Insurgency rising - part 15

Hello guys,


I have raced forward with painting my last three insurgents as I wanted to show those to you before I would show you that WW1 post I was talking about. I have decided to do that to finish my insurgents "sub project" and show you what I got so far. I have more things planned for moderns, but most of them are still on my way, so I will take a break from them for now. I will either paint some zombies or survivors (they really deserve to get some attention again!) or I could even FINALLY paint some of the Strange Aeons figures  I bought so zealously at last year's Salute. I have realised I am losing control over all the stuff I have started this year alone and I would like to close as much WIP as possible.


Well, this post isn't about the future, it's about the insurgents. I have attached tonnes of bad photos (for which I apologize) down below. I have always been saying just about one in every two youngsters are photographers these days, alas I am not one of them.

So, what I have left to show you from 27 insurgents I've been working on in those past weeks, are two riflemen and a guy with an RPG.

 Not much to say that hasn't been said before. First rifleman is a complete civilian for a change, second one is "leader" posed, but I had enough of those already and RPG gunner has a mask :P. I also gave him some sort of rocket backpack, but I think it's too short to be realistic. I have sculpted it in three compartments, two for the mines and one for the explosive charges, as it should be :P.

Moving on from repetitive wording, below you can see all 27 insurgents grouped in  four groups as per Force on Force quick start rules, that I used as a guidance for my conversions. They could use some foliage on their bases and a spray coat of an ACTUAL mat varnish (the one I am using is "mat" though), but other than that they are done. I'm quite proud, this is the largest "army" in 28mm I have painted so far.

I have also included photos of same body types grouped together, so you can see just  how different they all came out. I even had some problems grouping them, so I consider conversion well done!

"Police officer" and "suit" types of guys:

 "Coat" and "Standing" types of guys:

 "Hoodie" and "Fat" types:

 "Crowbar" and...err...original "Cargo pants" guys:

and lastly "Bat" guys:

 So, only three young boys are missing, which will be used for different project - either as civilians (that candy won't beg for itself!) or as survivors and thus not really related to this project.

Overall I have quite enjoyed working on those and I plan on getting another box if this project will stick and I'd need more. I also need more firepower, mainly some GPMGs, a heavier machinegun, like a .50 cal, a sniper and faaar down the list there are some stronger anti tank rocket systems. Maybe an AA rocket launcher or two, but that's so unnecessary they would only be used because they look cool.

I should start searching for some pickups, however - them liberators need a ride.

Well, let that be it for today.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 14

Hello guys,
 
part 14 of the insurgents today and I still have three more to show! Today I've decided to use Zhengdefu 1/48 T-90. This tank will be used for anything from T-50 to T-90 that it actually represents. It's not too bad considering what I got it for, but as I put miniatures next to it, it does come out somewhat tall. It's a main battle tank and so the imposing size isn't all bad, I suppose.

I took some great comments from the past into account when painting today's three miniatures and went for somewhat wacky camouflage. It's a red urban camouflage on two guys and I got no idea if itis even actually used by any army as it's so ridiculous. Then again,  is PLA's "cloud camo" any better? :D

When I started working on the insurgents I planned to paint each batch in different camouflage pattern (or at least every second), but I quickly narrowed it down to two, third being wrong colours picked and fourth being this red one. It's simply easier that way and...well, I suppose the insurgents would have one predominant camouflage clothing at hand from official local army.

So, today I have two riflemen and a RPK support gunner to show you. I am really happy with how those turned out and I can tell you straight away the next three won't be that characterful.

 First guy from the left is obviously a veteran of many insurgency campaigns. He has (un)wisely taped two magazines together for a quick reload. He looks downright menacingwith his covered face. There is one thing about him, though. He has a backpack on his belt (check photo below) and wears no straps - he must be in a lot of back pain!
Fatty in the middle not so much, wearing his weekend tracksuit. Not much to say about him, apart from extra effort I took painting the stripes, he's nothing special.
Lastly, the RPK (or, well M72) gunner is the only one of his kind that has (drum roll) - a drum magazine! I figured it would look cool on one at least, besides - I had to figure something new after I have cut his magazine and gave it to the first guy!

Not much else can be said about them, so below is a group photo. You can see just how large the "low silhouette" tank is. Apart from mr. Yellow still drawing attention, this group photo is nothing special, really. I hope I can manage to play a test game with them early in June.

In other news, a couple of day ago I was visiting the location of WW1 "Isonzo front", so you can expect some photos (I actually wanted to post them today, but have decided you deserve some miniatures :P) soon.

Also, Warlord games offer a 50% off their sprues at http://store.warlordgames.com/collections/sprues. This is just too good too pass and I've made a tiny order. I got myself a variety of sprues for different projects, but more on that when they come or when I'll start working on them.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 12

Hello guys,

I got yet another three insurgents painted to show today. To be completely honest, I've finished those around the same time as I've finished the previous three. I've painted 5 at one time, but I've found out that this is too many, so I have painted 4 next time for a total of 9 for three posts :P.
This means they are much like previous bunch, but I can assure you that three I am working on will be a tad more special. Only by paint job, of course.

So, today we got a heroic leader and yet another couple of riflemen. I really hate myself for not making the effort to make sure every rifle is an AK. This didn't seem as important back then (and I felt I shouldn't be ruining all the cool weapons :P), but it bothers me now somehow :D.

Either way, on to photos:

First from the left is a leader. He covered his head with balaclava (I've put balaclavas on some of the insurgents if I would ever have to differentiate between veteran and green insurgents) and apparently ran out of ammo on his M16 as he is blazing away with a pistol. For a sake of diversity, his balaclava was painted in camouflage pattern.
Guy in the middle is an ordinary rifleman and as such there is nothing spectacular about him. I have made way too large splashes on his camouflage, so it didn't came out as well as it could. As he is made from a body that should be swinging a bat IIRC, he seems to be charging.
Last guy had a bit more work involved and he carries a backpack with (:O :O) a water bottle! Given the position of his rifle, he is clearly either patrolling or marching.

Below is a close up of the back pack. Never mind the unrealistic V shape of the backpack, lol.

And, as usual, the group all together. If you  care, this photo is exactly the same as the one in the previous post, but it had those three guys added to the left :P.

I have to say I am quite satisfied with how they are turning out overall and working on them has actually motivated me to work on my Slovene soldiers. I am now not only slowly slugging forward with sculpting first four bodies, but I am also working on another weapon! (Woooow :D)

I'd gladly promise you more insurgents in my next post, but I think I'll post yet more WIPs that I haven't covered in my last WIP post.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 11

Hello guys,

I got yet another three insurgents to show, which means there are only 9 left (yay!).
I am trying to push my soldiers forward with sculpting, but I'm very busy lately and I rarely find time for hobby. Still, every little done is a step forward so that's something, too.

There is not much to say about today's trio. We got three riflemen, one with a bit more modern webbing and other two with a "bad guys" chest ring. Fat man is painted horribly and I have to admit I've started wondering if khaki/sand colour is a right choice for ALL my webbing. Still - at least they provide contrast. The problem with painting people in camouflage is how it all ends up looking the same.

Lastly, a photo of them all below:

As I've said, there really isn't much to add. If I could paint them faster I'd post more than just three at a time as I can't ditch the feeling that I keep posting one same post :D

Still, thanks for looking,

Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 10

Hello guys,

moving on with painted stuff (yay!), I got a part 10 of the insurgents project to show you today.
Nothing surprisingly new here, just another three freedom fighters in variety of equipment and clothes.

I might mention at this point I feel sorry I didn't put more effort in making sure everyone is armed with an AK, but oh well...maybe with the next box :D.

Today I have a leader, an RPG gunner and a random rifleman.

I've decided to scrap the plastic hood and sculpt one covering his face. I've also added a head with sun shades and a bandana for an ultimate improvised identity protecting kit! I  wanted to go with skull motive on the bandana but I've got confused and painted it mostly black before remembering skulls are predominantly white and not black! I really like his position - he is holding a rifle in one hand and mending his radio with another. You can perhaps just notice how the strap covering radio pouch is slightly angled "because of the antennae".
This RPG gunner is the only one actually aiming the weapon and I'm quite proud of it. The scars of the complicated surgical operation can be noticed, but it's good enough for a tabletop bad boy. I've forgot to sculpt a pack of extra rockets on him, but I'm fixing that on the third gunner that is yet to be painted - so at least one will have them. Other than that, he has the hat turned backwards (an actual practice!) an the rest is nothing to really write home about.
Third guy is the coat guy. I gave him a bandana to make him at least a bit different. I think this pose is one of my least favorite because of the coat.

To keep it more interesting, I've added a couple of shots with the miniatures that share the same body. It shows how versatile this kit can be and while I could do better, I think there's quite a decent amount of variety in them so far.

Above there are two coat guys, two suit guys and three hoodie guys.
Below are two strangley standing guys, two whichever guys, two jumpsuit guys and a random fat + another guy. I might want to think about new ways to name the bodies :D.

And as usual, the all-painted-so-far shot. Putting them up three by three, I get quite impressed at how fast they grow. There is 15 painted insurgents on this photo, which means there are only 12 to go!

Lastly, I'd like to thank Clint from Anything but a One fame for the Salute 2014, random Salute and Postie's dice. Surely I can call myself half-a-reject now...or should I cover it up and hope nobody ever knows? :D

Thanks again mate!

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 9

Hello guys,

I got three more insurgents to show today. I've painted those a while ago, but kept holding them back to push forward the terrain and scenario I've posted few days back. Okay, a week back - time really flies by!

We got three riflemen today, two of them armed with standard AKs and one has a British SA80 rifle. Again, not that it really matters.

Guy on the left has his balaclava rolled up as he rests. Apart from somewhat elaborate vest and camouflage pants, he wears civilian clothes. There's something about flashy blue snickers that appeals to me, so he wears those :P
Guy in the middle is more or less same as any other, but he wears a handkerchief to cover his identity. Being true to his "gangsta " spirit, he carelessly sprays with his AK, effectively wasting ammo!
Looks like insurgent's depot ran out out vests for the third guy and he had to do with a simple bag. It's an actual design and it's is actually meant to store  gas mask in it.

Not much else to say about them - they are grunts as any others and thus very simple. I have made a mandatory group shot of painted insurgents below. There is 12 of them now, which is close to half, but not quite there yet!

In other news hobby front is somewhat silent again. I'm painting another batch of insurgents (very slowly) and I've been converting some miniatures for the fantasy campaign, but over all it's all moving forward little by little every few days. I've been on a short trip today (to Čedad, a town founded by Julius Caesar that's especially known from the Langobardes). I took some photos and I'll post the more interesting ones in one of my random posts.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Some new terrain

Hello guys,

I've finally been working on some terrain for my games again. With all the posts about Salute ruining my days lately, I have also started unearthing old stuff that is either half made or still packed. That includes resin crates and barrels, some miniatures (I am putting off painting cultists as I'm afraid I'd never get colours same again :P) and lots of smaller scatter terrain.

Anyways, I have been thinking and planning about setting (some of) my Strange Aeons games in Slovenia for a very long time (remember the three bridges board idea that never progressed?). As this project overlaps with my idea of  "Slovenian mythology" games, set in Dark ages, and I thus read a lot on the subject lately, I've decided to play some games with what I already have in my collection.

Before I could start, I needed just one piece of terrain that defines the local area more than anything else I could imagine - a Hayrack. We call it "kozolec" which would be pronounced something like "kozolets". It's an awesome little device and while outdated, they can still be found on most of farmsteads in at least one of their forms.  I went with the most basic of the designs - single straight line (Check link above for more variants, some are really great). To make building it easier, I went with stone pillars instead of usual wooden ones. And I also used way too few vertical poles, that are used to hang on hay. As it was a rush job, the pillars are awfully crooked, but that's fine as I was aiming for backwater place anyways. I added some logical supports and talking of the vertical poles, I really should break one, to add the feel of neglect. I did, however, sculpt some hay on it, so that's a plus.

 The shingles are on a large side, which might not look as realistic as loads of little ones, but I actually prefer the cartoony "warhammer" feel they make. Don't unfriend me, Joe! :D

Below is a painted version. It's painted horribly as my craft paints seem to be kinda odd. Or I could blame the brushes.

As I was so inspired, I've also painted a very simple hill I've made last year. I kinda like it now that it's painted, but I was putting off painting it for so long for a reason unknown. It's just boring, you know...a hill. Yawn.

It's made for miniatures to fit on it and yes, I am aware I should put more effort in the overall shape, but it will do for a while!

On other fronts, after millionth try on the guns, I've decided it is time for drastic measures. As none of the guns felt quite right, I simply cut off all the putty from one of those, cut the nose and restarted from step one.

Keep in mind F2000 is only about 700mm long in real life, so 12mm seems about right. The guns above it are the "old kind" for comparison. Mine is a bit crude, but I have decided to call it done. If I'll try to have it cast and then polish it and add the gadgets.

I had great plans for my Whateley farm model - from housing an abomination from out of space, to secret laboratory of Herbert West (I never got to build an autopsy table, that I've planned - I should do that!), Church for an evil cult and...naturally, a distillery. I've even made a still for it. It never got painted beyond basic undercoat and seeing it now, I'll swap that wire for something just a bit thinner and I'll coil it more. I will keep the "pot" and the "barrel", I think.

Lastly, a photo of my current (okay, about a session or two outdated) sculpting "table". In upper left quarter are modern weapons and modern sculpts (kinda on hold for now), lower left corner is Kurent (came out too thin - I can't lose that habit!), which is essentially a man wearing mask, cow bells and a baton with hedge hog skin. Back in the days (so, when SA takes place!) the groups could fight each other, so it seemed like a good idea for a lurker - a mad man, hitting people with his club while making noise with the bells - yes please! The large guy is Horroclix's fiend (Frankenstein's monster) that Vampifan kindly donated. He will become a Slovenian demigod for the Dark ages myths games. In the right upper corner are dead bodies (disturbingly ugly sculpts, rushjobs), 4 beastmen, being turned into dog headed soldiers (that hate humanity!) and a "fire elemental" that will probably be painted by a stone idol or whatever. I've been "working" on this one for well over a year, but I'm not too satisfied with it. Lastly, the 4 GW wolves are a Wolf herder (mythological creature) and his pack. They are way too "undead" and certianly waaaay too large for my liking, but I got them as a bargain, so they will be used as a stand ins until I get my hands on some proper werewolves.

That's it for today. I've also played a game (yay!) and I will post report in mid week one day. It's gonna be a bit different than what I usually posted, but just as long, filled with endless blabber! :P

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 8

Hey guys,

 here are the last of the insurgents I've converted from WGF plastic survivors.

There's six of them, for total of 27 (remaining three miniatures from the box are "the kid").
We got, rifleman (that looks like a leader, but he honestly isn't!),  another rifleman, RPK, yet another two riflemen and an RPG.

Below are the close ups, with one back shot missing (I know, I know).

Here you can see the two riflemen and a guy with an RPK support weapon. First rifleman seems to be giving some directions, so he could also be used as a leader. As I've got enough of them already (guys with radios), he is represented here as a grunt, but he could really be anything. Other than that he is quite basic, has an "ordinary" vest and an AK. I've also just noticed all three of them have baseball hats, so I won't be painting them together :P.
Not much to say about the second guy, either. Both him and the first rifleman got one of the "awkward" poses that I think came out very natural looking.
The RPK gunner wears a coat. I really didn't want all of the coat wearing guys to be armed with an M16, so I gave him an AK instead. If you remember last time, I've shown you a guy with two magazines stuck to each other. This is the gun I got the magazine from. So I wouldn't waste a perfectly nice weapon, I've sculpted drum magazine instead. It fits the weapon in real life (although it wasn't used much in Yugoslavia), so it looks cool, different and it isn't far from the truth!

Below are another two riflemen (they are the backbone of any forces, after all!) and an RPG gunner.
The fat man is the same as any other, but I've added him some sleeves, so at least something is different. I was thinking about giving him an M16 (for same reasons as the guy with the coat), but when  picking between the two, AK always wins.
Second rifleman is a bit more special, as he has a backpack. Not many of my insurgents carry one and this one is that much nicer as it's kinda detailed :D. You can see water bottle in one of the side pockets in the back photo.
Lastly, the RPG gunner in a "rest" or "preparing" or "whatever" position. I gave him a balaclava as no other RPG gunner has it. I am not too happy with this one, but it really comes down to this body. While it seems natural on the first inspection, all three of them look so...stiff? Just odd.

Well, that's all I got for you today. I've actually painted three that I got to show you and I'm painting some terrain for a Strange Aeons game I have planned. I am still working on fantasy creatures and hopefully I'll have some done and painted in a fortnight or so.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgency rising - part 7

Hello guys,

I only 13 insurgents more to show and I've decided to put them in two groups of 7 and 6. This project got a bit sidetracked now that it came to painting them (I know, I know, I'm drifting), but I would still like to paint them all as soon as possible to finish them for good, or they will never be finished.

So, below is a pic of all seven insurgents, nicely lined up in front of ol'Whateley's farm :D.

From left to right, there is a leader (note the clever position of a radio and somewhat civilian clothes with hoodie and bandana) and three "ordinary" riflemen. First one has an old type of webbing, with pouches and straps attached to a combat belt. You can see on the backview photo, that he also sports a nice little backpack. When I was working through the pile, I figured I'm giving some sorts of webbing or pouches to everyone, so I left one rifleman blank. I only covered his face with bandana to make sure he seems like one of the "bad guys". I might mention you can see both him and leader from this batch wear sunglasses - hidden identity comes in handy when you're doing something illegal! Last rifleman is one of the foreign fighters again. His face is covered with balaclava and he was (un)wise enough to rambo-stick two magazines together. I wanted to do this for a while, but I just couldn't sculpt a magazine I'd be happy with. So I've cut one from spare AKs (that I converted into a RPK with a drum magazine, but more on that in next post where I'll show you that miniature). He has backpack as well, but as he has no straps I'd imagine he must be experiencing a lot of back pain. I didn't gave him straps as "everyone has them", but I didn't want to leave him blank as that's boring...so now he has to suffer based on my decisions - it's like playing god! Hra hra hra!

I might mention I've noticed how most of  the survivors got one leg stretched like some sort of ballerinas. That's odd, but oh well, who'd notice.

Anyways, here are the remaining three miniatures - a RPG gunner (thanks again Colgar6!), another leader and another rifleman. I wanted to really put some effort into the RPG gunner as I got spare from Rovanite at Grekwood miniatures and from Colgar6. You know...if they went through the trouble to get me some, I might take time to preform a surgery and make sure at least one RPG gunner is actually aiming the weapon. And he is. I did, however, just remembered I forgot to give him a backpack with extra rockets, so that's something I need to sculpt before I paint him. And perhaps to one of the riflemen, surely a RPG gunner like that deserves an assistant!
Leader has another of those "awkward poses" (remember the molotov guy?) and I got another brilliant idea to fix that. He is caught in a momentum of action, blazing away with his pistol (that I've made sure is "naturally" angled - not too "gangsta" and not too "orderly") as he has ran out of ammo on his rifle. Surely this could only be preformed by someone with vast experience in insurgency, hence the balaclava. Not much to say about the rifleman after such a heroic figure, so let's just say he exists :P.

In other news, I'm trying to paint some of these insurgents but I've been painting a little something for last two weeks, spending way too much time on a single miniature and I can't see a brush anytime soon as it drained all of the mojo in my shallow painting mojo lake.

I did jump deep into the Slovenian myths and folklore and I took notes of twenty five (!) creatures that sounded like they could be used in either a Dark age "Jason and the Argonatus" kind of game or Strange Aeons (so interwar era monster hunt). I've left out various villas and dwarfs and whatnot, as there is no use of having a beautiful woman standing on the middle of the board, having no impact on the game :P. I'll try to convert/sculpt as many as possible to end up with kind of posts I was showing last summer - full of beasts. I could fill a post with all the ideas and what not, but I'm trying to keep "planning" posts on minimum and I will just post some observations when I'll also have something to show for it.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo

Insurgnecy rising - part 6

 Hello,

I've decided to speed up my painting for this batch a bit and decided to use them for my today's post instead of another blank post with conversions. Those aren't varnished yet, but as I'll be away from home for next couple of days, I wanted to post them today regardless.

I feel a bit bad with showing three at a time, but it seems to work for me. I got a rifleman, RPK gunner and a leader today.

Rifleman, as usual is nothing special. He is reloading his SA80. As he wears his hat rambo style, it seemed suitable to dress him at least partly as a civilian. When I first started working on the kit, his body seemed best but I can't end up thinking it looks even more awkward than any other.  He has a standard vest (but to be honest, not two are alike in my force :D) and camouflage pants.

A RPK gunner, on the other hand, is a whole other story. I love how he came out in the end. He is clearly a skilled resistance fighter. His ski mask came out great, but I've noticed now that I have always taken photos in a way where you couldn't see his face from up front.  I have substituted the dark sand colour for khaki on his uniform and it came out looking far more like an US woodland than the with miniature from the last batch.

Lastly, a leader. He's got a high tech vest, a (camouflaged!) M16 and that's about all that's interesting here. I like the pose, but there really isn't much more to add.

I might mention that I've somehow painted every pair of shoes differently. Not that anyone is looking at the shoes, but it's a nice accomplishment :D.

Lastly, there is the complimentary photo of the insurgency rising. Nine still isn't something to brag about, but I am getting there.
They are put together in a group as per FOF Quick Start rules. First group has a leader, RPG, RPK and 4 rifles. Second one is stuck with a leader and a RPK for now.

Thanks for looking,
Mathyoo