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| "A Cold War gone hot." |
This 32mm resin miniature is produced by "Black Site Studios", and forms part of the Lunar Core Game pre-order I made with the American-based manufacturer way back in July 2021. These days the model is available as either part of the five-figure set SKU: LNR6809BSS - NASA Astronauts, or the manufacturer's current Two-Player Starter Box, and was put together using elements taken from the incredible number of hands, weapons and equipment pieces which came inside my old starter box.
To begin with the "moon walker" was super-glued to "Citadel" 30mm circular stand, as opposed to one of the bases which came with the kit, and then armed to best illustrate their role in a homebrew version of "The Silver Bayonet" by "Osprey Games" which I'm planning. As I intend to use this particular sculpt as the Commander of my United States force I opted for a knife and a piece of Ceramic Plating (to use as a makeshift shield of some kind).
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| "Black Site Studios" WIPs - This NASA Astronaut is having all his details 'picked out' |
The miniature was subsequently undercoated with plenty of "Two Thin Coats" Celestial Blue, drenched in "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade, and dry-brushed with (more) "Two Thin Coats" Sanguine Scarlet. I next applied a combination of "Vallejo" Heavy Blue and "Citadel" Drakenhof Nightshade to a piece of insulation material running along the edge of the astronaut's backpack. I had hoped this darker shade would help break up the monotony of the spaceman's palette a little bit. But disappointingly it's a little too close in hue to the predominant colour to make much of a difference.
The model's knife and cabling were first 'picked out' with "Citadel" Abaddon Black, layered in "Vallejo" Gunmetal and finally sploshed with "Citadel" Nuln. The self-made shield was painted in "Scale 75" Cobalt Alchemy, treated to a wash of "Citadel" Nuln Oil, and later dry-brushed with (more) "Scale 75" Cobalt Alchemy to help bring out all the ceramic tiles' details.
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| "Athena Miniatures" WIPs - Early days on this trio of Russian NBC soldiers |
With my enthusiasm for the Lunar universe at an all-time high, I've unsurprisingly been beavering away on a second American spaceman. I've recently received some reinforcements in the guise of Freelancers, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and some Republic of China (R.O.C.) Taikonauts, so aim to get my United States force finished as soon as possible so I can start progressing some of these new figures too.
Lastly, I have made a start on four 28mm metal Russian NBC soldiers, which I rather impulsively picked up from "Athena Miniatures" whilst at "Warfare" 2024. I got rather enthused by the company's Apocalypse Survivors range to be entirely honest, and bought a good few packs so as to fight in a near future where a nuked United Kingdom has been invaded by the Soviet Union.
Great work on the astronaut Simon, and I see you are getting into your stride on these, with how quick you are progressing on the next one. The Russian NBC troops are interesting and progressing well as well.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. The predominantly blue palette definitely helps with the NASA astronauts, and the next one is already finished. I'm a big fan of Athena Miniatures' sculpts. They're nice old-fashioned hand-sculpted models, which make a nice change from all the smooth-lined digitally sculpted stuff I seem to encounter these days - if that makes sense.
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