Cheetors Dreadball: Treebeast, Yndij & Grogan Convict 05/01/15

[cheetor]

I have been painting a little Dreadball recently.  First finished is the O.C.P. Patriots human team.



The figures are a bit of a pain in the arse to clean up (like the Sedition Wars figures too Im afraid) but I am pleased enough with the final result. They took me longer to paint up than I had hoped though, largely due to the hassle that the material that the figures are manufactured in caused me during clean up, which in turn made some of the detail disappear.  Better get used to it I suppose, it seems to be the way that the industry is moving.  



I got the ref and a pair of dreadballs done too.




As you may already know, the Dreadball range is closer in scale to true 28mm than most people manufacture.  It dooesnt bother me or anything as the figures wont be involved in my regular tabletop gaming, but it is worth noting that they are a little petite (see the WIP figure in comparison with a Space Marine below):



More photos on my blog.

Next up will be my B.P. Oilers marauders (goblin & orx) team.  Hopefully they will take me a little less time to get on th etable.  I iwill post them up here when I get them done.

Comments and criticisms all welcome  

[Lowtardog]

Tasty painting, very tron thoat team, lovely work mate

[Major_Gilbear]

They look spiffing! I must say, that I love seeing your work - it's always nicely painted and... colourful? Er, anyway, I think you know know what I mean!

As to cleaning the figs up, I posted this elsewhere today, and it applies here too:

If anyone is having trouble with gluing or cleaning up mouldlines, has anyone considered a solvent-weld adhesive? This is like Poly Cement that most people use for plastic models, but is much thinner and is DCM-based (usually, as far as I can tell). Many model hobbyists use the stuff already, and it will "stick" just about any plastic used in models by slightly dissolving the joined surfaces together.

Because the solvent weld is so thin (and is usually applied with a brush), I have also found it very useful in smoothing any roughness left on plastics after filing by just brushing it onto the surface areas affected. So, you *can* file "restic"/PVC models, and then brush on a little solvent weld to perfectly smooth the filed surface again.

[manatic]

They look spiffing! I must say, that I love seeing your work - it's always nicely painted and... colourful?

This! Love the vibrant blues!

"Vibrant blues" sounds like either a band, a nickname for military regiment or a bipolar disorder.

[cheetor]

Tasty painting, very tron thoat team, lovely work mate

Thanks.  The team ended up more TRON looking than I had originally planned, but thats not a bad thing.

They look spiffing! I must say, that I love seeing your work - it's always nicely painted and... colourful? Er, anyway, I think you know know what I mean!

 

Its funny, by the time that I finish a figure or project I usually think that they are too dark.  I like a lot of high contrast and bright colours in my miniatures.  Without that they dont stand out on the gaming table and thats the whole point of the exercise to my mind.  I dont tend to enjoy painting realistic, subdued tones anyway so I might as well just go for the gaudy/vivid look.

As to cleaning the figs up, I posted this elsewhere today, and it applies here too:

Thats an interesting tip.  The other day I spotted a similar tip regarding the use of acetone in the same way.  It was a comment put up on the Studio McVey blog by Remy Tremblay (who sculpted the human team above amongst other things).

This! Love the vibrant blues!

"Vibrant blues" sounds like either a band, a nickname for military regiment or a bipolar disorder.

Painting the human team turned out to be a bit of a chore, but thankfully not so much so that it caused psychological fallout  

I am hoping that the orx and goblins up next will be a less frustrating project.

[obsidian3d]

I really like how you've done all the models. Darker looking than have been going with, but you've made it work very well!

[rob_alderman]

Lovely paintjobs, I have been completely put off by my set because of the material. I tried cleaning them up with files and it just shreds. Shite stuff...

[Major_Gilbear]

I have been completely put off by my set because of the material. I tried cleaning them up with files and it just shreds. Shite stuff...

(1) Try using a very sharp (new) scalpel/Xacto blade to "slice" the mouldline off carefully.

(2) Then clean up with a very fine emery board (the sort ladies use for their nails).

(3) Finally paint a little bit of solvent-weld over the filed area which will dissolve and smooth all those little "hairs" from the filing (something like Ambroid Pro Weld or EMA Plastic Weld for example).

Depending on the level of flash your models have, you may just get away with (1) on its own.

[rob_alderman]

Yup, that's what we've been doing! It's a (dread)ball-ache!

[cheetor]

I really like how you've done all the models. Darker looking than have been going with, but you've made it work very well!

Thanks.  I went with dark forearms in an effort to tie the figures in with the Enforcer, who I painted up to resemble Robocop, it being the O.C.P. Patriots and all.  If I were painting them again  think that I might avoid using as much black maybe.  Maybe.

Lovely paintjobs, I have been completely put off by my set because of the material. I tried cleaning them up with files and it just shreds. Shite stuff...

Its far from ideal for sure, but it is possible to work with it.  Its just a bit more time consuming than I would like.  Looking at my Dreadball figures last night it seems that the humans suffer the most due to the panel lines and other fine detail on the armour.  The lines come out in the casting, its just that the clean up process can obliterate that detail.

The orx and goblins that I was cleaning up last night were much easier.  It might be worth giving it another try using some of Major Gilbears tips.  I almost exclusively use a scalpel blade at right angles to scrape off the lines, but thats what I tend to do with pretty much every material.

top work. I love the guy with the chin.

Thanks.  I wasnt so keen on the style of Lucky Logan when I saw images of the figure, but it grew on me a little as I painted him.  The fact that he bears an uncanny resemblance to Bruce Campbell certainly doesnt hurt, although I painted him as a blonde so that he would pop against the armour more.  Logans eyes are exceptionally tiny, even smaller than the eyes on Hasslefree figures that I occasionally find impossible to paint, so I cheated and simply darkened the sockets.  It wont really be seen during play anyway, although it still feels like a cop out to leave them unpainted.

I kinda ran out of steam when painting the Enforcer, as some of the detail was less crisp than I would have liked.  The paint job on him is only tolerable really, but he does look pretty reminiscent of Robocop at least.

[cheetor]

My second team, the "B.P. Oilers" is finished.



More details on my blog.

I made the threat hex markings more vibrant this time as the simple line on the Patriots wasnt prominent enough.  The effect is kinda nice, adding a little more TRON into the mix, but I have yet to be sure that it has the desired in game effect.  I went back and tarted up the bases on the Patriots, the MVPs and the ref anyway.

Finishing those means that I have completed whats supplied in the basic Dreadball box, so thats a nice milestone.



I am working on a couple of MVPs at the moment and after that I will get stuck into the Forgefather team.  I am hoping to have everything supplied in the first Kickstarter shipment finished before the second batch of stuff arrives.  Right now it looks feasible, which is great

Comments and criticisms all welcome as usual.

[James Holloway]

Those look absolutely great -- the Tron-esque humans in particular go very well with the game board.

[manatic]

Stonking good job!

[obsidian3d]

It's always cool to see the different colours people choose. I for one wouldn't have considered yellows for the orks at all! Looks very nice.

[Elbows]

Love the Ork paintjobs!