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

[Westfalia Chris]

Alrighty! After those Nemesis and Strontium Dog diversions, back to proper ABC Warriors territory!

First, a bunch of marginally converted Void 1.1 "VASA Marines" to act as Eternal Soldiers. Since they have quite "comic-book-ish" poses and have a clean sculpting style (I think those are Kev White sculpts), the work well with the Foundry figures, although they are a bit smaller (but some of that is due to the "dramatic spread legs pose").



I#ve got another squad of six (with a grenade launcher as a heavy weapon) lined up, and plan to do Major Savard once I find a good working base - actually, I've got one that will require quite some work (and a sex change), but if you know of a short, "plus-size" female figure with short hair and jodhpurs, I'll be happy and grateful to hear suggestions.

Also, I built a first squad of three Rottweilers (including Colin, Blackblood's buddy from when they were torching native huts on Anthrax IV). Colin was the first concept from the second approach - I tried to convert a plastic GW terminator first, but that did not work out. If anybody wants four plastic terminators still in sprue, I'll entertain offers (UK swap preferred), otherwise I'll paint them for my Imperial Fists.

Anyway, these new Rottweilers were based on plastic Void 1.1 Assault Marines. Very good value for money at 50p a figure, although they have some minor flaws. I straightened out the design after Colin, in particular the lower leg parts. I'll build some more as I find time and inspiration (I've still got parts for 7 figures). Building time is already down to 45 minutes per figure.



First up, though, I'll paint a "weapons arm" for the tankdozer Mek-Quake. Hope to get that finished over the weekend.

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi folks, to follow the last update, I've painted the second squad of Eternal Soldiers, modified slightly differently (and with moderately less work effort). I actually like this variant of the helmet (with two horizontal bars, but no diagonal central bar) better, and will do further squads accordingly (but with shoulder pads). I plan to have four squads in total, with little differences while maintaining an overall similar look.



I also built a variant arm for the Killdozer Mek-Quake, using the same parts as for the original arm and adding a gun taken from the Karman I tried to convert into a Mongrol figure. I removed the main barrel (surprisingly and pleasantly easy, since it is only plugged into place) and added the slightly tapered muzzle piece (which is from a brewing kit plug, similar to those used for the arms and exhausts).





I've become quite interested in the project again, and have an immediate queue of 9 Necromunda Redemptionists, which I'll use as Termight Terminators for the later storylines (led by the Foundry Torquemada seen earlier). I'm still undecided on what colour scheme to use, leaning towards black robes with red accents and symbols, and wouldn't mind hearing suggestions for other options.

[bigmanfran]

Very nice.

[Remington]

Great stuff! That Mek-Quake looks spectacular.

[Hawkeye]

I agree with Remington - Mek-Quake is fantastic! The eternal guard are very, very nice too - great flesh tones on the bare arms, and the black looks nice and menacing. Top job!

[Westfalia Chris]

Hi folks, finally some new mini pics!

When I visited my parents in mid-September (mainly for some medical checks, and a wedding in Wurttemberg with a violet/leopardskin aesthetic theme - don't ask!), I rummaged through some boxes for some figures to take home. Apart from my Freikorps, which I'll finally finish after almost three years (pics next week, hopefully, and finally something more "historical" again), I also took some figures to use for the ABC Warriors project.

First, "Volkhan, Ikon of Ikons", the main antagonist of the current "Volgan War" cycle. The figure is a Heroclix "Major Maxim" with a head made from an EM-4 Robot, a plasticard chin and a putty dome, plus hammer and sickle weaponry from various bits of plastic and brass wire for rigidity.



And here's a pic with his most trusted lieutenant (ha!), Blackblood, for size:



Apart from the moderately sedate pose (which actually fits some artworks in the books quite nicely), I think the mini works nicely with the others, suitably tall and imposing, although with hindsight I should probably have used a 30mm round base - 40 (as for the other "big bots" and Nemesis) would have been a bit too much considering the stance, but the current 25, while lifting him up to size with the others, looks a bit cramped now. But that could be easily rectified, I guess.

And now for something of a curiosity, or rarity, if you like. I bought the next figure some 10 years ago in a little gaming store in Hessia, and from what I recall, it was made by Harlequin (came in one of their blisters). I didn't know about the ABC Warriors back then and just got it for fun, and painted it for a more generic scifi purpose (see below for a pic of the original paintjob).



To my mind, the figure has the best general proportions and pose of the various Hammersteins I have done so far (I'll need to get another one of the Excalibur not-Hammies sometime), and is wonderfully clean in its lines and sculpting. The head looks particularly good, and is much more in scale than with the "small" Foundry Hammy. On the other hand, it comes with a minigun (no Hammertime for this one!), and the left arm misses the multicannon/rocketwrist. Unfortunately, I never found this figure anywhere since then, even when Black Tree rereleased the Scifi line some years back.

Thus I decided not to use it as another Hammerstein, but rather paint it as another Mark III variant, which survived the years since the Volgan Wars (or the Battle of Armaggeddon, until they retconned the Dredd and ABC universes apart - in the "Hammerstein" story, there is a dark green war droid which served as inspiration for the paint scheme). That way I can use it as an ally as well as an opponent, depending on scenario requirements. This is the original ("Omega Battalion") paintscheme (actually the second, but the original light gray I painted it in originally was never captured on film or file):



And finally a comparison pic with the "Big" and "Small" Hammerstein figures by Foundry.

[manic _miner]

 Great new pictures.Harlequin did a few sci-fi types.Kev White did a nice range for them.Been picking a few up.I think they were meant to be Star Trek types.They even have the little sign.

[Westfalia Chris]

Finally got around to paint Rogue Trooper!



Well-sculpted figure, if a bit stiffly-posed. I chopped off the very thick base which added to an already very tall figure to reduce his height a bit.

The grass comes off a bit green for a devastated hellworld, but who is to say it isn't mutant grass. To quote Gerhard Seyfried, "The grass suffers from cancer, and the shrubbery has plant-AIDS".

[mattblackgod]

I dont know how I missed this thread! Fantastic and inspirational work. Keep it coming!

[Westfalia Chris]

A little update - Venus Bluegenes, got the mini in a bargain bin in Scarborough last weekend.

[Mason]

Only just caught this thread and all I can say is WOW!!!
Brings back my mis-spent youth, where 2000AD wasnt just a year it was an eternity away...
Loving all the pj's and conversions.
Excellent work, the comic strip lives!

Caught the bit about scale earlier- How would the Foundry versions fit into the 40mm scale range?
Been (ever so sloooowly) putting a bunch of figures together for a Hellboy themed game in this scale and thought some of the figures would travel well with very little conversion.
Anyone have any figures for comparison?

[Westfalia Chris]

From my experience, sizes in the 2000AD range tend to differ. The ABC Warriors sculpts are all more in line with the "usual" 28mm offerings (to say, they work good next to the Void 1.1 minis I've been using for opposition), but other offerings are much taller. The Strontium Dog minis are very tall, as are the Rogue Trooper minis (34mm foot-to-eye, 37-38 from foot to top-of-helm/top-of-quiff) - both look a bit out of place next to normal-sized figures, but I am unsure if "proper" 40mm figures wouldn't be too large for them. If you can get 36mm stuff, they might just work.

[Mason]

From my experience, sizes in the 2000AD range tend to differ. The ABC Warriors sculpts are all more in line with the "usual" 28mm offerings (to say, they work good next to the Void 1.1 minis I've been using for opposition), but other offerings are much taller. The Strontium Dog minis are very tall, as are the Rogue Trooper minis (34mm foot-to-eye, 37-38 from foot to top-of-helm/top-of-quiff) - both look a bit out of place next to normal-sized figures, but I am unsure if "proper" 40mm figures wouldn't be too large for them. If you can get 36mm stuff, they might just work.

Thanks for the swift reply , Chris.
Best bet is to just try out Venus anyway, as she will probably work by the sounds of it, even if she is a little smaller, and take it from there.
BTW- I have some of those VOID figures knocking around. You have given me an idea for their use.....hmmmm
Thanks again!

[cheetor]

I somehow seem to have missed this thread since before the Rotteweilers showed up (one of my favourites from an entire thread jam packed with favourites).

Mek Quake gets better every time that I look at him.

Fantastic, inspiring stuff Chris. 

Keep it up!

[Westfalia Chris]

I somehow seem to have missed this thread since before the Rotteweilers showed up (one of my favourites from an entire thread jam packed with favourites).

Mek Quake gets better every time that I look at him.

Fantastic, inspiring stuff Chris. 

Keep it up!

Honestly, you shouldn't feel too bad about that - given that I seem to update it once every three to four MONTHs now, I myself am a bit surprised to see it come up in "latest posts"... 

Anyway, I'll have to see where I will take this. I still have a huge lot of Judges to paint, but can't really wrap my head around the paint scheme (which you pulled off marvellously). I am wont to call it heresy myself, but I am leaning to painting them in the "movie uniform" style, just to get it done (I primered them poorly, somehow, and the paint is coming off even during painting - will have to strip them, anyway). That said, I really liked painting the bright yellows on Johnny Alpha, and the judges would look really good in the dark blue/yellow combo, too... gah! Basically, they combine all my favourite colours to paint (olive green, yellow, blackish blue, red accents, and skin), but I just cannot get them done.