Thursday 22 September 2016

"The Soyuz Class Starships Were Designated As An Attack Frigate Or Tactical Frigate."

A Federation frigate flotilla comprising of the NCC-1943 Missouri, NCC-1960 Beagle and NCC-1936 Long March
These three 6mm scale metal miniatures of a Perry Class Frigate are from “Irregular Miniatures” Imperial Fleet Spaceship range and can be bought as code DYE2. Measuring 30mm in length and 22mm in width, this sculpt is arguably be starting to show its mould's age on account of a few casting flaws found on its saucer section and aft quarters. However it still makes a very useful proxy for the Soyuz-class Federation starship featured in the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" 1992 science fiction television episode "Cause And Effect".

Having already finished two of these 'Miranda-class derivatives' before, and been very happy with my paint scheme's match to the Federation's famous "dimmer blue" outer hull colour, I simply gave each model a double layer of "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey as an undercoat and treated them to a generous wash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil. The starships were then roughly dry-brushed with more “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey before I started to 'pick out' their details using “Vallejo” Heavy Red for their Polyduranide nacelle particle apertures, Gunmetal Metal on their forward-facing saucer sensor dishes and Heavy Blue for their warp engine filed grills. All of these areas were then washed with “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson, Nuln Oil and Asurmen Blue respectively.
Ballista WIPs - The "Guild Ball" Captain contains all manner of rivets, pliers, straps and pouches 
With the bulk of my initial Starfleet finished, I have slowly been 'chipping away' at another of my 30mm "Guild Ball" miniatures by “Steamforged Games Ltd”. In the past I've managed to pick up a bit of momentum painting some of the players from the Engineer's Guild Team on account of all three models being wooden automatons, and therefore requiring reasonably straightforward colour schemes. Club captain Ballista however is proving an entirely different ballgame, courtesy of the multi-part, slightly cumbersome sculpt containing some unbelievably complicated detail. Indeed, I'm convinced that all his cogs, tools, buckles and rivets would have undoubtedly put me off this sports game for good if I had selected the  Defensive Midfielder as my 'first port of call'.

As it is I am gradually persevering 'picking out' his brass leg-bracelets, numerous steel pliers and infuriatingly extravagant crossbow... Not to mention the dozen or so rivets peppering his medieval attire. Equally as perplexing is trying to find enough contrastingly different shades of brown with which to paint all the Lord Artificer's leather. The skipper is already adorned with "Vallejo" Heavy Sienna, Iraqi Sand, Heavy Brown, as well as "Citadel" Doombull Brown, and is still approximately only half-completed...
Bloodhunter WIPs - The unit's champion has been washed, dry-brushed and had its details 'picked out'
Lastly I have somewhat succumbed to the lure of the "Games Workshop" Blood God, Khorne, and begun work on the leader of my "Age Of Sigmar" Bloodletters. This Bloodhunter will actually be used as a test piece for my ten model-strong unit, as I actually want to try a different paint scheme to that ordinarily used by the Slaughter-kin. The lesser daemons will still predominantly comprise of red, black and gold. But unlike those depicted within the pages of the "Grand Alliance: Chaos" compendium, I'll be effectively duplicating the more sinister-looking colour combination found inside the illustrations of the "General's Handbook".

This essentially means that instead of just having black claws, the Bloodletters' entire hands and hooves will be given a layer of "Citadel" Abaddon Black and then be blended up into their 'famous' red flesh. Their back spines will also be 'picked out' with black, whilst their ordinarily dark Hellblades (as well as their leader's horn adornments) will now be a strikingly bright shining gold. Hopefully, despite requiring a little extra time per model than my original plans, this more colourful design will really help make my unit stand out on the tabletop, and if it does become problematic then I can always revert back to their more recognisable appearance for the rest of the Crimson Death.     

24 comments:

  1. Once again lovely additions Simon, but my goodness the Blood God, Khorne! He might make a great addition to the Witchfinder collection as a demon of some sort.

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    1. Thanks Michael. Simple stuff with the starships tbh. However the Bloodletters are great vfm in my opinion, and you get ten multi-part lesser daemons for your money; plenty enough for you to create an entire cabal of foes for your Witchfinders to face :-)

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  2. Thanks to you I did have a look at Guildball. And while no intentions to buy I think Brewers would suit me best. All that to say Ballista is looking good. As in Khorne.

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    1. Cheers Clint ;-) Ballista is going to be a slow-burner methinks, so you probably won't hear too much more about "Guild Ball" in the short-term. I can't say the same about Khorne though as I've washed seven more of the lesser daemons, ready for a production line...

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  3. I do like your "what I like to call Starships" (sorry read "Miranda" class and I had too write that).

    There is a lot of detail on that Ballistra figure isn't there. he looks like he might become a bit of a pain to paint.

    The star though is the Khorne demon, he is a craker! reminds me of Tim Curry from "Legend".

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I'm thoroughly enjoying my "Irregular Miniatures" at present, and all the associated "Star Trek" starship registries that accompany them.

      Ballista is a formidably detailed mini imho and one which will take some time to finish (especially as painting "Guild Ball" minis wasn't part of this month's plan at all).

      The Bloodletters of Khorne are indeed Tim Curry lookalikes, and have really captured my imagination as a suitable ally for my "AOS" Host of Nurgle; so expect plenty more WIPs in the weeks to come.

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    2. Simon what is happening with "Zomtober" this year can't seem to find out any info on it, and looking back through the sites of last year entries they don't seem to be mentioning it at all this year either?

      Is it not on this year?

      Cheers Roger.

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    3. Roger, it's usually led by the likes of "Brummie" Simon. But as you say I've not actually heard anything myself either. I do have a personal painting theme for October having rolled a die, but I was still planning to do something for "Zomtober"; indeed I already have the models put aside having been inspired by Bryan's current enthusiasm for "Judge Dredd" ;-)

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    4. Might stick something on the TMP, to see if any things happening.

      Thanks anyway, will let you know if I find anything out.

      Cheers Roger.

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    5. Okay. Either way I will be doing something for "Zomtober" alongside my monthy theme - and an "AoS" unit too ;-)

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  4. Nice work on the Soyuz Class Starships. The bloodletter and guildball figures are progressing nicely as well.

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    1. Cheers Simon. That'll be the last of the Soyuz class I need to paint. But have plenty more "Irregular Miniatures to come before this "Star Trek" project is finished. Glad you like the "Guild Ball" and "AOS" stuff too; the Bloodletters will be popping up regularly from now on.

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  5. That guildball Capt. Looks a challenge Simon, jeesh good luck mate! Love the red on those daemons

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    1. Thanks Andy. Ballista is indeed proving something of a challenge - simply because the sculpt packs so much detail. The Bloodhunter is turning out very nicely, so I'm hopeful I can get the unit finished in a reasonable time.

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  6. Imagine giving Ballista to a novice painter to paint! I'm sure he'll come out good in the end but you're going to need lots of time and patience to finish him. Good luck, mate!

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    1. Cheers Bryan. Much appreciated. The only good thing about Ballista is that he isn't as difficult to paint as the Union Captain Blackheart, so I'm confident he won't take as long to finish.

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  7. The Bloodhunter fig is lovely. Looking forward to seeing more Khorne worshippers!

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    1. Thanks Gordon. It'll soon be time for some blood for the Blood God!! :-)

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  8. Didn'the you have similar problems with another crossbow wielding figure last November - although that was more down to the amount of kit you put on him -almost like a human 'Buckaroo'.
    And I must have missed the measurements you supplied for your starship last time. I may bolster my NARN fleet with some Irregular ships.
    And I wasn't being coy about where I'm getting my starship from - two packs of eM-4's plastic spaceships are on their way to me. 24 ships with black plastic stands for just over a fiver. I'll probably do a mini-review once they've arrived. Even if I don't use all the ships, I will still have plenty of bases for more scratch builds - including teeny tiny shuttlecraft.

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    1. You're very right Jez, I did indeed struggle to paint the two "Frostgrave" soldiers I assembled from their multi-part plastic box, and it was mainly due to the amount of kit I put on them [blush]. Though to be fair, I also felt their soft detail was a bit soul-destroying too.

      I'd certainly enjoy a mini-review of the "EM-4" spaceships when they arrive, as they certainly sound like a real bargain for the price you've paid, and presumably being plastic you don't have the weight issues metal minis seem to give me when trying to fix them to plastic flying bases.

      Your scratch built starships are very inspiring I must say, so I'm looking forward to seeing the shuttlecraft etc. I was kindly sent one of "Irregular Miniatures" ones for free with my last order, and they're dinky. So I look forward to seeing how you build and subsequently paint yours :-)

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    2. Each pack contains 12 spaceships, each of a different design, so in order to get more than one of the same design, you would have to order multiple packs. Having seen what some other bloggers have done with theirs and provided better pictures than those on the eM-4 site, I decided the time was right to order some.
      As for my first shuttle, it's attached to my single remaining flight stand and has to be less than 10mm long! Luckily, spacecraft aren't the most tricky things to paint, although adding detail toit may prove challenging.

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    3. I've now managed to have a look at the "EM-4" website and those ships look a characterful mix to be sure. Indeed I know Colgar6 painted some of them up a couple of years ago: http://colgar6.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/my-forces-for-5150-fighter-command.html

      Looking forward to seeing your shuttlecraft. I'm sure it'll be awesome, and am especially looking forward to being able to clearly read its name and registry number on its sides ;-)

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  9. Oof, yes that Guildball sculpt is silly-busy. No fun, not at all. Good luck with that one mate.

    I like the idea of black hands on the Khornate daemons and look forward to seeing how that is executed.

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    1. Thanks Dai. I've set Ballista aside for a while as its detail was proving rather tiresome tbh. I'm hoping my first Khorne daemons will be ready for posting soon. I've a few starships I want to get finished first.

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