Lord of the Skies

Breetai

Holding the world in his hands

I ordered the Breetai model from Palladium.  Manufactured by GHQ, the model arrived well cast and in four pieces.

This "convention exclusive" model was cast in metal, rather than the plastic that the game's models are normally made of.

The parts went well together and painted up easily.

Breetai  is larger than the average Zentraedi by about a third and this model shows that increase in size well.

One big mofo

A Dredd-ful Post Title

I am a recent Judge Dredd fan.  As an American, Dredd was not something I was readily exposed to when  I was younger.  There was the Stallone movie, of course.  I think it's sort of a fun movie, now, but it didn't inspire me to seek out Judge Dredd.

I am Da Law

Then in 2013 I saw Dredd with Karl Urban and that got me interested.  I was already starting to collect miniatures to do a sort of Blade Runner/Neuromancer/Ghost in the Shell sort of thing.  Nothing had quite gelled yet and I watched Dredd on cable one night and instantly got interested.

How is this movie NOT getting a sequel???

I've been reading the collected comics ever since and collecting miniatures for a Dredd setting.

For this first Dredd post it seems only appropriate to include the main guy, himself.

This model is from Wargames Foundry, from their 2000AD line.  It is a "heroic" 28mm miniature, which means it's about 32mm tall and chunky.  That seems appropriate for Judges, especially Dredd.

As you can see, this is a well sculpted miniature.  The eagle on his right shoulder is a little much, but it's not entirely out of line with some of the comic art.  His lawgiver is the older 'MkI' style.

He's based on a 25mm wooden/mdf base.  I used Milliput to smooth out the transition from the wooden base and the integral base and flocked it.

This next Judge is from Mongoose Publishing and Warlord Games.  It's not such a good model.  The sculpting is crude and the features are a mess.  I believe this is an older model from the line, back when Mongoose was making Gangs of Mega-City One rather than the current Judge Dredd Miniatures Game they now produce with Warlord.

Fortunately, this is not the best example to show, there are some really quite good miniatures in the line.
This line has variable quality to it.  Some of it is amateurish, some of it is top quality. 

I based him on a 25mm wooden base as well, this time topping that off with tiled styrene cut to fit.  I removed his slotta-tab so that he could be pinned to the base instead.

Side-by-side, the quality difference stands out.  It looks like the Foundry Dredd was the model for this Judge, the poses are so similar.

This Psi Judge is also a Mongoose/Warlord one.  It's got some issues (stubby fingers and the elbow/knee pads aren't so hot), yet it is a significant improvement over the previous model.
My photography isn't the best and the skin tone is quite dark, so the facial features are not evident in this picture as well as they might be.  I like the way her face is sculpted.
I used a darker yellow on her shoulder pads than I did on the other two Judges.  I am not sure which I like more.

I've painted up a number of models for this project so far and continue to complete more.  In the future I will post more of my finished models and my thoughts on them, as well as terrain and other related stuff.

Defense in Depth

The beast at rest.

The UEDF Defender is one of the non-transformable mecha utilized by the UEDF army and marine forces.

Caught in a crossfire.

Designed to be a mobile air-defense and ground-attack unit, the Defender is a rapid-firing addition to a UEDF commander's force.

Two is better than one.

Armed with two twin-linked auto-cannons (flakvierling-style) and advanced sensors, the Defender is able to engage targets on ground or in the air.

Should've taken a left turn at Albuquerque.

It's targeting system gives it the capability to shoot down missiles in flight, while its flexibility in weapons mounts allow it to attack enemy forces behind it.

The guns of the Defender can be equipped with air burst ammunition, giving them a wider area of effect.

Air-burst ammo not to be used in close quarters...

The "torso" of the mecha can be removed from the legs and used as an independently controlled turret for static defense of installations or attached to starship hulls.

As seen on TV.

How am I supposed to get down from here?

Trees'd to Meet You

(If you expected a good pun, you must be new here.)


To follow up on my previous post about Toob trees, here are some photos of how I have based them.


Here is a shot of ten trees on a 1-inch grid.  Each tube contains ten trees and this picture includes the variety of nine of them (I don't plan on using the palm tree that is included in each set).

A close-up of the bases.  These are on 25mm wooden bases from Litko and covered with standard basing materials.

I've based many this way, enough to fill a small box.

Here is the box-full arrayed on the grid.

To facilitate stability, ease and eye-appeal, I've created larger bases with 2-5 trees per base and some additional scenic elements.

The bases are three-inch wooden circles I picked up at a craft store.  To the bases I've added twigs, rocks, lichen and other mosses, flower tufts.

A bit of everything here.

I've also created larger 6.5 inch bases as well, which could represent impassible areas, or be used in parts of the table not likely to see much action.

The crossroads.

The briar patch.

Meadow's edge.

Dense woodland.

Some detailed close-ups of the larger bases.

I took this picture, by golly I'm gonna use it.

The general idea is to create functional and durable terrain that also gives a sense of being wooded areas, not just trees on well-manicured grounds.

Beating Around the Bush

Bushes, hedges, shrubberies...

You just knew these guys were going to show.

Over the years I have grabbed bushes from different places for use in wargaming. 
For this post, I thought I would show the handful of types I have and how they compare.

First up are Christmas bushes I got during one holiday season.  They are inexpensive and still available in various Christmas Village packages, are made of plastic bristle brushes with painted beads of styrofoam attached.  I am not all that fond of them, but they are functional.

Oh Christmas Tree...

The figure next to them is from Blue Moon's gothic horror line, 28mm.  This is a good match for this model and these work nicely with this scale.

What are you doing behind these bushes?

Here they are with 6mm Romans from Baccus.  Compared to the miniatures, these look like small trees rather than bushes.

Zentraedi Regult battlepod from Robotech

The next type are hedges that come from Citadel/Games Workshop.  These are also a brush type with flocking material glued on.  These came as part of a tree set and I am not sure if they are still available for sale.

The bristles show through the flocking which ruins the effect.

Your mother wants to know where you've been.

Again, these work well with larger scale/size miniatures, but perhaps not so well with smaller ones.

Tall hedges.

The next ones are from Gale Force Nine, they are sold as hedgerows and are made of cast resin that has been painted.  They perhaps have a less 'realistic' look to them but they are sturdier than the brush kind and don't shed flocking material when handled.
They are sold as appropriate for 10-15mm miniatures, but they are mostly scale neutral.

(I neglected to take a picture of them without any miniatures standing nearby.)

Out drinking again, eh?

On the taller end for bushes/hedges with 6mm, but make good looking overgrown bushes or small trees.  Messy, much like my yard.

The following hedges are sold as HO scale railroading terrain.  They are of the plastic scrubbing pad type, cut in strips and with flocking material glued on.

Scrub a dub-dub, a hedge not to rub.

HO scale is 1/87, which is roughly three times larger than 6mm miniatures.

She will never approve of you.

They work as low hedges/bushes in 28mm, for some lovely landscaping.

A good height for 6mm.

Lastly, some shrubs that I put together while watching television.  I had several 20x40mm Litko bases that I wasn't planning on using and  came up with this purpose for them. 
I glued rocks and sand to them, then on top of that some flocking grass and clump foliage from railroad modeling.  I made at least twenty of these, some with rocks, some with flowers, some just  plain.

These have a more natural look that the others lack, but are also the kind to be less likely to be found in well maintained grounds or yards.

Aren't you gonna do something about these weeds?