October hobby Progress

 Happy Halloween!  

It's time for my hobby Progress update for October.

I finally caught up with my blog posts, that said I finished a few bits recently so I have a queue of future posts to do. Painting concentrated on getting my Blue Star Company Squats and my Alien Zoology expedition team painted (blog posts to follow). Included in the miniatures tally are some 3d prints of Starship wreckage and cargo hold items to add those terrain sets I have. 

The tallies for October are:

Figures finished* = 0 (total 7) *Figures that needed bases finishing from 2024

Figures painted = 30 (total so far 150)

Figures reworked = 0 (total so far 13)

Vehicles finished = 0 (total so far 1)

Vehicles reworked = 0

Figures bought/arrived = 0 (total so far 71)

Vehicles bought = 0

I was a good boy and bought no figures this month. Although I did get the Space Gits rules. For those who don't know, it's gangs of drunken orks smashing their home city up while trying to grab loot. Would it surprise you that I now want to make character Orks for the game? The rules look like good chaotic fun.

I haven't found time to play the next installment of my 5 Parsecs campaign yet. I hope to grab some time next month. 

Thats all for now.

Thanks for reading and take care out there.

Meet the Colonists #1

Hello and Welcome back,  

In this series of blog posts we will be meeting the colonists who live in the (only) colony on the world of Corrosion known as Pusterom. These figures will be serving as the colonists faction in future games of Skirm. But first a little background...

Corrosion is a long abandoned, wreckage strewn world which was then used as a orbital dumping ground for over a century. It has the artifical moon sized space station known as "Wreckage" orbiting it. Despite the old empire's attempt to cleanse the world of all life to cleanse it of GELF Spores, life has survived on the world. Although as all records of the world has been long erased it is difficult to know if these creatures are native or some kind of mutant. As there is no evidence of the GELFs, it was deemed safe to build a colony to act as a base for salvagers, the world is rich with old junk. The colony is known as Pusterom and is located on a high mesa for it's protection from the wild life and tribals.

Herbert Dibdab arrived on the world to scavenge through the piles of rusty junk, like every other colonist on Corrosion, in the hope of getting rich quick. Probably like every other colonist on Corrosion there is a pretty good chance that Dibdab is on the run. This lost world is the ideal place to hide out especiallyas it doesnt appear on any Galactic maps.  The figure was donated by my friend Xander, I suspect the torso is Frostgrave (?) and the arms are 40K Cadian Imperial Guard. I have no idea where the head came from. I added some pouches, added damage to the shoulder pads and removed the Imperial Eagle from the Lasgun. 

Meg the Mech, like others arrived to seek her fortune and ended up settled in Pusterom, the colony on Corrosion. She works over at the landing pad as a Starship mechanic. The visiting ships are vital for supplies and trading the items salvaged from the world. Vessels visiting Corrosion often get damaged by the orbital wreckage cloud and Meg is kept busy making repairs. The figure is a old Warmachine dirty Meg figure. I have had this figure for over a decade and it was recently stripped and repainted.

Scab is another long time scavenger living at Pusterom. The figure is another donated by my friend Xander, I suspect the torso is Frostgrave (?) and the arms are 40K Cadian Imperial Guard. I have no idea where the head came from. I added some pouches, a back pack, added damage to the shoulder pads and removed the Imperial Eagle from the Lasgun. 

Crooz arrived on world in a fireball as his ship collided with a peice of wreckage in orbit of the world. He managed to escape the crash but badly injured his arm. Crooz was lucky that a bead bot found him. Its code made it carry Crooz to Pusterom where he was given urgent medical treatment but his arm was lost. A mechanical arm replaced it. Crooze now runs a shop that repairs Beadbots in Pusterom. The figure is a old Warmachine Steamjack mechanic figure. I have had this figure for over a decade and it was recently stripped and repainted.

Gax breezed into Pusterom one stormy night and never left. Carrying an axe made from space ship hull Gax told a wild tale of crash landing on Corrosion over 1000Km from Pusterom. Gax had a crazed look in his eye as he told of survival stuggles, battles with monsters and Rusters. Gax is handy in a conflict although his rage filled charges can ruin any tactical plans the other colonists may have. Gax is a old metal OOP figure by Ramshackle games , that Curtis kindly sent me. The tattoos were done with AK Real Colour Markers. I had a lot of fun painting this figure.

There will be future Meet the Colonists posts.

Thanks for looking,

Take Care out there.

Starport Scum #12

Hello and Welcome back, 

Time for Starport Scum, episode 12. 

The Kooman brothers are deserters for hire. On the run from the Alliance forces they deserted, they hang around spaceports on frontier space looking for work. 

This pair were part of a figure deal I got off evilbay. The paint is thick. After shaving off the 40k imperal eagles, I touched the figures up. I treated them some washes and based them. Not great work but they are good enough for henchmen, goons or Xenomorph fodder. 

Time to introduce a new bunch of GELFs into the Wlid Galaxy - the Klangers.

Originally characters from a children's holovid, these GELFs were engineered to look like these characters to entertain children. Although they had few issues with humanity the Klangers fled with the other GELFs fearing the backlash. Klangers can breed and have settled a handful of worlds in GELF space. Although they live peacefully the warlike ORCS and GROTS GELFs that are neighbours (galactically speaking) have forced the Klangers to protect themselves. Klanger technology is crude and basic equating to early to mid 20th Century Earth, and they are hungry for more advanced weapons and equipment.

Like the Halfers some Klangers have migrated and built colonies on Dvarg worlds for protection. With the encroachment of Human frontier space on GELF space, Klangers can sometimes be found in spaceports trading or looking for work. 

These figures are Quar Trenchers. I think the light armament and improvised hand weapons gives them the right feel for Starport scum, crew or even pirates. It occurred to me that the Quar figures resembled the characters in one of my favourite childhood shows, the Clangers (yes I am that old!).

Gun drones are commonly used by various groups across human space. They allow some extra close range fire power when you short on bodies. 

Care has to be taken wandering through hostile territory as these bots are often left dormant as a extra security measure. These figures are 15mm GZG figures and were painted and dontated by my friend Xander. I just touched them up and finished them off. 

I found these old metal Necrons on Evilbay. Two of them were painted and one unpainted. So the two painted Necons got touched up, washed and a rebase. 

The other one got painted in a similar fashion. Each Necron had some colour added to the shoulder pads. 

As they look different to the later plastic Necron offerings and these are painted shiney, I have decided that this three will be operating as robotic crew or security in various settings. 

Thanks for looking,

Take care out there.

New Guardians Power Armour

Hello and Welcome back, 

The Guardians are a wasteland society that collect old technology and weapons to prevent humanity on Mattblackgod’s World from repeating the mistakes of the past (my version of Fallout's Brotherhood of Steel). Many of the people of the Wastelands regard these wasteland "knights" as oppressors rather than saviours. 

The local chapter of the Guardians has uncovered a couple of suits of power armour in the Last City Wastes.

Some antique power armour, found in (what was) a private museum and made operational. This T60 armour is from the Fallout game. 

This suit is botched together and originally it belonged to a bandit warlord. Until the Guardians 'liberated' it from him. At least thats one less bunch of bandits for Wastelanders to worry about. This figure uses Khordal Pattern Armour base figure by Ramshackle games as a starting point. These figures come without arms or head. They are useful for using up all those 40k Space Marine spares people seem to accumulate. I also dropped a helmet from a plastic Void Viridian.

Thanks for reading and stay safe out there.

Dvarg Work Suits

Hello and Welcome Back,

After putting together the Big Red Mining Corporation (BRMC), I spotted the Forge Fathers Artifactor Juggernaut by Mantic Games. Such a mining rig would suit the Dvarg/Squats/Space Dwarves of BRMC perfectly. The resin model comes in several peices and has options to build different looking Mining rigs. You could even choose a layout for a pure combat based model. 

As I wanted a rig suitable to smashing wreckage and mining work I chose a power hammer and mining drill. The spare bits went into the cavernous bits box for future conversion work. 

In my pile of figures is a bunch of old 40K Rouge Trader era Squats. As they seem to have a theme I am planning a future Squat force, the Blue Star Company. It wont come as a surprise that they will have a blue paint scheme. As I was already looking at the Forge Father Artifactor Juggernaut models from Mantic Games, I got a Iron Ancestor as a Dreadnought style mech as support for the Blue Star Squats. 

Like the other model, it is a multipart resin model giving a couple of armament options. The spares have gone in the bitsbox. 

One nice thing about the Iron Ancestor model is that they are largely enough to be crewed by a human figure. I can see these models offering combat support for many forces. 

As the Dvarg are also traders in my setting, it is possible that they would trade these suits with human allies, for enough loot. 

Thanks for looking,

Take Care Out There. 

Robo Maggots

Hello  and Welcome Back, 

The Robo Maggots were created as a weapon during the GELF (Genetically Engineered Life Form) wars. Designed to be dropped behind ememy lines the Robo Maggots will attack military personnel, civilians, wildlife, livestock and machinery alike. These robo maggots with lie in wait or crawl towards targets and attack using a bite attack with razor sharp teeth. The robo maggots are lightly armoured helping them survive light attacks.

These weapons were banned not long after the GELF wars finished as they were uncontrollable, attacking friend and foe alike. They do not stop until they are destroyed some how. The fact that the Robo Maggots can lie dormant for long periods has made them troublesome for centuries afterwards in former war zones. 

Robo Maggots are a threat on worlds lost or destroyed during the GELF wars. Many an adventurer, explorer and scavenger has fallen foul to these relentless machines while exploring the lost or dark worlds.

Some unscrupulous types smuggled Robo Maggots aboard vessles, with them becoming active some time later. These pests have caused vessles to become lost, drifting hulks. Robo Maggots are a constant threat when exploring lost space hulks. 

After the GELF wars the old Empire dumped the remaining stocks of Robo Maggots from orbit onto the world of Corrosion. These machines are another danger faced by the wildlife, tribals and explorers on Corrosion. 

The Robo Maggots Grubs from a Dr Who play set. There was enough to base some as spaceship or station threats and others as desert bases for adventures on Corrosion. The figures themselves were painted rusty and dry brushed. I wanted a old rusty machine look. The rusty look would make them blend in to the surface of Corrosion. 

Thanks for looking 

Take Care Out There.

Hobby Progress September update,

Hello and Welcome back, 

It's time for my hobby Progress update for September.

During September, I began trying to catch up on my blog posts. I have them drafted but I still need to get the pictures taken. I have to wait until the cats are asleep. As the weather cools they want to go out less. One of them is really, really interested in everything I do, making a nuisance of himself. 

I finished the Alien for this months @billmakingstuff's alien challenge. I ended up making a space slug. It has been pointed out that it has a Futurama feel to it. But I like it. 

The tallies for September are:

Figures finished* = 0 (total 7) *Figures that needed bases finishing from 2024

Figures painted = 10 (total so far 120)

Figures reworked = 4 (total so far 13)

Vehicles finished = 0 (total so far 1)

Vehicles reworked = 0

Figures bought/arrived = 5 (total so far 71)

Vehicles bought = 0

Paint wise I have got a random selection of figures painted. The Colonists for Skirm and Alien Zoology expedition team are assembled and being painted. Here is a few figures I got painted, which will pop up in future blog posts.

I am still waiting on that Heresy order. I meant to email Andy but I keep getting sidetracked. I ordered a further 5 metal figures inspired by the drawings in the old 40K book by BMT3D. I couldnt ignore this set as it contains a few figures of my favourite drawings in the 40k RT book. These are usually limited runs so are worth collecting. 

The next part of my 5 Parsecs from home campaign is ready to play. I just need to find a hour or so to get the crew of the Problem Child into more trouble. Cats permitting...One of them loves rolling around on the game board. Would it shock you to discover that it is the same cat that is mentioned above? 

Thats all for now.

Thanks for reading and take care out there.

Trollbot

Hello and Welcome Back,

Ready to face another danger of space hulk exploring? 

During the early days of the old Earth Empire, space vessels were equipped with basic security bots to help protect vessel from hostile intruders (pirates, space bugs etc) and mutiny. These bots were nicknamed Trollbots due to their patrol patterns and habit of attacking crew not wearing their ID chips. 

Due to the complexity of space vessels back in the early days of humanity’s space expansion, vessels would often go missing. Meteorite strikes, systems failures, plague, space madness and incompetence were often the reasons for vessel loss. The Troll bots are sometimes still active on some of these ancient hulks, waking when their proximity alarms are tiggered. Salvage crews and explorers when exploring these ancient hulks often encounter the hulking shape of a Troll bot stomping out of the dark. 

Trollbots can also be found in the abandoned space stations and bases that litter the inner systems of human space. 

The Trollbot is a model of the same name from Skull n Crown's Space Scrappers line. It is a multipart resin kit. 

Looking at the pictures, I think I missed some edge highlights on the rear of the Trollbot carapace.

Thanks for looking,

Take Care out there.  

The Space Slug

Hello and Welcome Back, 

Today we take a look at a creature that has become a real pest. The Space Slug is a carnivorous alien creature found in the asteroids in the Blaagon V system. These creatures came as a nasty surprise to the asteroid miners. The Space Slugs can survive for incredibly long periods of time without sustenance and will cannibalise other Space Slugs to survive. 

In time the Space Slugs managed to migrate to other systems on vessles visiting the Blaagon V system. Despite being slow moving they have become a problem for Space ships and stations across human space. Space Slugs are responsible for several ships becoming lost and drifting hulks. They are a real danger to salvage crews and explorers. 

This was a Bill Making Stuff pateron challenge, to make something alien. My orignal idea had to be shelved as I didnt have the right components in the bits box. So I came to the idea of something slithery to prey upon unwary space crews. The Space Slug was an experiment in using EVA foam putty to make models. I found the EVA foam putty to be difficult to use for making the body. It took a long time to fully cure (several days) and didn't take textures well. In hindsight I think that greenstuff or milliput would have been a better choice. 

The eyes are made from wooden beads. The tentacles are made from EVA foam putty rolled around a wire former. I found that this makes good flexible tentacles. It could also be used for cables and pipes on models. The teeth are made from the tips of cocktail sticks. 

Thanks for looking and stay safe! 

 

Wasteland Mutants

Hello and Welcome Back, 

Time is flying by and I am getting way behind on my blogging. So here is a couple of figures I finished back in August to get the ball rolling. 

The Wastelands of Mattblackgod’s world are filled with strange weird mutants. Fixture is a random warrior who will happily fight alongside the Rustlords.

Fixture is from Ramshackle Games, and is a figure with the same name. 

This mutant is particularly disturbing. No one knows what it is or where it came from. 

This figure is the Toe Tickler by Ramshackle games. This figure was quite fun to paint.

I guess I now need to get taking some more pictures to get more posts written. 

Thanks for looking

Take care out there.