Landmate conversions, an Appleseed inspired project.

[Bako]

Perhaps build both 'active' and 'inactive' pieces.

And do post a picture of how big they are when you do. I've been eying them too for some time.

[Modhail]

Well, I've decided to abandon the flight system, for the time being.
Seeing that this guy will get 2 friends, I need to find a reproduceable way of making them.

The GZG Briareos and Deunan have arrived, as well as 3 sets of Boomers (I intend to use them as the Combat Cyborgs from the opening scene of the 2004 animation.) Here are the requested size comparisons:

(From left to right, the comparison minis are: Hasslefree Jess, Hasslefree Grant, Copplestone/EM-4 Trooper and GW plastic Zombie.)
Note that Briareos is missing one of his "bunny ears", it was found floating around in the bottom of the ziplock bag...  These are tiny little things, with even tinier contact points.  I just hope I can get it reattached.

As you can see from the pictures, Deunan is a tiny, sprightly little thing. Her face seems to be lacking some definition, but we'll see what a little paint can do. She seems almost like a teen or kid, so I might swap her out for the Victory Force Infantry leader at some point.
Briareos is, to my eyes, large enough, especially if I don't grind off his base (maybe a little smaller than portayed in the comics, but about right size when compared to the animations)... Looking at the mold lines, he'll need a bit of cleanup.

And the Boomers:

(From left to right the comparison mini's are: Black Cat Hoodied Ghoul, The LAF's own Prof, GW plastic zombie and Hasslefree Jess.)
I have no idea how large the Boomers from Bubblegum Crisis are supposed to be, but for my uses they could have been a smidge taller and bulkier... They'll lose quite a bit of height once the (thick) integral bases are ground off.
I'm still undecided wether I'll keep them as they are, or try to sculpt on fatigue pants, to make them match the movie a bit more.

[dijit]

Briarios looks big enough as you say going from the animes, but the boomers are too small for 28mm, they work alongside Deunan at her scale (which looks too small for 28mm, considering Jess isn't exactly big).
I'd love the bubblegum crisis minis, but they just look way too small from what I've seen.

[Modhail]

Yup, they could've done with being a bit larger... 
Especially if you see what I want to use them for: Size Comparison
Which is very sad, because they match quite nicely for appearance:


Initially I'd planned to remove the excessively thick bases, but that will make them appear even smaller.
Another option would have been to sneakily extend their legs, as I would be sculpting on fatigue pants anyway, but that would just destroy their proportions.

Does anyone know about any alternatives I could use, that are a better match for size? Or should I just resign myself to gaming attacks from the Cyber-Halflings? 

[wolfgangbrooks]

I didn't realize those figures from GZG were so close to 28mm. Their normal 25mm figures are tiny even compared to Hasslefree's stuff. Thanks, that's nice to know. I'm going to have to contact Eureka US before Cold Wars.

[Westfalia Chris]

I have to say that the Appleseed and BGC figures are all rather "true 25s", with Briareos just being a "hunk", so to speak. I got the two figure sets (separate and shoulder-mounted Deunan) at Fiasco, and while I think that Briareos will actually work with my existing, mainly Foundry, moderns, I probably will not be using either the separate Deunan and the double figure and convert another model.

That said, the sculpting is superb, and I really need to photograph the figures.

Pertaining to the boomers, I think they would work as the battle cyborgs, especially if you give them some weapons in scale with the other minis and cleverly hide the cast-on base. From the pic and my recollection of the movie, I'd say a bit more bulk wouldn't hurt. Maybe you could use ORC troopers from Infinity's "Panoceania" range, without their antennae and painted appropriately.

[Modhail]

Yup, they're good old 25's.

I've looked around a bit more myself for alternate mini's. And I think I'll just use the boomers and somehow try to camouflage the base. Some of them will certainly get guns!  Maybe just consider them light scout troops instead of 'Borgs-of-the-line.

Thanks for the tip Chris, the Infinity ORC troopers are indeed an alternative, I'm just worried they look too much like suits instead of cyborgs...
That, and I already had them tagged as stand-in for the (surprise) ORC suits* as seen in the operation in France in Appleseed book 3. Though I might use some of the Yu Jing suits for those instead.
The Infinity range does hold a lot of useable stuff.
(Is this project snowballing? Naaah...  )

*Apparently some translations call these Garthim suits instead?

[Westfalia Chris]

Thanks for the tip Chris, the Infinity ORC troopers are indeed an alternative, I'm just worried they look too much like suits instead of cyborgs...
That, and I already had them tagged as stand-in for the (surprise) ORC suits* as seen in the operation in France in Appleseed book 3. Though I might use some of the Yu Jing suits for those instead.

Operation Benandanti is my absolute favourite. I actually bought book 3 in English since I thought I'd lost my German one, then promptly found it behind a bookshelf three days after I returned from the voyage!

Considering ORC troops, the Nexus SWAT figures from the Kryomek line, currently available via Scotia Grendel, very much look like they were inspired (actually, they have "SWAT" in raised letters on their chestplates, but far be it from me to jump to conclusions!) by Shirow's design. The helmets are spot on.

Here's a link to the catalogue listing.

I originally got a bunch to use as Enclave Power Armours:



I also painted some as Brotherhood of Steel. Both had minor helmet conversions. My only criticism when using them as bona fide ORC troops is that the Nexus figures have a wide array of weapons, but I think that the higher numbers in the series (Packs VI and VII) contain figures armed with uniform submachineguns and combat knives.

But I still got a number which I'll paint up for use with ESWAT, although I personally prefer the Infinity figures - although these are a bit bigger, and the Nexus figs fit very well with most 28mm figures (Copplestone AND EM-4 Future Warriors, particularly), the Nexus have some rather spindly legs, but I think they'd work very well with slender 28s, and it's not that noticeable when painted. Generally, I've had very good service from Scotia Grendel and coincidentally just ordered a bunch of Fantasy stuff this evening.

[Modhail]

Oh my, those are interesting.... 
You're right about both the helmets and legs.
Those heads, on the right infinity bodies would be just perfect... I guess bulking up their legs would be a more affordable option.

Got plenty of time to consider the solution...
Dumped the remains of this month's budget on 4 more suits: two more Giujia, these will be regular ESWAT Landmates (the current one will be my version of the high-tech classified  Guges-<random letter here> ).
And an Infinity Salamander and Lizard, to use as black-market milspec landmates for the bad guys...
The Lizard needs no conversion, just a more intimidating paintjob, and the Salamander only needs master arms added.
They arrived yesterday and I've already cut one of the Giujia up:

(My apologies for the fuzzines, the camera's batteries are a bit tired...)

I'm hoping to scratchbuild an entirely new head, similar to the ones of the "stock" Landmates of the 2004 movie and Deunan's Guges in book one. (Sorry for those of a more graphical inclination, can't seem to find a decent picture at the moment...)

[Earther]

Great project! 

Looking forward to seeing this lot painted up. Top Job.

[Modhail]

I couldn't primer Landmate #1, Deunan and Briareos today... It was snowing. 
So I did a bit more on suit # 2:

and


Did the first layer of GS to bulk up the upper arms.
Made the head and sculpted new fingers for his left hand, cradling the assault "rifle".
I had hoped to get the second layer of greenstuff on the arms done as wel. But the greenstuff cured too slow due to the low temperature today.

Still to do before it's ready for paint:
-the final layer of greenstuff on the upper arms.
-The "bunny ears" aerials on the shoulders.
-The grenade backpack.
-Attaching the head.

[Modhail]

Whooops, it's been a while since I worked on these, has it? 

I recently came across a set of Lego mecha wargame rules (Mobile Frame Zero, you can find the most recent rules here.). I've given them a test drive, and found them rather entertaining. Because of the way the mecha were handled, it seemed this game could easily be adapted to other (non-Lego) mecha.
Which, in turn, resparked my interest in these Appleseed conversions, so I dug them out again.
Here is the state of affairs as it is now:

Conversions in progress:


Ready for paint:


The conversions in progress still need their "bunny ear" sensors made and attached, as well as their grenade packs.

The ready for paint consists of my original Landmate conversion, which now represents the prototype being used by an ESWAT officer. In the background are three terrorist/foreign power Landmates, with an officer model in the middle, and two troopers flanking it.

Hopefully I'll get those last two Landmate conversions finished in the next few days.
And then, someday, they may actually see paint.... 

[Modhail]

Just a quick update:
The "Bunny Ears" are a fact:

I've also made a start on the grenade packs, but I need to find replacements for some bits I used on the original conversion's pack that I don't have extras of...

So in essence, I now have two opposing forces of completed Landmates ready for primer!
(I'm cheating and not counting the grenade packs as those are optional upgrades. I do want to complete those two before actually primering the lot. The Hermes flight system can wait until later. I still haven't figured out how I want to build that.)

[Modhail]

Just a short update: the grenade packs are done, and today was dry enough to get some primering in:

Not very exciting to look at, I know...

The Opfor landmates (the back row) will be getting a grey paintjob (several shades, I guess, to maintain interest) with maybe a brighter detail colour. They need to remain sinister though.
The two "trooper" Guges will get the white ESWAT colour scheme of the 2004 animation, maybe with the blue accents replaced with a less cartoony grey.
The "officer" Guges in the middle, I'm still undecided on, it may be the (metallic) two tone blue of Deunan's Guges in the 1987 animation, or maybe the covert ops brownish-grey from certain pieces of colour art.

Basically, the choice between (what I assume will be) Deunan's personal Landmate is:

This:
(the latter is closer to the colour I'd be aiming at)
or this:


Which do you think would look better?

[dijit]

I'm guessing since you've posted one of his pictures you may have seen this site:
http://homepage1.nifty.com/musuke/index.html
if not it's well worth the look for Appleseed/Ghost in the Shell.
I think I'd either take a colour closer to the first or not shade it as heavily if I took the second colour.It's still a fantastic project and looking forwards to seeing them finished.