Help with my 15mm Star Wars project

[FifteensAway]

Another interested in progress in this project.

Have had some luck with my local 3D printer dude - though lately having lots of health issues.  But I've gotten Wookies and Ewoks, Imperial and Rebel troops, some speeders and other stuff like a flying Ewok glider (want a few more), a Jaba the Hutt with a couple of Twylek, even Salacious Crum (sp?), and various other bits.  Hope my 3D guy gets better.

OP still active within the last few days - I will try sending him a PM.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Hi War Monkey. Thank you for enquiring (and the kick to see if I am dead).

Listing slightly to one side and drifting gently in a circle but importantly still moving!

This hasn’t been a great year generally (at least for me), after losing my beloved hound we’ve taken in a new pup and currently between serious illness and puppy related exhaustion I’m not achieving a great deal.

I have had some ideas though and they’ve helped move the whole thing along a bit in my mind. I bought some of the new Alternative Armies “robots with guns” (not sure of their actual title) and some Loud Ninja Ikwen. The Ikwen are lovely (the robots terrible with obvious print lines from the master) and will be the low tech native species the Empire is exploiting on my home planet. Just got to decide how to paint them, but their very existence helps form a partial image of the world I would like - swamps/pools and forest for the Ikwen part. I want to create some kind of narrative explaining why the Empire are there and what they want from the planet.

So far:

An empire ship crashes after a fight with the emerging rebels in the sector, ploughing into the backwater area of a little settled planet, sadly, for the Ikwen though, straight into their home lands and more importantly their breeding/burial/healing grounds (undecided yet).

The devastation is terrible for the poor Ikwen but is just the beginning of their problems as the crash has ploughed through the sacrosanct ground and unearthed a terrible secret. Whatever granted such powers to the waters was thrown to the surface (spice equivalent/fuel source or some other material of interest to the Empire) and when the Empire’s recovery force turns up to check for survivors and reclaim any usable tech from the ship the resource is discovered.

Thus the space gits turn up and proceed to suppress and brutalise the Ikwen, using them as slave labour to extract the material. They expand the small settlements of non-natives already on the planet to meet their needs and in doing so help to give the Rebels the kick start of personnel and (borrowable) equipment. The small, but growing, rebel base hidden away on the planet bears witness to theses atrocities and many feel responsible. One rebel hothead (or small group) decides to (or accidentally) assist the Ikwen and this escalates drawing all the various protagonists into the fight.

It’s a bit rough but allows me to have more factions than I’d previously thought of with: Empire, Rebels, Ikwen and then additional smaller groups like Pyke Syndicate and other odds and sods.

I’d like to game with a few different rulesets at different sizes so this mix of forces should allow me to play Chain of Command with platoon sized Empire, Rebels and Ikwen forces and then smaller games of Spectre Ops for sneaky, more character driven action (hopefully on smaller table).

I’ve built an AT-AT (it’s in sub assemblies waiting for a base coat) and have managed to pick up another one for a reasonable price. I now have 5 AT-ST’s: 4 for the Empire and one as a captured vehicle. I need to get some larger mdf bases cut for my buildings (going to make them out of high density blue sheet foam and add GZG details and scratchbuilt bits) and recently picked up some great alien looking tufts and plant life from Great Escape Games to help make my tabletop look less blatantly Terran.


Fifteens: That sounds excellent - I’d love to see some of the 3D printed chaps, please feel free to post any pics here to help inspire me. Were Ewoks only on Endor? Are they exportable?

Apologies for the lack of updates, lengthy reply and any repetition on my part. If anyone is in South Wales and would like to help motivate my ongoing work by offering to play against/with me when it’s all finished (or at least in a recognisable state) I’d be grateful!

Thanks

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[FifteensAway]

As requested, photos of my 15 mm 3D prints - Ewoks.  Not sure of source but I use a local guy who either uses his own license to print or I pay for a license and he gets it and prints and then I pay for the prints themselves - pretty reasonable.  I think he had to convert everything to 15 mm.  Sadly, he is having some very serious health problems of his own so not sure if I will be able to get more work through him, I am hopeful both for his sake and so that I can round out a few things - like some more Ewoks  - and Princess Leia and Bib Fortuna if he can find them.

Here are what I have so far:



Ewoks with heavy weapons



Half unit of basic Ewoks, would like to bring to full strength of 20 but if push comes to shove I can improvise with what I already have, just won't all be 'basic' Ewoks.



A half dozen Ewok leader figures



A 'full' unit of 20 Ewoks - my standard unit size I've settled on just because I like that many.



A catapult with a couple of crew loading.



A couple of Speeders being stolen by Ewoks.



The Golden C3PO on palanquin - unfortunately the Droid's head came out very thin and broke so need to either repair or, if possible, replace.



An Ewok band.



And, last, an Ewok glider.  Would love to get a few more of these if my 3D dude gets healthy and is willing.

Again, I can't identify the sources he used but am confident he has been more than fair with me in his dealings.  His real main gig is as a painter of figures and the 3D stuff is just a part-time side gig.

Taking these photos gives me a good guide to what I have. 

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Fifteens thank you for posting those, they are great. I agree with the unit size - 20 is a goodly number and would be threatening. Are you multi basing them in a tiny, cute hoard? I can see three (or four) being a fair match for a Stormtrooper (especially when they’re wearing armour with large obvious gaps and being attacked at groin height by spear wielding space bears).

I’m working on a post showing all my vehicles - I’ll try and take photos tomorrow whilst I tidy my workspace (dining table) for the impending festivities.

Thank you both for the kick!

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[FifteensAway]

Most of my units of 20 figures will be 3 to a base plus one command based with 2 figures so 7 bases.  My 'little folk', the Ewoks and Jawa (Highlander Studios Sand Rats), I want to have 24 figures on 8 bases of 3, need a few more Ewoks to get to 2 units.  I also have my 15 mm Tolero from Brigade Models which were going to be my stand-in Ewoks until I got the 3D prints - will still use them.  I will also have "hero" stands of single figures for the 'stars of the show' mostly from Highlander Studios. 

Via the 3D print source I've obtained a Jaba with two Twilek plus Salacious Scrum - and hoping to still get Bib Fortuna and Princess Leia.  Also have a Cantina Band.  Have 7 Banta with riders - plus one extra rider, would like to find some 'naked' Banta but no luck so far.  Full units of 20, I've added Sand People, Wookies, Storm Troopers, Rebels - includes at least 6 alien figures, and Space Port unarmed crew.  Again, that is all 15 mm 3D prints.  Sometimes many poses, sometimes only a few poses repeated to get to 20.


Here is a link to my Star Wars personalized planet: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=140959.msg1802781#msg1802781

I haven't updated it in a while since working on other collections just now, but I have a thread here that shows most of my vehicles - will try and find it and link here later.  Not shown are a bunch of stuff I've found for my 'battle debris field', much of which is WAY out of scale.

Here is that other link: https://leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=138581.0

And, dang, I sure posted A LOT over the last year! 

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Thank you Fifteens, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all your printed Ewoks. It really has become possible to have actual Star Wars (maybe not officially) in any scale you’d like.

I’m sorting the expansive mess that is my workspace on the dining room table and in doing so going through all the vehicles I have for Star Wars in 15mm. This is probably one of my favourites - the U-wing. It’s a great Revell kit in 1:100 and will be doing a lot of work for the rebellion and my personal character in the future (or a long, long time ago).





It had light and sound which I’ve removed but it still needs some remedial work (cabin wall and floor) before it can be painted up. I’m also considering fiddling with its boom wings as the earlier versions either don’t have them or have reduced/skeletal versions which I rather like.

The removal of light and sound function left a rather ugly, basic engine area (which had been the activation button) so instead I’ve fixed this by adding a small hole and the top of a GZG spider mech (as an astromech). They’ll also have a legged version for when they have to leave the ship.



Once I’m done tidying I intend to tackle some painting and get some progress up here.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[War Monkey]

Hi War Monkey. Thank you for enquiring (and the kick to see if I am dead).

I learn not to kick dead thing around, I usually poke them with a big, long stick, just in case I have to whack them! 

I have been working on a different sort of Star Wars project. My granddaughter, who is all into Star Wars. For whom I have given her a few Lego Star Wars figures for her birthday, and she went crazy for them.

For Christmas My project is.... she likes purple and the 187th Legion's colors are purple for Master Windu who carries a purple Lightsaber. Now the Commander of the 187th is unknown. following cannon and non-cannon. all that is known is that this commander was separated for the rest of all the other clone and received different training then the other clones. This commander also leads troops very successful in combat using mostly just hand signals.

We know that Omega from the Bad Batch is a clone. However, was Omega the first female clone? With that said, my granddaughter is of mix race, and I had to hunt down a Lego that had her correct skin tone and hair. I swapped out the head for the Purple Commander Lego one with this head and that will be part of her Christmas that she will discover that she is the commander of the 187 Legion, along with a dozen different purple clone troops plus Master Windu. I'm tapped right now as funds go but I did find an Etsy shop that has a purple patch for the 187th Legion that I will get her later on.

My evil plan is to get her hooked on gaming, I need to find a loose addition of "Brikwars" or a download. to give to her and then it's "Game On!"

Meanwhile all of this as sparked the 15mm Star Wars bug in me again. I need to get my Filament printer up and running, so I can start printing out building and vehicles. I will wait to resin printer for doing figures in the meantime I will get back to sculpting, my biggest problem there has been that I keep make my next figure bigger than the last one. My new plan is, after I had talked to Tom Mason about it and gave me the idea, is I will make my armatures and super glue a head from "Peter Pig" on to the armature then this will keep me from making them bigger and bigger and keep me within the boundaries set.

I have a lot of things going on right now, but I feel that right after Christmas I will have a lot of spare time. I hope to have my printer set up before then too.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

War Monkey I fully endorse your plan to corrupt the little one  and love your idea for her crimbo present.

I think your system for using Peter Pig heads is very sensible, I’ve used them many times (100’s now) and love the flexibility and range. I’ve sculpted a number of 15mm WW2 German tank crew members and simply added a suitable PP head (sometimes then adding to that too) but I also use Martin’s figures as dollies or even just legs (filed down a spare Russian to just his legs) to make sure I’m creating something the correct size (I’m not saying only PP’s 15mm is the one true size just to me). I recently started using the bald heads to experiment making alien heads which I’ll then add to my GZG made Star Wars rebels.

Thank you my friend, walk softly and carry a big stick

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[War Monkey]

UTLM.
Thank You for the PDF file I know she will love it, along with my son too!

I am curious as to the Martin figures you have mentioned, and as to where one can find them. It sounds like they would be easier to use for sculpting. I love PP heads, I have used them a lot as well in doing head swaps. Example, I had all of these Rebel Minis police from his police set, like 21 of them, so I took a third of them and used PP Dough Boys heads, the ones with the campaign hats and made a set of Minnesota State Troopers for my Zombie games.



So now I just don't have a bunch of plain street cops all over the place. I plan to use the other third for Game Wardens and Sheriff Deputies. Yup, more head swaps.

But back to Star Wars, like I had said I need to set up my printer, however the wife has stated that I can't set it up until the remodeling of our bedroom is done, she knows me to well that if I set it up the bedroom will never get done in a timely manner.    Then I can get busy with buildings, vehicles and crafts. I want to make (sculpt) a set of the Bad Batch and I think the rules of Five Parsecs from Home will work really well for this group. I have a set of the Old Star Wars miniatures rule book around here somewhere within the great tall pile of the rule books mountain.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/starwars/images/3/32/Star_wars_miniatures_battles.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20051119234110

I'll have to dig it out and see what is useful in it, it has been sometime since I have read it. Meanwhile I have order sets of miniatures from Highlander Studios His "Space Pals" sets along with the Jawas, Sand People, Rebel Ship Crew, Storm troopers, and "Those Curious Chaps" from Khurasan Miniatures, that I have now. I need to get a few more sets, so I can do some conversion on them to make some Mandalorians, I'll have to sculpt a Mandalorian helmet and make a simple two-piece mold and use Green Stuff to press the helmets out, I'll also have to do the same to make some of the earlier clone troopers' helmets as well. This would give a good mix of figures to the game and a little easier to keep track of as well. I want to keep the other helmets, because I think they will come in handy for Star Wars Zombies in Space! A group of bloody helmets will be great for drop in terrain pieces or just a warning in other Star War games. I guess this means I will have to get a few more sets than I had planned! I just can't have old helmets laying around and no Strom Trooper Zombies! This might turn out interesting

Doug

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Doug: apologies Martin is the chap behind Peter Pig. Interestingly I’ve done exactly the same headswap with doughboys onto the rebel police for a friend. It works so well.

I agree a helmet sprue would be great (although I fear Disney may not like a commercial variant  ) hmmm………

 I have played the Star Wars Miniatures rules in my youth and intend to tackle them again when I’m up and running (looking forwards to having a range of rulesets to choose from).

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[War Monkey]

No problem. I can see why the Russian figures would work really well. If shipping wasn't so expensive now. I'll have to find myself another source of figures to do that with.

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Alternative Armies sell 15mm dollies https://www.alternative-armies.com/collections/15mm-hof-science-fiction-range/products/15mm-blank-dollies-11-poses-choice-of-pack-contents(I purchased some of these ages ago from the excellent chap at Splintered light as well)

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[War Monkey]

Oh, I know about their dollies it just a matter of the wallet size! 
With Christmas spending and the rest of the holidays, it's killing me! I generally have to wait for our Tax Returns to make large orders from England to make up for the shipping cost. Ordering one or two sets is just cost prohibitive. If I were to order such, I have to do like I have in the past by making very large purchases. Usually, I make $200 plus orders around then. I'll just have to wait, then I can order about 6 sets! that should keep me busy for a little while. 

[War Monkey]

Okay, I went and bought a set of 15mm Jedis off of Etsy.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/1395375282/gmo-mystics-for-tabletop-wargaming-epic?ref=yr_purchases



I hope to get started on sculpting after the first of the New Years along with more time with the printer as well.

[LouieN]

WE makes good figures