Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: pauld on February 16, 2021, 01:33:08 PM
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I was playing Star Saga by Mantic this morning and thought that the minis (and those from Deadzone) are generic enough to be used in many SciFi games. The detail is a little soft but not too bad (but they're mighty cheap per figure).
(upcoming) Stargrave, Rogue Stars, This is not a Test, Blood in Space, Hardwired and a host of other rule sets for example.
I bought the Kickstarter some time back so there are many more in the paint queue.
Anyway, enough blather, this forum is all about the pictures so herewith a selection below - hope you like them.
(https://i.imgur.com/dnIgP4a.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/PJjoWTE.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/8ITJtms.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/HNCnTdL.jpg)
and a few others that were proxied in the game for the correct as yet unpainted game pieces
(https://i.imgur.com/pLaiW5k.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/vUCW14g.jpg)
I must paint my Veermyn (Space Rats) as they are quite cool.
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I managed to get Star Saga for 15 quid in a sale a while back, and I was really pleasantly surprised by the models (and the terrain) you've done a great job with them.
What range are the chunky lads at the bottom from?
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I too got the game cheap (given to me by a friend).
I played it and didn't like it so have been using the minis in a variety of places with quite a few kitbashes, head swaps etc.
I've also painted a fair bit of the furniture but still have loads to go.
Doubtless I'll be painting a few more but not to the quality of yours.
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Excellent painting. I like your choice of colours too.
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it's a great package that game - and the dreadzone etc figure packs you can get to expand it with (and vice versa) are really good.
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What range are the chunky lads at the bottom from?
Sir Theo - these are old Capitol Free Marines sculpted by Mark Copplestone from the 1995 Warzone range of figures. The Copplestone minis in the range were terrific (as you would expect) the rest of the range unfortunately indifferent bordering on ridiculously bad (imho I hasten to add).
These lads are still available from Prince August so a quick Google just told me.
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Sir Theo - these are old Capitol Free Marines sculpted by Mark Copplestone from the 1995 Warzone range of figures. The Copplestone minis in the range were terrific (as you would expect) the rest of the range unfortunately indifferent bordering on ridiculously bad (imho I hasten to add).
These lads are still available from Prince August so a quick Google just told me.
Small correction, the model on the right is a Capitol Sea Lion Captain :) (and technically the first two were also Sea Lions, but they were sold in a single blister pack with the two mohawks - Free Marines - and were often used as both Free Marines and Sea Lions).
And awesome collection for generic sci-fi games! That's great about Star Saga (and a lot of Mantic products), excellent models that are very cheap and very useful. And honestly, I think that Deadzone is the best sci-fi game out there...so you got enough to play that game too :)
And the Rebs from Deadzone are also perfect for Stargrave:
(https://mantic-assets.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/uploads/2019/04/rebs-starter.jpg)
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I passed on the Star Saga KS, but picked up the figures when they were released. I think the not-Valerian figures have more movement to them than the actors in the movie lol
The Rebels faction is a nice boxed set. It's slightly older, so it's their restic, which is unpleasant to work with. Like pretty much every order I've had from Mantic, bits were missing, but they replaced them. I haven't finished painting that set yet, perhaps Stargrave will move them to the painting table :)
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I passed on the Star Saga KS, but picked up the figures when they were released. I think the not-Valerian figures have more movement to them than the actors in the movie lol
The Rebels faction is a nice boxed set. It's slightly older, so it's their restic, which is unpleasant to work with. Like pretty much every order I've had from Mantic, bits were missing, but they replaced them. I haven't finished painting that set yet, perhaps Stargrave will move them to the painting table :)
Agree with all the above, I like them they are cheap and useful, but the restic "shudder!!!!"
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The Rebels faction is a nice boxed set. It's slightly older, so it's their restic, which is unpleasant to work with.
I think restic is a great material once you learn how to work with it. I have cleaned many factions and teams for both Deadzone and Dreadball and by now I prefer restic to HIPS or board game PVC (like Star Saga). Less parts and faster to clean. And Restic can be permanently bent with boiling water. With board game plastic it will bend back over time. For instance, the jellyfish USB from Star Saga can be bent with boiling water to fix the arms...but after some weeks they have bent back. Only way to bend board game PVC permanently is to glue them in place. With PVC the position sets way better. Just make sure you don't use a hair dryer during painting, or else it will bend back again.
What I do is to scrape the plastic with a sharp knife to get rid of most mould lines and to slice it away for lines that can't be scraped. And then the most important trick: brush them with a steel wire brush, one like this:
(https://www.autobodytoolmart.com/images/prods/popup/17708.jpg)
This removes the residual mould lines and all the fuzz and fluff you might still have. And it won't affect the details (unless you frenzy with the brush). By now I can clean a restic miniature in no time with such a steel wire brush. I also use it for stronger resin, metal or HIPS. It gives a nice finish to them, even when brushing softly.
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You've had more success with that approach than I have. All that happened with my attempt was that the steel brush discoloured the mini :-[
I had better results using Swan Morton disposable craft knives. These have plastic handles, so are much easier to move around than their heavier siblings, which helps when you're trying to get into some of the more akward areas. The only downside is the blade isn't replaceable.
I'll give the steel brush another try, good to know that it does work. I can't remember what I used it on, so it may have been an unsuitable material (there are so many to choose from these days!)
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You've had more success with that approach than I have. All that happened with my attempt was that the steel brush discoloured the mini :-[
I had better results using Swan Morton disposable craft knives. These have plastic handles, so are much easier to move around than their heavier siblings, which helps when you're trying to get into some of the more akward areas. The only downside is the blade isn't replaceable.
I'll give the steel brush another try, good to know that it does work. I can't remember what I used it on, so it may have been an unsuitable material (there are so many to choose from these days!)
Even better swap the restic for something better, they are doing this gradually, but the range is far from complete. I also wish they would do a few more of the vehicle designs in the rule books that they have not made yet, as they are decent hard-sci-fi designs (mostly).
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I agree with the Restic - not the best material to work with. The Rebs were at the start of the flexible mould process but nevertheless produced nice minis after a little work.
I also concur with the scalpel and wire (brass for me) brush to remove the mould lines. I find they clean up reasonably well then and I am a lazy prep man.
Painted some Rebs, an Asterian Marionette and a Corporation Marine (details on these last two to be completed but I was looking for a colour scheme).
Alas, I am a butterfly and flit to and fro between genres/projects so the whole never seems to get done.
(https://i.imgur.com/PtOa6Sq.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Gh99FN6.jpg)
Lots of lovely toys to play with though :D
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Great ones again. And with Stargrave and all that varied restic and board game pvc being a butterfly isn't that bad as you get to paint a lot of different and individual models :)
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Thanks Pauld I'll take a look at those, love them!
I'll add to this that I actually enjoy the Star Saga game, its fairly basic but I think it does what it does quite well. Its also very playable solo which these days is a huge plus!
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As all the figures were out when I played I put a few more (but these are Deadzone Rebs) on the painting bench. Finished these last night.
Group of new Rebs
(https://i.imgur.com/vO8oJyT.jpg)
The big thing
(https://i.imgur.com/dVxyNyB.jpg)
The purple thing
(https://i.imgur.com/EXK5gOL.jpg)
The red things
(https://i.imgur.com/6Em3AA8.jpg)
and finally some new recruits from the lead pile to join the scum of the galaxy (with The Boss for scale). These are old Void figures I believe - love the sculpts but the humungous weapons are a little off kilter.
(https://i.imgur.com/QkbXeOD.jpg)
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I'm not sure if it's my advancing years, but stoooopidly large weapons really annoy me now >:(
I have a stash of pistols and other normal sized weapons from various places (mostly Foundry Street Wars) and happily replace the silly ones with less silly ones.
Reaper have some figures guilty of this as well, including one with a sniper rifle as tall as the figure holding it (a bit like the one second right in your bottom picture :o)
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Very nice job on a variety of aliens.
I'm not sure if it's my advancing years, but stoooopidly large weapons really annoy me now >:(
I am there too. I know that heroically scaled weapons and hands are much easier to sculpt and see but it is annoying.
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Great paint job on the Mantic figures, I like the idea for using them in Stargrave too.
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I'm not sure if it's my advancing years, but stoooopidly large weapons really annoy me now >:(
I am there too. I know that heroically scaled weapons and hands are much easier to sculpt and see but it is annoying.
I finally set up my resin printer over the holidays, and one of the things I love the most about it is that it lets me rescale weapon sets (or entire figures) intended to be heroic scale down to something more aesthetically pleasing.