Jake's Sedition Wars figures 27 Jan 13: Glowing Strain started

[CptJake]

My copy of Sedition Wars came this past week.  In additon to the Biohazard package I got the Lights Out campaign pack which includes clear plastic/resin versions of the Vanguard troops.  It also comes with 'glow in the dark' Strain models.

I decided to put together a few of the basic Vanguard troopers, all the male standard ones, just to see how they went together.   Mold lines and flash are hard to identify on the clear material, so I made sure where the two parts (body and gun/arms) joined were cleaned/smooth and super glued the parts together.  I then used a tiny drop of super glue to temporarily attache them to some extra slot bases I had laying around.   I hit them with a wash of green ink and let them dry.

The bases that come with the set are fantastic!   I sprayed cheap black primer on them, heavy dry brush of a darkish gray, lighter dry brush of a gun metal, and a very light dry brush in some places of an aluminum color.  Then I picked out a couple details and added a bit of rust.

Popped the troops off their temporary bases and super glued them to these.

I think they came out pretty decently for the 20 or so minutes I put into them (most of that on the bases).  

My one regret, I wish I had opened the main box to see the boards before I painted the bases.  I would have used a greenish gray as the first coat over the black...  Oh well.

I intend to update this topic as I get more done.   I'm slow and have a ton of projects going on though so it may not be updated often.

Jake

[blackfly]

These look fantastic, well done.  Amazing what a little wash can do

[beefcake]

Very cool. Nice for20 mins.

[supervike]

Looking great Jake!

Still waiting for mine to show up....

[CptJake]

I (almost) finished up my opti-camo troops:













And last up Barker, the heavy weapons guru whose opti camo is working VERY vell:



 

Actually I am trying to figure out how to make his weapon switchable...

[Legion1963]

They sure look very different and have a real sci-fi 'feel' but there's not much detail to be seen (in the photos).

[Hrothgar]

Jake, could you use tiny rare earth magnets in the wrists?

[CptJake]

The following picture is from Mike McVey's blog:



The two gun parts connect to that very thin bar along the bottom of the separate arm, and the part that connects is another very thin bar on each weapon piece.   I'm not sure I can get magnets into that.   

Jake

[YPU]

The arm piece to me looks like you could get a little row of magnets in, then you could potentially just work a small metal plate into the gun pieces. Maybe?

[CptJake]

Okay,

So I finally decided how I wanted to handle the heavy weapon guy...

I filed away some of the clear material on his weapon arm and glued in a tiny rare earth magnet.  I then filed a little off the two weapon options and glued on a small piece of metal cut from an extra metal base I had sitting around.   It seems to work, and the ugly metal bits I could normally hide with greenstuff and paint are not TOO obvious when you see him in real size in front of you.







Thanks for the compliments and comments posted above.  I do appreciate them.

[obsidian3d]

You're doing a really great job with these figures. I can imagine how difficult it is to keep your modification work as invisible as possible. Personally, I'm glad I opted not to get them. I'll have enough trouble painting the regular stuff.

[Andrew Rae]

I love what you've done with these, it really makes me want to try and pick up a set of the clear figures somehow. The energy light from Kara and Barker's weapons is really effective too!

[zizi666]

You're doing a really great job with these figures. I can imagine how difficult it is to keep your modification work as invisible as possible. Personally, I'm glad I opted not to get them. I'll have enough trouble painting the regular stuff.

+1

[CptJake]

Painting these is a TON easier than painting the regular ones...  A few swipes of the brush loaded with the ink wask and BAM!!! you're done.  Painting time on all these figures probably was under 20 minutes total.  I spent more time painting the bases.

[CptJake]

I painted up a couple GITD Strain as a test.   The material used and the glow color hide the detail.  I wanted to pick it out and thought an ink wash may work, but also decided that stuff like clothes and some of the armor/nonorganic parts may not get the glow...  So, I applied a wash using a purple ink (actually I mixed a bit of red and blue) and then painted the pants and a few other parts.   The figures still glow where only ink is applied, but not as bright as un-inked figures.   I'm not super happy with the way this ink caught the details over this material, but am not sure what to do differently.  The paint didn't like the material either.  I know I don't use the best paints but it just didn't want to adhere to the glow plastic, even after a good wash with dish soap.

Anyway, here are a couple finished up, one just inked, and one plain:









I am much happier with the opti-camo Vanguard troopers.


Jake