My Xenos Rampant forces (Sci-Fi Scatter added 6/12/25)

[mikedemana]

Time for some 3-D printed scatter terrain that I'll use on my game boards. I probably didn't really need to paint all these up, but I'd bought them and it made me feel like progress getting them ready for the tabletop. Plus, I'd have felt silly if I ended up needing them in my first game of Xenos Rampant!





These power generators (that's what I'm calling them) are from a US company called Diabolical Terrain (https://diabolicalterrain.com/). Quality stuff that I've used for some of my post-apocalyptic terrain. They come to many of the regional shows, and as such, feel obligated to support them...! 



Refinery (?) from a new 3-D print company I found called, A Critical Hit. This is a fairly large piece of terrain, as you can tell by the 28mm figures next to it. It painted up extremely quickly. Various shades of metal and then a dark wash over it. I really like this piece and will use it in modern games, too, I imagine.



Power Generator from the same company as above. This is probably my favorite piece of terrain from this scatter set. I don't know if I just happened to like the color scheme I used or it's almost Victorian Sci-Fi feel. It was a good find discovering this company as a vendor at Cincycon 2024. They have an Instagram page here (https://www.instagram.com/criticalhitnyc/?hl=en).



Sci-Fi giant drill structure from Sea Dog Games. This was in the running for my favorite piece. It doesn't have to be a drill. It could be any random piece of machinery on a Sci-Fi game board. Sea Dog Games got into 3-D printing early, mainly to create ships for the Sailpower game. However, they create a lot of other stuff for all periods. I have garbage dumpsters, crates, etc. from them as well as Zodiac rubber boats.

These all painted up relatively quickly and am pretty happy with how they look. Thanks in advance for any comments...

Mike Demana

[mikedemana]

A little threadomancy here on my own thread. I painted these 12 Alien Grays up just for the heck of it. I'd picked them up from my friend John who runs JS Wargamer Printing (https://wargamerprinting.com/) and carries pretty much all of the Big Mr. Tong STLs. They don't really fit with what I'm painting at the moment (Vietnam War), nor with my ongoing Sci-Fi skirmish using Space Weirdos.



However, I wanted a small change of pace and I'd been wanting to paint these guys up. I kind of felt that I would end up selling them off, either at the Origins Game Fair consignment shop this month or at the Historicon flea market in July. I think that is what I will end up doing, unless someone contacts me frantically wanting the little blighters before then!



I trimmed off the "slotta" that they were printed on (I detest slotta bases). I used the plastic round bases that my Vietnam War figures come with because they high lip bases seem to be popular for some reason. May as well get some use for them because I was using purchased plywood bases from Litko for my Vietnam guys.



Anyway, I primed with White Gesso first. I used a medium gray skin tone with a lighter gray highlight. I went back and forth on what color to make the space suits. I decided to use Turbo Dork Curacao Blue metallic. I'm glad I did -- very shimmery and retro looking. I used a dark blue-green on the space suit trim with a very understated medium blue highlight.



So far, so good -- I was liking how they were turning out. I painted the faces with black for their eyes, nostrils, and mouth. At the end of the process, I would add a clear gloss over the eyes. I really like how the faces turned out. Very much like the images you see online of these little voyeurs who, according to some, have been spying on us for decades! 



The weapons continued the retro them with copper and metallic red. There is a decent variety of poses in the pack, including two just fingering human skulls seeming baffled or upset by their mortality. There's even one just carrying a honking huge adjustable wrench. I guess there is universality when it comes to hand tools...! 



The three poses with the space suit helmets over their heads gave me the most pause. I went back and forth on this, too. I gave up trying to do a clear glass look with a blurry Alien Gray head inside. That's for the true master painters on the forum -- not for a journeyman like me! 



I ended up painting them slowly brighter shades of metallic, staring with steel, moving to gunmetal, then pewter, then silver. Not that you can really see the layers. I then tried to use Folk Art Dragonfly Glaze Spectrum glaze. Complete failure to get any effect out of it. I watched a YouTube video on using the glaze and read up on it, but it simply would not show up my silvery surface. Oh well, at least it gave it a glossy look, saving me painting that step up! 

All in all, I'm happy with these guys. I'd probably be happier with the cash. So, I will likely be selling them and they're presence will be lost to time were it not for my Lead Legionaries blog. Check out my post about them here:
https://leadlegionaries.blogspot.com/2025/06/alien-grays-forwell-heck-of-it.html

Thanks in advance for any comments!
Mike Demana

[Freddy]

They are cute!

[sundayhero]

really cool  ! the overall project reminds me the old videogame UFO enemy unknown 

[Seal]

Everything looks great. I love the Grays!

[HerbertTarkel]

Nothing finer than Grey Aliens!

Although I do like a black-rimmed base 

[mikedemana]

Maybe I should go back and paint the rim black? It does seem popular, though I usually prefer mine an earth color, or gray if most gaming will be in urban areas.

Thanks everyone for the kind comments...!

Mike Demana

[anevilgiraffe]

I don't think the colour matters that much, just a solid coat wouldn't hurt

[mikedemana]

Finally finished these 3-D printed scatter pieces. They look to me like they belong on a flight line. So, they will likely make in my next game.



A little bit of a closeup...



Thanks in advance for any comments.

Mike Demana