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Author Topic: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future  (Read 3995 times)

Offline Macrossmartin

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GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« on: May 30, 2020, 10:26:09 AM »
Bravo Six's thread sparked memories of a similar project of my own from a few years back. I thought I might share some of it here, in the hope it might spark some ideas, be they in my little grey cells or your own.  :)

Called Glory Deep after a particularly bloody battle of the 2nd Tasman Sea War (read on), this was meant to be my tribute to Gerry Anderson's Marionation series Stingray.

A great debt is also owed to John Treadaway and his much more authentic Stingray game:

http://www.salute.co.uk/games/stingray/graphics/index.htm

Introductions over, let's get into the setting of Glory Deep...



Since the 2020’s, humanity has been in retreat from the destruction caused by rising sea levels. Today, almost a century after the last ice sheets melted from the poles, billions have perished, entire nations have been displaced, and the threat of unrest, starvation and disease still hangs over the world.

Confronted with a planet-wide crisis, in 2045 the United Nations re-purposed itself into the World Government. Its singular objective was the survival of the human species, through the equitable distribution of resources and the enforcement of treaty obligations for the resettlement of environmental refugees; the hundreds of millions who had become known as simply ‘The Tide’.

With living space exorbitantly rare, desperate people took their fates into their own hands and united to establish offshore and seabed city-states. Many of them prospered, and with their prosperity they found the courage — and arms — to fight for their independence. At the same time, a race of opportunistic, aquatic aliens made 'first contact' with humanity, and proceeded to lay claim to a great swathe of the Atlantic Ocean!

To contain these and other dangers, the World Government created HORN (Human Oceans Resource Navy), equipping it with the newest and most deadly weapons ever unleashed in naval warfare: Subfighters. These 200 tonne, ultra-fast submarines carry a crew of 3 to 5, and are capable of unleashing volleys of lethal, super-cavitating torpedoes or deadly blue/green lasers. With their Subfighters, HORN held the line against the invaders' equally dangerous Terrorsharks. The first Atlantic War ended in an uneasy truce.



Years later, off the drowned coast of Australia the denizens of Tasmantis — a subsurface continental shelf beneath the Tasman Sea — united against all threats to defend their hard-won aqua-farms and seacorn fields. The World Government moved to establish control, seizing crops for distribution and attempting a disastrous invasion of New Zealand. Driven underground, the Tasmantians responded with ORCA (Oceanic Revolutionary Committee for Action). With a handful of early Subfighters and converted civilian submarines, ORCA have become a poisonous thorn in the side of the Government, threatening Humanity's unity with their subversive campaign for freedom.

This is the story of the ongoing struggle between HORNET (HORN Eastern Trident) and ORCA. Will Tasmantis give up its bounty to help feed the starving billions? Or will it be a new shot heard around the world, sparking a global revolution? We will find out in Glory Deep, 50 fathoms down where heroes lie...
Operating from an abandoned US spy base somewhere in the Australian outback, Miniature Martin produces games and scale miniatures set in parallel worlds, past and future. He is NOT trying to take over the Earth. This time.

Offline Macrossmartin

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #1 on: May 30, 2020, 11:16:30 AM »
Right then, with the fluffy stuff out of the way, let's move on to the actual Subfighters! There's a sailor's salty story about how these found-object builds came about, so pull up a bollard and let me tell 'e a tale...

Some of you might remember this all from a brief appearance on another forum many moons ago. I ask that you don't spoil it for those coming new to the story.  ;)

A few years ago I made the considerable personal error of being convinced into a managerial role with a certain retailer of products intended to remove follicles from the faces of fellows. I say 'error' when I mean 'blunderous incapacity to recollect how little Australian retail companies appreciate the concept of 'a fair day's work for a fair day's pay.'  ::)

On one of the many not-particularly-fair, unpaid days I endured in this role, I had reason to rummage about in my store's storage room, in search of lost stock, dust, and the brains of upper management types. But instead, I found that the store's previous boss had left behind a couple of boxes of old, used, and now unloved shavers, trimmers, and other electrical odds and sods. At first I thought to throw out the lot, for they were sufficiently aged and non-functional to discredit any claim they once had to being of value.

But hang on a mo'…

On closer inspection - couldn't that be a space-shippy sort-of-shape…?



Or maybe, given it almost looks shark-like, I wonder if I could use it —

— and right then is when it hit me. Oh my goodness, I was looking at a whole fleet of futuristic submarines, in a grotty cardboard box!

And not just submarines, either; if that's not the centrepiece of an underwater metropolis, I'm no sci-fi modeller!



"So," thought I, "should I turn these into a bit of a nostalgic tribute to Gerry Anderson's Stingray?"

In truth, others have done Stingray games long before me. Most of them have been pretty simple concept-wise - Stingray and other WASP (World Aquanaut Security Patrol) supersubs verses the Terrorfish of Titanica. But, visually, they are brilliant, fantastic looking things, real 'blast from the past' stuff, and very worthy tributes to Anderson's fertile imagination.

Also, it would be more than a little work (to put it mildly,) to convert any of these into a 'proper' Stingray, as seen in the 60's Supermarionation show. That's when the idea gelled - rather than slavishly follow the original material, do a game set in an Anderson-verse-like setting, but with a modern, post-climate change apocalypse spin. All the world is fleeing to the ocean floors, and they are the new battlegrounds.


Right then, now to see what we can make of our box of clapped-out cranium croppers. Taking a look at the Braun shavers I'd picked out for the role of the Manta 'hero' Subfighters I decided that they'd look a lot more like 'the business' without windows; something I never much liked about the design of the original Stingray was her huge, glass windows.

Why such dislike? Well, with a Dad who spent much of his life making things that hunt real submarines, a young Martin was quick to take an interest in machines that go 'ping!' beneath the waves. I thus knew from an early age that sheets of glass and unequal pressures don't make for happy endings.

In fact, from an ergonomic standpoint, it could be argued that windows are a terrible mistake in a submarine, due to the tendency of humans to rely on ‘eyeball mk I’ when trying to spot something to shoot at (or avoid something that’s doing the shooting). Humans are woeful at seeing in the dark, so if it’s pitch black outside, (and it is at 400 metres down), you’ll only waste precious seconds trying to see the torpedo that sonar is screaming is coming right for you.

I imagine that the cockpit of the Manta is hidden beneath layers of armour and pressure hull, the crew relying on sonar, enhanced video and blue/green laser rangefinders to 'view' the surrounding ocean.


Time to take this apart, methinks.



Most of this type of shaver disassembles with the application of a screwdriver. Out come the gubbins, leaving a thin, light shell of plastic, but there is this big layer of rubber that provides a grip… I thought of leaving it as a kind of anechoic coating, but I knew it wouldn't fool anyone, and might hint at the bristle-blasting origins of the ship, so it had to come off. But, blades wouldn't do much, because the rubber tore when I attempted to peel it from an incision, leaving most of itself stuck to the smooth plastic beneath. What to do?

Knowing I was taking a risk, (one of being left with a puddle of rubber and plastic, rather than a sleek guardian of the depths,) I had a crack at gently heating the rubber with a heat gun. Lo and behold, off the rubber came! With practice, I was soon de-rubbering the shavers in moments, revealing hard, black plastic. Whay-hey! Time to scratch that scratch-building itch!

Because this game is inspired by Gerry Anderson's shows, I consciously decided that I would try to build my fleet of subs entirely from found objects or recycled things. (Do you know how many toothpaste tube caps they went through on those shows?)

Plastic card I had in quantity… and some cheap half-ovoid 'bling' craft shapes would come in handy...



At the back of the original Stingray there's this big, clear shape, usually referred to as the Ratemaster. It spins around, showing the folk in TV land that the motor is working, while looking for all the world like some tap fitting. Try as I might, nothing in my bits box, nor in various $2 shops, revealed a suitable object to mimic this role on my Mk V Stingrays. But then I noticed that a Lego wheel was a suitably interesting shape...

A plastic hemisphere from an animal stamp pad went on one end, mounted to a round-shouldered 30mm figure base, and the tail cone came from the end of a multi-colour pen. The hemisphere is to give the impression that the Ratemaster is able to swivel about on its mounting, greatly improving the manoeuvrability of the Mark V.

Moving amidships, the back of the command section (actually the pop-up bit that houses the trimmer) got its 'saw tooth' grips ground off and sanded smooth, but the ones at the front of the section remained. I like the look of them, they suggest a spoiler-like feature.

The fins and hydroplanes were simply cut from plastic card, although I was picky enough to give them a taper, by cutting two pieces for each, adding a spacer at the root, and filling and sanding the leading edge. (These took longer than they deserved…)

Lots of putty to blend in the fins on the command section, and then sand, sand, sand...

The hydroplanes are mounted on cheap (how I love that word) acrylic craft gems, which I found in a craft shop for $1.50 a pack. Perfect. On to the painting.



Tamiya and Gunze Sangyo colours, thinned with GP thinners, and shot through my Iwata Revolution. I didn't want to attempt the exact colour scheme from the original Stingray - finding the right line to mask the yellow and blue areas is a terror without equal. So I opted for a simplified scheme that reflected the original colours, and I'm pleased with the resulting shapes.

To paint the yellow, by the way, I first sprayed a second undercoat mixed from a base of Royal Grey with a few drops of Tamiya Clear Orange. This gave me a warm brown-grey colour, which kept the yellow topcoat from turning green from the blue layer beneath. This also meant I could spray the yellow in a single coat, avoiding the dreaded build-up of paint on the masked edges.

Weathering lines were achieved by simply masking lines with Tamiya tape, and applying black weathering powder on one edge, feathering it away from the tape. Remove tape, repeat until all panels done. Immediately spray with gloss varnish.



Lastly, I made up some simple decals in Adobe Illustrator, and printed them out.





I've made two Mantas so far, but I have a number of other subfighters on the slips, although they have been there for quite some time. Glory Deep is definitely on ice for the moment; Other projects sounded siren songs louder (and quicker) than this over the years, and off I went in pursuit of the latest, shiny thing.

But I am tempted to revisit Tasmantis, and see if I can revive interest in this idea. I did write some rules for Glory Deep, and they were sufficiently advanced to warrant a couple of test games with cardboard stand-ins.



However, it was a clunky game, with too much detail, and hung up on the balance between super-fast (but loud) movement and the need to 'run silent'. (Everyone just chose to keep schtum!)

But I might revamp it with the aid of the Movement Disc system I've invented for Saucer War One, and see what comes about.

https://miniaturemartin.com/2020/05/01/how-a-tiny-flying-saucer-flies/

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this entirely self-indulgent trip into my half-finished project. If people are interested, I'll post some more stuff, but if not, thanks for taking a look!

Online OSHIROmodels

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #2 on: May 30, 2020, 11:29:12 AM »
Very cool  :)

Love the subfighter build  8)
cheers

James

https://www.oshiromodels.co.uk/

Twitter account -     @OSHIROmodels
Instagram account - oshiromodels

http://redplanetminiatures.blogspot.co.uk/
http://jimbibblyblog.blogspot.com/

Offline Bravo Six

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2020, 12:56:26 PM »
Martin, that's AWESOME!  :o Thanks for posting this. What a great thread. Please DO post more.


Offline YPU

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #4 on: May 30, 2020, 01:18:04 PM »
You never stop to show up with more awesome projects Martin.
3d designer, sculptor and printer, at your service!



3d files! (here)

Offline Commander Roj

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #5 on: May 30, 2020, 07:47:36 PM »
I’d love to see more of this!

Offline Mammoth miniatures

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #6 on: May 30, 2020, 07:58:23 PM »
 Absolutely wonderful :) the sleek design really does look like a gerry Anderson model updated :)

Offline Bravo Six

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2020, 12:44:41 AM »
Thanks Martin. I just a TV advert for a micro-shaver and first thing I thought was "Ooooh.... that would make a great subfighter".  lol

Offline Macrossmartin

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #8 on: May 31, 2020, 02:28:01 AM »
Thanks Martin. I just a TV advert for a micro-shaver and first thing I thought was "Ooooh.... that would make a great subfighter".  lol

Tee hee! My work here is done.  :D

Thanks for the many and encouraging responses, everyone. I'll post some more stuff soon from my earlier builds. Maybe this'll convince me to haul out the box of bits and start sanding plasticard fins once again.

I have wondered about redoing the rules for Glory Deep and releasing them, but I am on the horns of a dilemma there; Should I sculpt and cast miniatures for the game, or encourage others to follow the same route as I, and save various domestic appliances from landfill? Given the global warming catastrophe setting, the latter approach has a nice synergy to it, but could it prove a barrier to entry for those less inclined to cover fingers with putty, plastic dust and no.11 blade cuts?

Opinions, please!

Meanwhile, a preview of things to come...


Offline Commander Roj

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #9 on: May 31, 2020, 07:54:48 AM »

I have wondered about redoing the rules for Glory Deep and releasing them, but I am on the horns of a dilemma there; Should I sculpt and cast miniatures for the game, or encourage others to follow the same route as I, and save various domestic appliances from landfill? Given the global warming catastrophe setting, the latter approach has a nice synergy to it, but could it prove a barrier to entry for those less inclined to cover fingers with putty, plastic dust and no.11 blade cuts?



That looks so cool!

I like the idea of miniatures, though as a devotee of the smaller scales, I would like to see something around the size of the 1:600 to 1:300 scale popularly used for aerial games. A friend scratch-built me some Stingrays and terror fish a few years ago at about that size, for games based on the Warlords rules.

One problem with shaver type conversions is that you need the raw materials. I’ve never seen one, yet alone have a few to break up for modelling purposes. And more than one type too.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2020, 08:04:07 AM by Commander Roj »

Offline Tactalvanic

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #10 on: May 31, 2020, 08:01:57 AM »
There is, as you have shown, the option for at least initially card stand-ins.

Other options/choices can develop from that but as Commander Roj suggests, in a small scale perhaps, as many of the possible players might be like me, and lacking in the scratch-build capability department.

and shavers..

Offline Macrossmartin

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2020, 01:56:16 PM »
Thanks again for the responses. In truth, I have long suspected that the better approach will be to offer miniatures, and in a smaller scale than the models I've made so far.

I think 50 - 60mm is the biggest I'd want the standard Subfighters to be. Makes them large enough for decent panel lines and details, but no so large that they become an impediment on a 4'x4' table.

That said, here's my trimmer-based build of the Manta's nemesis during the Tasman Sea campaigns; ORCA's Wahaika class Subfighter!

We start with a Remington bikini trimmer, (for trimming bikinis? Whey-hey!) remove the gubbins, and shape some pectoral fins, taking inspiration for the shape from Orcinus orca; the Killer Whale. A Lego wheel will serve as a propeller / turbine thing.



Let's add a dorsal fin, (again using Free Willy for inspiration) and blend it to the hull with a little putty:



From the aft quarter, you can see how the trimmer's comb does an excellent job as a baffle or guide for the propeller's thrust:



Looking down from above, and the battery cover serves as the crew hatch, and there's even a cut-out for a searchlight or sensor just in front.



Let's keep with the Killer Whale theme, and add some suitable colours!





The panel shading is again achieved by masking with Tamiya tape, and feathering weathering pastels away from the edge.

Lastly, here's a real-world map of Tasmantis (also known as Zelandia, as described here). It's a pretty big mass of submerged land, with New Zealand topping it as a huge 'mountain range' that extends above the surface of the Pacific. In the world of Glory Deep, it has become a new Atlantis, and is one of the few places on Earth capable of sustaining its own population.



I've written a bit of backstory and setting for the actual Tasmantis campaign, but that's perhaps for another post. Until then, PWOR submarine fans!

Offline Commander Roj

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #12 on: May 31, 2020, 02:59:42 PM »
Totally agree that 50-60mm would be the biggest models. If I want say, a Tanker/freighter then I would scratch build that. In fact I have used a Zandris IV Miniatures Embassy Class Assault Carrier for this purpose:


http://z4miniatures.blogspot.com/2007/12/online-shop.html


Orca looks great. I hope you can keep the same design aesthetic if you are able to move to producing miniatures.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2020, 06:18:53 PM by Commander Roj »

Offline has.been

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #13 on: May 31, 2020, 05:11:39 PM »
I agree smaller scale miniatures are the way to go.
BUT please do continue with the scratch builds they are very interesting.
I might not have old shavers, but do save (lots of) interesting 'bits'.

Offline Bravo Six

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Re: GLORY DEEP - Subfighter Combat in the Near Future
« Reply #14 on: May 31, 2020, 05:13:55 PM »
That ORCA is phenomenal! Turned out really well!  :o

 

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