Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: cheetor on 01 May 2012, 10:51:47 PM
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I picked up a copy of Mantics project Pandora: Grim Cargo sci-fi dungeon crawl game at Salute. Half of the twenty miniatures supplied are "veer-myn", space rat-men.
I did a very quick job on these guys to get them ready to play with. The paint job doesnt really stand up to heavy scrutiny but they are now ready to play with, and that definitely counts for something :)
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/veermyn1.jpg?w=912&h=294)
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/veermyn2.jpg?w=300&h=180)
(http://sho3box.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/veermyn4.jpg?w=300&h=229)
There are more photos and waffle on my blog (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/) if anyone is interested.
Comments and criticisms all welcome.
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I do like your colour scheme and 'rushed' paint job 8)
How did you find the figures to go together? I'm a long term closet Skaven fan and have always fancied a future version since seeing the Jes Goodwin sketch of one.
cheers
James
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I do like your colour scheme and 'rushed' paint job 8)
Thanks. It genuinely was rushed, I can only see the cock ups currently.
How did you find the figures to go together?
They went together easily although they had mould lines across clothing folds and the like that I found irritating (including a few that I ignored that subsequently came back to haunt me).
The figures are Mantics "plastic resin". I heated up the cable on the chem-thrower by dunking it in hot water so that I could bend it to attach it to the handle of the gun. Thats as technical as assembly got.
No assembly instructions or exploded diagrams were supplied, so I checked out the photos on the Mantic site for guidance, just to be sure, but it wasnt really necessary: like I said, they are easy to assemble and a little harder to clean up. I still managed to attach the squad leaders back pack on upside down though, not that it matters.
There are three body sculpts. Each body has a specific non-interchangeable tail, head and pair of arms including weapon. I swapped heads around anyway with some very basic trimming. One body is designed to be used for the leader and support weapon guy. It would be easy enough for anyone with even a modicum of toy soldier experience of to swap them around if desired though.
The big guy is metal and is supplied as two arms, a head and body. I found that these parts went together surprisingly well, with large well fitting contact areas.
I'm a long term closet Skaven fan and have always fancied a future version since seeing the Jes Goodwin sketch of one.
I hear you. These eleven guys should scratch that itch for me for a while. I may add some other ratmen at a later date as I have some metal space skaven from a different manufacturer that I might as well add to these guys.
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I can only see the cock ups currently.
It's always the way isn't it lol
Thanks for the in depth run down :)
About the 'plastic resin'. Never used it before (I think), can it be glued with plastic solvents such as 'Plastic weld' and 'Tensol' or is it a super glue job?
cheers
James
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I didnt try anything other than superglue Im afraid. Its closer in make up to Finecast resin than to styrene Id say.
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I don't know - I've heavily scrutinized them, and they look damn good to me! The green, in particular, looks fantastic.
The big guy with the bloody drill is great - very nice. What sort of bases are they on? They don't have the usual profile of a 25mm base, and they look like they might not be as thick as a normal 25mm base either. It's just the sort of bases I've been looking for, so any info would be appreciated.
Hope you enjoyed Salute!
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Yup, I want some of these, space rats are just the thing :) I think your painting looks good on them too.
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I can't find anything mediocre with that paintjob. If I paint to a "tabletop standard" they would look far worse. Good work on those!
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Thanks for the feedback guys.
Now I feel like a bit of a needy primadonna having moaned about the painting. In my defence I photographed the figures as soon as I was finished painting them and posted them up immediately after that, without taking time time to get an objective look at them. Hence the canvas slashing angst ;)
What sort of bases are they on? They don't have the usual profile of a 25mm base, and they look like they might not be as thick as a normal 25mm base either. It's just the sort of bases I've been looking for, so any info would be appreciated.
Hi Hawkeye, how are things?
The base on the big guy (the "Night Spawn") is the usual 40mm fare.
The bases on the rest of the figures ("Night Crawlers") are the standard Mantic bases. The feet on Mantic figures are attached to small disks about 15mm diameter in the place of tabs. The Mantic bases are recessed to match. The sides of the Mantic bases are at right angles rather than beveled like a slot base, but they have the same 25mm footprint.
THIS (http://www.manticgames.com/Shop-Home/Paints-and-Hobby/Bags-Bases-and-Cases/Bases/Product/Round-Mantic-Base-Bundle-50-Bases.html) is what the bases look like.
Yup, I want some of these, space rats are just the thing :)
They would fit in well with your fantastic saucer people project I dare say. They also strike me as very appropriate for Doctor Who and Star Trek games. I plan to use them in Dredd games too.
Dont forget you can already add to their ranks by using the old shockforce goth rats. The little ones would mix really well I think as a sort of grot to ork kind of thing.
I have the Shockforce rats lined up for prepping in fact, some interesting figures there for sure. I might wait before I get to them though as I think that I need a break from the rats for a few days at least :)
The Shockforce guys look a little more disheveled and disorganised than the Mantic figures when standing next to each other: a little more post-apocalyptic rather than pulp sci-fi, more Mad Max than Flash Gordon. I like the Shockforce miniatures, but I prefer the veer-myn.
I think that Mantic are planning to release some sort of lesser version of the veer-myn at some stage. I think that there is an entry in the veer-myn army list that deals with something like that.
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Techno zombies are also a good thing :)
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The figures are Mantics "plastic resin".
Crap... that dials the interest levels WAY down for me. I was hoping they would be good hard plastic.
Nice paints on them though. They don't look 'rushed' to me.
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Thanks for the info on the bases, Cheetor. As for the "canvas slashing angst" (nice way to describe it, by the way) - I think you're right. I'm always much kinder about anything I produce if I've had a day or more away from it.
Things aren't too bad - I have a (small) group of Judge Dredd stuff painted, and as soon as we're finished with final grading and graduation I'm going to get them photographed and posted! Just wanted to let you know - and thank you for the push to post them, by the way. Coming soon!
Looking forward to more sci-fi goodness from you.
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They look great. :-*
Especially for a rush job!
The painting shows off the models and their details very well!
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That is the one hassle/good thing with Mantic is they seem to release some core troops and an elite unit or vehicle and a commander for each force then move onto the next faction. Good in the sense we get new factions quickly hassle because you have to do alot of proxies or conversions to get the full army list in minis.
I dont really paint army sized projects any more, so the smaller and more frequent release schedule suits me :)
Techno zombies are also a good thing :)
They are supposed to have a survival horror (read "Resident Evil") influence. I hope that Mantic do a good job on these in particular.
Looking forward to more sci-fi goodness from you.
I plan to work on the Shockforce ratmen this weekend, but who knows what I will end up doing :)
They look great. :-*
Thanks.
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They indeed look great.
I was experimenting with Ratmen a couple of years ago, making them from Tau bodies and Skaven heads - but I got rid of them. Kinda wishing I'd kept them and developed the idea now, or at least had them to add to, having seen what loviness you've produced with these!
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This is may be slightly off topic, Cheetor, but could you give us a brief review of the set?
How are the supplied corridors and rooms and stuff for the space dungeon tiles? Are they Legions of Steel/Space hulk quality? Close? Do they look good? Are they durable? Do they lock together well? Are they sturdy? Can you download templates for them them as PDF's from Mantic ? Do you need to lay plexiglass on top of them to keep them flat?
Does that set make you feel all warm inside or did it seems kind of sad and rinky-dink and flea markety ? Does it deserve more of a FFG big box treatment or is it good enough as is?
That sort of thing. Cheers on your purchase!
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Fantastic looking paint jobs!
I'm with P. above, inquiring minds would like to know about the rest of the set. I'd heard the tiles in Dwarf Kings Hold were a bit thin, what are the quality of these like. Also from pictures they seem a bit overly colourful, so it might be hard to pick out actual squares?
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In short, I am currently enjoying the game, I like the miniatures and price and I tolerate the adequate carboard components. The card elements function fine (they are flat and do the job without problems) but they are not as pretty or durable as equivalent offerings.
I just put a review of the game up on my blog (http://sho3box.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/project-pandora-grim-cargo-review/). That way we can keep the chat here on the toy soldiers :)