15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Apartments

I guess this could be considered Old Crow Week.  

Sadly, Old Crow makes only two buildings at 1:100 scale: a large apartment block and a smaller one.  As usual however, their quality is superb.  I have two of the large and 4 of the smaller ones.  They paint up quickly and are suitably generic for just about any setting.

Each side of the buildings have a different frontage.  

Old Crow Small Apartment Block.

The buildings themselves were painted with Tamiya Medium Grey, then accented with other warm greys and finally highlighted with Vallejo Grey White.  Nothing fancy.

Old Crow Large Apartment Block

I used Vallejo pigments (in a dry form) to weather the buildings, giving them a grungy look, fitting for a colony world or slum.  

15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Drophip

 Apparently my productive streak still has some spark in it.  Today I banged off my last two Old Crow aircraft: two Crow Landers.  That makes 4 aircraft done this week.

15mm Old Crow Dropship - The Crow Lander

I will not go into the painting details.  They were done the same as the gunships.

This gives me 15 air unit of various types (jets, alien jets, saucers, ect).  

15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Gunships finished!

I had some time today so I decided to go for it and paint up the other gunship that I had.  Only two Dropships left to do.  

 

15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Raven Gunship

Its Sunday, which means most of my family is working today.  So, with some time to spare I banged off this guy, an Old Crow Gunship, suitably modified to my specifications.

15mm Old Crow Raven Gunship

The pattern was simple:

1. Primed Black
2. Airbrushed with a basecoat of Tamiya XF-83 Med Sea Gray 2 RAF
3. Highlighted with Tamiya Sky Grey and then Vallejo Model Air Grey White.
4. Metal bits were done by hand with Tamiya Metallic Grey, while missiles were coated with thinned Model Color Off White.
5. The cockpit was my typical mix: Vallejo Game Color Black, Imperial Blue, Enchanted Blue, Electric Blue and Glacier Blue.
6. Lights were done with Vallejo Red/Scarlet Red/Bright Orange & Light Green/Lime/Yellow Green.

I have three more Old Crow birds left to paint.  Not really in the mood to bang them off though since today I hit 900 miniatures painted for this year.  Maybe in the new year.

28mm Fantasy - Reaper Young Ice Dragon

 This Christmas my wife is apparently getting a bonus gift: a Christmas Dragon, care of Reaper Miniatures: a Young Ice Dragon.  

I purchased this guy earlier this year along with some other of his brood.  I had some time today so he got a well-deserved paint job.

Reaper Miniatures Young Ice Dragon

The scheme was simple:

1. Primed the whole model in Black, then Grey on top at a 45 degree angles, leaving the black in the recesses.
2. Vallejo Game Color Glacier White was thinned down to allow me to airbrush it, then, thin coats were applied at 45 degree angles.  
3. A final highlight of Tamiya Flat White was done on the upper areas of the model and wings.  
4. The chest was very carefully airbrushed with Vallejo Model Color Pale Sand with my Itata HP-B plus airbrush (this tool was necessary for this precision work).  I could have painted them by hand, but airbrushing them was easier and more satisfying.  
5. The eyes were done in Vallejo Model Color German Camo Dark Brown and then a dot of Vallejo Model Color Ice Yellow.
6. The tongue was painted Reaper Monster Maw and adjoining flesh with Vallejo Blue Violet, then the whole interior mouth was washed with Army Painter Flesh Tone.
7. Claws were done with Vallejo Model Color German Grey & Dark Blue Grey, with a small highlight of Pale Grey Blue.
8. The base was sanded, then painted with Vallejo Model Color German Camo Dark Brown, and drybrushed with Vallejo Model Color Tan Earth and Vallejo Game Color Bone White.
9. I added small patches of grass then added Games Workshop Snow, doing several layers to build it up.

Overall I am pleased.  He was simple and easy to complete, and the only model with snow in my massive collection.  Perhaps I should do more......

28mm Fantasy - 2021 Reaper Miniatures Christmas Dragon

For the last five years, at Christmas, I paint something for my wife...specifically a dragon (she is a Dragon per the Chinese calendar).  Since my wife does not peruse my blog it is safe for me to post an early sneak peak at this years creation: A Reaper Miniatures Silver Dragon.

Reaper Miniatures Silver Dragon

This gentle giant was painted with various Vallejo Shifters metallic paints (which must be done over a black gloss primer), layered on top of each other with my twin Iwata airbrushes (mainly golds, with some silvers & blues).  The hues change depending on the angle the light hits him.  Sadly, you cannot see them all in the photos.  The colors range from gold, to a greenish copper, to a brownish gold to a red.  The transitions are subtle.

I used a few MIG Filters on the wings, but that is about it.  Horns were of course hand painted.  To generate shadows you need to airbrush at 45 degree angles, leaving black in the recesses.  The Shifters take multiple coats to generate the effects.  Patience is key.  

You can brush on the Shifters as well.  But the effect is very different, and IMO less pleasing.  This product needs to be airbrushed on for the best results possible.  

When finished coats of Alcad Clear and then Matte varnish were airbrushed on to seal the model.  The Matte really tones down the sheen of the metallics, without removing it, creating the illusion of dragon scales.  Alcad makes a Flat varnish as well, which is similar to Testors dullcote. 

He will join the brood which appears to be expanding nicely.  

15mm Sci Fi - The Old Crow ground vehicle WIP pile has been completed!

Yesterday I pushed through and finished off the last 4 of my Old Crow ground vehicles for my North American Confederation forces.  That makes 38 vehicles painted in less than two weeks, with my total model count for the year standing at 888 figures of all types.   

My painted vehicle pool now stands at 280 1:100 scale models of all types.

The NAC vehicle pool is comprised of Antonitis Workshop & Khurasan models.  However, they did not have any support vehicles in their pool which was a bit of a gap.  My leftover Old Crow models nicely filled this shortfall.  Later this month they will be getting a small amount of reinforcements: 3 Provider Transports (which will be dual use as both cargo carriers and as a Tac Missile Launcher and supporting Long Range Radar Vehicle, allowing me to make maximum use of all my turrets) and 1 JagdLancer Assault Gun (another vehicle type that never actually appeared for purchase on the Old Crow web site), bringing this pool to 22 vehicles in total.  

These were done in my standard "NATO  Green" scheme with my two Iwata airbrushes.  

https://darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com/2020/10/15mm-sci-fi-tomorrows-war-us-army.html

• Primed Black
• Tamiya Black Green as the base overcoat,.
• Tamiya NATO Green on all raised areas, leaving the shade in recessed areas.
• Tamiya Cockpit Green on all upper panel centers.  
• Tamiya NATO Black on all tires and tracks.
• Tamiya Metallic Grey for all pintle mount weapons.
• Vallejo Model Color Sky Grey on the Tactical Missiles.
• Vallejo Model Color Off-White on on the missile pod warheads.
• Stowage was picked out by hand with various colors: Vallejo German Camo Beige, Vallejo Green Yellow, Vallejo German Camo Bright Green.
• Vallejo Black, Imperial Blue, Enchanted Blue, Electric Blue and Glacier Blue on vision slits.
• Vallejo Black, Red, Scarlet, Bright Orange and White on all targeting sights.
• MIG Filters: Grey for Light Green and Accumulated Dust on areas which would collect dirt.  I could have used additional filters and other washes, but I stopped here.
• Tamiya Weathering Pigments (Mud, Sand, Light Sand & Light Green).
• Alclad Flat varnish, sprayed through the airbrush as a sealer.

Normally I would have given vehicles in the scheme a wash with Polyshades Minwax Tudor.  However, this time I did not.  I relied on my airbrush to provide the necessary shading and my Filters and Weathering Pigments to do the rest.  This resulted in a very close match to the current vehicles which were done with the Tudor applied.

My reasons for this were twofold:  Old Crow models consist of large flat areas.  This geometry does not lend itself well when trying to apply a wash to the model as a whole.  Washes need to settle in recesses, of which there are few.  

Secondly, I have relied on this product for far too many years and I am trying to branch out and explore new techniques and products.  Sometimes you have to throw away the crutches and risk falling in order to walk.  

  

Next up will possibly be adding small white numbered decals to my 22 vehicles done in the red oxide scheme.  That will be hours of work which I am dreading.  I do have a small amount of characters and various beasts to complete, which will become a Christmas Holiday project and bring my painted model count to 900 figures.  Other than that, my painting for this year is more or less completed.  

I think its time to focus on game reviews and other articles of interest.  

15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Vehicles in German Red Oxide Camo Part 2

This week has seen another milestone of me: almost the complete reduction of my Old Crow vehicle WIP pile.  This is a huge weight off my mind.  

I was debating on what to paint the last third of these vehicles.  Originally they were going to be a 4-tone PLA scheme.  However, I decided to expand my Red Oxide vehicle pool instead.  So, yesterday I banged off another 8 vehicles in the same scheme.  This brings the pool to 22 vehicles painted up.  Another 4 vehicles will be joining my American forces in a green scheme.

Small Soldiers - Fight! Win! : 15mm Sci Fi - Tomorrows War US Army Armored Vehicles (darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com)

15mm Old Crow Vehicles

The scheme is the same as last time (that is the point).  

Small Soldiers - Fight! Win! : 15mm Sci Fi - Old Crow Vehicles in German Red Oxide Camo (darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com)

Extra turrets are also abundant but not shown.

Monochrome schemes can be a little dull.  I make heavy use of Panel Highlighting in these cases.  Its not a realistic lighting scheme, but it works well at small scales.  Also liberal use of stowage is also a must for me.  This breaks up the model and provides interest.

Sabre MBTs and the Lancer Heavy APC

I had extra Reactive Armor blocks lying around, so I upgraded all the Claymore Heavy APCs with this defensive system.  

The Lancers will also be getting an upgrade with a different defensive system at a later date.  Thank the gods for my huge stash of bits.

I still have to paint the drive for the Mule transport (or perhaps its a Tesla?)

Top Stowage is of course removable.

Well that almost completes this vehicle pool.  I have two Old Crow vehicles left to complete in this scheme which will be a December Surprise!  

15mm Sci Fi - Using Heroscape Terrain in games

 Photo-rummaging sometimes yields results.  Years ago I discovered that Heroscape Terrain can be used for both 15mm Sci Fi & Battletech games.  Heroscape tiles are stackable, allowing you to create any number of hill combinations easily.  They come in rather garish colors, so I painted mine the same color green as my felt Battletech mat (I had the paint color-matched at Home Depot....yes I used latex house paint on my tiles....don't judge me!).

You can purchase Heroscape tiles here:

https://www.allthingsheroscape.com/collections/heroscape-terrain

An Alien Squad Leader Battlefield

The photos below are from an Alien Squad Leader game.  I present them with no commentary (since I cannot remember anything mainly).  

My Built-Up Areas for ASQL.  Most terrain in this game consists of "areas" (urban, forest, swamp, ect).

The trees are 1:300 scale I do believe.  They are robust.

The Heroscape hexes were the same size as the mat I used for Battletech games.  Very convenient.

Hills can be barren or have foliage of course.  

The forces involved: Human Imperial.

Human Colonial Defense Force.

Water tiles & Urban roads/paved surfaces...these are MDF hex tiles, painted for various depths.  

Perhaps this idea will be of use to someone?