A Weird Robot Chicken Digression

 Again, a bit of an odd one this week. I've been dipping into the box(es) of unpainted models over the last couple of months and trying to finish some random miniatures that I've picked up over the years. I found a number of steampunk-style models from a variety of manufacturers, and thought that I'd paint them up as a little warband.

First up is a Privateer Press model. Some years ago, they released a faction called "Grymkin", which were Halloween-style monsters with pun names, and was very much not my cup of tea. However, one of them was a bizarre clockwork chicken robot (called the clockatrice), which looked quite cool. Here it is, painted up.

Weird, eh? I really like the model, just because it looks so crazy. I also added a few minions to the group.

The semi-ghostly lady on the left is a Privateer Press body and arm with Frostgrave bits. I imagine that she hovers slightly above the ground, wielding a combination of pistols and magic. I'm not sure where the robed mystic is from. I think he was part of a set of space crew, perhaps by the people who make the Dunkeldorf miniatures.

And here are two henchmen for this weird band of oddballs. On the right, we've got a Reaper miniature who seems to be some kind of mad scientist in a mechanical suit. Fair enough. On the left is a strange metal model from a range that I assume to be defunct. He's Bill Sykes, the thuggish baddie from Oliver Twist, except that he's got bionic legs because why not. He's actually a really nice model, but I've no idea who made him. I think I found him in a bargain bin.

So that's all pretty weird. I've plans to make more of these weirdos, but for the moment that's the sum total of Robot Chicken Brigade. For now...

Big Tau Ghostkeel Robot Thing!

 Perhaps predictably, here's something completely different to the last post. I get a lot of ideas for conversions and small projects, and often this involves buying parts gradually and stashing them away until I get around to making them. I do usually get around to finishing these projects, eventually, but the projects build up quicker than I can get them done. It's almost as if I'm doing something wrong.

Anyhow, a while ago I found the legs and body of a big Tau robot called a Ghostkeel on ebay. The arms and weapons were missing. I bought the bits for quite a low price, and decided to make a big clunky space robot to fit my 1950s style Tau army.

I also found a wrecked WW2 jeep on ebay, which would make a good basing element for the battlesuit. It was resin, made by some random chap in his garden shed, from the sounds of it, and it looks just right to be squashed by the ghostkeel's foot.

All was going well, but then I sat on the model and broke it at its spindly ankles. This was not good. I ended up using an old terrain piece to strengthen the thing. As well as having weird feet, Tau have ankles that break if you stare at them.

The arms came from a cheap gundam kit. The pincers are actually the legs of two Gates of Antares Ghar models, which I brought in a sprue sale. The gun mounted on the robot's shoulder is a piece from a long-gone steampunk game called Wolsung, which I've been hoading for about a decade.

I added a little chap from a Bolt Action US airborne sprue. His head looks as if he's shouting, usually, but if lifted up gives him a gormless, astonished look. I doubt his unform is entirely accurate, but he looks right. In the fluff, the ghostkeel can somehow turn undetectable - which, given its size and jet rocket, is pretty absurd - and I like the idea of it materialising as it squashes this squaddie's jeep. "How will I explain this to the Sarge?"

There's not to say about the painting, except that I enhoyed it, and it fits in with the rest of the army. It's probably the biggest thing that I'll build for this army (the bigger battlesuits don't appeal all that much), and it makes a cool centrepiece. 

Join us or die, puny humans!

Scratch-built Ork Robots

 Hello again! 

This has been a good week to be an ork. Although I wasn't expecting to, I ended up getting a load of old ork models out and painting/repairing/improving them, including three dreadnoughts. Let's go!

About 20 years ago, my friend Owen gave me a broken AT-AT model kit. I sawed it up and used it to make the bodies of three ork dreadnoughts (or maybe robots, or something). One, which is yellow, I modified a couple of months ago. The other two were done over the last couple of weeks. This is the yellow model:

Now, onto the other flavours of robot tellytubby. The red one didn't need a huge amount of work. I added some more detailing and gave it a new, jollier paint job. I also replaced the gun I'd used with a big and suitably goofy laser from some toy that I dismantled years ago. His body is the AT-AT's head, up on end.

The blue robot took more work. I wasn't happy with either of his arms, so I made new ones. The gun comes from the same toy as the red robot's laser. The other arm is scratch-built. I was inspired in this by the work of Kishi Omori, a Japanese modelmaker who makes robots from junk. (His stuff is really impressive. Well worth a look.) I really like the jolly blue colour. I think his main body came from the AT-AT's butt. 

As you can see from this picture, all the robots have keys so that the orks can wind them up for action.

Orks are a lot of fun.

As a bonus, here are some old metal orks that I've been painting. Here's a painboy with a metal head and bionic arm. I gave him a mechanical gun-arm to suggest that he's entirely robotic.

And here is a goff ork boss. He's a slightly later model than the others, but he shares the old-school cartoony look, before the orks took a beating from the grimdark stick. He looks as if he's seen some sights.

And there we are. Oldhammer is great, orks are great. 

Random Space Weirdos

 Just a few weird space randos this week.

The crocodile man is a Mantic orc body with Frostgrave demon arms and a Stargrave head. The base model isn't great and I'm not sure why I've got it, but as ever, removing the head helps a lot.

The thug next to him is based on a Wargames Atlantic Boxer Rebellion body, with Games Workshop arms and a Ghost Archipelago head. Getting the arms and head to sit properly with the body was quite difficult. 

Then we've got a lady and robot, vaguely inspired by Jayne Cobb from Firefly and K2SO from Star Wars. "James" has a Bolt Action US marine body, with arms and head from Stargrave.

The robot is based on a model from the Warlord Games Terminator Genysis game. I know nothing about this game, except that the film was apparently awful, and that Warlord were virtually giving the game away. I've got a few sprues of these T-100 models, and they're pretty darn ropey. I gave it new arms, including one from a Perry armoured knight, and a GW Skitarri head. It's come out alright, really.

Nothing much else to report for now. I've got a couple of smaller projects on the go, and progress continues on the Bretonnians. They're looking quite decent so far!

Peasant Progress:

Men at Arms: 20

Archers: 18

Foot Knights: 15

A (Konflikt 47) Walker for House Escher

Here's a model that I've had lying around for ages. I think I got it in a sale. It's a Warlord Games Coyote walker from their Konflikt 47 game. Oddly, when I bought it, Warlord sent me an entire resin kit and then a spare pair of arms and legs which were exactly the same, but metal. This miniature has the resin torso and metal limbs, for what it's worth.

I decided to use it as a support unit for my Escher gang. In new Necromunda, gangs can take robots called Ambots to support them. I'm not sure what they are or do, but I thought that this model might make a good equivalent.

The Coyote is a pretty nice model and a lot bigger than I'd anticipated. It also has a lot of blank space that you can use for interesting colours. I decided to paint mine to reflect the rest of my Escher crew, and used the tank from the 1990s film of Tank Girl as a basis. Much jollier than the standard olive green! The only modification was the addition of a little aerial to the top. I left off the guns, as I don't think that ambots carry them.

He's a happy little (big) guy!

Ork Dreadnought Time!

 So, Toby, how's that project to repaint all your old Brettonians going? Well, it's not really started yet. In fact, I'm still not entirely sure how to spell Bretonnia. On the other hand, I did rebuild and repaint an ork dreadnought that I scratch-built many years ago. The best laid plans of squig and man, as they say...

The main body of this thing is some kind of broken toy that I was given by a friend. The legs are landing gear from a marine flyer. The guns come from a very cheap walker from (I think) a Russian wargame (again, I bought these a decade ago, so my memory isn't great). The rest is stuff from the bits box.

I tried to give the dreadnought a wonky, awkward look like a clockwork toy. The clockwork key at the back was a late addition, made from plasticard and a bit of rod. I did wonder if it was a bit too silly, but you probably can't overdo it with old fashioned orks.

Just in case anyone's wondering (which I doubt), the yellow was painted over several thin coats of pink. The metal is done with a base coat of dark brown, onto which dark grey is roughly drybrushed. Then increasing amounts of plate metal and silver are added to the dark grey, all the way up to pure silver for chips and scratches. I find that the dark brown gives the metal a tarnished look that suits orks and heavy machinery.

I don't intend to make a big force of these old orks. For one thing, the metals are expensive and the early plastic orks aren't that great (and are expensive). But a small skirmishing group would be fun - and very Rogue Trader, where twenty men, one dreadnought and a converted shampoo bottle constituted an entire army.

Retro Chaos Dreadnought

 Hello! I've had a busy week. I went to Glastonbury to relax for a couple of days, which was great, and then I injured my knee, which was less great. The damage isn't awful, but it does make sitting down to paint uncomfortable, and so I've been chipping away at little bits and bobs.

That said, I have been able to finish a model that I've been working on for a while. Hybrid Miniatures make a range of retro-styled miniatures, some of them quite reminiscent of 40k models from the good old days. They were having a sale of some of their old-school resin dreadnoughts, and I took the opportunity to get one of these.

The old dreadnought was the first dreadnought specifically made for Chaos, and can be seen in the blue Citadel catalogue. It had a very organic, Giger-ish look, with pipes and pincers, and an odd big skull for a head. It looked really cool to my mind and is my favourite version of the Chaos dread. Later versions were either blocky and awkward-looking (the 3rd ed version) or very fleshy (the Hellbrute). 

Anyhow, I went for a similar colour scheme to that which I used on a Necromunda Spyrer a while back. I highlighted the black with both grey and khaki. The weapons and pipes were painted quite brightly, for contrast and as a nod to the old version. I also painted a few pipes to look organic. Anyhow, here we are! It's 90% finished, but there are a couple of bits that I'd like to add to.

For A Few Eldar More

 Here are a few more of the excellent old Eldar guardian models. On the right is a really old guardian from the Rogue Trader days. He was missing his head, so I gave him one from a dark eldar that's quite similar to the original.

Beside him is an Eldar knight from the old Epic game. The knights are rather weird, gawky models, but this particular one is about the right size and shape to help out. If it became necessary, I'd count it as an additional guardian.

And here is the whole bunch. I do like their blue armour!

Next time, we're back in Mordheim...

Mechanics, hackers and a robot

 Well, I've just got back from the local gaming shop, and I'm surprised and slightly impressed to say that I didn't buy anything. Nothing really appealed. It's actually pretty hard to buy anything at all for less than £25 in a gaming shop. Some GW models are pretty cool and would be fun to make - the Kroot rampagers are appealing, as are the Adeptus Mechanicus Serberys raiders - but I'd only want to make one, and I'm not up for forking out for a squad of three. I wish the metal North Star models were sold more widely. 

Anyhow, here are some more miniatures that I painted this week. More space weirdos!

These first models are metal mechanics from Warmachine's Khador faction. Old Warmachine models are pretty variable, and many are downright ropey, but I really like these sculpts. They've got lots of character and great details.

These two scrawnier specimens are cyberpunk types. The lady is an unconverted metal miniature, probably quite old. I don't know the manufacturer. The man is based on a plastic zombie body (I'm not sure who makes it) with Stargrave arms and head.

These two are even more random. The bionic swordsman uses an English Civil War body, a 40k head, and Frostgrave demon arms. The robot is a 3D print that I got in a set of models. He's quite silly, but he was surprisingly easy to paint, and he will be a good match for the female robot that I painted a couple of months ago.

Fun With Space Orks!

 After last week's somewhat introspective post - thanks for your comments, guys - I decided to make some models that are both jolly and entirely lacking in self-awareness: old space orks.

I found an ancient tinboy model. Tinboys were robots that the orks built in mockery of their enemies: there were space marine, eldar and squat versions. This is the eldar one, which is why it's got a head shaped like a banana. Given that my warband has a vaguely Bad Moon feel, it had to have a yellow head. The blue on the body is like that of my craftworld. One of the arms fell off and had to be repositioned, but is still not very sturdy. I really enjoyed painting this!

Then we've got two plastic orks from the old set. They're not the best miniatures, to be honest. The weird crouching posture of the orks is very strong in these guys, and the ridged armour they wear (some kind of flak jackets?) isn't much good for detail or freehanding. 

However, to my surprise, the detail on the shouting ork head from the plastic set is excellent, especially for its time, and was a pleasure to paint. The ork carrying the rusty chest (a piece of loot) on his shoulders is a sort of conversion. His left hand, which is steadying the chest, had very little detail at all and looked like an over mitt, so I painted the fingers and claws on in freehand. A nice pair of low-lives to flesh out the squad.

And finally we've got a metal bloke with a shoulder-mounted flamer. This model was alright, but his weapon was surprisingly detailed. He was really difficult to photograph.

This isn't the whole unit, but it contains most of these scurvy dogs and freebooters. The more of these models I paint, the more I like them. I can see why GW chose to make its orks bigger and more bestial, but I think something was lost along the way. 

Knight Armiger (and an angry farmer)

 It's been both really busy and pretty quiet here, what with Christmas and the surrounding chaos. I've had chunks of rushing out to do stuff followed by bouts of free time. I've been using that free time to finally make and paint an imperial knight armiger that I've had lying around for about three years.

Back in 2022, I made this:

While the first model was converted to fit into my Chaos marine army, I thought it would be nice to build the other armiger in the style of my knightly space marines. That would involve lots of heraldry in jolly colours. The large base meant that I'd be able to make a little diorama, to give the impression that something is going on down there.

I used foamboard and clay to put some different heights on the base. I found a Frostgrave plastic soldier and a metal dog from Warlord Games, and stuck them on. The dog is chasing the titan, clearly annoyed by it, and the yokel chap is either saying hello or shouting at the titan to get off his land. 

Otherwise, the titan is pretty much as it came out of the box. I sculpted a little banner over its head, with the pilot's name on it - this is Sir Ewain - but that's it. This took a lot of time, and there are elements that I'm not all that happy about, but overall I really like it. 

It's quite silly but I like the idea of having something interesting going on around the machine. I'm tempted to get some more of these knight models - probably a bad idea, as I've got a lot of other things to get on with. Still, at lease I've finally found a use for that axe and tree stump!

Space Civilians and Big Red Soldiers

 Even more random space people! This time, however, they're not based on Stargrave models. 

I've always liked the idea of making civilians and passers-by, either as objectives for games or just people to have standing around. When models aren't carrying guns, you can have all sorts of interesting poses. Here we've got a weird little alien dude, who started off as a Bolt Action Russian soldier. The soldier had huge boots - I think they had extra insulation - which I removed to make him shorter. He then got arms and a drum from a Perry Miniatures Afghan sprue, and a Stargrave head. I don't know if he's an annoying alien child or some kind of little priest.

The robot (I think of her as Sassbot, owing to her pose) is a Mantic Games Dreadball referee, with a new pointing hand from a WW2 sprue. She's fairly crisp for a Mantic model, and looks pleasingly silly.

Then we've got some soldiers. A few years ago, I quickly painted some baddies for the solo game Hardwired (well worth a look). These are plastic soldiers from Warlord Games' odd sci-fi wargame Beyond the Gates of Antares. It never appealed to me as a game, but it had a few interesting sculpts. I dug them out and tidied up the painting a bit.

Anyhow, these guys have the advantage of being taller and bulkier than humans without looking like Space Marines. Ironically, the colour scheme I gave them reminds me of one of GW's marine chapters: the Blood Ravens or Doom Budgies or something like that. The painting is a bit rough and ready, but they'll make good heavily-armoured villains.

I do have a vague plan with all of these models. I've got the Stargrave rules and a one-player campaign, and I thought that I might have a go at it during the Christmas break. It looks like pretty good fun.

Two Robots and a Stargrave Bloke

 Here are a few more random models that I painted for some kind of Stargrave/futuristic side.

I've had this robot in my bits box for ages. It came with a load of other stuff, and has always been missing its arms. Given the vaguely manga styling, I wondered if it was an Infinity model. Anyhow, I gave it some new arms from two leftover GW Taurox guns.

I tried to paint it as if light was shining down from above, catching on certain bits of the casing. I don't think that worked perfectly, but I quite like the effect. Unfortunately, I can't work out how to improve it. I also tried to do a bit of a glowing effect on the round bits on its guns, but that hasn't come out quite right. 

Here is a less slick robot that ended up looking a bit like WALL-E. It's mainly a tracked unit made by Ramshackle Games. The eyes and "ears" are from GW tank accessories. I like the shading on the sides.

And here's a bloke. I've no idea who made this model. He looks wholly under-equipped for the future, at least the future with robots and aliens. I painted a rip in his jeans for added battered-ness. He was a fun model to paint, although I can't see him surviving very long!