Friday 26 August 2011

Kaamados Squamata Imperialis






Made a start on painting my Kaamados Horde...I got the special GRUNTZ deal from Critical Mass Games to start me off with my first Gruntz army....

Here are the little Kaamados Squamata Imperialis guys...

http://www.criticalmassgames.com/default.asp?category=kaamados


Took these photos outside in the garden - but I'm not really happy with how the lighting turned out..hmm... but anyway - you get the idea!

Vivipara infantry next....

Wednesday 24 August 2011

Friday 19 August 2011

New Bases for more old figures...






These are some more old figures I painted a long time ago... they are from the PETER PIG 15mm sci-fi range, unfortunately they seem to no longer be available, which is a shame - although they're quite basic and chunky models - I think they look great! - So I've given them the "red mars" treatment - thats 24 minis to add to my GRUNTZ squads...

I'm going to concentrate on painting up some new minis next... CRITICAL MASS Kaamados Horde first I recon...

Thursday 18 August 2011

Saturday 13 August 2011

Old figures - New Bases...


These are some old figures I painted about 20 years ago, they are 15mm Laserburn Szithks. I recently rummaged them out from a dusty box under my bed to try out the basing technique I saw on the TINY SOLITARY SOLDIERS blog ( http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com/2011/02/tutorial-base-texture-for-15mm-models.html ). I followed his technique, but I wanted a more "red mars" effect to the base, so I used brown as a base colour, did a wash of diluted chaos black, dry brushed the base brown again, then did two highlights - a brown orange mix - and to finish a light drybrush of orange. The orange grass is "Martian Dawn" from Antenocitis Workshop. The bases on the little guys are 20mm plastic bases from 15mm.co.uk - and the one for the warbird is an old 25mm one I found left over from some old GW figures I used to have...

I'm very pleased with this "red mars" look - so I'm going to base all my new figures this way for continuity....






I can't remember how I painted these little guys - it's such a long time ago - It seems to be a basic drybrush and wash effect - I think they still look pretty striking - especially with their new bases!

These Szithk figures are still available from 15mm.co.uk:

Monday 8 August 2011

Sci-Fi 15mm Wargaming is where it's at!...

Back in the late 80's (when I was a teenager!) - I was really into Wargaming... over the years I gave away / sold most of my old figures.... but I always held onto my favourite ones -  the 15mm Sci-fi miniatures I used to play "LAZERBURN" with - I get them out from under the bed and dust them off every now and then.

In a moment of nostalgia  I did a google search for 15mm Sci-fi  to see if anyone out there was still interested in this stuff (probably not I thought...everyone's into the Games Workshop monopoly these days aren't they?) - and I was extremely surprised by what I found!! - Not only are the Lazerburn miniatures still available from 15mm.co.uk - but there are are a bunch of other company's currently creating new ranges of 15mm Sci-fi miniatures...and there is a very friendly on-line community of 15mm sci-fi wargamers, painters and modellers.

Although some folks are still using the old Lazerburn rules (and why not!), things have moved on somewhat... there are a few other good rules systems around - especially FUBAR (very basic free rules all on one page!) and the new GRUNTZ 15mm skirmish rules that have just come out... I just got a copy of these - and I've really taken to them - very versatile, easy to pick up, and they cover everything from single figures of 15mm infantry and vehicles to mechas and giant monsters!

Some of the best 15mm figures/vehicles I have come across so far are from:

http://www.criticalmassgames.com/ - CRITICAL MASS GAMES
http://shop.groundzerogames.net/ - GROUND ZERO GAMES
http://khurasanminiatures.tripod.com/ - KHURASAN MINIATURES
http://www.15mm.co.uk/index.html - 15mm.co.uk
http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/ocproducts.htm - OLD CROW MODELS

A few Rules Systems for 15mm Sci-fi:

GRUNTZ - http://www.gruntz.biz/
LAZERBURN - http://www.15mm.co.uk/Laserburn_15mm_Sci-fi.htm
FUBAR - http://thegamesshed.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/fubar-one-page-sfmodern-rules/
GUTCHECK - (15mm solo rules) - http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com/p/gut-check-solo-skirmish-rules.html
MUTANTS AND DEATH RAY GUNS - http://www.ganeshagames.net/science-fiction/

15mm Sci-fi community links:

DROPSHIP HORIZON - http://dropshiphorizon.blogspot.com/
MINI METAL MAYHEM - http://minimetalmayhem.blogspot.com/
TINY SOLITARY SOLDIERS - http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com/
TMP 15mm message board - http://theminiaturespage.com/boards/topics.mv?id=271
GRUNTZ FORUM - http://gruntz15.proboards.com/index.cgi


So I've decided to get back into 15mm Sci-Fi, I've ordered a smattering of minis - and I'm very impressed with the quality. So far I've got some of the Kaamados Dominion aliens from Critical Mass Games, Some of the Alien Mercenary minis from GZG...some of the Octopod Aliens from 15mm....and a couple of vehicles from Old Crow...all fantastic stuff!! - And I've got my eye on various other bits and bobs... for around 40p for a single miniature it's a very reasonably priced hobby (especially when you compare it to the prices you'd pay in Games Workshop for their Warhammer gear - ouch!)...

I just need to find some other local geeks to play with now... there are a couple of local wargaming clubs - so I'm going to see what they're up to - and see if I can make contact with anyone else who's into playing GRUNTZ or FUBAR....

It's been a long time since I painted any miniatures, so I might post some pics up on here as I do them - If they don't turn out a complete disaster! - I've been checking out the TINY SOLITARY SOLDIERS blog for some painting tips - that guy is just fantastic!!