[15mm] Ockman's Sci-fi, update 201210: The Lobot known as Cernovich

[War Monkey]

Very nice crew to get the mail through, can't wait to see them in action!

[Ockman]

I wish my postman carried a fancy shotgun. Take care of dummies stealing packages off of porches. 

Awesome job, and the various boxes in the background are awesome!

One other thing I noticed... what is the big power coil object? Looks a bit like a Tesla tower from the old Command & Conquer video games.

I actually prefer living on a stable world, where postal workers won't have to band together in armed gangs. Still, it does seem as if you could use an automated foam gun on your property, incapacitating the thieving dummies!

Thanks, I built the boxes several years ago, but haven't come around to paint them until recently. I was kind of mad with the GZG containers, since there was a mould slippage, but they turned out alright. At least when hidden in a bunch of boxes!

The object in the background can be found on page 35. It's a wheel from my son's broken plastic lawn mower. I'm not sure what it's supposed to be yet, but I think it's a silo or a generator. It does look a bit like a RA3 Tesla Coil, though!

Very nice crew to get the mail through, can't wait to see them in action!

Yeah, one day I might have time (and energy) to play a game 

[Oldben1]

Great use of scratchbuilt materials!

[Ockman]

Isola Colt/Eli Alouette by Oscar Falk, on Flickr

I've never liked to use the same sculpt twice, but with different enough paintjobs, I find it working out!

[Ockman]

Great use of scratchbuilt materials!

Thanks, Michael!

[CookAndrewB]

They look different enough to me. Plus I assume this person (people?) are mostly background civilian types?

Along with paint, it wouldn't be hard to add some little epoxy details to differentiate this particular figure. the uniform and hat are pretty straightforward so small embellishments would stand out without covering detail, I think.

[War Monkey]

Nice paint work on those figures, they look really nice.

Yes, paint helps with duplicate figures, I Like to do head swaps if I can, Peter Pig has lots of heads to choose from and/or use Green Stuff Putty to add extra details, as CookAndrewB suggested.

 

[Ockman]

They look different enough to me. Plus I assume this person (people?) are mostly background civilian types?

Along with paint, it wouldn't be hard to add some little epoxy details to differentiate this particular figure. the uniform and hat are pretty straightforward so small embellishments would stand out without covering detail, I think.

Nice paint work on those figures, they look really nice.

Yes, paint helps with duplicate figures, I Like to do head swaps if I can, Peter Pig has lots of heads to choose from and/or use Green Stuff Putty to add extra details, as CookAndrewB suggested.
 

I'm trying to make every mini a character, but I think that background civilians can be quite similar. These two I think are different enough. I might invest in loose heads from GZG the next time I order, to be able to convert more minis... I'm not ready for greenstuff yet!

[CookAndrewB]

Well, my suggestion falls along the lines of - dear god, don't try green stuff heads! But you can totally pull off a little square here for a pouch, or a little strip there for a bandolier. Practice makes perfect. I think I'm a complete nincompoop with the stuff, but I'm also amazed how well it turns out once a figure is painted up. It is worth playing with, and the cost of entry into exploring is pretty low. Somewhere in the $5 range will get you enough to last a good year of consistent small use like gap filling and modifications. I just broke down and bought 8oz tubs of two part epoxy because I'm burning through my good stuff for molds, but that really wouldn't be the case for what you are talking about. Most of my 15mm full sculpts use about as much epoxy as you might find in a piece of Trident gum... if that reference makes much sense.

[War Monkey]

Oh no, I wouldn't even try making heads for swapping with Green Stuff, I do use it for adding extra pouches, knee pads, elbow pads, bandoliers and a like as you have suggested, I have never sculpt a figure but I am interested it learning to do so. 

[capthugeca]

Oh no, I wouldn't even try making heads for swapping with Green Stuff.

Obviously the hard bit is doing the face. You can always use Oyumaru to take a cast of the face of another figure, then make a copy with Green Stuff (though I use Procreate) and use that as the foundation for your new figure.
I've yet to do it with my scifi figs but here's a 10mm minotaur that started life as ogre:-

[CookAndrewB]

That is a pretty slick idea, Cap.

[Ockman]

I tried to take some photos the last week, but Sweden in autumn makes it troublesome. Sunup 7.36, sunset 15.57, I leave my kids at daycare 7.15 and get back home somewhere after 16.30.
Unfortunately, my light setup is not very good, resulting in blurry photos with washed-out colours. Will go through the photos tomorrow and see if there are any salvageable pictures...

[War Monkey]

Capthugeca,
That is a very interesting approach to making faces for head sculps and swaps, Thanks.

[War Monkey]

Ockman,
I don't like Autumn or Winter myself, lighting for picture taking sucks, I have to set up some extra lights to do so, I tape so trace paper to the light to defuse the light some and helps with the color wash out and light reflecting hope this helps some.