Rebel Minis 15mm Martian Tripods

Greetings.  It has been awhile since I have picked up a paint brush; several months at any rate.  I seem to go through painting spasms: I paint a huge amount of material then take a long break for up to 10 months.  Probably not the best thing for my painting skill level.  At any rate, there is some new material for me to post: 15mm Rebel Minis Martian Tripods. 

These guys have been sitting on my WIP shelf for almost one year.  Frankly, I didn't know what to do with them.  They were a pain in the ass to assemble.  There are not a lot of pieces mind you, but simply fiddly, especially with 3 legs.  The tentacles are extremely fragile.  Several were attacked by my cat and lost a couple of hit points.  I painted these guys up last week simply because I was sick of looking at them on my WIP shelf.


Rebel Minis Martian Tripods

This force was to constitute a 100 point army for Alien Squad Leader, for the Tripod faction.  The Tripods are a vehicle only army in that game.  So, assembling this force was a rather expensive undertaking.  A 200 point force would be double this size and easily cost over $300.  However, they could also be used in other various games with an assortment of alien infantry to round them out.  I decided to stop at the 100 point level and see if it was worth going to the next level. 

The paint scheme I settled on these guys was a simple metallic grey.  That seemed appropriate for a Martian.  

Small Martian Tripod

Everything was airbrushed, starting with a basecoat of NATO black.   The metallic base was Vallejo Black Metal, followed by Vallejo Gun Metal and Vallejo Steel for highlights.  I then washed the various areas in Vallejo Grey and Light Grey Wash, mixed with a  little Vallejo Dark Grey. 

 Various other areas were picked out with other colors: Reaper Steely Blue for the weapons, Reaper Fire Red, Phoenix Red, Fire Orange and White for the sensor eyes located in various areas. 

 

The tentacles were painted in a basecoat of Vallejo Steel since I wanted them to stand out.

Large Martian Tripod

 Once sealed with Testors Dullcote I used Tamiya Weathering Pigments to highlight the edges and bring out a metallic shine where so desired.

Alien Squad Leader Tripod

Large Martian Tripod

 These were a rather expensive purchase.  However the  models are nice and the bigger ones are quite large.   They tower over regular 15mm figures and vehicles.

For now I don't think I will be pursing a 200 point force.  Assembling another 7 models is not on my to do list and spending such a huge sum for a single large army for a single game seems pointless to me a the moment.

Rebel Minis 15mm Earth Force Self Propelled Artillery

Two posts in one day.  Recently I finished 3 Self Propelled Artillery vehicles from Rebel Minis, from their Earth Force line.  I don't have any other Rebel minis products, however these models were quite nice to work with.  Almost no flash or mold lines to speak of. 

My intention is to use these for my European Socialist Union force which is comprised of vehicles from Khurasan, specifically the Red Faction line.  Khurasan does not make a SPA vehicle for that line and these reminded me of modern Russian/Soviet vehicles.  I ran out of the FPG decals for my ESU force so as of right now they are unmarked. 

They were airbrushed in the same scheme as my other Red Faction vehicles, a simple one really.  Then gloss coated, given a light coat of Minwax Tudor, airbrushed again with some highlights and then weathered.  They should fit the bill for Gruntz or as objectives for Tomorrow's War.