I've been building and painting some more vehicles recently. I'm aiming for models that will be generic enough to be useful in several settings, so I can get the most out of them.
For all guerrilla/insurgent forces modern and futuristic, they need cheap transports and weapons platforms - enter technicals. I tried doing it the cheap way by starting from some Matchbox pickup trucks, and the results don't seem bad.
I repainted a couple of Matchbox Honda Ridgelines and added Liberation Miniatures DShK heavy machine guns to them. The result looks haphazard and threatening at the same time - which is good for the intended effect.
The Matchbox die cast model has a full gray plastic interior, including cup holders, (!) and I left that all untouched.
The truck beds have boxes and packs in them, so I painted these to give the technicals a lived in look. The beds are also big enough so 1/72 figures can be placed in them to give them more flavour. All in all, this is pretty cheap and effective, considering that the trucks were $1 each at Wal-Mart.
I also built a pack of 2 Pegasus quick-build WWII US Army GMC trucks. These are very nice models, quick to build but with good detail at the same time. I painted them in a generic olive green colour that's suitable for many wars, settings, and factions.
These trucks are quick and easy to get to a gameable state, and are yet another Pegasus offering aimed at wargamers.
You can see the detailed folds of the canvas top, which I painted in a khaki colour.
The trucks also include a driver each, and I gave them a quick paintjob too.
I'm very impressed with the Pegasus trucks, and will probably get more. These will be good as both transports and objectives in gaming scenarios.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sci-fi Miniatures and Scale, non-power armour
On the Ambush Alley forum, I was asked to post a size comparison similar to what I had done before, except with non-power armour GZG 25mm miniatures. So here they are:
A GZG 15mm Ixx, a GZG 25mm NSL Panzer Grenadier, a Caesar 1/72 modern French soldier, and a Caesar 1/72 nun.
A close-up of the Ixx, 25mm NSL Panzer Grenadier, and 1/72 French soldier.
After I took those pictures, something felt wrong, and I realized that I based the 25mm GZG figure on a washer so that the base was taller than the others. I then compensated for this by placing the other figures on washers of the same size.
These are the same as above, but with washers under the other figures so the 25mm GZG is not propped up unfairly.
What to think then? While the GZG 25mm power armour miniature can get away with being bulkier simply by virtue of being power armour, the non-power armour 25mm soldier doesn't look quite right with 1/72 miniatures. The proportions of the GZG miniature, even though it's miles better than heroic scale "28mm," still doesn't quite match the realistic proportions of 1/72s. So even as bulky sci-fi armour, it still doesn't really fit. But like always, this comes down to personal preference.
A GZG 15mm Ixx, a GZG 25mm NSL Panzer Grenadier, a Caesar 1/72 modern French soldier, and a Caesar 1/72 nun.
A close-up of the Ixx, 25mm NSL Panzer Grenadier, and 1/72 French soldier.
After I took those pictures, something felt wrong, and I realized that I based the 25mm GZG figure on a washer so that the base was taller than the others. I then compensated for this by placing the other figures on washers of the same size.
These are the same as above, but with washers under the other figures so the 25mm GZG is not propped up unfairly.
What to think then? While the GZG 25mm power armour miniature can get away with being bulkier simply by virtue of being power armour, the non-power armour 25mm soldier doesn't look quite right with 1/72 miniatures. The proportions of the GZG miniature, even though it's miles better than heroic scale "28mm," still doesn't quite match the realistic proportions of 1/72s. So even as bulky sci-fi armour, it still doesn't really fit. But like always, this comes down to personal preference.
Labels:
1/72,
25mm,
Ambush Alley,
Comparison,
GZG,
Sci-fi
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