15mm Sci Fi - Ground Zero Games Tracked Vehicle Pool

Continuing on with the vehicle porn (since I have nothing better to do), may I present my collection of Ground Zero Games 15mm Tracked Vehicles.  

These were the first vehicles I painted during my second foray into 15mm Sci Fi (for a history of my experience, and  how to avoid falling into my delusion, see this post).  I don't know why I waited so many years to photograph these together (the likely answer is that I am quite lazy).  

https://darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com/2021/12/how-did-i-get-into-this-my-history-with.html

These are all metal models, like all GZG materials.  As per my usual, I did modify some of them to my own taste.  

These were airbrushed with the Vallejo Russian Green Modulation kit.  I then airbrushed on Vallejo Model Air NATO Black and US Light Grey to create a feathered camo pattern.  They were then washed in thinned Polyshades Tudor Minwax.  

15mm GZG Tracked Support Vehicles - Artillery, MRLS, Mobile Gun System and Anti-Air Artillery

15mm GZG Self Propelled Artillery and MRLS Launcher

15mm GZG Mobile Gun System and Skysweeper Anti Air Artillery

I wanted a heavier version of the Cougar tank.  So, I took a Skysweeper Anti-Air turret and modified it to fit the heavy plasma gun that comes with the basic Cougar tank.  

15mm GZG Cougar Tanks, modified with heavy plasma guns & a different turret.

15mm GZG Tracked Cougar Tanks, modified with heavy plasma guns

To modified the basic Cougar turret lightly to accommodate rotary gatling co-axial guns.  You never have enough firepower.  

15mm GZG Tracked Cougar Tanks

15mm GZG Tracked Cougar Tanks

15mm GZG Tracked Cougar Tanks

If I were to redo these APCs today I would replace their twin plasma guns with newer GZG remote weapon systems.  

15mm GZG Tracked APCs

15mm GZG Tracked APCs

15mm GZG Tracked APCs

Scout vehicles & Drones

Since these are all metal models they are not the easiest to transport to other venues, so they tend to remain in their cases, waiting for the day to roll across the dusty plains of Altair IV.  

15mm Sci Fi - GZG Japanese Cybertech Ninjas

If you lived as a teen/adult (is there a difference?) in the 1980s, chances are you saw at least one ninja movie from Golan-Globus.  The 80s were a non-stop barrage of said martial arts movies, most being quite bad, with a very small number being at best mildly amusing.

These guys, Ninjas, from the GZG Japanese Corporate range, were on my to-do list for awhile.  There were many color options to go with, but I decided on traditional cinematic black.  

GZG Japanese Corporate Cybertech Ninjas, lead by "Storm Shadow", Master Assassin. 
"Cobra!"

Every gang of evil ninja terrorists needs a leader, taking inspiration from Gi-Joe their master received a white color scheme.  Their helmets do need some clean up due to a mold line running down the middle.  As always, I miss some now and then.  

Black is normally very difficult to work with on small scales. The color scheme was:

• Tamiya German Grey, airbrushed.
• Vallejo Model Color Dark Sea Blue on the scabbards,. 
• A very thin line of Vallejo Deep Sky Blue was painted inside the visors (I am now fully trained to perform brain surgery) 
• Washed in Army Painter Dark Tone.
• Highlights were done in Vallejo Blue Grey Pale 70.905 and Pale Grey Blue 70.907 (yes the names are correct....Vallejo has confusing/fucked up color names sometimes).  The highlights have to be stronger than I would normally use on 28mm.  At a distance they look much better than up close (just like all small scale painting....unless you are the Steve Dean, God of 15mm Painting).

Sword or blaster, its all the same to them.

The white was harder than it needed to be, thanks to GW Contrast Paint.  

• Vallejo Mecha White Primer
• Citadel Contrast Apothecary White overcoat.  This was a poor choice since at small scales this color is far too grey.  
• I then re-highlighted the armor in Vallejo Off-White and White.  I should have just used Vallejo Off White as a base, washed it in MIG Grey Filter for White and then highlighted raised bits.  MIG filters are very subtle and I feel this would have done a better job with less effort on my part.  

Assassins of the Far Future are Equal Opportunity Employers.  

Mold Lines: these are far more visible on airbrushed models than on brush painted ones (at least to me).  I could have done more clean up on a few of them....but (since they are black) you really do not see them unless you are holding them up to your face in bright light.

These will make an appearance in Five Parsecs from Home (or Clash on the Fringe) as a small, elite commando team out to thwart the hero's plans.   

15mm Sci Fi - Five Parsecs from Home Characters, Part 2

Continuing from my last post.....

Although I had no "characters" specifically painted for Five Parsecs from Home, I did have several thousand other figures painted from various ranges.  These are but a small sample of models which will likely be used in games, both as friends and foes.

Although I have tons of robots, I did not have anything that really stood out as "Soulless" figures.  However, I did have 12 Rebel Minis Androids kicking around which I never bothered to paint.  They fit the bill nicely.  

Khurasan Lhurgg make excellent Feral aliens (anything wielding both a rifle and a sword while completely nude with their dick flopping around under the Altair sun looks pretty feral to me).  

Alternative Armies Asgard Space Marines, Khurasan Lhurgg, GZG Robot and Rebel Minis Androids.

Alternative Armies Asgard Human Scouts make rather interesting villains and space wizards.

Last year I painted a large force of GZG Mercenaries, in a tan pattern.  They make excellent generic troops or the core of a player mercenary ship crew.  Some head swaps make the range of poses more interesting.  

GZG Kra'Vak are a suitable stand-in for K'Erin.  

The sheer number of characters and dangers in Five Parsecs is staggering.  There are literally dozens of different types of aliens, foes and dangers.  Newer players will be forced to proxy until their collection expands (we all start this way).  There is little need to collect everything possible however...a little imagination goes a long way.  

Luckily I  have many figures already done to choose from: GZG Phalons, Ixx, Xar are great as "Manipulators" or even "Precursors"; GZG Crusties (both warriors and civilians) are useful in a variety of roles; GZG Alien Mercs fit nicely as Brutes or K'Erin.   Alternative Armies Greys make great Abductors or Engineers; Alternative Armies Post Apocalyptic figures are useful as Planetary Nomads and assorted Primitive Scum; GZG Unarmed Colonists for passengers and general misanthropes.  (although they are unarmed we an assume they have Concealed Carry Permits).  Finally, Khurasan is an excellent source for humanoid aliens and monsters of various sorts.

15mm Sci Fi - Five Parsecs from Home Characters

 The last month has been a busy one for me.  I do not normally paint a lot of individual character models.  My focus is typically on platoon based games.  Five Parsecs from Home changed that.

Designed by Ivan Sorensen (my favorite game designer), Five Parsecs finally allows me a true solo game experience without the fuss.  Set in the same universe as Clash on the Fringe, it reminds me of the days of Laserburn and Traveller.  

The problem was that I really did not have any characters painted up.  So, this past month has been a furious painting ordeal to get all of the stuff I have had lying around for years done.  First off is a selection of Alternative Armies figures.  This company produces a fascinating range of models from all eras.  To be honest, if you could shop here for everything you  need for Five Parsecs and not be disappointed.  

All  manner of scum can be found at "Lucky Stars", the dingiest saloon in the Outer Rim.

Remember, I do not claim to be a great painter.  Sometimes I suck....and sometimes I pull off something magnificent.  Its just how I roll.

"Bow to Emperor Ming and his alien worm minon!"

The figures from AA range from human scum to the larger reptilian Thulg and the feline Mrurz.  

Captain Lucien prefers to shoot first and not bother with questions.  Flash Gordon prefers to enter combat blindfolded.  Sometimes he even hits is foes (...or friends in the back of the head).   

Alien Cyborgs and assorted space trash linger, hoping for the next big score.

The problem I have with figures like this is that I never know what the hell they are supposed to look like.  

Captain Braxton, "Humanity, fuck yeah!"

Thulg mercenaries are always eager to fight and eat....or just plain eat.

Next up are a selection of GZG figures, mainly Armed Colonists.  

GZG Armed Colonists

Lately I have been attempting eyes on 15mm.  Yes I am insane.  

The yellow guy in back is my tribute to Reggie Bannister from the Phantasm films. 

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I took inspiration for some of these figures from the Alien movies.

The only thing left I have to finish is roughly 50 gang members from AA and GZG.  That will complete almost all of my 15mm infantry inventory (yes that means I am done).

15mm Sci Fi - GZG ESU Power Armor, old sculpts

These past few days have been rather productive: two small projects completed.  The first was my Khurasan Puritan Power Armor units.  The second was a project which I had been putting off for awhile: GZG ESU Power Armor teams.

These are not the newer figures from GZG, but the older models.  Despite being aged, they hold up well and have a couple of benefits: 1) they are single piece figures and 2) they provide variety.  Many rule sets have statistics for various types of power armor: scout, heavy, ect.  Therefore, it is somewhat useful to have smaller models to represent such troops.

ESU Power Armor Platoon under Lieutenant Popov patrol the icy tundra on New Siberia.

These guys were painted up in my standard ESU Taiga camo scheme.  See my previous posts regarding this.  

Chen-Kunyang Mod II Power Armor suits form the mainstay of ESU PA teams.  The larger, Black Bear design is issued when heavier firepower is needed.

The older figures are roughly man-sized.  There are four basic designs: a command unit, a RPK-100 Rotary Cannon armed suit, two armed with KI-72 Assault Rifles and two with KI-72s and should mounted micro missile packs.  

GZG ESU Power Armor Trooper (old), GZG Generic Command Officer, GZG ESU  Black Bear Power Armor (new) 

I will likely pickup another pack of these guys and convert them with heavier weaponry (The VK-20 Assault Cannon in SG2 comes to mind).

ESU PA teams operate in 6 man squads.

These two dozen will join the one dozen Black Bear Power Armor suits already finished.  These 36 will form the core group of infantry for my Alien Squad Leader Imperial Strike Force (ESU themed that is).

15mm Sci Fi - GZG Outrim Coalition, Squad Leaders & 200th post!

 This is my 200th blog post!  When I started this seven years ago I never imagined getting this far, or surpassing 130000K views.  I appreciate every single person who has ever perused these pages and for all the kind and wonderful comments.  Your feedback is most appreciated and drives me forward.

Recently I was thinking about how to better represent Leader figures in 15mm games.  Most suppliers create officer and leader models, but at a distance they often fade into the background with the rest of the army.  Thankfully I had eight spare GZG models in my WIP pile, Outrim Coalition.  They were just regular troopers mind you, but they gave me an idea: I would paint them in two different colors and use them as Squad & Platoon Leaders.  

My Outrim Coalition can be found here: 

https://darebearsminiemporium.blogspot.com/2020/09/15mm-sci-fi-gzg-outrim-coalition.html

GZG Outrim Coalition

My Outrim forces are done in a blue scheme.  To contrast that I chose a Vallejo Model Air 71.105 RLM26 Brown (more of a red actually) and Tamiya JN Grey.  They were then washed in Polyshades Antique Walnut and Tudor respectively.  Highlights were done with Vallejo Model Color 70.817 Scarlet and 70.829 Amarantha Red & GW Longbeard Grey respectively.  The visors were painted Vallejo Chrome & then washed with Tamiya Clear Red and GW Contrast Aethermatic Blue.  White dots were added at various points to simulate reflected light hitting a corner.  

UPDATE: I have replaced the white dots on the RLM26 Brown models with Vallejo Model Color German Orange to create a less stark appearance.

A simpler solution would have been to simply paint the rims of the bases different colors.  However I wanted something a little more striking and more individualistic, especially for smaller games.  

Anyway, I do not know why I did not think of this solution earlier.   It is certainly not a revolutionary idea mind you.  However, it makes it much easier to visually see where the leaders are and where units should be forming up around.  An easy enough solution, with a side benefit that these can also be used as character models in small skirmish games alongside regular troops.  I need to expand this idea to my other armies I think.

15mm Sci Fi - GZG High Tech Grav Vehicles (ESU Armor & Battle Mechs)

This weekend was a productive one for me.  Over Saturday thru Monday I managed to complete a long overdue project: my high tech ESU armor & vehicles.  When I featured the ESU naval marines last year they were equipped with Khurasan Red Faction vehicles.  However, my intention was to always to add more advanced vehicles to this force, either hover or grav.  Fortunately for me, I had all of these vehicles sitting around, waiting for a home.  Originally I had planned to use the vehicles for another force (UNSC Hardsuit marines).  But I decided I did not want to spend more money on the lead pile, so these were confiscated for the ESU.  

The models presented no particular problems for assembly.  GZG vehicles always need some clean up along the sides.  No big deal.  The only issue with the mechs were the rocket pods.  The holes were not defined well at all and were off set from each other in some cases.  I had to drill them out to get definition.  Not the best scenario.  I could have filled them and painted on faux holes but that was extra work for possibly worse results.

ESU Armor Pool

I decided to go with the Taiga camo scheme that I used on the ESU infantry.  It is interesting enough, and I am a sucker for uniformity in a force.

There are many ways of performing airbrush camo: hard masking and freehand.  Hard masking can be done with specialty purchased stencils, or with white tac/putty.  White tac is much quicker and cheaper than stencils.  However, I am neither patient or possessed with good imagination: I prefer to apply camo freehand.  It allows me to both fix mistakes and create the pattern as I go.  Quite simply: I need to see what I am doing as I do it.  Its just how my brain works.  

GZG High Tech Grav Tank & APC

When painting vehicles I almost always attempt a Color Modulation Technique.  This takes a base color and slowly highlights it upwards on raised areas of the model.  There is no right or wrong way to do this.  It is very much personal taste as to how far you want to go with highlighting.   This is easier when the vehicles have large flat surface areas (Old Crow vehicles are the best for this), and, correspondingly more difficult on objects which have irregular shapes (like mechs).

Command APCs are suitable for Alien Squad Leader Mobile Command Centers and in Tomorrow's War as Grid ECM vehicles.

Anyway, everything in the pool was done with the same colors: 100% airbrushed except for some fine detail work like windows and sensors.

• Mig Black Primer 
• Vallejo Model Air IDF Green as the basecoat.
• Vallejo Model Air Camo Black Green as the base camo color.
• Vallejo Model Color White Grey for the dot patterns.
• Vallejo Model Air Light Green (from the Russian vehicle color modulation kit...unavailable for separate purchase) and finally Vallejo Duck Egg Green (for extreme highlights) of the modulation effect on the IDF Green.
• Windows and Sensors: Vallejo Model Colors Black, Red, Vermillion & Bright Orange; Vallejo Game Colors Imperial Blue, Magic Blue & Electric Blue.  Each were layered on top of each other, leaving a small amount of the base colors underneath.  These areas were then capped off with a small white dot.   
• Once painted, the whole model(s) were washed in thinned Minwax Tudor.  The wash leaves the white dots somewhat muted.  I could have re-touched them up, but I left them as is, to simulate a slightly weathered and worn look.  I should do an article one day on why I prefer this product on 15mm scale figures vs regular washes.  
• BTW, I bake my non-plastic models in an oven, for 50 minutes at 170 degrees.  This cures the minwax completely.
• Once dry the models were weathered with Tamiya Weathering Pigments (small kits that come with 3 colors in each).  I prefer the pigments because a) they are very subtle and do not load a model up with paint like drybrushing does, b) they are very easy to apply and c) they are removable with minor rubbing or a wet paper towel.  If you don't like what you see, take it off.  

GZG High Tech MRLS

While rummaging through my bits box I found several packs of GZG Drones: sensor, gun bots and two grav heavy weapon platforms.  These were also conscripted for the Socialist cause.  

Infantry heavy weapon support is provided by Mark 1 & 2 gun bots, with 14.5mm KVP machineguns.

Being an old Battletech fan, I had several Mad Cats lying around.  They now serve as Light Battlesuits, suitable for deployment in urban & rugged terrain.

Sensor drones allow the marines to interact with the Grid (ala Tomorrow's War), and also serve as Command Squad figures for Alien Squad Leader.

Close Anti-air support is provided by robotic drones, equipped with dual use missiles & rotary cannons.

Longer range artillery support is provided by multiple rocket launcher systems, equipped with dual use surface to surface and surface to air rockets.

Battlemechs are armed with twin heavy plasma cannons, chin-mounted light lasers and rocket pods for urban pacification.

This was a big project.  Without my airbrushes I would have been totally lost and unable to complete it in such a quick turnaround and to my desired level of quality.  In any case, the ESU now as both traditional tracked vehicles as well as advanced gravitic armor, allowing it to take on my NAC forces on even terms.  I will be adding some suitable communist decals to this force eventually (once my mail arrives).  Eventually I will post the stats I use for Tomorrow’s War on this blog fort various factions. 

This brings me to a total of 250 1:100 scale miniatures painted In the last 30 days.