know how many souls to pray for. So I keep count. So far it’s three hundred and forty-two.”

 
Honestly, Rebel Miniatures' ninjas are not the best figures out there.   They have some weird proportions, giant hands and some oddly-placed lumpy bits, and some more weapon variety would be nice.  But "90% of success is showing up", and for under twelve bucks you get a big bag of them, so hey.

As usual, I don't have time to paint the whole horde...  I did a minor weapon swap on one of them, rope for spear.  I tried to position the lariat so he poses well with other figures:

Worked pretty well, I think!  Perhaps not so sturdy for gaming but it might make for some fun photos.

Marine Miscreants

Bennet's Buccaneers
15 mm

Well, they're done!  And the obligatory group shot: