“You Will Be Assimilated."

"Resistance is futile."

These three 32mm scale resin miniatures of female Borg drones are manufactured by “Modiphius Entertainment” and form part of their ten-figure strong Borg Collective boxed set. “Designed for use with the Star Trek Adventures roleplaying game”, these models are based upon the American science fiction franchise’s cybernetic aliens which made their first television appearance in the May 1989 episode “Q Who”.

Despite coming with their own 30mm scenic stands, I actually re-based the trio onto 28mm lipped plastic bases instead, and also took the opportunity to convert a couple of the drones following my discovery that three of the five female figures inside the box were identical sculpts. As a result I cut off one of the miniatures’ more-pointed metallic appendages at the elbow and swapped it with the crude-pincer limb of another, courtesy of some drilling and pinning.

"I don't believe in no-win scenarios."

Created by executive producer Maurice Hurley, the Borg were initially primed with two coats of “Citadel” Abaddon Black, heavily dry-brushed using some “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal” and much more lightly dry-brushed with “Citadel” Ironbreaker. This process provided each incredibly-detailed drone with a metallic-looking highlight, as well as allowed me to see all the cables which formidably snaked around their limbs and torsos.

I then applied some additional “Citadel” Ironbreaker to the cyborgs’ multi-purpose prosthesis, some of their facial implants, and numerous cables. These areas, along with my original dry-brushing, were subsequently tidied up using a little more “Citadel” Abaddon Black and then shaded with Nuln Oil, before being lightly dry-brushed with (more) Ironbreaker. Some parts of the Borg’s bodysuit were also ‘picked out’ using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Charcoal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

"Your life as it has been is over."

As I wanted to give the Borg’s flesh a somewhat necrotic look, I base-coated their faces and the odd elbow with “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, washed them with “Citadel” Nuln Oil and later added some extra “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey to their noses, cheeks and brows. Having previously painted the range’s limited edition James T. Kirk in the past, I was highly sceptical about ‘dotting’ each drone’s eyes, so ultimately decided to simply spot them with a dab of “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

Lastly, I placed a tiny dollop of “Vallejo” Dark Vermillion at the end of each model’s “sophisticated ocular implant” and shaded it with “Citadel” Bloodletter. Having finished these Borg I’m delighted to say that I’ve already accomplished the first of my Wargame Hobby Bingo challenges by converting a model (can be as simple as a weapon swap, or re-pose)...