GZG 15mm Kra'Vak force

Merry Christmas.  It is been some time since I have posted on here.  It has mainly been due to lack of things to do than anything else.  That and a lack of desire to paint.  However I have been bitten by the bug again so I have begun yet another project.  Specifically, Ground Zero Games 15mm Krav'ak.  I wanted an alien race of my Gruntz 15mm games and these guys fit the bill perfectly.

I have always been intrigued by the GZG Krav'ak range but I knew the models were scheduled for an updated sculpting so I have been waiting until the new ones were released before diving into yet another 15mm range.  The new models were well worth the wait.  I hope that there are support weapons coming for these guys in the future. 

The range comes in both figures with helmets and without.  The heads have been completely redone.  The details are quite satisfying to the eye and quite easy to paint.  My biggest dilemma was on how to paint these guys.  Dark colors often look quite bad in 15mm so doing a dark grey or black armor/uniform was out of the question. 15mm often requires extreme highlighting, to the point of almost cartoonish, to have any visual appeal on the tabletop.  That is not to say that realistic schemes look bad.  The issue is that from a distance muted colors often appear as dark blobs rather than distinct patterns.

 I settled on a medium grey, highlighted up so that it appears like a light blue grey.  This finish provides suitable contrast and allows the eye to see the details even at some distance away.   I was able to bang off almost 80 models this week with this finish.  I based some of the officers on larger bases to use as commanders for Gruntz.

My process was:

Primed White
Airbrushed the whole model Tamyia Neutral Grey.
Head - Reaper Olive Skin
Hair - Reaper Blacked Brown
Weapons - Vallejo Model Air Dark Panzer Grey
Arm and Leg joints - Reaper Factory White
Devlan Mud was head and hair.
Badab Black wash all other body parts.
Dry brush head Reaper Olive Skin Highlight
Dry brush hair Reaper Intense Brown
Teeth - Reaper Factory White
Lightly dry brush armor Reaper Coated Armor
Lightly dry brush select armor areas Reaper Ice Grey
Glaze armor should plates Reaper Ice Grey
Lightly dry brush armor areas Vallejo Model Air Pale Blue Grey
Laser sights on weapons Reaper Phoenix Red
Weapon lines Reaper Bright Skin Highlight





Kra'Vak squad and Commander with pistol

 

Kra'Vak Squad Leader

Kra'Vak Squad

Kra'Vak Trooper with support weapon

Kra'Vak Troopers with helmets

Kra'Vak Sniper

I do not yet have any power armor troopers or cavalry yet, but those are slated for painting in the new year.

Battletech House Davion Mechs Part 2

Yesterday I finished another eight mechs for my Davion forces.  These are painted of course in the same scheme as my previous ones.  Nothing much else to say about them.  I have another 32 mechs in the mail and will be adding to this force to bring it up to around 30 or so.  The rest will go to House Kurita. 

I am having a heck of a time with my Kurita force; not one mech is painted yet.  I cannot decide on a scheme.  Perhaps I have been airbrushing so long that I have forgotten on how to brush paint effectively. 

Catapult

Hunchback

Atlas

Cicada

Quickdraw

Panther and Zeus

Battletech House Davion Mechs

It has been awhile since I have posted anything on here.  However, I have been quite busy.  About a month ago I was bitten by the Battletech bug.  Over that period I have been furiously painting, stripping and repainting mechs for my forces.  I have about 60 mechs to paint up and a slew of vehicles.  I also scored about 600 pieces of the Heroscape terrain, along with a purchase of the felt hex mat (6x4).  The Heroscape tiles are perfect for Battletech.  However, I plan on painting them the same color as the hex max (going to color match the green at Home Depot).  The tiles look very toy-like (well they are toys) and a new paint job should solve this problem.

Funny enough, it was never my intention to start down the Battletech road.  I had initially bought several (well too many) mechs from Iron Wind Metals for my 15mm sci-fi forces to use as robots/drones.  However, once I started to look at the game system I fell in love (and received a large bill as a reward).

Although I have painted a lot in my time, I really struggled with these models.  I am used to airbrushing with a modulated finish.  These models although are vehicles paint differently (or I thought so).  I really struggled, stripping them all at least twice before I settled on a scheme.

In the end, I went with the Vallejo Model Air British Color Modulation kit.  It is a bronze green which eventually highlights up to a lighter green.  Being bipedal machines you really don't see the modulation much.  However, using that process helped me mentally to finish these.

The models are finished except for the unit decals (Robinsons Rangers) and some hazard stripes.  I don't have those from the mail yet.  My second force is from House Kurita.  I am finishing them this week and will post shortly.  They were quite an experience as well.




House Davion Forces

Awesome

Cyclops

Marauder 4X

 

Banshee

Grasshopper

Davion Infantry & APC

Dervish

Commando & Assassin

Awesome...I love this guy



Enforcer

Khurasan 15mm Federal Sci-Fi Vehicles

Well, this week I finally got around to finishing my Khurasan Federal vehicles for one of my 15mm sci fi forces.  I have had these for about 8 months but honestly I have not been in the mood to paint them due to a lack of opponents.

The world my games are usually get in is a variation of the SPI 1970s boardgame, "Invasion America".  These vehicles are the German forces which make up part of the Euro-Socialist Pact invasion force.  Other forces comprise the South American Confederation and the Asian People's Alliance.  They face off against the North American Coalition, sometime in the late 2000s. 

The vehicles were airbrushed in a simple monochromatic scheme: NATO Black base, Tamyia German Grey, followed by Dark Sea Grey, Light Sea Grey and Vallejo Pale Blue Grey.  The vehicles were then gloss coated and then given a varnish of Tudor Minwax.  Once dry I airbrushed the highlights again to bring them out more.  I wanted a simple scheme which emulated the classic German tiger tank.

Only some of the vehicles have decals at the moment. 

Pact vehicle pool, minus the GZG NSL Panzergrenadiers.

Khurasan Federal Medium Tank - "Leopard V"

Khurasan Multi Role Fire Support Vehicle

"Ostwind" Mk4 Anti Aircraft Artillery

Khurasan Federal Siler - German E-500 Superheavy Tank

Khurasan Caiman APC

15mm Khurasan Caiman APC

Several months ago I painted one of these babies up, the 15mm version of the Khurasan Caiman APC.  It model required virtually no assembly.  I kept the paint scheme the same as my Khurasan Federal Tanks, a pseudo German Army Grey, quite suitable for my GZG NSL troops.  Like the Federal tanks I avoided applying any washes to this vehicle.  Any shading was done with airbrushing alone.  Not sure if this is achieves the best result or not.  Normally I would gloss coat the vehicle and wash the whole thing in Tudor Min Wax, but for whatever reason I am a little, shall we say, afraid to try it on this vehicle.  Not sure why.

There is little else to say other than I really like this model. 

15mm Sci Fi Infantry for Gruntz and Tomorrows War

It has been a long time since I uploaded anything on this blog.  To be honest, I have done very little since February.  I have not played any 15mm games in months and it has been well over a year since I played any Warhammer or similar Fantasy game.  My opponent base is currently zero and chances of it increasing any time soon are nil.

In any case, I have not painted anything new in months.  Most of what I have is done and money prevents me from starting any new projects.  However, I have taken some photos of just a small fraction of some of my 15mm Sci Fi troops.  These photos are mainly for the 15mm Gruntz game cards.  So, the photos are not comprehensive nor do they show all the different troop types that I have available.

All of the models are from either Ground Zero Games or Khurasan.

GZG Powered Armor

GZG NAC Infantry

GZG Command Squad

GZG Rotary Cannon Team

GZG USMC Infantry

Khurasan Android Troopers

GZG German Infantry

GZG Combat Drones

GZG Robotic Drones

GZG German Heavy Powered Armor

GZG German Light Powered Armor

GZG Combat Robots

Khurasan Neo-Soviet Infantry

GZG DRPG Infantry

Khurasan Neo Soviet Mortar Team

Khurasan Neo Soviet ATGM Team

GZG Gun Drones

GZG Phalons

 

 

GZG DRPG Powered Armor