Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Future Wars => Topic started by: cheetor on May 19, 2010, 09:38:40 AM
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I derailed my own thread on Aliens reference material yesterday, so I started a new one for this. I am going to repeat some of the things that I stated in the other thread.
I picked up an old Future Shock miniature from Prince August for use as an Aliens Powerloader. I have been unable to find a suitable powerloader minature before now. I was concerned that the Future Shock miniature would be a little bit dated looking in both style and scale.
This close up of the figure is from the Prince August website:
(http://www.princeaugust.ie/fs/btv4b.jpg)
The shot below shows the model in comparison with some of the figures that I intend to use for my Aliens gaming. Please excuse the terrible lighting. I took the shot in the server room at work ;) It should be sufficient for scale comparison purposes anyway.
(http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic728649.jpg)
L to R: Horrorclix Alien Queen, EM4, Future Shock Auto-Loader, Hasslefree Signee, Horrorclix Alien. I was hoping to show one of the Gripping Beast/Woodbine Marines alongside them but they havent shown up in the post yet. Boo.
This shot shows the Powerloader Pilot/Driver stuck to a base to show scale with the same figures.
(http://images.boardgamegeek.com/images/pic728650.jpg)
The whole thing is very cleanly cast and is very crisp. The pilot is a slightly androgynous male with shades and a cigar. It would be very easy to swap or resculpt into a female head and similarly easy to add boobage, should that be desired (I will be leaving it as is and painting it to look like colonial marine gear or else Spunkmeyers flight suit.
The Future Shock range is not in production these days and although Prince August has stocks of some of the codes, others have been removed from the range in recent months. The staff member that I spoke to in Prince August warned me that the loader may not be available, but they obviously had at least one. So the bottom line is that if you are interested in one, then get it sooner rather than later.
The old platform stacked heels trick would work well on this one to give it a bit more height, maybe worth looking at the shoulder joints too to widen out?
Definitely. It should be easy to add the distinctive big ol' clodhopping feet as simple extensions to the existing ones.
The shoulder joints will be marginally trickier, but should still work fine. I plan to attach the loader arms with magnets, which should make that a little easier, but I will have to take a look at some reference to see what sort of bits and pieces I can add to the shoulder area that will keep it looking reasonably authentic.
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Hmm, not bad. Not as cool looking as the actual power loader though, which is a shame.
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but I will have to take a look at some reference to see what sort of bits and pieces I can add to the shoulder area that will keep it looking reasonably authentic.
Yes I know I owe you some reference stuff :D Sorry on the case
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Prince August and Mithril may seem a bit plain when inspected in the bare metal but I know rom long experience that they paint up very nicely.
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Hmm, not bad. Not as cool looking as the actual power loader though, which is a shame.
It isnt as cool as the original cinema classic, thats for sure. On the other hand I am pleased with how "nearly there" it is. It was a gamble of a purchase as I feared that the figure may be completely unusable, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Prince August and Mithril may seem a bit plain when inspected in the bare metal but I know rom long experience that they paint up very nicely.
As I mentioned earlier it really is a very clean cast and it has very crisp detail (like all of the Future Shock figures that I own now that you mention it), even if there may not actually be large amounts of detail. As the 'loader is due to be painted almost entirely in a dirty industrial yellow, I have high hopes for the finished piece :)
Yes I know I owe you some reference stuff Sorry on the case
lol That wasnt intended to light a fire under you or anything, but if it has then no harm ;)
I have dug up some other reference stuff in the meantime so if its a hassle then dont worry about it :)
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Hei Cheetor,
if money is not the problem, then just buy this:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/ALIENS-LEADING-EDGE-POWERLOADER-COMPLETE-SET-/370321153093?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Action_Figures_e_Statiche&hash=item5638dc5c45
;)
And you will have 4 sentrieguns and the CAT!!! inclusive, what could you wish more lol
Greets
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if money is not the problem, then just buy this:
http://cgi.ebay.ie/ALIENS-LEADING-EDGE-POWERLOADER-COMPLETE-SET-/370321153093?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Action_Figures_e_Statiche&hash=item5638dc5c45
;)
And you will have 4 sentrieguns and the CAT!!! inclusive, what could you wish more lol
lol
Unfortunatley, money is always an issue chez cheetor. Regardless, I picked up four sentry gun miniatures from EM4 last year. They are probably not as nice as the Leading edge ones but they cost ~£1 each. I think that Antenoccis Workshop do some nice ones too (but it may not be them).
I already bought a Jones from MegaMinis (http://cgi.ebay.ie/DEAL-40009a-Cat-sitting-x-1-miniature-25mm-Animals-/140151471110?cmd=ViewItem&pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20a1adbc06)...
(http://i12.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/b1/fb/c87b_2.JPG)
I plan to mainly use these figures for gaming with Space Hulk (as well as a couple of other things). There are specific scenarios based or rescuing a "C.A.T." in that as an obvious homage to Aliens, so I thought that I would include a miniature to represent Jones. Plus I am a card-carrying "crazy cat person" anyway, so I dont need much of an excuse to buy things like that.
I was under the impression that the Leading Edge figures were a little on the small side, true 25mm or something around that. Am I wrong ?
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Yes, you're right.
They are more to 25mm, so to small compared to the offer minis you will use.
Just found that cheap offer on ebay lol
I never saw the LE Powerloader in flesh, so can not say if it will be in scale or not.
Oh, and about the Marines Technical Manual, just found that today,sorry:
http://cgi.ebay.de/Aliens-Colonial-Marines-Technical-Manual-CD-/330434149153
Maybe you'll be able to hunt that down.
Cheers
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You can always find 1000s of picture of the power loader for free on google
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I'll be interested to see how the Gripping Beast/Woodbine USCMC size up against the clix Aliens and the EM4 minis.
I think this is going to be a fantastic project to keep an eye one! :)
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I'll be interested to see how the Gripping Beast/Woodbine USCMC size up against the clix Aliens and the EM4 minis.
So am I. That why I have been bringing my toys into work all week in the hope that the postman hands me a box of Gripping Beast goodies lol
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So am I. That why I have been bringing my toys into work all week in the hope that the postman hands me a box of Gripping Beast goodies lol
Well, at least that's what you tell yourself.
We all bring our toys to work, as we can't bear to be seperated from them...
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The Prince August model is surprisingly good.
Fortunately for me, i've got two of the Leading Edge powerloaders though.
:D
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Fortunately for me, i've got two of the Leading Edge powerloaders though.
Are they painted? If so, lets see 'em! ;)
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Are they painted? If so, lets see 'em! ;)
Yeah, show us! A scale comparison shot with the Leading Edge figure(s) and some more current figures would be cool.
I was under the impression that the Leading Edge stuff is 25mm, rather than 28.
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Are they painted? If so, lets see 'em! ;)
One still in the packet, one is primed - will get a photo up when I get a minute.
Personally speaking, I don't have any issues with 25mm/28mm - the best marine figures IMHO are a combo of Hasslefree/Denizen, both of which are on the slight side. Even against the larger copplestone marines, its not an issue, as the powerloader essentially means eye level is irrelevant.
8)
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will get a photo up when I get a minute.
That would be cool. I would love to see the official loader miniature in comparison with some more modern figures.
Personally speaking, I don't have any issues with 25mm/28mm - the best marine figures IMHO are a combo of Hasslefree/Denizen, both of which are on the slight side.
I am ok with quite a bit of variation in the sizes of my figures but I deal with it on a case by case basis. I was wary that as the Leading Edge figures were manufactured ~20 years ago (I think) that scale creep may have rendered them very small looking.
I am glad to hear that they fit in with current ranges. I am less glad that I wont ever be getting my hands on any of course, but thems the breaks :)
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Comparison shot as promised.
Left to Right (Leading Edge Marine, Leading Edge Powerloader, Hasslefree adventurer, Denizen Marine)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh72/AKULADEEP/ALIENS/P1040860.jpg)
Left the mesh off the loader, so you could see the crew figure properly - coins to balance up for the HF tab - guess I should have put the ruler on one as well.... ;D
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I'll be interested to see how the Gripping Beast/Woodbine USCMC size up against the clix Aliens and the EM4 minis.
I think this is going to be a fantastic project to keep an eye one! :)
I've got some Woodbine marines and various EM4 figures. If no-one else posts any comparison pics in the meantime, I'll do some tomorrow. If I can find my Clix Aliens (a very long shot) I'll include them too.
I've got some Denizen figures from years ago and lovely as they are, I think they are just too small and "slight" to mix in with todays pumped-up 28s, even the Hasslefrees. OK to use as alien humanoids, but not as proper Humans :(
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The woodbine minis are nice, but not compatible with my first choice (hasslefree due to the pulse rifles) - bit bulkier, and chunky, but still lovely figures.
:)
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Grabbed some figures off the painting table.
From left to right as you look at it:
Copplestone - EM4 - Woodbine
(http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr255/the_gluteus_maximus/Wargames/Copplestone_EM4_Woodbine.jpg?t=1274529451)
Don't know where the Clix Aliens have got to >:(
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The woodbine minis are nice, but not compatible with my first choice (hasslefree due to the pulse rifles) - bit bulkier, and chunky, but still lovely figures.
:)
I think Hasslefree and Woodbine mix pretty well, especially considering the HF is a female:
(http://i489.photobucket.com/albums/rr255/the_gluteus_maximus/Wargames/Hasslefree_Woodbine.jpg?t=1274530124)
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maybe i'll take another look at them -must admit when i saw them in the lead, I had a different HF figure as a comparison.
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maybe i'll take another look at them -must admit when i saw them in the lead, I had a different HF figure as a comparison.
They can vary in size. These newer "marine" figures appear to be a bit larger than some of the other adventurers. Military selection processes?
I think Kev likes to sculpt figures using "normal" proportions and ranges of height/build etc, rather than having each figure out of the same clone tank. That's one of the reasons I love his stuff so much - you can get skinny little old men or big fat baseball bat wielding youths, which helps to add more character to skirmish gaming :D
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Thanks to both Akula and Gluteus Maximus for the really useful photos.
I am particularly glad to note that the Woodbine/Gripping Beast figures scale well with Hasslefree and EM4 and to a lesser extent the Copplestone guys. My Gripping Beast order hasnt arrived yet and the difference in sculpting style had me worried that they might look substantially "different". They look well within parameters to me judging by that photo :)
They can vary in size...<snip>...you can get skinny little old men or big fat baseball bat wielding youths, which helps to add more character to skirmish gaming :D
I subscribe to this theory 100%. A bit of size variation is quite acceptable on my table, sometimes even desirable.