The Meknificent Seven and Friends - 2014/10/26 Meks and Mercs (p.16)

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Yeah, Matt Sprange. Kinda short fella, usually walks around the office with no shoes on. Posh accent too. Has 2 Jags I believe. 

I did work experience at Mongoose for a week and only saw him when he went out for a fag!

I really hope it is a biiiiig range, bigger than the old GW one! Manta tank? Oooooooh that would be cool. Everyone on the GOMC1 forums used to joke about it, but we all wanted it to come true.

The best I've heard is that the fattie model will be rereleased with some new options, i.e. you will be able to host the fattie olympics!!!! 

[Westfalia Chris]

Great execution of a fantastic project.  Are you going to leave it at that (plus the peg-leg Blackblood, my favourite variant of the character) or are there more ABC's to come?

I've got a Zippo on the painting table, but cannot quite bring myself to finish him up because I used the wrong legs for the conversion and now the proportions are all wrong.

I'm still looking for suitable models to do Happy Shrapnel (probably modify an EM-4 skeletal robot), Later Steelhorn, Mad Ronn and Hitaki, (although the latter are a bit on the back burner because I'm not sure if I love the Nemesis books or consider them thoroughly disturbed, making me weep for Pat Mills' apparently horrid childhood).

As for opponents, a more near-term thing will be a squad of Imperial Rottweilers, and come autumn, I'll do a platoon or so of "Eternal Soldiers" including Major Savard (planning for those is finalised). As for the Rottweilers, I'll go into more detail later today, because I'd value some input concerning basic models for the conversions.

"Possibles" are a squad each of Psycho-Bikers and of Mekaniks (can you get "Legions of Steel" miniatures anywhere these days?). Depending on me staying motivated and focused (*cough*), I think this may be a "single project" for the rest of the year.

As you see, I'll likely focus on the Black Hole storyline, although I may put them a bit back if I find suitable models for the "Return to Mars" cycle (Third Element, Shadow Warriors), because I'd really like to do some motorised Terran Biohazard Troops, and Confederate Clones (as originally projected back in September last year, *cough*). If I focus on Mars, some cyboons might be nice, and maybe those Soy Cowboys from "The Meknificent Seven" (probably easiest, what with all those cowboy ranges out nowadays - just have to find a way to make them look more futuristic apart from gun swaps and parachute-silk pants).

For lack of suitable models (as of now), I've postponed the original Volgan War focus. Still have to do more procurement research and maybe some study models.

All in all, though, there is a ton of potential, and each OPFOR option could be done at relatively low cost (a platoon or so of figures, and vehicles mostly scratchbuilt).

[JollyBob]

You know, I replied to the thread and completely forgot to say how brilliant your stuff is Chris. The Killdozer is a superb build and your painting is as ever fantastic.

Looking forward to seeing your other Warriors in time. 

Manta tank? Oooooooh that would be cool. Everyone on the GOMC1 forums used to joke about it, but we all wanted it to come true.

Lets hope he wasn't just perpetuating the joke then...

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Lets hope he wasn't just perpetuating the joke then...

If he is, he's getting a slap! 

Nah, I doubt I'd be able to afford it anyway! Would be cool to see!

Perhaps they will continue the Mongoose Infantry and I'll sign up again, demo for them! 

[Westfalia Chris]

Here's the aforementioned "peg-legged" Blackblood. The leg was cut off one ring segment beneath the knee joint using a Stanley knife. The jackhammer is a length of plastic rod, inserted into a hole drilled into the thigh for stability, and some heat-shaped plastic tube slipped over.

[cheetor]

The new Blackblood is nice.  I see the peg leg as part of the definitive image of the character, so its nice to see that you took the time to add it.

It looks like you have loads of stuff planned for your ABC project, very ambitious.

I will be around to cheer on any and all ABC stuff that you come up with, particularly when it is of such high standard 

[myincubliss]

    <3 Pegleg Blackblood!

Any plans to do the zombie bikers from the prequel story when the Warriors first go back to clean up the red planet?

[Westfalia Chris]

    <3 Pegleg Blackblood!

Any plans to do the zombie bikers from the prequel story when the Warriors first go back to clean up the red planet?

"Fried Jung Cannibals", indeed! Yes, I will certainly add a gang of those (and not just because the episode is one of the best-drawn in the book), but I'm not quite sure what figures to use, because they are rather distinct both in their punk/biker attire and their deformed zombieness. That and the preference that they should match the Foundry/Copplestone style makes it a bit tricky.

[Westfalia Chris]

Over the last few days, I painted up Nemesis the Warlock and Torquemada, and hope to do Johnny Alpha, Wulf and the Gronk over the weekend.



For Nemesis, I cut off the sword arm above the wristband and where the sword meets the cloak, cut down the sword to the hilt and added a new blade from plasticard on a central pin; the coat was cut down to hide the missing items, since I was unsure if I should re-model the now-missing edge (I think it's okay now). The hand was then pinned to the arm. A simple, but effective conversion, although I'll have to get a proper fine metal saw if I'll attempt any more like that. Anyway, I think the pose looks much better now, and not as cramped as the original.



Torquemada is straight from the blister, apart from the usual cleanup.

Both painted with Vallejo and Revell acrylics.

[cheetor]

Lovely!  I like Torquemada in particular.

I enjoyed the oddly humorous portrayal of Torquemada in the early Nemesis strips and so I am a fan of the character (as much as anyone can be a fan of an "arch-bigot"). 

I think that the cross pollination of Torquemada and his Inquisitors into the early development of the WH40K universe was a big influence in my original interest in that setting all those years ago.

Seeing as scratch building vehicles seems to be one of your specialties, do you have any plans for a Blitzspear to cart Nemesis around in?  I dont think that I have ever seen a model of that and it really is a distinctive design I think.

The addition of the Strontium Dog contingent spreads the project out a bit.  It looks like this fantastic project is expanding further into "...and Friends" territory.

Not that I am complaining mind   Keep the inspirational work coming please.

[Westfalia Chris]

Lovely!  I like Torquemada in particular.

I enjoyed the oddly humorous portrayal of Torquemada in the early Nemesis strips and so I am a fan of the character (as much as anyone can be a fan of an "arch-bigot"). 

I think that the cross pollination of Torquemada and his Inquisitors into the early development of the WH40K universe was a big influence in my original interest in that setting all those years ago.

Yup, I got the two collections, and the first one (up to and including the "Gothic Empire" storyline) is great to brilliant. I'm less happy with the second half, it goes downhill rather quickly, but that may be due to the rather tiring and not as well-drawn art (again possibly a personal issue).

Seeing as scratch building vehicles seems to be one of your specialties, do you have any plans for a Blitzspear to cart Nemesis around in?  I dont think that I have ever seen a model of that and it really is a distinctive design I think.

Actually, yes, I have considered it, and since Blitzspear doesn't really consist of complicated shapes, I think I may tackle it sometime this summer or autumn.

The addition of the Strontium Dog contingent spreads the project out a bit.  It looks like this fantastic project is expanding further into "...and Friends" territory.

Not that I am complaining mind   Keep the inspirational work coming please.

I see what you mean. The focus will certainly stay on the ABC Warriors, and I mainly got the various "other cast" to take advantage of the 20% off. Apart from that, they are not necessarily considered to detract from the main project; I just don't want to clutter the Future Wars board with more threads than necessary. Furthermore, one of my favourite aspects of the Strontium Dog timeline is that you could easily link it with the others as a crossover.

Maybe I'll try to bring a bit of structure into my ramblings.

1. The ABC Warriors, in various permutations of the team, but obviously incomplete due to the lack of "major and minor team members". I will CERTAINLY do a Happy Shrapnel figure, and I still have to finish that Zippo. I MAY do Mad Ronn and Hitaki, and I have a number of EM-4 Skelebots which WILL be remodeled as Straw Dogs. I've also remembered I still got a bunch of old VASA Marines at my parents'  place which I'll collect later this month and use as a basis for Eternal Soldiers; once I find suitable base models, I'll do the promised Rottweiler squad.

2. Nemesis and Torquemada are done, basically as one-offs, but obviously to expand the usability of the ABC Warriors figs. May build a Blitzspear, but that's low priority. May also attempt to sculpt a Thoth mini to use with Satanus (see below).

3. A bunch of Judges, Klegg, Gorilla Mobsters and Perps (old Citadel) are assembled and need priming. Don't really want to do a full Judge Dredd thing, since that would detract to much, but I'll paint up those that I have; may build a Land Raider, but that's not fixed. I DO have a 1/35th scale Tamiya T-Rex kit which will eventually end up as Satanus, because of its cross-setting usability. All in all, the Judge Dredd stuff is low priority.

4. The three Strontium Dog characters, primed and ready to paint (hope to do them this weekend, but don't count on it, what with the Germany game tomorrow).

5. A single Rogue Trooper. I just bought that one for fun. Stands a head taller than my Hasslefree Hazmats, so will probably be a one-off for the time being.

Anyway, I'll focus on the ABC Warriors. I've got a very, very sketchy concept to turn it into a convention game based VERY LOOSELY on "The Black Hole", with the table depicting the Time Wastes tunnels, allowing to use elements from other 2000AD strips at random. But that's a very sketchy early concept possibility and may not see the light of day before 2011.

[Jet Simian]

I look forward to seeing that game! And I do hope you have a go at Hitaki and Mad Ronn - you'd be the first to try as far as I know, and I have a great fondness for Bryan Talbot's interpretation of the Seven, including those short-lived members. Mad Ronn could be a particular challenge because he looks so fiddly, but if you've got skelebots or something akin to GW's Necrons I'd venture that they'd make a good armature.

I can see where the temptation to go the "...and friends" route would lie. Nemesis alone and logistically could also include a Purity Brown figure along with Thoth, or at a pinch his late familiar Grobbendonk

Also looking forward to seeing your versions of Hap and Zippo. I'm very impressed by what you've done so far!

[Westfalia Chris]

More "friends":

Johnny Alpha, Wulf Sternhammer and the Gronk.

[Hawkeye]

Great job on Blackblood! Actually, great job on all of these - Johnny Alpha is very cool!

Brings back happy memories of lazy afternoons reading 2000AD - very dim and vague memories, which I blame on too many concussions, but happy nonetheless!

Excellent project - keep up the great work!

[JollyBob]

Nice one as ever, Chris!

Got those Strontium Dog figs in my birthday package (which I can't have till the weekend ) so it looks like you'r e set the bar for me again.

Curiously, I also turfed out the old Citadel set the other day. Been in the back of the bits box for about twenty years, completely forgotten I had it ! I wonder how they'll compare size-wise? Not well, I should imagine...