War Games Supply Dump – Mark A. Morin

RETROVIANS!

Back in March of 2017, I learned that the UK-based War Games Supply Dump Miniatures was closing after thirteen years of business. My problem at that time was that I had wanted to get more of their fun-looking retro-sci-fi figures. I had already very much enjoyed painting the Khang Robots I got from WSD for my Warbot platoon that serve as squad leaders in that unit. I had also seen many of WSD’s Dirk Garrison sci-fi line figures on Buck Surdu’s blog. I needed to get some while it was still possible to add to my forces for Combat Patrol™ retro-sci-fi games.

As time was limited (as was Roger’s remaining inventory) I placed a sizable order with Roger for several groups of 28mm scale figures that would be suitable for building platoons – including Khanopians, Valkyrie Space Pirates, and miscellaneous items such as Space Munchkins and my Robo-servo Guns that I posted about here previously. After finishing my Macron unit, I decided that it was time to get some of these languishing WSD projects painted, starting with the Retrovians.

By the way, many of you who follow this blog may recognize Roger as the author of the blog “Rantings from Under the Wargames Table” – a fun blog that unfortunately Roger ended in April of this year (you are indeed missed Roger!).

I was not able to order all of the Retrovian models, but a decent assortment of ones of different poses. I got the following 34 from Roger to build a Retrovian platoon:

3 DG-07 “The Bra’sheer” figures/three-legged vehicles
1 DG-11 “Garkkon” figure (Retrovian Monster)
2 DG-50 “Retrovian Captain w. Sword & Pistol” figures
3 DG-54 “Retrovian Trooper Aiming Blaster” figures
15 DG-55 “Retrovian Trooper Advancing w. Blaster” figures
4 DG-56 “Retrovian Sniper w. Vision Enhancer & Needle Blaster” figures
6 DG-56 “Retrovian Two Man Sonic Cannon Team” crew figures (one had a sonic cannon, one had a pair of sci-fi binoculars – 3 of each)

In deciding how to construct the platoon, I needed to consider how to build something that would be useful as a unit – and that would have some sense as to its build. I also have been watching a number of early 2000’s Star Trek “Enterprise” episodes (that I never saw when the series ran). I have become very fond of the Andorians – and Jeffrey Comb’s portrayal of Commander Shran. The Andorians had not been much seen in the Trek universe since the original 1960’s Star Trek. I decided that in homage the Retrovian platoon would be completed as blue skins and with some Andorian names.

Andorrians (2) — I had these dudes – less antennae – as color inspiration.

As far as structure, I had enough to create three line squads of two teams. There would be 10 figures in a squad: a squad leader, an A team of a team leader and four troopers, a B team of a team leader (the binocular half of the Sonic Cannon team), a Sonic Cannon gunner, a marksman/sniper, and a Bra’sheer Assault Pod. The Bra’sheer I envisioned as having an automatic weapon and mechanical claws that could tear apart obstacles, walls, or enemies’ heads and limbs.

That left me with enough figures to make two other sections. The first is an HQ section (composed of a platoon leader and a platoon sergeant). The second is a Garkkon section (reporting to the platoon sergeant or platoon leader) with a marksman in control of a giant Garkkon monster suitable for melee. The Garkkon is a hybrid of a fish, a lizard, and a giant chicken – it’s quite amusing to look at.

Retrovian Unit Organization — The Retrovian Platoon organization. Each die represents an element that can be activated in a Combat Patrol game. The platoon therefore has 9 possible elements that could be activated.

I will share how I assembled and painted the Bra’sheer pods and the Garkkon, then go into the infantry. Then I’ll share some eye candy that I hope you will like, as well as a glimpse into some of the play aids I made (with help from Buck Surdu) for these in club or convention game play. Lastly, I will share a list of the paints and materials used in the making of this platoon for those interested.

The Bra’sheer

I believe the Bra’sheer were sculpted by Brad Shier – given their names. The three Bra’sheer figures were, like all of these, great sculpts. As I had three, it made sense to assign one per each squad on the B teams. Assembly-wise, I did have a good amount of filing and filling with green stuff to do on these. Also, the process of assembly was a bit difficult as I wanted to get the legs in position such that the chassis were level. I ended up needing to affix one leg at a time and check if they were level.

1 Assembled Bra'sheer — The Bra’sheers in front of the 2″ steel fender washer bases – that also had 1.25″ steel fender washers, .5″ stainless steel fender washers, and polystyrene card as part of the base. The Garkkon is on the right (more on it later).

2 Assembled Bra'sheer with green stuff — Close up of the assembled Bra’sheer

3 Assembled Bra'sheer with basing — I took the multi-washer bases and scribed the leg positions on them in pencil. Then I added Apoxie Sculpt, and some Army Painter flocking (see materials list at end of this post). Once this had hardened overnight, I affixed the Bra’sheer with E6000 to the bases. Here, these look like bad cookies…

4 Bra'sheer with poster tack — Here you see a primed Bra’sheer with green stuff additions to the chassis and some poster tack on the crewman. I needed to add green stuff to fill in gaps and make the legs structurally strong. There were mold lines on the legs that short of obliterating the detail I could not get rid of – so I dealt with these later with painting. The poster tack was to protect the crewman from being painted with the pearlized blue paint I used on the chassis.

5 Bra'sheer after base coat — After painting the legs and the chassis. The legs were heavily shaded after the pearlized paint was applied to mitigate the mold lines.

5 Bra'sheer after washes and painting bases — The model is in the final stages here – I used multiple paints and products on the bases alone. The Bra’sheer were the only Retrovians with “veiny” heads

The Garkkon

1 Garkkon unassembled — The Garkkon as received. I do not know why it came with an anchor, but I decided not to use it on the model. It, like the Bra’sheer, had similar assembly challenges.

2 Garkkon unassembled with washer — Here’s a better view of the base I used – it’s pretty heavy!

3 Garkkon unassembled with pins — Multiple drill holes and pinning were needed, plus green stuff to stiffen the structure.

4 Garkkon assembly set up — As the E6000 hardened overnight, I had this Rube Goldberg way of stabilizing the model.

5 Garkkon assembled — Garkkon assembled.

6 Garkkon with base — I used green stuff here on the limbs and on the base. I chose to do the other bases with Apoxie Sculpt.

7 Garkkon base coated — This is early and fairly gaudy in the painting process – on purpose. My hope was to use contrast paints and let the light blue here to be the same color as the infantry flesh. As you will see, I needed to adjust my plans. I also wanted to adjust the yellows here.

7a Garkkon base coated — Side view of the previous stage picture.

8 Garkkon applying Aethermatic Blue — I added Aethermatic Blue Contrast Paint to the blue – and ended up with a look that was more green than blue. This is mid-painting to show the difference (the head has the contrast paint at this point). I ended up finishing the Garkkon blue with the contrast paint, and finding another path for the Retrovian infantry’s flesh color.

8a Garkkon applying Aethermatic Blue — This is after I finished the Garkkon’s initial flesh color.

9 Garkkon after painting base — After some more shading, some highlighting, and some glazes, I moved on to the Garkkon base.

Retrovian Infantry

1 Retrovian Platoon start — Getting organized…

2 Retrovian Platoon ready for painting — Initial mounting on fender washers after filing and cleaning. I used slightly larger bases for the Sonic Cannon Gunners and the Marksmen out of necessity.

3 Retrovian Platoon after basing with Apoxie Sculpt — After I added Apoxie Sculpt on the bases and let it harden for a day.

4 Retrovian Platoon aftermounting for painting — Here you see the platoon ready for priming and painted as mounted on the specimen jars with poster tack.

5 Retrovian Platoon after Talassar Blue — I used Talassar Blue on the boots and the tunics.

6 Retrovian Platoon after Akhelian Green — Then I used Akhelian green on the pants – and each squad got a different contrast paint color on the shoulder pads. Here, first squad had Nazdreg Yellow – which ended up looking leather-like.

7 Retrovian Platoon further progress — Similarly, 2nd squad and third squad got Gryph-Charger Grey and Volupus Pink respectively. The platoon leader (Commander Schran) got Blood Angels Red, while the platoon sergeant and the Garkkon controller got Ultramarines Blue. I found that these contrast paints needed a few thin coats to be useful.

8 Retrovian Captain progress — Commander Schran mid-stage.

9 Retrovian Sonic Cannon Gunner progress — The Sonic Gunner from 3rd Squad’s B team mid-stage.

10 Retrovian Platoon before washes — For ease of play on the tabletop, in addition to the different shoulder pad colors, the leaders had different colors on their helmets. Red indicates the platoon leader, blue indicates the platoon sergeant and squad leaders, and green indicated the team leaders. Others just got a metallic black helmet.

11 Retrovian Captain progress — As discussed above, the flesh color on the Garkkon was not what I wanted on these guys. The faces are very cool, and I ended up using Army Painter Quickshade Blue Tone over the light blue – and I was very pleased with the result. This is Commander Schran again, and I also wanted to make these swords special – so I brush painted them with the same metallic blue as the Bra’sheer chassis – and called them “Frostblades” – giving them a minor anti-armor capability.

12 Retrovian Platoon further progress — Close to the finish with the bases remaining to be done.

13 Retrovian Platoon before base drybrushing — Ready to dry brush the bases!

15 Retrovian Platoon Team Leader after layer 1 base drybrushing — A 3rd Squad trooper with base complete and ready for varnish .

16 Retrovian Platoon complete in box — Completed platoon in the transport box!

Eye Candy of painted Retrovian Platoon and Combat Patrol™ Game Aids

Platoon HQ:

1 Commander Shran — Commander Shran, front view

1a Commander Shran — Commander Shran, rear view

Platoon Sergeant, SFC Thelev

Garkkon Section:

4 SSG Ushaan-Tor — SSG Ushaan-Tor, Garkkon Controller

3 SSG Ushaan-Tor and Garkkon — Garkkon Section

Retrovian Unit data Cards (2) — Unit Data Card for the Garkkon Section

1st Squad:

1st Squad, A Team Leader

1st Squad, B Team Leader

11 1st squad A team trooper #4 — 1st Squad Trooper (A Team)

13 1st Squad B Team Sonic Cannon Gunner — 1st Squad Sonic Cannon Gunner (B Team)

14 1st Squad B Team Marksman — 1st Squad Marksman/Sniper (B Team)

15 1st Squad B Team Bra'sheer — 1st Squad Bra’sheer

Bra'sheer vehicle data cards (2) — Bra’sheer Vehicle Data Card. The numbers in red circles refer to armor factors. These would be the same for each pod.

2nd Squad:

2nd Squad, A Team Leader

2nd Squad, B Team Leader

2nd Squad Trooper (A Team)

23 2nd Squad B Team Sonic Cannon Gunner — 2nd Squad Sonic Gunner (B Team)

24 2nd Squad B Team Marksman — 2nd Squad Marksman/Sniper (B Team)

25 2nd Squad B Team Bra'sheer — 2nd Squad Bra’sheer (B Team)

3rd Squad:

3rd Squad A Team Leader

3rd Squad B Team Leader

28 3rd squad A team trooper #1 — 3rd Squad Trooper (Team A)

33 3rd Squad B Team Sonic Cannon Gunner — 3rd Squad Sonic Gunner (Team B)

34 3rd Squad B Team Marksman — 3rd Squad Marksman/Sniper (Team B)

Retrovian Unit data Cards (4) — Unit data card example – 3rd Squad

35 3rd Squad B Team Bra'sheer — 3rd Squad Bra’sheer (Team B)

Retrovian Platoon (group shots):

5 Command Group — Command and Garkkon Section

6 Bra'sheer group — All three Bra’sheers

10 Retrovian Pano 1 — Retrovian Platoon!

11 Retrovian Pano 2 — Retrovian Platoon (top view)

This project took a bit longer than I expected it to – about 3-4 weeks – but it was rewarding. I do hope that you found it interesting and fun to look at – so let me know in the comments section – good or bad. Did you pick up on any Andorian references here?

On to the next challenge!

As an FYI, I have updated the Lost Minis Wiki with shots of these figures. And, to boot, I am entering this platoon in Azazel’s Destino December ’19 Community Painting Challenge – it meets the criteria!

Thanks again for looking – and until next time, all the best to you and yours!

PAINTS, INKS, GLAZES, SHADES, WASHES, PIGMENTS, FLOCKING, GLUES AND MORE USED ON THESE FIGURES:

Gorilla Glue
E6000 epoxy
Small paper clip wire
2″ Everbilt steel fender washers ( bases for Garkkon and Bra’sheers)
1¼” Everbilt steel fender washers (added to Garkkon and Bra’sheers on 2″ steel fender washers; used as bases for Retrovian Marksmen/Snipers and Sonic Cannon Gunners)
½” stainless steel fender washers as fillers in bottom of 2″ steel fender washer holes (Garkkon and Bra’sheers)
Evergreen polystyrene #9020 card (0.020″ thick) on top of 2″ steel washer holes (Garkkon and Bra’sheers)
Green stuff (kneadatite)
1″ steel fender washers (used as bases for remaining Retrovian infantry figures)
Apoxie Sculpt
Army Painter “Battlefield Rocks” flocking (put into Apoxie Sculpt on Bra’sheer bases)
Army Painter “Black Battlefields” flocking (put into Apoxie Sculpt on Bra’sheer bases)
Poster tack to mount figures to specimen jars for painting
Vallejo “Surface Primer – Black” (on exposed steel and polystyrene on bases)
Vallejo “Surface Primer – White”
Vallejo “Flow Improver”
Vallejo “Airbrush Thinner”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Talassar Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Akhelian Green” (except for Bra’sheers)
Vallejo Game Air “White Grey”
Vallejo Mecha Color “Fluorescent Yellow” (Garkkon eyes)
Vallejo Game Air “Moon Yellow” (Garkkon claws and teeth)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Blood Angels Red” (Platoon Commander)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Ultramarines Blue” (Platoon Sergeant and Garkkon Controller)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Iyanden Yellow” (1st Squad)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Gryph-Charger Grey” (2nd Squad)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Volupus Pink” (3rd Squad)
Citadel “Lamenters Yellow” (glaze)
Vallejo Mecha Color “Sky Blue”
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Aethermatic Blue” (Garkkon only)
DecoArt “Festive Red” (Platoon Leader’s helmet)
Vallejo Mecha Color “Metallic Blue” (Squad Leaders’ helmets)
Vallejo Mecha Color “Metallic Green” (Team Leaders’ helmets)
Vallejo Model Air “Black (metallic)” (all others’ helmets and weapons)
Createx Airbrush Colors “Pearl Blue (0304)” (Bra’sheers’ chassis, legs, and Frostblades)
Citadel “Drakenhof Nightshade” (shade on Bra’sheers’ legs)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Iyanden Yellow”
Polly Scale “WWII German Armor Green” (2nd Squad)
P3 “Cygnar Blue Highlight” (Bra’sheer crewmen)
Citadel “Contrast Paint – Magos Purple” (infantry weapons)
Army Painter “ Quickshade Blue Tone” (wash on all Retrovian flesh)
Army Painter “Quickshade Purple Tone” (wash on infantry weapons)
Tamiya “Flat Aluminum XF-16” (dry brush on Bra’sheer claws)
Citadel “Nuln Oil” (shade)
Citadel “Astrogranite” (on bases)
Citadel “Astrogranite Debris” (on bases)
Citadel “Druchi Violet” (wash on bases)
Citadel “Daemonette Hide” (dry brush on bases)
Citadel “Warpfiend Grey” (dry brush on bases)
Citadel “Slaneesh Grey” (dry brush on bases)
Vallejo Mecha Varnish “Matt Varnish”

Mark Con 2017 (aka Ma’k Con 2017)

I have been accused of having a Boston accent, but this is not really true – I have a Worcester accent, or properly a Worcester County accent. Throughout my military and civilian career, my pronunciation of my name, Mark, sounds to others like Ma’k. My good buddy Buck Surdu has often shortened it to “Ma’k” on his blog posts. Last weekend (right before Thanksgiving) he and my other good buddy, Dave Wood, made the drive up from Maryland on a traffic-filled Friday afternoon for a Saturday full of gaming – and it was called “Ma’k Con”. My wife Lynn really helped out as well with her keeping us well fed. This blog post is about the gaming we crammed into that Saturday.

Buck and Dave got me into tabletop wargaming when we were back at West Point. Since then, Buck has published a myriad of rules for gaming, and Dave has contributed to many of those rule sets. The most recent rules that Buck published is a fantastically easy to play and streamlined card-based system for skirmish-level combat in WWII called Combat Patrol™. It is truly flexible, and has had optional rules and supplements written to cover different possible scenarios, to include the South Pacific theater, the Winter War, the Falklands War, the Napoleonic era, and even the Star Wars universe. These can be downloaded for free from his website, and the cards are available in the US from Drive Thru Cards and in the EU from Sally Forth. The rules are also available in book form from both On Military Matters and Sally Forth.

Buck recently added a new set of cards for the South Pacific, which have different morale results for Japanese troops. Readers of this blog know that I have been collecting and assembling units from the old Archive Miniatures Star Rovers line of figures, specifically Star Ducks, Power-Armored Frinx, Aphids, and Mark III Warbots. Additionally, I have been supplementing these forces with Khang Robots, weapons, Robo-Sentry Guns from War Games Supply Dump, and my own sculpt of a sphere tank. I also used some weapons from Bombshell Miniatures.

I decided that I would combine aspects from different Combat Patrol™ rules for a fun retro sci-fi game. Specifically, I would use the new South Pacific deck for morale results for robots, the new vehicle-mounted flame thrower template for my sphere tanks’ death rays, and the Sith rules from the Star Wars supplement. Also, I added in several rules from the optional rules. Lastly, I added my own special rules for the Mark III Warbots and their leader, Juggerbot, to account for possible effects that weapons fire could cause on their behaviors and capabilities.

Upon arrival in Massachusetts, Buck surprised Dave and I with uniform t-shirts from West Point that we would have worn to gym or when we played sports. It was called Gym-A (Gym-Alpha) and we wore it for Saturday’s game marathon. Admittedly, both Buck and Dave wore it better than I did. We were also joined by my daughter Ellen Morin and her fiancé Chris Smedile.

0 Ma'kcon — Buck Surdu, me, and Dave Wood (US version for you UK followers) in our Gym-A shirts

The scenario was one where the Star Ducks, Aphids, and Frinx were allied against the cybernetic horde of attacking robots. The non-metallic forces had captured a robot Mark 1 Sphere tank. The Frinx were attempting to repair it so it could be used against the robots, who were to have two Mark I Sphere tanks of their own in the assault. The tanks have two side mounted laser cannons, and a Death Ray (think 1953 War of the Worlds movie). Dave and Ellen had the robots, while Buck, Chris and I defended.

1 Ma'kcon — Dave and Ellen prepare to attack. The Aphids are in the ruined building to the front, and there are the Robo-Sentry Guns acting as speed bumps to their front.

The Robo-Sentry guns slowed the attacking robots slightly, but allowed Aphid and Star Duck mortar fire to hit the Warbots near Juggerbot, damaging the robot leader, and causing some of his robots to go rogue, or blow up. When they went rogue, they would attack the nearest figure. Juggerbot ended up dealing with such a problem.

2 Ma'kcon — The battle begins with the Warbots clearing the Robo-Sentry gun defenses.

Normally, in Combat Patrol™ games, figures can take a certain number of hits, usually three wounds, before they die or are incapacitated. In this game Frinx had 4 wounds (because of their power-armor), most line Star Ducks had 3, and Warbots had 6. However, I allowed for critical hits as outlined below. This had a nice balancing effect on the game.

Warbot critical hit — Warbot Critical Hit Chart – lots of 4’s and 5’s happened!

The Warbots also had some devastating energy weapons. The opposing forces had two “Sith Lords” (Duck Wader from the Star Ducks and Lt. Ma’k from the Frinx) with special powers from the Star Wars supplement. Early in the game, Buck moved Duck Wader up to engage the Warbots, only to get vaporized along with some Aphids by an arc weapon blast.

3 Ma'kcon — Duck Wader (center) near the corner where he was shortly vaporized thereafter

4 Ma'kcon — The Frinx AT section moves up – only to never make an impact

The other Sith, Lt. Ma’k, used his Force powers to fly into the middle of a group of 8 immobilized Warbots (they had drawn a “Hold until Death” morale result due to Frinx fire, but the robots could still fire).

Lt. Ma’k (a Frinx) then tried a Sith power – Force Blast – which damaged some robots’ weapons and caused them to explode. Additionally, friendly mortar rounds landed there (Lt. Ma’k did not care) and eventually he succumbed, as did several Warbots. Simultaneously, Juggerbot finally was destroyed by Aphids on Grav-Cycles. As he was the platoon leader, his destruction led to his unit becoming pinned – and only activating on black cards. This really had the effect of reducing the entire robot platoon’s combat effectiveness.

5 Ma'kcon — Lt. Ma’k (by the purple die) makes his last stand. Note the black die for the Warbot Green Team 2 due to a “Hold until Death” morale role. Later the entire Warbot platoon would get black dice (“pinned”) when Juggerbot was destroyed.

6 Ma'kcon — The death (destruction) of Juggerbot

7 Ma'kcon — Aphids an Grav-Cycles make a desperate charge before dying to the last bug – but they sealed Juggerbot’s fate

8 Ma'kcon — Frinx on Glyptodon cavalry move up before being taking heavy fire and being routed

At this point, the carbon-based living got very lucky and fixed their captured Sphere tank earlier than would have been expected due to Chris pulling some great cards. However, the robots got reinforcements in the form of two of their own Sphere tanks, a squad of Warbots, plus 2 self-propelled robot guns. Chris and Buck were able to immobilize one tank with some very lucky shots. The other annihilated a squad of Buck’s Star Ducks with a Death Ray Blast.

9 Ma'kcon — Buck’s Star Ducks are hit by Death Ray fire

10 Ma'kcon — Some of Buck’s Star Ducks jet pack onto the immobilized Mark I Sphere tank. Their satchel charges (6) attacks all failed to destroy the tank.

By now it was dinnertime and pizza called, plus we wanted to move to the next game. It looked like a slight victory for the living forces, but casualties were high! The game turned out well and I may redo this scenario at Barrage in Maryland in January. Buck’s account of the battle is the next entry in this blog.

Then we moved onto a play test of Dave’s micro-armor game of “The Battle of Nikolayevka (Nikitowka)” using the Look Sarge No Charts rules. This was a breakout of Italian forces on the Eastern Front in 1943 as part of the Battle of Stalingrad. So we had Italians and some Germans attacking a small town held by the Russians. The link above describes the historical battle well.

Buck attacked with a combined German/Italian force on the right half of the battlefield and I attacked along the left half. Dave defended. It was a tough slog, with the Russian artillery (they had no armor) making progress difficult. Later in the game Dave had us command reinforcements in the form of the Italian stragglers from an earlier phase in the battle. It was a good scenario, and interesting to see a primarily Italian versus Russian scenario.

13 Ma'kcon — Initial set up – Italians and Germans (on left) fight into the town to the right of the railway crossing (in light orange)

14 Ma'kcon — Another view showing the town in the upper right. The attackers needed to get into the town so as not to freeze to death.

15 Ma'kcon — Assaulting the rail line defenses

16 Ma'kcon — Buck tries to get into the town

I think Dave will have a very good scenario for an upcoming convention!

The day flew by, and I am so appreciative that we West Point Old Grads had the chance to game together. Thanks to Buck and Dave, and Chris and Ellen! And of course, Lynn for her logistical support!!

Mark III Warbot Platoon & Juggerbot for Combat Patrol

Followers of this blog may have wondered where I have been, why have I not been posting? Well, I have been working on building a platoon of Archive Miniatures “Mark III Robots” (#2323). The platoon will be led by Archive Miniatures “Juggerbot” (#2331). Both of these sculpts are from the vibrant imagination of Nevile Stocken, who was way ahead of his time with his work. Given that these figures were from the late 70’s and early 80’s, I have to think that they were inspired (especially the visors) by the original Cylons from the 1978 TV series Battlestar Galactica. I loved that show when I was a kid! So, I had to make them shiny!

Cylons-rock — Mark III Warbot inspiration?

These will be used in upcoming games using the Combat Patrol™ set of card-based rules. The figures are effectively 25-28mm, being large robots (larger than humans).

This long project started with making a mold and casting 38 out of the 40 Mark III Robots as described previously here. I wish that I could have just bought them, but my time machine is broken…and that made purchasing them an impossibility. The platoon will have 4 squads of 10 (5 per team), plus 4 squad leaders, and Juggerbot – so the platoon is composed of a total of 45 figures.

The original Mark III’s (there were no Mark I’s or II’s!) were from the Star Rovers line of figures made by Archive in the 1979-1981 timeframe. They are very tough to find on eBay or anywhere else. I managed to acquire two originals, but only one was fully intact, and it became the master for my recasting efforts. The other original I converted with another weapon.

I found the Juggerbot kit on eBay, and decided that it would make an excellent platoon leader. For squad leaders, I have four War Games Supply Dump Khang Robots that were previously described in this blog here. Each Khang is color-coded (red, green, blue, and purple), and each squad in my platoon follows that scheme. Each Mark III Warbot Squad consists of the Khang Squad Leader, and two teams of five Warbots.

I converted one Warbot per team with a special weapon. Each squads’ Team 1 had a conversion with Bombshell Miniature’s “particle beam weapon” (BOM36016). I gave the Team 2’s two different weapons each. Two teams got Bombshell Miniatures large “arc weapon” as their conversion, while the other two got a large War Games Supply Dump retro sci-fi weapon from the WP01 “Weapons Pack 1”. All of the conversions I did were with these weapons, which are no longer available from either Bombshell or the now-shuttered War Games Supply Dump.

Conversion of these figures, as well as cleanup in terms of cutting and filing were major efforts in this project. I use mostly tin (about 67%) in my casting, and this made sawing away and filing pieces from them tedious as they are not as soft as a higher-lead alloy would be. Still, I was able to convert 7 of my castings plus the extra original for a total of 8 conversions. In most cases, I needed to bend the arms to accommodate the new weapons. My concept was for Team 1 to have one Warbot with a higher rate of fire weapon, while the Team 2’s would have specialized breaching or anti-armor capabilities.

1 Archive Mark III Warbot - Copy — My original Mark III Warbot with weapon intact. I had one other with a broken weapon, which I converted to another weapon.

1 Juggerbot — Juggerbot as received from eBay – obviously cast from a mold in the post-Archive era

2 Juggerbot — Juggerbot contents – needed some TLC…glue, and pressure while the glue set

3 Juggerbot — Assembled and straightened Juggerbot

0000 Arc Weapon sprue 36013 — Bombshell Miniatures arc weapon sprue -I used two of the ones on the far left

0000 Particle-Beam-Weapon-Sprue — I used the far left particle beam weapon for each Team 1 conversion

0000a Catalog Closeup — From the 1981 catalog

000 Archive Star Rovers juggerbot — Juggerbot drawing from the 1981 *Star Rovers* game rule book

000 Archive Star Rovers Mark III Warbot a — Mark III Warbot drawing from the 1981 *Star Rovers* game rule book

After cleaning up the figures, I made a plan to complete the conversions. I also wanted to try a few new things in making this platoon. I wanted to use my new airbrushes and spray booth, and I wanted to use poster tack on specimen bottles and grocery store coins to have greater ease of painting with both the airbrushes and traditional brushes.

01 Warbot Platoon with Juggerbot — After cleanup but before conversion – I ended up using 2 arc weapons (far left), 2 of the WSD weapons (2nd from left), and 4 of the particle beam weapons (far right) in my conversions

02 Warbot first conversions — After conversion – arc weapon on left, particle beam on right

03 Warbot second conversion — War Games Supply Dump weapon conversion

04 Assembled platoon on washers — Mounted on steel washers and ready for the poster tack and the specimen jars

After all of my conversions were complete, I mounted the figures on steel washers for eventual magnetized storage. I had to use a bigger washer for Juggerbot. The platoon was then affixed to outdated grocery store bonus coins and specimen bottles or just to the bottles themselves with poster tack. In the future, I will not use the coins, as it was just easier to use the bottles minus the coins. I used an Aztec airbrush to prime the figures with gray Vallejo “Surface Primer”, giving the figures 24 hours to dry. I had read that doing that is desirable so that this primer paint can harden.

06a primedAssembled platoon on coins and bottles — Primed on the specimen jars

I then used Createx “Wicked Aluminum” airbrush paint (very sparkly) to base coat the Warbots using an Iwata Eclipse air brush – and I found this brush to be a much easier tool than the Aztec. I used Vallejo Model Air “Gold” to base coat Juggerbot with the airbrush.

08 Juggerbot primed — Juggerbot base coated

09 Close up primed — Close up of Warbots base coated

I saw that the Createx paint had given the Warbots the appropriate shiny starting point for further development of the paint scheme I wanted, which was to be very retro sci-fi metallic, and reminiscent of the Cylons. Then I went back to the regular brush!

For my color schemes of red, blue, green, and purple on the Warbots, I went with DecoArt “Festive Red”, “Peacock Pearl”, “Crystal Green”, and Craftsmart “Amethyst” respectively. These metallic paints are great, but thick, and not easily thinned. Still, they worked well and I put these colors on the ankle, knee, and wrist joints for ease of tabletop play. I chose to use them as well for the visor interior colors, with Vallejo Model Air metallic “Black” for the outer parts of the visors. I then used “Gold” for the Warbot voice boxes and weapons tips on the unconverted troopers. “Black” was my choice for the rest of the weapons, offset with Vallejo Model Air “Steel” and Martha Stewart Crafts “Duckling” (this was a nod to my friend Buck Surdu, whose love of all things ducky and his take on the Mark III Warbots helped me plan out my approaches here).

For the common weapon barrels, I employed Vallejo Model Air “Copper”, and complemented them with Vallejo Model Air “Medium Gunship Gray”. Juggerbot had several lights on him, so Vallejo Model Air “Arctic Blue” and “Signal Red”, and “Aluminum” helped me with these details. I used these as well on the conversion weapons.

I then used several applications of Citadel “Nuln Oil Gloss” and “Black” on Juggerbot to shade the recesses of the figure. Moving back to the Warbots, I used “Aluminum” on the bodies, then similar to what I did with Juggerbot, I shaded with “Black” and “Nuln Oil Gloss”. Interestingly, I found that the inks really rolled off the figures, and the “Black” paint really helped with the shading.

I then added a healthy coat of Citadel “Ardcoat” to all visor and lighted surfaces. As a final highlight for Juggerbot and the Warbot weapon tips, I used Citadel “Retributor Armour”.

10 Juggerbot basecoated — Juggerbot mid-stage

11 Red original Mark III base coated mid stage — Early stage painting of Red Squad Warbot

12 Purple cast Mark III base coated mid stage — Early stage painting of Purple Squad Warbot

14 Green cast Mark III base coated mid stage — Early stage painting of Green Squad Warbot

I decided that I wanted to be able to differentiate between the two teams within each squad. To do this, I experimented with kneadatite (green stuff) and Apoxie Sculpt and some numbered stamps. I found that the Apoxie Sculpt was easier to form, stamp, and once dry, cut. I applied these numbers to the figures’ bases with Gorilla Glue.

16 numbers applied — Figures with the numbers applied

I used Citadel “Imperium Primer” on the Apoxie Sculpt numbers, then added Citadel “Martian Ironearth” to them. Then, I built up the bases with Citadel “Martian Ironcrust” with a light sprinkle of Army Painter “Black Battleground” for more texture. After using both “Ironearth” and “Ironcrust”, I dried them to a crackly surface with a hand-held hair blow dryer. I highly recommend this technique.

After a day of drying, I dry brushed the bases with Armory’s “Red Brown” and “Brick Red”. I filled the numbers in with “Imperium Primer” for all troopers, with the team leaders getting “Retributor Armour” on theirs. Then it was back to the paint booth for two coats of varnish, this time with an Iwata Neo airbrush, allowing for adequate drying between applications.

17 varnishing in the paint booth — Juggerbot ready for varnish

18 varnished group shot — The platoon all varnished

I now needed to remove the figures from the bottles and coins. The poster tack was easier to remove when I did not use the coins. I lightly painted the underside of the bases with Craftsmart “White” so I could use a black fine-tipped Sharpie to write information on the figures’ bottoms.

25 Red Team Mark III Warbot conversion with Bombshell Mini particle beam — Red Team 1 conversion with particle beam weapon – this is the other original Warbot that had a broken weapon

26 Green Squad Mark III Warbots with SL — Green Warbot Squad with Khang Robot Squad Leader

27 Green Mark III Warbots with conversions — Left to right, regular trooper, particle beam weapon conversion, and arc weapon conversion of Green Squad

28 Purple squad Mark III Warbots with SL — Purple Warbot Squad with Khang Robot Squad Leader

29 Purple Mark III Warbots with conversions — Left to right, regular trooper, particle beam weapon conversion, and War Games Supply Dump weapon conversion of Purple Squad

30 Blue Squad Mark III Warbots with SL — Blue Warbot Squad with Khang Robot Squad Leader

31 Blue Mark III Warbots with conversions — Left to right, regular trooper, particle beam weapon conversion, and War Games Supply Dump weapon conversion of Blue Squad

32 Juggerbot right side — Fear the Juggerbot!

34 Juggerbot left side — Mr. Universe pose

40 Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, front view — Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, front view

41 Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, side view — Assembled Mark III Warbot Platoon, side view

I cannot express enough how much I like this platoon! The figures started off pretty rough, but in the end, I was able to make a nice unit for tabletop gaming. It did take me a couple of months, but it was worth it. They will be in action this upcoming weekend, as they make their tabletop debut – stay tuned, and let me know your thoughts below!

Robo Sentry Guns from WSD

Back in March of 2017, I read that WSD (Wargames Supply Dump) in the U.K. was shutting down its website and its figures from the Dirk Garrison line would no longer be available. Very bad news! I had not yet had the chance to buy any of these, and their retro sci-fi look lured me in to try to get a few before it was too late.

I was able to get a few different sets, which I will be painting up and using in my retro sci-fi games using the card-based Combat Patrol™ system.

The first ones I started were MIS06 “Robo Sentry Guns“. These came in a two-pieces per kit. As you can see below, the models were not greatly detailed, but very nice for what I wanted – unmanned and immovable guns for attacking infantry (or vehicles) to deal with during a skirmish. They were sculpted by Jason Miller. I wanted to buy 10, but only 5 were left by the time I tried to buy them. I grabbed them as they were heavily discounted!

1 in bag — The Robo Sentry Guns as shipped

2 robo guns primed — The Robo Sentry Guns primed

I affixed the bases to a 1¼” steel washer using Loctite glue. This tactic allows me to use magnetic sheets to easily store them in plastic boxes. I then primed them with Krylon “Ultra Flat” matte spray paint. I also made sure that I painted the bottoms white as well, as I find that leaves me the option to place information on the bottom that I’d like to have once the models are done, such as the model’s name, the date it was finished, and any unit identification, etc. I just use a fine-tipped Sharpie.

I decided to paint the two parts separately, base coat both, and then assemble the kit after that. I also made a change in my process in that I used 3M white poster tack from Michael’s to affix the bases to popsicle sticks for painting instead of white glue. This worked MUCH better – and the tack is reusable – so I was happy to discover this would work and so well. The models stayed affixed very well.

I started brushwork with a wash of Citadel “Nuln Oil” over both pieces. I followed this with a heavy dry brushing with Citadel “Mechanicus Standard Gray”. Then, I switched to Vallejo Model Air “Medium Gunship Gray” for the tripod legs (with a brush – no airbrushing was done on these models). For the tripod feet, and the center mount, I used Vallejo Model Air “Steel”. The gun itself was mounted on a rock-like structure on a washer disk. I thought the rock made little sense for a robo sentry gun, so I decided to obscure it with Armory “Gloss Black” (still good from 1996!). I then shaded the tripod base with “Nuln Oil”. I subsequently used Secret Weapons Washes “Heavy Body Black” on the base, followed by lightly dry brushing and stippling it with “Mechanicus Standard Gray”.

At this point, I glued the two pieces together with wood glue, and let the assembly dry overnight. To further obscure the rock, I used Vallejo Model Air “Gold” on the washer – with an eye towards mimicking the coloration of the lunar modules from the Apollo missions. I thought it worked well, though it took three coats to get it properly covered.

On the gun, I used Vallejo Model Air “Gun Metal”, with Vallejo “Aluminum” on the optics. On the optics I then painted the ends with “Gold” and Citadel “Spiritstone Red”. I finished the gun with Secret Weapons Washes “Armor Wash”, with some light highlighting with “Gun Metal”. Once dry, I applied two coats of Testors “Dullcoat”, allowing for adequate drying between coats.

3 robo guns finished facing forward — Robo Sentry Guns facing forward

4 robo guns finished pic — Robo Sentry Guns in different poses

5 robo gun close up — Close up of Robo Sentry Gun

6 robo gun close up with Star Duck SFC Mallard — Showdown with SFC Mallard

I think these will be a nice addition to my Combat Patrol™ games, as I can use these in multiple situations as a GM. I like the retro sci-fi look, and as I move into building a Robot army, these will fit in nicely (more to come on those in future blog posts). I also added a photo to the Lost Minis Wiki on the model, as there was none there. Still, sad to see that WSD will no longer produce these cool minis.

Duck Vader and the Star Duck Platoon!

This was a very large project that ended up with producing a 45-figure platoon. I hope that you find this story interesting, if only to see the determination I had to have to see this through! I am going to give some background, and then show the photos for the finished unit. After that, I will give a detailed description for my fellow hobbyists as to how I completed the various aspects of this unit – this will allow you to see the final product earlier in the blog – and those who want more details can go past the completed photos to see more detail.

0 Star Ducks originally — The beginning -my original 4 Star Ducks from an eBay estate sale. Note the broken ray guns. The broken ones made good candidates for conversions.

0 Duck Vader box — My Duck Vader box from eBay – this was a reproduction by Dark Ages miniatures, which like Archive, is no more. Note Nevile Stocken’s name is misspelled.

Background

I first saw the Archive Star Ducks (#2002) and Duck Vader (#2326) on the Lost Minis Wiki as I was researching some other Archive Star Rovers figures. These were made by Archive between 1977 and 1981 or so. They are made of lead and tin alloy. These were sculpted by Nevile Stocken. He sent me the drawing below via Facebook Messenger.

The rights to some of Archive’s figures have been sold off a few times. Several have been reproduced, but they are not currently in production. I searched through eBay, and these are very hard to find. I did manage to find only 4 Star Ducks and one Duck Vader, but that paltry number does not make a unit. My stretch goal was to create a platoon for use with Buck Surdu’s Combat Patrol™ system for tabletop skirmish gaming. I thought that I would need about 40 or more figures to make the unit, and I ended up with 45, which is a good size for a traditional platoon. In this process, I ended up making a mold and casting 40 for myself and some for Buck as previously described in this blog and Buck’s. I converted 4 Squad Leaders with War Games Supply Dump retro sci-fi weapons – which I was lucky to get as WSD closed on March 31st, 2017. I converted 6 figures to make up the mortar crew, to include making the mortars, ammo boxes, and mortar rounds. I also converted three figures to make up an Anti-Tank section (now known as the Bazookaducks) by arming them with Reaper Chronoscope bazookas.

Platoon Organization

The platoon is composed of 45 figures as described below. Five of the figures, including the platoon sergeant and the platoon leader are original castings. The remaining 40 are all Star Ducks that I cast over the last year.

Star Duck Platoon

Platoon leader – Duck Vader (1)
- Platoon Sergeant (1)
  - Duckfoot Mortar Section (6 figures)
    - Mortar Crew 1 (3 converted Star Duck figures as crewducks)
      - 1 loader
      - 2 crewducks
    - Mortar Crew 2 (3 converted Star Duck figures as crewducks)
      - 1 loader
      - 2 crewducks
- First Squad (11 figures with tan gloves)
  - Squad Leader (1 converted figure with WSD weapon)
    - Team A (5 figures)
      - Team Leader (1) and 4 Star Ducks
    - Team B (5 figures)
      - Team Leader (1) and 4 Star Ducks
- Second Squad (11 figures with light blue gloves)
  - Squad Leader (1 converted figure with WSD weapon)
    - Team A (5 figures)
      - Team Leader (1) and 4 Star Ducks
    - Team B (5 figures)
      - Team Leader (1) and 4 Star Ducks
- Third Squad (11 figures with light green gloves)
  - Squad Leader (1 converted figure with WSD weapon)
    - Team A (5 figures)
      - Team Leader (1) and 4 Star Ducks
    - Team B (5 figures)
      - Team Leader (1) and 4 Star Ducks
- Bazookaduck Section (4 figures with dark red gloves)
  - Squad Leader (1 converted figure with WSD weapon)
  - Bazookaducks (3 Star Ducks with Reaper Anti-Tank weapons)

The Completed Duck Platoon

37 PL and PSG complete — Platoon Sergeant and Duck Vader, Platoon Leader, frontal view. The Platoon Sergeant is an E-7 (Sergeant First Class). Duck Vader is a First Lieutenant.

38 PL and PSG complete back side — Platoon Sergeant and Duck Vader, Platoon Leader, reverse view. Both are original.

44 Squad Leaders — The 4 Squad Leaders, converted with WSD weapons. Each is an E-6 (Staff Sergeant). From right to left, 1st, 2nd, 3rd Squad and AT Section leader. I used different colors on the gloves, lapels, and helmet buttons to differentiate them for tabletop play.

45 TeamLeaders — The team leaders for each line infantry squad, with the same coloration of the Squad Leaders but with original Star Duck weapons. The B teams for each squad have a unique tuft. These are E-5’s (Sergeants).

39 1st squad moves out — First Squad moves out.

40 2nd squad in the rocks — Second Squad defends the lava mounds.

41 3rd squad in the rocks — Third Squad assembles.

42 AT section attacked — The Bazooka Ducks face off against Frinx Sphere tanks. For scale, the sphere tanks are golf ball sized.

43 AT section — The Bazookaduck Section Leader (an E-5), and the three Bazookaducks with Reaper Chronoscope bazookas.

33 Mortar Section 1 complete — Mortarduck crew A with Duckfoot mortar. The two outer crewmen have ammo boxes and rounds to prepare for the loader. The loader is converted and holds a scratch-built round. The mortar is scratch-built from a washer, a bolt extender, paper clips, servo parts, and green stuff. Brown tufts designate this as crew A.

34 Mortar Section 1 complete view from left — Reverse view of crew A.

35 Mortar Section 2 complete view from front — Mortarduck crew B. Made similarly to crew A, except this crew has green tufts.

36 Mortar Section 2 complete view from left — Reverse view of crew B.

31 Complete long view from right — The Star Duck Platoon in formation, view from the right.

32 Complete long view from left — Star Duck Platoon, reverse view.

Overall, I am very happy with the unit. I did use Army Painter Quickshade (Soft Tone) which darkened them much more than I expected. The effect was acceptable, but some of my identifying colors were muted.

I will now go into the how-to’s of the making of the unit.

How to Section

Conversions

All of the figures that I converted were missing the ray gun ends. These were either original casts or my own. I used a jewelry saw, wood carving knives, files, an awl, and an Exacto knife to remove the ray guns and make room for the weapons. Some of the figures lost limbs in this process, but I was able to use green stuff to recreate arms and hands for these figures. I drilled any “amputees” with a pin vise, and used 24 gauge wire as an armature for these.

a. Mortars and Mortarducks

The mortars and mortarducks were the first conversions I attempted for this unit. I envisioned two teams of three – made up of a loader, and two crewducks with ammunition boxes. I made the ammo boxes from Plastruct styrene plastic and special styrene adhesive. I had acquired some Army Painter green stuff, and decided to give it a go for the mortars and rounds. I ended up using my steel sculpting tools, but quickly learned that I needed something different for green stuff, so I got some silicone- tipped tools that worked much better (less stickiness problems). I used paperclip wire with the green stuff for the mortar legs and the rounds. I tried to make a form for the mortar round bases out of 1/8″ plywood, with mixed success. Eventually, I found that correction with an Exacto knife was a good way to go. I made the bases with Apoxie Sculpt and steel washers. In the case of the mortar base, this made sense as I was able to make a strong base with room for the loader using two slightly different washers. The mortars themselves were made with screw extenders, washers, and servo parts for a model airplane. Testors super glue was the means by which I glued the rounds to the loaders and the ammo boxes. Additionally, I found that having some small hobby mirrors from Michaels made the sculpting and assembly process much easier. I decided to leave the two crewducks with their original weapons as the loader conversion had proved to be a lot of work and I did not think it made a difference as I already had the ammo boxes.

3 Mortar design notes — My mortar plan and notes

1 Mortar round example — Idea for mortar round sculpts

4 mortars start — Initial work on the mortar and the rounds

5 mortars start front — Early stage in sculpt

6 mortars start side — Early stage in sculpt, side view

7 mortars fixed feet initial front — Middle stage of sculpt, before Duckfoot alteration

8 mortars duck feet front — Duckfoot mortars!

13 Rounds — Mortar Rounds completed and painted

18 Mortarduck, 1st try — Mortarduck loader conversion in progress

b. Bazookaducks

I wanted the unit to have an anti-tank capability beyond the mortars. I had previously converted some Frinx for this purpose, and decided to do the same for the Star Ducks. The bazookas are from Reaper and came with several other weapons. I basically carved away the ray gun and made the bazookas “fit”. There were amputees in this group, but I think the conversions worked well.

c. Squad Leaders

The squad leaders were simply converted with the same tools. I gave them the War Games Supply Dump blasters from the Dirk Garrison line.

3. Painting and Basing

The biggest challenge with painting was the color orange – I had not used it much before – and it took several iterations of trying different combinations until I found what I liked.

a. Duck Vader

The sequence was as follows:

Citadel “Imperium Primer” as a brush primer
Armory “Gloss Black” on helmet
Craftsmart “Orange” on feet and bill
Tamiya “Orange” on feet
Citadel “Ceramite White” on face and tail
Reaper MSP “Blue Liner” around eyes and pupils
Vallejo “Aluminum” on light saber beam
Vallejo “Chrome” on light saber handle
Vallejo “Steel” on chest details
Vallejo “Medium Gunship Gray” on gloves
P3 “Cygnar Blue Highlight” on eyes
Citadel “The Fang” on eyebrows
Citadel “Castellan Green” on base
Citadel “Nuln Oil Gloss” on cape and fingers
Citadel “Spiritstone Red” on light saber
P3 “Flesh Wash” on tail
Highlight cape with Vallejo “Black Grey”
Vallejo “Black” and “Glazing Medium” on cape and mouth slit
Deka Lack “Weiss” highlight on tail and face
Vallejo “Gloss Varnish” on helm
Army Painter “Anti-shine Varnish” on figure

17 Duck Vader completed — Finished Duck Vader

b. Mortar and mortar rounds

The sequence was as follows:
1. Citadel “Imperium Primer” as a brush primer
2. Armory “Gloss Black” on mortar base
3. Vallejo “US Dark Green” on mortar rounds
4. Tamiya “Titanium Silver” on mortar round tips and base
5. Craftsmart “Orange” on Duckfoot mortar feet
6. Tamiya “Orange” on feet
7. Citadel “Athonian Camoshade” wash on mortars
8. P3 “Sulfuric Yellow” on toes of mortar feet
9. Highlight with Tamiya “Orange” on feet
10. Citadel “Soulstone Blue” on mortar tip/fuse
11. Vallejo “Olive Drab” on mortar and rounds
12. Vallejo “Steel” and “Black Metallic” on mortar fins
13. Citadel “Fire Dragon Bright” on mortar rounds
14. Mounted the mortars and boxes and rounds on bases
15. Bases painted with Citadel “Lustrian Undergrowth”
16. Bases shaded with Citadel “Seraphim Sepia”
17. Bases highlighted with Armory “Musket Brown”
18. Bases highlighted with Citadel “Niblet Green”
19. Mortar dipped in Army Painter “Quickshade (Soft Tone)”
20. Mounted mortar and rounds got coat of Testors “Dullcoat”

c. Star Ducks

Citadel “Imperium Primer” as a brush primer
Citadel “Nuln Oil” on figures
Citadel “Ceramite White” on face and tail
Citadel “Fire Dragon Bright” on feet and bills
Reaper MSP “Blue Liner” around eyes and pupils
Citadel “Soulstone Blue” on eyes
Citadel “The Fang” on the jacket
Vallejo “Metallic Black” on helmets and infantry ray guns
Vallejo “Copper” on fuel tanks
Americana “Ebony” on trousers
Vallejo “Black” on mouth slit
Vallejo “Aluminum” on jet venturi on back
Vallejo “Gold” and “Chrome” on ray guns
Polly-S “Goblin Flesh” and Vallejo “Glaze Medium” on holsters
Vallejo “German Grey” on ammo pouches
Vallejo “Signal Red” on ray gun scopes
Vallejo “Gold”, “Chrome”, “Copper”, and “Signal Red” on WSD blasters
Different glove colors on lapels, helmet buttons, and gloves: Platoon Sergeant – Vallejo Metallic “Arctic Blue”; 1st Squad – Citadel “Ushabti Bone”; 2nd Squad – Americana “Bahama Blue”; 3rd Squad – Americana “Apple Green”; Bazookaducks – Polly-S “Demon Deep Red”; Mortarducks – Americana “Dioxazine Purple”
Armory “Musket Brown” and Vallejo “Neutral Grey” on cigars
Vallejo “Black” on bill vents
Vallejo “Light Orange” and “Glaze Medium” as glaze on bills and feet
Vallejo “US Dark Green” on bazookas
Citadel “Athonian Camoshade” wash on bazookas
Milliput (yellow) on bases
Bases painted with Citadel “Lustrian Undergrowth”
Bases shaded with Citadel “Seraphim Sepia”
Bases highlighted with Armory “Musket Brown”
Bases highlighted with Citadel “Niblet Green”
Figures dipped in Army Painter “Quickshade (Soft Tone)”
Figures coated with an application of Testors “Dullcoat”
Used various Army Painter tufts and meadow flowers on bases to designate teams

21 Completed base coat — Base coated and ready for varnish

22 Completed base coat closeup bazooka — Close-up of unit pre-varnish

23 Completed base coat closeup mortarduck loader — Mortarduck loader, pre-varnish

28 Completed platoon sgt — Platoon Sergeant, post-dip

30 After milliput basing — Platoon post dip, with Milliput added to bases

To wrap up, I am very happy that the unit is done. I am on the fence as to the use of the Army Painter “Quickshade” – the figures are darker and well-shaded, and should be well protected, but some details are obscured. I enjoyed my new Vallejo products and found that they really worked well. I also learned that orange as a color requires multiple applications and glazing to work well.

I learned much that I can use for future projects, and I hope that you enjoyed this blog entry.

Please leave comments and feedback! Thanks!

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