Monday 22 May 2017

"Boromites Are Always Ready To Up Sticks..."

"...And move on should the need arise."
This 28mm metal model of a Gang Fighter is manufactured by "Warlord Games" and is one of five miniatures which come as part of the Boromites' Gang Fighter boxed set. Heavily detailed, almost to the point of frustration, with all manner of pouches, electronic equipment and reflex armour, the mag gun-carrying soldier will form part of my Scouting Force's two main Tactical Infantry Units, and has been additionally armed with plasma grenades ("at 2pts per model"). 

Originally undercoated with "Vallejo" Heavy Bluegrey, the figure was washed with "Citadel" Nuln Oil, before having a layer of Chaos Black applied over all of its weaponry. The mining model's armour was then slowly 'picked out' with "Vallejo" Heavy Ochre, and subsequently washed with "Citadel" Reikland Fleshshade in order to dirty it up somewhat.
"Frostgrave" Sci-Fi Terminator WIPs - The model now simply needs some washes to be applied
As I didn't like the predominantly black pouches and weapons illustrated within the "Beyond The Gates Of Antares" rule-book, I instead painted the miniature's pocket-bags with a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Brown and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade, whilst shading its "Citadel" Ironbreaker mag gun with Nuln Oil. As a last touch I highlighted the firearm's power source using some "Vallejo" Heavy Khaki and "Citadel" Biel-Tan Green, and the occasional piece of wiring with "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade.

Despite so much time now being spent 'picking out' all the fiddly detail on my Boromites, I have still managed to give my "Nemesis The Warlock" mini-project a little more attention by working on the last of the "North Star Military Figures" figures I plan to use as one of Tomás de Torquemada's infamous Terminators. This particular model, much like his two predecessors, has been assembled using the disappointing mix of a plastic "Frostgrave" Cultist torso and the Nottingham-based company's Cultist Sci-Fi Accessory Pack.
Time War Daleks WIPS - The Kaleds have been primed, washed and dry-brushed
Admittedly, I think the resin heavy machine-gun, complete with lengthy ammunition belt, looks awesome, should certainly help Terra's "quasi-religious order" eliminate plenty of extra-terrestrials. But the poor, rough-hewn sculpting of the 'fascist' warrior's hands has once again caused me a few issues with my paintbrush. Fortunately however, I have persevered, and the model now simply needs the application of a few washes, some dry-brushing and highlights.

Lastly, eager to play my first game of this year's main "Salute" purchase, "Doctor Who: Exterminate!" by "Warlord Games", I have primed, layered, washed and dry-brushed the other three Time War Daleks I require for the introductory scenario "A Meeting Of Metal". These multi-part plastic miniatures really have proved to be a 'bit of a swine' to assemble, on account of their supposed "easy-fit" snap-together bodies, and resultantly, at least one of my Kaled force's other models will now be used as a 'destroyed Dalek' objective marker; having lost a battle with a pair of pliers...

38 comments:

  1. The Boromite looks really good mate. I am working on some Crooked Dice models at the moment its nice to be back amongst simpler sculpts :)

    The sci fi terminator looks great dude the gun is ace with that belt feed swinging adds some nice motion to the mini.

    Daleks not so easy to put together then it seems?

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    1. Thanks Simon, still a few more Boromites to go though ;-) I do miss my "Crooked Dice" minis, cranking out a few of their nice clean sculpts every couple of days... The Terminator has proved a bit of a swine too.

      The vast majority of the Daleks have been fine, just the odd one seems to have had a locating lug which was too big for its opposite number!?!

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    2. yes you are both right aren't you. I hadn`t thought about it until now: but Crooked Dice miniatures ARE simpler aren't they: and clean, and easier to paint.. somehow

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    3. A lot of them are Ian Mountain or Andy May sculpts. I'm especially a big fan if Andy's and own loads of his "Meridian Miniatures" figures - I really must paint some of them one day ;-)

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  2. Great job on the Boromite, as I know you've been struggling with these.
    The Terminator looks great, even with the poor cast parts.
    You seem to be getting a collection of broken objective markers ! LOL
    If you need to put anymore of these together give the locating lugs a quick sand before assembly then use glue to hold them together, should make it a bit easier

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    1. Cheers Dave. I did start filing down the lugs to begin with, but lost patience with the last one; the superglue wasn't holding it either, so it got 'tapped' by some pliers ;-)

      I was planning on doing a couple of 'casualty' markers anyway, but I am starting a little early on my Dalek one!! Thanks for the sage advice as always. Next time I'll sand the lugs a bit more :-)

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    2. No problem Simon and would suggest plastic glue as well for a stronger bond will also help with pushing together plastic parts

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    3. Yep. I must confess my super-glue does not seem to work terribly well on these Daleks for some reason. Seemed far happier sticking my fingers to the model than gluing the model's separate pieces.

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  3. I'm not really a fan of the Boromites, but Daleks always look good :-) .

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    1. "I'm not really a fan of the Boromites" - neither am I at the moment, Hugh ;-) Glad you like the Daleks, they're coming along nicely imho.

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  4. I am quite surprised to hear you say the plastic Daleks were "a bit of a swine" to assemble. I had no problems whatsoever assembling mine. I had heard of a few other people mentioning how fiddly they were to put together but that was definitely not the case for me. Perhaps there's a knack to making them and if so, I clearly have it. :-)
    On an unrelated note, Andy and I want to know how you're progressing with the Chainsaw Warriors Andy sent you? If you're curious as to why we're asking this you should check out my latest blog post.

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    1. To be fair, the ones I have struggled with have all had locating lugs bigger than the sockets they're meant to fit into. So I have had to file them down as simply would not go together. I'm not sure when you got yours, Bryan, but did wonder whether the "Salute" boxed sets contained an initial run of the plastics, and subsequent sets have been re-done in some way?

      Not sure how I missed your latest posting Bryan, but I have responded appropriately on your blog ;-)

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    2. That could well be a possibility, Simon, with the Salute boxed sets being rushed out. I don't know for sure. All I can say is mine went together like a charm. I only just received mine three days ago. I wanted to wait in order to get the "Exterminate!" boxed set along with the boxed sets of "Davros and the Daleks" and "Missy and the Cybermen". I've done some easy but quite interesting conversions on them.

      PS> Thanks for the comments about the Chainsaw warriors.

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    3. No worries, Bryan. I've just finished battering my Dalek objective, and think it'll look quite good when finished.

      With regards to your blog, I think a "Citadel" month would be a lot of fun, if I can dig out some of my old "Runequest" Broo and animal adventurers etc.

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  5. The Dalek looks especially good.

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    1. Cheers Clint. Hopefully they'll be finished and posted soon.

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  6. Did you get the knack of Dalek assembly by the end of things?

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    1. Actually Phil, it was the last one which proved to be the most difficult to stick together of them all, hence its misfortune with a pair of pliers. The locating lug was simply too big for the socket, as I hadn't bothered to sand it down...

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  7. Very interested to hear about the snap together Daleks not been so easy to assemble, that said top job on the ones you didn't through across the room.

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    1. Cheers Michael. You are quite correct that one of their Kaled brethren did indeed mysteriously propel itself across the room at one point ;-)

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  8. A bit concerned to hear the Daleks are difficult to put together...being so useless at the hobby side of things, easy-fit is a big draw to me!

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    1. Well Bryan doesn't seem to have had any problems Gordon, so I'm at a bit of a loss to explain it. All I will say is that a few of the models definitely had locating lugs that were too big for their sockets. But as I suggest above, it may be that the ones sold at "Salute" were in someway different to the latest ones?

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  9. Nice work on your Boromite ganger. :)

    Howveer the issues with the Daleks don't sound encouraging, but they look good.

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    1. Thanks Leon. The Daleks fit together fine with a bit of prep imho. It just depends whether you want to give them that extra time or get frustrated :-)

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  10. Great work. I love the Boromite scheme. Easy fit plastic kits! I found with some snap together WW2 kits that the fit can be a problem. I think it's already been put here, dry fit then rub down the lugs etc. I can recommend ladies disposable nail files for this. They are soft enough not to destroy detail, I just 'borrowed' mine from the wife:). Also try 'Mr Hobby Mr Cement'. Applied with a brush (comes with brush applicator) welds the plastic parts together. Highly recommended, use on all my plastic kits now. Slow-ish drying times means you can
    adjust parts. Have to buy online, little expensive but have had mine for two years or so and still plenty left.

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    1. Cheers Mark. I've had a look at 'Mr Hobby Mr Cement', and will see if I can pick it up at the hobby show in London I'm planning on attending this weekend, if not then I'll put in an e-order to give it a go - like the idea of being able to adjust before setting :-)

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    2. photos of that event please Simon. I always love to see places of interest that other gamers go to and/or attend.

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    3. I will certainly try, Hils. I'm hoping "Games Workshop" will be there, showing off their imminent release of "Warhammer 40K" 8th Edition.

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  11. Good work on the Boromites (still not a fan of the sculpts though sorry). The Terminator look really nice , you cant spot the dodgy hanks in the pictures, looks the business from here.

    The Daleks are the stars of the show though, even though you might have had some issues with their assembly the painting is sublime!

    Great stuff, cheers Roger.

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    1. Thanks Roger. I'm going to be plugging away on the Boromites for a while, I know. But the Terminator should be finished over the next few days, as will the Daleks. It'll be good to get them in action against the Cybermen :-)

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  12. I`m struggling to find some common ground with the Boromites, I suspect because I don't know anything about them I`m afraid Simon, but I do like the mottled grey effect you have on yours. The high sheen actually helps them stand out I think.

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    1. Cheers Hils. They are tough going imho. Perhaps rather fitting for a race of genetically-engineered miners who have thrown off the shackles of their masters and become a nomadic sort of race.

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    2. you make them sounds almost romantic and underdog, hehe. Watch out, you could begin to get me interested under that premise **grins**

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    3. I certainly like their lore, Hils, that and the great-looking miniatures (unlike any other sci-fi range I've seen before) made them my first choice for "BtGoA". It's just a pity they're so hard to paint!!

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  13. I don't follow the Gates Of Antares thing, but the figures are looking lovely Simon :)

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  14. Bothe the Boromite and dalek are great but I still don't like that Terminator ! (sorry)

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