“A Fast And Manoeuvrable Recon BattleMech.”

“The Wasp was revolutionary for being the first Mech capable of jumping..”

This 1:285 scale plastic model of a Wasp is made by “Catalyst Game Labs” and can be bought together with a Warhammer, Rifeman, and Phoenix Hawk in the company’s “Battletech: Inner Sphere Battle Lance” boxed set. All the pre-assembled miniatures also come with an assortment of MechWarrior pilot and Alpha Strike cards depicting various colour schemes. But as I plan to use this particular sculpt as a Dacha-class Soviet War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign utilising some homemade rules, I decided to go with a predominantly green palette.

As a result, the 32mm tall figure was initially primed using two layers of “Vallejo” Russian Uniform WWII and shaded in “Citadel” Biel-Tan Green. It was then carefully dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Russian Uniform WWII with a softly-bristled make-up blusher brush, and had its windows ‘picked out’ with a little “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

"The Ion Age" WIPs - A (converted) Retained Knight and Noble of Prydia 

In order to add a bit of interest to “one of the most numerous 'Mechs in existence” I decided to apply a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson to the vehicle’s left fist. I also gave the long-barrelled weapon on its gun-arm a coat of “Vallejo” Gunmetal, and washed this area with “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

Finally, I decided to search through my collection of “Decal Details” and apply four Russian Stars to the machine’s shoulder-pads and outer thighs. These transfers are specifically designed for 1/285 air or 15mm armour, but I still struggled to find a sufficiently large flat surface on the Wasp to apply them without a lot patience and precision.

"Crooked Dice Game Design Studio" WIPs - These two Mutaints have been base layered

Following on from the first (6mm) “Battletech” figure I’ve ever painted, I have been cracking on with the first two 28mm models I plan to submit for this month’s “Forgotten Heroes” challenge over on the “Carrion Crow’s Buffet” website. This (converted) Retained Knight and Noble of Prydia will hopefully make some quite reasonable-looking proxies of Sanguinius and Horus Lupercal for a 15mm Horus Heresy project I’m slowly building using "The Ion Age" range by "Alternative Armies".

In addition, I’ve assembled the last pair of 28mm Federated Security Mutaints I own by “Crooked Dice Game Design Studio”. These figures will form a six-woman formation which will accompany Space Commander Travis during my “Blake’s Seven” campaign, and are actually available these days from "Beast In The Broch" - along with many other 'dead-ringers' from the BBC science fiction television series.