“The Phoenix Hawk Quickly Became The standard…”

“…By which all other reconnaissance 'Mechs were measured.”

This 1:285 scale plastic model of a Phoenix Hawk is made by “Catalyst Game Labs” and can be bought together with a Warhammer, Rifeman, and Wasp in the company’s “Battletech: Inner Sphere Battle Lance” boxed set. I have already previously painted one of these sculpts up as a Lockheed-class American War Walker using a predominantly “Vallejo” US Olive Drab and “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade palette.

However, this time round I imagined this particular Weird War Two killing machine might have been manufactured much later in the worldwide conflict, and would thus sport one of the more vibrantly confident colour schemes seen on the American Thunderbolt or Mustang. As a result, the 42mm tall figure was initially primed using two layers of “Vallejo” Silver and shaded in “Citadel” Nuln Oil.

"Battletech" WIPs - The Phoenix Hawk was primed "Vallejo" Silver and shaded in "Citadel" Nuln Oil

I then enthusiastically dry-brushed the heavily-armoured mech with (more) “Vallejo” Silver using a softly-bristled make-up blusher brush, before taking a little “Citadel” Abaddon Black to ‘pick out’ its tiny windows. With the core colour now in place, I turned my attention to working on the figure’s extremities, and started by pigmenting its lower legs were pigmented using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and “Citadel” Drakenhof Nightshade.

Besides having this light blue underbelly, quite a few of the American WW2 aeroplanes also seemed to sport plenty of dark blue markings too, so I subsequently applied some old “Citadel” Fenris Grey to the miniature’s outer arms, shoulders and jump jets. These areas were shaded using “Citadel” Nuln Oil and dry-brushed with (more) Fenris Grey.

Two Lockheed-class American War Walkers survey a shell-shocked battlefield

In addition, I decided to replicate the prominent nose of a Mustang by applying some “Vallejo” Heavy Red and “Citadel” Carroburg Crimson to the Phoenix Hawk’s head. Lastly, I treated the right-handed mech’s Harmon Large Laser and jet exhausts to a lick of “Vallejo” Gunmetal and splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil, before applying several American Star and Stripes transfers by “Decal Details” onto the machine’s shoulder-pads, forearms and lower legs.

Alongside my latest Weird War Two war walker, I have also finished off a few more pieces of terrain for Dave Stone’s Season Of Scenery challenge over on his excellent “Wargames Terrain Workshop” blog. These 6mm resin 6mm Shell holes and Craters are produced by “TimeCast”, and have been super-glued onto some “Citadel” 60mm and 75mm oval bases to designate areas of difficult ground. The features were given an Abaddon Black undercoat, followed by a rough layer of Doombull Brown, a highlight of Rakarth Flesh and finally, a splash Agrax Earthshade wash.