Hunting Giant Brain Ticks

Giant Brain Tick

The repeated radiation, industrial chem-leaks and biochem warfare acros the states of the old Soviet Union has produced some of the most peculiar mutation since the Cretaceous. But none is odder than the Giant Brain Tick: a weird amalgamation of human and Arthropod DNA possibly initiated in Soviet or Nazi biolabs but definitely evolved and mutated in the field.

A Hunting We Will Go

The World Health Authority have placed a bounty so large on each tick that many are ready to risk a hunting expedition in the blasted lands. It's brain tissue forms the core of numerous  artificial intelligence machines.

Which Is Front And Which Behind

Gaslands Post Apocalyptic Cars

Red Devil

This is a 28 mm post-apocalyptic car sculpted by Dave Stone at Wargames Terrain Workshop that sells for the princely sum of £6.

Suitable for lots of uses, it comes with a firing platform on the back that can take a mini on a base.

WTW Website Photo

I chose to paint mine in reasonable condition but Dave's website has one really dirted and rusted up.

Black Maria

This model is available from WTW for the sum of £5, and includes the guy with the multiple rocket launcher in the front boot space.

Rustbucket

Again, Dave weathered his display model rather more than me.

Grav Car

Finally, I bought one of these little beauties for a fiver. It's a Lamborrari 2000 sports car for sci fi skirmish games.

There must be a couple of hundred different sorts of resin models on the WTW webshop, all at highly competitive prices.

Well worth a visit.

Lamborrari 2000 Sci Fi Sports Car

Wandering around Rochester Models, I was drawn to the Wargames Terrain Workshop stand with lots of resin goodies at very reasonable prices. I have bought some of their pieces before on impulse and liked them.

They had this 28mm compatible aircar on the stand, sold in five pieces for £5.

Putting the model together was a doddle but the resin is very smooth and, despite washing it well, I had trouble getting the surface degreased.


Eventually, I left it to soak overnight in a bath of concentrated detergent.

Even so, I had to undercoat with Wilko commercial primer, followed up by a base coat of two thin layers of a Red Enamel spray paint.

The top coat consisted of two layers of Mr Colour Metallic Red. This paint is more pinky purple than bright red but it covers exceptionally well compared to other companies metallics so it is great for greasy resin.


The windows were painted in a layer of Vallejo Copper, MIG Gold Flecks, and a thin cover of Vallejo Air Orange Rust.

The hull is scored, nicely delineating windows and body panels which I picked out with black wash.

Lenses are Citadel candy colours on top of Vallejo silver.

This may not be the most sophisticated resin vehicle I have ever painted but it is the most sophisticated £5 resin model: and I am well pleased with the result.

Recommended

A Future Earth

This is what a future Earth could look like if/when temperatures reach +4 degrees C.

The map was published in New Scientist some time ago. It is an interesting setting for wargames in, say, 2200 to 2500.

IHMN Venusian Heavy Cavalry/ AoS Troglodon Mash-Up

I use GW skinks for my IHMN Venusian Native Army. These are available second hand for a song and are reasonably priced when new.

The Troglodon is, however, one of those wildly overpriced large-but-simple plastic kits that GW specialise in.

However Carnegie Collection dinosaurs are available prepainted for around a tenner and are gorgeous models. This is their Spinosaurus. All I did was reposition the feet (using boiling water) to tilt the body forward into a more accurate pose - bipedal dinosaurs did not walk upright - add a couple of skinks, and put it on a Venusian base.

I am really pleased with the result and the fact that it only cost me a tenner plus some spares I had sitting in store really appeals to my skinflint soul.

Spectrum Is Green - 7TV

Or in this case, Spectrum is Red, Yellow, Green and Blue.

The advent of the excellent Mk II version of 7TV has made me paint up some of the Crooked Dice models that Ihad part finished.

And who can resist Captain Scarlet?

Antares C3M4 Combat Drone - Painted

Finally painted my Anteres drone.

Sprayed it a gloss diamond white and then used an oil-based gloss patina varnish for weathering.

A very simple technique that gives a 'field' appearance.

Another view with a different main gun (there are three interchangeable types).

Build Review - Antares C3M4 Combat Drone

Warlord Games' C3M4 Combat Drone for Beyond The Gates of Antares is now on general sale for twenty five of our English Pounds sterling.

Inside the box are two plastic sprues of components and and three stands for the combat drone and two slave drones. The primary stand comes with two different lengths for posing multiple buys.

The build instructions are  clear and helpful.

The drone goes together really easily. Everything fits perfectly, to my relief. I have been constructing some classic aircraft kits recently and some of them end up more filler than plastic. I suppose it took me about half an hour and some of that was waiting for glue to dry.

The components are robust and chunky - very suitable for wargaming.

All the turrets (and other bits) rotate and the kit boasts a clever design idea. A choice of three main weapons are included: a plasma cannon, a compression cannon, and a fractal cannon. The twist is that they clip on and off without gluing or fitting rare earth magnets.

Brilliant!

The finished kit is about the size of a 1/72 WWII fighter plane so, again, well designed for wargaming.

I think even SF wargamers who don't play Antares will fancy picking up one of these. Plastic kits are so much more convenient for storage and carrying around than resin because they are robust and light.

Recommended.

Now to paint it.

Blake 7

'Villa, teleport, NOW!'

"Where'd they go?"

Figures by Crooked Dice

Antares - Skirmish At Lordswood

The Colonia at Lordswood goes off air so a security unit of the Concord Military is sent to investigate. It consists of an officer and aides, a small tactical unit and two light support drones.

The Concord TU carefully moves into the plantation as there scanners show evidence of Ghar gravitonic activity.

Ghar fighting vehicles are detected within the compound. The drones are sent out to the flanks to give fire support.

The Concords are suroprised by a Ghar close combat unit and a short range firefight develops.

The Ghar unit is wiped out but not before mauling the Concord TU.

A second Ghar fire-support unit is trapped between the buildings and pulverised by drone fire from the front and rear.


My first proper Beyond the Gates of Antares game, 400 pts a side.

Great fun: looking forward to more.

Dr Who Miniatures Game- Zygons

For a 3D rotatable image: click here.

I had better press on and write the Zygon Rules!

Antares Concord Force

Terrible bounce-flash photos of my Concord Force: NuHu command, strike command, six strike sections, light drone section, medium drone and EW drone plus buddy drones.

The models are a mix of Warlord and Studio McVey.

I gloss-varnished the finished pieces to give an impression of energy fields.

Antares Ghur - Humbrol Multi-Effect Spray

I experimented with a new paint spray for these.

It's called Humbrol Multi-Effect spray and is intended to recreate the multi-hued, refracted-light paint used on the metallic paint of premium cars where the colour changes and blends according to the direction of the light. Up to now this effect could only be reproduced on models by mixing refractive crystals into the paint, a clumsy and difficult procedure.

We have nothing resembling sunlight in December in Kent; it's dark all day. So I tried to reproduce the effect by firing a Speedlight straight at the model. That doesn't really work, unfortunately.

The paint is designed for flat surfaces, like car bonnets, not the splintered surfaces of the Ghur models, but it does give an interesting effect.

To use, first prime the models in matt black then undercoat with black gloss before spraying the multi-effect in thin layers.

The paint comes in various colours and retails for a little under £10.

Recommended.

My Antares Boromite Army

The Boromites are a bioengineered para-human group of clans who are involved in mining and heavy industry. This is a security detail. In the centre is the three man HQ unit armed with high-tech military plasma weapons.

On the right a squad of young gangers with sophisticated rail guns - low tech civilian weapons. Note the more yellow brighter skin of the younger Boromite. The guns are made from metallised ceramics.

Foregrounds a lavamite pack. these are bioengineered rock boring life forms used as biodrones for mining. They are driven to attack by a Boromite with an electrowhip.

A rock excavator: this is not a weapon but a sort of rock boring transmat. The blob on the right is an observation drone.

However when raised to the horizontal it can make a nasty mess of structures, or anything in the way.

A Boromite mining work gang. The machines in their hands are not weapons but rock crushers.

However, they will crush most anything they are pointed at - walls, armour, people..

I chose an orange colour scheme because these are mining workers, not soldiers, but any military equipment is in metallised hues.

Space Rats

I painted a few of these Mantic Space rats and then gave up. My friend Shaun painted the rest.

These will make a nice Antares Army.

Antares Boromites - Review

I have bought my first Antaran miniatures at Salute and went for Boromites. These are mining and heavy industry trade guilds with heavily modified bodies,

This is a work gang and heavy mining borer.


These are large GW-sized heroic models. They needed a bit of cleaning up, flash removing, mould lines filed, that sort of thing. Definition is good and Army Painter Soft tone made a nice hard shell with just the right amount of shading.

I went for orange equipment as this is supposedly civil gear. The Boromites were base painted in sand and given a greenish tint with the soft tone.

I like them and will buy some more. They have some cool mining beasts and gangers wiv guns: sorry reverted into ork-speak there for a mo - can't think why.

Recommended.

Pig Iron Kolony Feral Troops

The time has come for a cull so I'm putting my Pig Iron Kolony Feral troops up on eBay.

Great soldiers but I already have a very similar Vrak Army - so....

The full army.

A little display tableau.