15mm Sci Fi - Khurasan Soriog / GZG Kra'Vak Battle Mecha (aka 40K Tau Battlesuit)

This will be a short one today.  I finally got around to finishing one of my six Tau Crisis Suits.  My wife got these for me for Christmas years ago.  Time to paint them up.

For years I could not decide on a scheme.  However, the Vallejo Shifters finally decided this for me.  This baby was done in an identical scheme to my Khurasan Soriog (basically Halo Elite with tails): Vallejo Shifters Electric Blue/Intense Violet.  These models are perfect for 15mm games such as Tomorrow's War, Gruntz or Alien Squad Leader.  The Tau are the only GW models that I would consider using in 15mm games.  I will admit these are nice sculpts (mine are from 2000....ancient).

Alien mecha stalks prey on Glory during the Soriog/Human Conflict of 2321.

Size Comparison: Khurasan Soriog GZG Kra'Vak, GW 40K Tau Crisis Suit

Since I don't play 40K I added items to the suit that interested me, equipment limits be damned:  Dual Heavy Fusion Cannons, Rapid Fire Plasma Gun and AI Guided Micro Fusion Missiles with Multi-Spectral Shielding and Energy Absorbing Self-Regenerating Duralloy Armor.  Definitely Tech Level 3 in Tomorrow’s War terms. 

These models are also perfect in size for the Khurasan Soriog (since they are almost 25mm themselves).  Being highly prone to dual-use, these models will also be featured in my Kra'Vak force (which will be featured soon).

The color ranges from Brilliant Electric Blue to a Deep Violet, depending on how the light it’s the surface.  Pictures really do not capture the incredible color hues which are present on the actual model.  Vallejo metallics go on super smooth via an airbrush.  Sadly you will not get the same results on large flat areas with a brush (although it will still look nice...vaporized paint simply works differently than when in liquid form).  If you want to paint metallics on a large scale get an airbrush.  Simple as that.   

There are a few flaws which cropped up after painting.  These will not occur on the next models (its been years since I dealt with plastic kits, ugh).  Other than fiddly filing off mold lines there were no real issues with assembly.

I dispensed with the weathering.  The self repair nanomachines keep the machine in top condition at all times.  Any such detailing would be done with Tamiya Weathering Pigments in any case.

Five more to go along with their associated Gun Drones.  I might at some point put on the Tau decals.  Maybe.

15mm Sci Fi - Khurasan Huntarr Zenegg Grav IFV

I guess this can be considered part 2 of my Khurasan Huntarr vehicle expose.  Like the grav tank I purchased these to go with my Soriog force, and like the tank, I found them too small.  With such a unique design this left me feeling rather down since I had high hopes for these.  Oh well.

Khurasan Huntarr Zenegg Grav IFV

These were painted in the same scheme as the grav tank.  No need to go over this again.  To be honest, I think I would use another color if i were to do these again.  The Turquoise/Violet from the Galaxy Dust pack is particularly striking.  

A size comparison.  If you thought the Old Crow stuff was big, think again.  

GZG Tracked APC, Old Crow Lancer APC, Khurasan Zenegg IFV

GZG Tracked APC, Old Crow Lancer APC, Khurasan Zenegg IFV

All three Huntarr vehicles

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I now have three vehicles that I have absolutely no use for.  My Kra'Vak already have GZG vehicles, and no other force I have is close to this metallic color.  I do have a huge amount of Venturans (aka Traveller Zhodani) from Eureka Miniatures.  Perhaps these will be assigned to that force.  Another option are Yenpalo from Brigade Models.  I like the infantry but the vehicles leave me flat.  Or, there is always Ebay......

The only other possible vehicle option for the Soriog in the market right now (that I know of) are grav APCs from Darkest Star Miniatures.  The Federal one is 14cm Long, 5.5cm Wide, 3.2cm Tall.  This is a massive model, but it would be a much better fit for the huge Khurasan Soriog.   

In any case, next up is a Tau Crisis suit that will get an Electric Blue/Intense Violet scheme.  

15mm Sci Fi - Khurasan Huntarr Sseventur Tank

This past weekend I continued my experimentation with the Vallejo Shifters Space Dust paint set, this time on vehicles.

When I ordered my Soriogs from Khurasan I was also in the market for suitable alien-looking grav tanks to go with them.  My original plan was to use Tau Crisis suits, of which I have two old and unassembled box sets of.  However, I also wanted traditional vehicles to go with them and these seemed like a good fit with the Soriog.  I was wrong.

Huntarr Tank, Soriog and GZG Colonist.

The model itself was perfect, as far as resin pieces go.  Minimal cleanup and easy assembly.  This issue was the size.  Compared to the Soriog the vehicle is too small.  This is bizarre since Khurasan is known for the size of it's vehicle models.  Of course, this is not their issue; my ignorance of the Soriog size was the issue.  On the bright side, the Crisis Suits are the perfect size for them, so I at least have that going for me.

Khurasan Huntarr Sseventur Tank

For the vehicle I did not want to use the same Electric Blue as the Soriog armor.  Don't ask why.  I was playing with the colors and this one: Green/Blue Violet, seemed like an interesting color.  Having everything the same seemed a bit silly and since the vehicles were not the right size for Soriog I felt using a different color was prudent.  It went over a Gloss Black, after which I used Vallejo Chrome to pick out details.

Now, I learned something important while doing this model, process-wise.  While doing the chrome, if I made a mistake touching up the Shifter paint was almost impossible.  The area would have to be repainted black and redone.  However, if I painted the model black first, then did the chrome areas I could then apply the Shifter paint and it would not seem to appear on the chrome areas.  Apparently it would take several coats to apply on non-glossy black undercoats.  This would have made the whole process simpler since I could have made mistakes which would have been easier to correct.  

After I painted the model I applied a thinned wash of Minwax Tudor.  This added definition and toned down the brightness.  I then applied a satin varnish.  

After varnishing I used Tamiya Weathering Master, silver and soot on the panel edges and exhaust ports.  I never weather with paint; the Weathering Master sets are easy to work with and can be rubbed off if you dont like the effect (unlike paint).

Keep in mind that if you chip metallic paint it is very hard to fix.  I did this on a gun barrel (because I am clumsy).  That is one reason I dont normally paint a lot of large metallic surfaces.

GZG Tracked Tank, Old Crow Sabre Grav Tank, Khurasan Huntarr Sseventur Tank

I have since redone the base, lowering the grav vehicle to a more reasonable height.  The acrylic cylinders I have are just too tall.  

If you thought Old Crow vehicles were big, think again.  The  Sseventur towers over everything on the battlefield.  

The poor GZG Cougar stands no chance.  

Overall I have mixed feelings about this vehicle.  The design is ok; it certainly looks alien.  I am sure it would work with smaller 15mm models.  If I didnt have a whole GZG Kra'Vak vehicle pool done I would likely use them for that force.  At the moment I am not sure what I will do with this tank and the two grav IFVs from that line (which are now done).  They are both took small for Soriog (especially the IFV (they cannot even remotely fit through the rear hatch).  Buyer Beware I guess.  Perhaps Ebay will have another of my models to sell?

This model would work well with GZG Kra'Vak, GZG Phalons, Eureka Zentarans or any other bipedal alien which is not too huge.  

The color shift is interesting, if a little subdued now.  Likely because of the wash.  I might do a targeted airbrush highlight with the original color so see if I can brighten things up.

15mm Sci Fi - Khurasan Soriog

 The Soriogs from Khurasan have been on my to do list for a long time.  This past month I finally managed to complete them, but not in the way I had planned.

Originally I had the idea of doing them in a traditional Fire Warrior Tau scheme.  However, this went out the window when I saw how huge they were.  Soriog tower over 15mm human figures.  They could easily fit into 20mm games, or even 25mm Stargrunt games.  

15mm Scale Figures: Laserburn Imperial Trooper, GZG Colonist, GZG Brazilian Rifleman, GZG Ixx, Khurasan Soriog

Rather than Tau I decided that due to their immense size they would look better painted as Elites from Halo.  However, I had no idea on how I would approach them so they sat for a wee bit.  Then, one day while picking up some supplies I glanced at a Vallejo paint set, Shifters Galaxy, Space and Magic Dust.  All metallic paints, which changed color depending on the light and angle of viewing.  Since I am a sucker for paint sets, and since they looked interesting, I picked up Space Dust. 

Khurasan Soriog

After some experimenting I went with Electric Blue/Intense Violet as a primary color choice, with leaders getting a Gold color.  The results are what you see below.  The Shifters are different than anything else I have ever worked with.  They are intended to go over a Gloss Black surface.  You can apply them by either brush or airbrush (I used the latter of course).  Like other metallic paints there is no real way of highlighting them, although you can mix colors and do layering to achieve some interesting effects.  Also, if you varnish them anything other than Gloss the colors will dull and you will be unimpressed.  Luckly, a coat of gloss varnish will bring back the color changing effect.  Satin will give a less impressive look than a gloss coat, but it is an option if you choose to take it.  It is also important not to cover the whole model.  Leave black areas in the recesses.  The models have no real discernable "face".  So I painted what I thought was tusks or fangs an ivory just to add some color.  

I will say right off the bat that initially I was not impressed with how they came out. The colors were perfect.  The paints worked perfectly.  The simple fact was that I don't normally paint this way and the figures, in my opinion, lacked depth and just looked like statues.  Not being able to highlight in my traditional way just felt, wrong.  However, my family (my main painting audience) thought they were fantastic so I kept them on their painting glue sticks and pondered their fate.  I was sure they would go into the strip tank, but their fiddly tails made me think twice.  Besides, I had other projects and redoing these was not on my to do list.  

However, this week I decided (at my son's suggestion) to keep them.  So I finished them off, based them and called it a day.  I did give them a wash of thinned minwax tudor, just to bring out some areas and provide some shading.

Soriog Battle Squad

Now that they are done I am not all that displeased.  The colors have grown on me (lets face it, they are just expensive man-toys, so fretting over small figures for playing war with is silly...at least thats what my wife says).  Basing them helped a lot.  I have since purchased the other colors and am experimenting.  Some interesting alien grav tanks from Khurasan will be making it on here soon along with armored support for the Soriog: Tau Crisis suits...all done in  Vallejo Shifters of course.  

Update: After these photos I hit the models with a Satin varnish.  They are just as cool but without the gloss finish.  This has resulted in a much more realistic look.

15mm Sci Fi - GZG Colonist Packs A, B, C & Technicians

 This week I finished off three new packs of GZG's Colonist Packs, A, B, C & D (Colonists and Technicians).  These took a bit longer than normal since each one was basically a unique color scheme.  Four of the technicians were used for military purposes in other armies, so I only had 28 to actually paint.  Games like Tomorrow's War or Alien Squad Leader feature civilians, so it is nice to have some ready to go.

These were somewhat relaxing to paint for a change.  They allowed me to explore colors that I would not normally use in my regular martial painting schemes.

A productive few days for sure.  I still have 24 Armed Colonists to paint and 16 Ravagers.  

Homemade Washes - Reaper Master Series Walnut Brown

For many years in my painting career (pre-2008 or so) I did not use store-purchased washes, for the simple reason that they were not available.  Back then you had to make your own.  Well, sometime in the early 2000s I stumbled upon a particular wash mixture that worked well for me for years: Reaper Master Series Walnut Brown.

This color is part of the Master Series Triad system: Shade, Base Color and Highlight.  The Triad system has served me well for 20 years.  In any case, this particular color, Walnut Brown, was my go to wash for years.  Once GW launched their own wash line I gradually moved away from making my own.  Whether this was a good or bad decision is up for debate (at least to me).

The mixture is simple: 10:1, paint to Distilled Water.  Mix and use.  These kinds of washes are not like GW or Army Painter.  They are runny and take practice to use (like any true wash).  But it works like a charm and gives an effect that I have never been able to find elsewhere.  I use it in a controlled fashion, never as a mass-wash slather on type thing; this is a scalpel, not an axe.  

all of these were washed in this mixture

...again, washed in this mixture.

This wash is not a universal tool.  However, it works great on small areas which might otherwise be clogged or obscured by thick store purchased products.  

These are not 15mm, but were done with my homemade washes about 15 years ago.  

Not bad for a painting bumkin back then.

2020 Painting Reflections

 Last night I was trying to bust through some GZG Colonial Civilians and I realized something: painting has become a chore.  I had them all on sticks and was painting away and thought, this is stupid.  I should be doing these one at a time and enjoy the process rather than just trying to tick another box in the lead pile.

Years ago, I painted for enjoyment.  The joy of completing a piece that was both unique and well done (at least to the level of my ability).  However, in 2018-2020 I took a long break from painting, for reasons that I cannot really describe.  Perhaps it was due to the fact that there was no one to share the joy with (online social interaction is not all that satisfying, at least to me).  In any case it was not until May of this year that I started again, replenishing my 15mm sci fi ranks after selling many ranges off in 2019.  It has been a productive year for sure, with almost 2000 models completed.

painting this 1E AD&D Dragon was enjoyable....I need to feel that more.

When I played Warhammer I made these out of crap around the house.  Its been years since I had that level of creativity.

However, that number feels hollow for some reason.  My skill level has increased but I am not being adventurous or really exploring new things.  Perhaps it is my inherent impatience: get things finished ASAP and move on because there is a lot more behind that one.  In any case I decided last night that this must stop.  No more mass army painting, at least for the near future.  Focus needs to be on individual miniatures and exploring new color pallets and techniques.  

Spacejacker's blog is long dead.  However I still visit it for inspiration.  So should you.  

http://tinysolitarysoldiers.blogspot.com/

Ignore the lead pile.  It is a means to an end.  Nothing more.