stargrave troopers - the catachan we have at home

[Pattus Magnus]

Very cool conversion! Maybe it’s the helmet and shouty face, but this guy gives me a Sgt. Rock vibe, in a good way.

[mikedemana]

I would call the test figure a resounding success...! He looks great.

Mike Demana

[Freddy]

Wow, you did really great job on those figures!

[ulverston]

Great figures, great post.

[Ragsta]

The kits are no bigger than Stargrave stuff, and probably slightly smaller than actual Catachans.

That is interesting- from the pictures they always looked big to me but if what you say is true I may pick up a sprue. I’ve enjoyed bashing their Cannon Fodder with Warlord and GW stuff.

[hubbabubba]

I think they're a fair bit beefier than the stargrave stuff.

[Mammoth miniatures]

Got home today to find all the parts for my infantry have arrived - desert rats for the arms, commandos for the heads/accessories, more troopers for the torsos.

Despite being a busy day at work I did manage to get this done in-between helping students. I love MK1 rhino tanks and regularly pick them up on eBay if they're cheap enough. This one was in an absolutely state so I figured it'd be worth a bit of modification to get it ready for my soon to be catachan regiment. I did look at getting a chimera but they're out of stock with he which means they're currently silly money second hand.

Anyway I tried to do my usual dazzle camo but with a jungle twist - I think after the chipping and weathering it doesn't really work - it just looks a bit muddy. But this happy lad will serve as a chimera/hellhound proxy if I ever play with these minis.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Cool work on the Rhino, Space M113 adds to the Vietnam in space vibe too

[LouieN]

I think I it looks great for the jungle.

[Mammoth miniatures]

A nice slow morning at work - no students need me and the admin is all done - that means it's time to do some plastic surgery.

These are the first 5 catachan troopers - we've got two with lasgun, 2 with pistols, and 12 demolitions expert. For the most part these are all just careful cutting and slicing using a variety of kits, but for the demo guy I did some leg surgery that will need gap filling with green stuff. the northstar troopers come with a torso in what I can only describe as "man on the bus" pose, and so I decided to make him a bit more dynamic.








I don't normally show bare plastic since I think it's a bit boring but I'm happy with how these came out - I wasn't sure if everything would mesh but the commando bags and accessories along with the desert rat arms really sell "soldiers who play by their own rules" and help pull things away from being just Vietnam war in space.

[v_lazy_dragon]

Some great looking plastic bashing there - looking forward to seeing them with paint on

[Mammoth miniatures]

Painted up the first of the troopers. these are all made using a mix of stargrave troopers with warlord desert rat/commando pieces, with the odd US marine head tacked on from the bits box. I much prefer this look to the balloon armed result of using actual catachan arms.






My thinking with the hazard guns is that
A:it looks cool.
B:At some point this regiment were shipped the wrong guns, with a penal legion somewhere else in the galaxy getting their camo pattern rifles, whilst the jungle fighters received the easy to spot penal legion guns (designed to allow commissars and battlefield police to see their charges at all times). When they started to repaint them their commissar demanded they stop defacing imperial equipment. In their next battle the jungle fighters were able to stay camouflaged in spite of their garish weapons, but their erstwhile commissar was blown to bits because he stood out like a yellow and black thumb. When a new commissar was assigned to the regiment he made it very clear that he was FINE with the guns being repainted, but by now the soldiers of the catachan 521st took pride in their ability to go unseen through the jungle even when carrying gear that practically glowed in the dark. as a result the 521st have adopted the yellow and black hazard pattern as an unofficial emblem, with squads adding it to their gear as a sort of competition.

[Freddy]

Nice figure, according to the Iron Warriors fluff they use these hazard stripes as decoration reminding to their industrial origins.
Also you can give them a  bee/hornet themed name/backstory

[sir_shvantselot]

Love the creative use so that old rhino!

[Scarper]

I enjoy the Hazard stripe fluff - very fitting with the Catachan background I've read! 

Your minis are great. They look like an up to date and much improved version of a kit I used to love (though age has not been kind to them!) You've used an eclectic mix of bits and it works really well. Is the bandolier across the chest of the fella on the far left of your unpainted image hand-sculpted?