[Project News] Back on Track...

Well it's been a few weeks since my last update here, but things have been ticking away in the background at Martians & Machine Guns since the last time I posted.

First of all I've started painting two battalions of highland infantry, these will end up as the 1st Battalion The Gordon Highlanders and the 1st Battalion Seaforth Highlanders (Ross-shire Buffs), with ten men per company (and per stand) and eight companies per battalion that ends up as 160 tiny little men to paint. That'll only need another 80 infantry to complete the British infantry contingent. Progress is a little slow as 160 jackets, helmets, packs and kit all takes it's time but they're slowly starting to come together.

I've also started painting 2 batteries of 12pdrs for the Royal Artillery, these will be 16th Battery, 2nd Brigade Royal Artillery and 33rd Battery, 2nd Brigade Royal Artillery. These were created using the Baccus Artillery creator, this allows you to mix and match crews with artillery pieces from different ranges, for these I used the Royal Artillery crew from the Colonial range and the Prussian 12pdrs from the Franco-Prussian War range. It's probably completely inaccurate but good enough to my eyes.

Finally I've been working on four more landships for the British, three old Epic scale hellhound models  and a custom made artillery tractor. Once these are finished it'll be a case of looking on to the next army, I'm undecided who will be next, the Prussians, the French or a contingent headed by Captain Nemo. 

[Finished] The First Martian Tripod

Well it's been a long time between updates, pretty inexcusable but a combinations of things has prevented me from having much hobby time. Hopefully this has all changed, I finally managed to find a decent job lately so I should have the funds to start expanding this project into the areas that I want to.

Anyway enough of the excuses, time for some pictures.

First up we have a shot of the first Martian walking machine to emerge from the cylinders on Horsell Common.

The first Martian walking machine emerges from it's cylinder.

The first Martian walking machine passes by on it's way towards London.

The Martian tripod was painted with a combination of Games Workshop and Vallejo Model Colour over a base coat of GW Chaos Black spray. Base courtesy of an old CD, covered with GW sand and static grass with the odd dot of Woodland Scenics clump foliage.

And just because I haven't had any updates posted on the site for over a year some bonus pictures, it's all been covered in previous updates but the landship is a converted Pendraken British WW1 Mark V and the ruins are Games Workshop Epic 40,000 ruins.

HMLS Defence confronts the Martian Tripod.

Baccus 6mm Colonials support the Pendraken 10mm Mark V. The two scales match up quite well here and I'm hoping to plunder the Pendraken range for more Landships in the future.

The 2nd Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment supports HMLS Defence.

[Finished] 2nd Battalion York & Lanc's & my 1st landship

Welcome back,
                           Well it’s been a long time in the making but I’ve finally got another update ready and this time there are even pictures to prove that there has been progress (I must apologise for all the picture free posts recently but without a reliable computer it has been difficult to get them sorted). 

I’ve made progress on three new units, first of all I began by continuing with the 2^nd Battalion of the Yorkshire and Lancashire regiment, this unit has frustrated me since I started it before Christmas, the Baccus marching strips were a lot more work than I originally thought and left me severely de-motivated, however they are finally finished and are looking decidedly splendid.

The 2nd Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment flank the HMLS Defence

The 2nd Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment flank the HMLS Defence

Four companies from the 2nd Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment escort the HMLS Defence

 

 The second unit that I began was the first of my Landship’s, based upon a Pendraken 10mm Mk V Tank it turned out even better than I imagined, the size of the model fits quite nicely with my Baccus and looks quite convincing (in my eyes at least) as a Landship.  I was in two minds about the colour scheme, I was initially drawn to a predominately white scheme that I’d seen on some 28mm VSF tanks but I’m not really that confident painting white and so I considered painting them in the same scheme as my British aeronef’s but I felt there was too few areas that I’d be able to paint buff, that just left me the scheme that I finally settled upon, not too much white, a little brass and a little colour.

HMLS Defence

HMLS Defence

HMLS Defence

Ad-hoc British Brigade supported by the landship HMLS Defence and naval brigades from HMS Atropos & HMS Panther

The third unit that I have made progress on is the 17^th Lancers, no pictures of these at the moment as all I’ve done is paint the horses, I do hope to have them done within a couple of weeks though.

Haarken

[PROJECT NEWS] Brief Update.

Welcome back,
                                It has been another extended break from the project unfortunately, with life once again intervening, this time in the untimely demise of my girlfriends Mac Book, still it wasn’t all bad, I finally realised I was spending too much time looking at other peoples projects rather than getting on with my own. Without an internet connection I decided it was about time I got something productive done and so hobby work has resumed on the project and hopefully that means I’ll be able to start creating a little momentum.

So what have I been up to? Well I’ve converted one of the Pendraken miniatures 10mm Mark V Tanks into a British Landship, this was subsequently base coated and then painted, just a few finishing details and the basing to do and it will be complete. I also began work on the York and Lancaster Regiment, these were base coated and painting is in progress. I’m hoping to get these finished and based by next week.

Then there is the question of what to do next? With the completion of the York and Lancs I’ll have completed the original three infantry packs from my initial order to Baccus, out of that order there are just the Lancers and the Naval machineguns to complete, so I’m aiming to do those if only for a little variation, that of course means that I have to place an order for some more bases from Renedra, 100x50mm for the Landships, 50x50mm for the Cavalry, 50x25mm for the infantry and 25x25mm for the guns.

Anyway pictures will follow in my next update, hopefully there will be another battalion of infantry and a landship to show off.

Haarken

[Project News] A New Year.

Welcome back,

                            Well it's well into the new year and it's about time that I got this project back into motion and so it's time for a new post. Lots of things have been conspiring to keep this project stalled (time, money, weather) but the chief cause I must admit been a lack of motivation. To combat this I've decided to track exactly what I've bought for this project, what I have started painting and what i've finished painting, hopefully this will this will inspire and motivate me to keep on completing units on a more regular basis.

I've decided on a relatively simple system to track my progress, once an item arrives on to the lead pile it is added to the tracker as a white box, it will be filled in red when it's in the base coating stage, orange when it's in the painting stage, yellow when it's in the basing stage and green when it's completely finished. This will hopefully be updated on  a more regular basis.

Anyway here's a copy of where I stand at the moment, the more eagle eyed reader will spot that there have been some additions over the recent Christmas period, I ordered a pair of 10mm Mark V Tanks from Pendraken Miniatures as the base for two landships and three infantry units and some artillery units from Baccus. Reviews and pictures to follow at some point. Anyway I should get  on and do some actual hobby related work.

Cheers, Haarken.

Project Status as of 19/01/11

[PROJECT NEWS] A Bit Stalled.

Welcome back,

                                   a bit of a general update on progress today. As things have been so hectic of late, I haven't had time to take any pictures (not that there is much to take pictures of to be honest). So what have I been up to?

Well I built another two of my Martian tripods and came to the conclusion that they definitely need some sort of support if I want to use them for gaming. I'm thinking that I'll drill small holes underneath the body and mount them on brass rod for support (now I just need some brass rod to get on with that), secondly I'm going to mount them on CD's as bases, after a quick test I realised how difficult they can be to pick up so, I'm thinking either a double layer of CD's to help with that or a solid terrain piece that I can grab a hold instead of the models. So basically I'm waiting on materials and a bit of experimentation to proceed with this part of the project.

I've also been preparing the next Infantry Battalion of my British Army for painting, normally this would be an hour or so's work for the entire battalion (to snip each stand of four in two and then glue them to wooden spatula's for painting) but it took me that long to do two company's worth. The problem being that I bought a battalion of Baccus infantry in marching pose which come on a much narrower sprue and which has to be cut three times instead of just once (and I can't quite get my cutters in between the individual models so it's more like 6 cuts). Suffice to say I was a little frustrated, I'll get back to them soon though for once they are finished I can move on to my Lancers and my Machine Guns.

Finally there has been more work on a small terrain project, inspired by Christian's entry in the Build Something Contest on Lead Adventure I'm attempting to make a 6mm version. Progress is a bit slow but I'm getting there, pictures will be forth coming as soon as it looks like something.

And that's about it for the moment, a bit of a rubbish update but an update no less.

Haarken

[Finished] The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders).

Welcome back,

                           a brief update tonight i'm afraid, well I finally finished the Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), I struggled to get them finished last night due to family duties but now they're all done. These were based and flocked in the same way as the DLI and the Naval Brigade, with Games Workshop Static Grass and Woodland Scenics Medium Green Foliage.

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

As mentioned in previous posts the kilts were painted with Games Workshop Ultramarines Blue with Goblin Green stripes over the top, the tunics were GW Blood Red on top of GW Scab Red.

The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

As with the previous finished post I included a couple of pictures of the army as it stands. It's really starting to look like a larger force, I especially love the overall impression that you get from 6mm. Hopefully will begin another Infantry battalion next tuesday as I'm working until then. The plan at the moment is for at least two infantry brigades of three battalions, a cavalry brigade and plenty of artillery along with some vsf goodies.

Pictured: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), The Durham Light Infantry, The Naval Brigades.

Pictured: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), The Durham Light Infantry, The Naval Brigades.

Pictured: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), The Durham Light Infantry, The Naval Brigades.

Hope that's not too many pictures, more updates soon.

Haarken

[W.I.P] The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) - Progress.

Welcome back,
                         as I promised the other day I've made progress on my latest battalion, The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), I had a day off work so had a lot of time to work on them. Having painted their kilts on Sunday, I set about painting their socks and tunics on Monday night and the rest of them today.

Work In Progress: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

As with all of my battalions there are eight stands (one for each company), these are ready for sand and flocking, which hopefully I'll get done tomorrow.

Work In Progress: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

The helmets are painted white, not strictly correct for home service uniform but the helmets just wouldn't look right the other way, a bit of a compromise but I think they look pretty good. Now just to get them based up.

Work In Progress: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

Hopefully I'll get these finished up tomorrow and a new battalion base-coated, anyway until then...

Work In Progress: The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders)

Haarken

[W.I.P] The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders).

Welcome back,
                          a brief update today I'm afraid. Work has been pretty hectic lately and has eaten in to valued hobby time, a pattern that unfortunately looks like it is going to continue right up till Christmas, that doesn't mean that I haven't been productive with what little time I have had.

After copious amounts of indecision I finally decided on which Highland Infantry regiment I was going, and as you may have guessed it is The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders), I've gone for a pretty simple and totally incorrect colour scheme, but one that I think will work on 6mm miniatures, which is vertical green stripes over blue to give the impression of tartan. It obviously looks nothing like tartan up close but if your at least a foot away it gives the right impression (or so I think). Unfortunately no pictures yet as the weather was awful today and I just couldn't get any taken (I'll definitely post some up on Tuesday though).

In other news, voting is due to start for the Lead Adventure Forum's "Build Something Competition", my entry "Floating Islands Of Atlantis" is located in Group B. There's some extremely good entries in there too and I urge everyone to go have a look, lots of inspiration to be had, you could also vote whilst you're there.


That's all from me for now, more pictures and an update on Tuesday.
Haarken


                                

[Finished] Naval Brigade.

Welcome back to Martians & Machine Guns,

On Sunday I posted pictures of the progress I'd made on the Naval Brigade, in my little bit of free time yesterday I painted the bases and moved them one step closer to being finished. I can however proudly report that today they are ready for action (barring a few little touch ups). I managed to get the last coat of dry brushing done early this morning leaving me most of the rest of the day to get them flocked up and waiting for a spot of decent light to take pictures in. So without further ado let me present my Naval Brigade.

Naval Brigade of HMS Atropos & HMS Panther.

The bases were flocked with Games Workshop Static Grass and Woodland Scenics Medium Green Foliage, having been a long time Epic collector, I used to just flock my miniatures with the static grass but I've found that the addition of the foliage really helps to break up the bases and add a little more colour. I also tried a little experiment with a small twig on one of the bases which I think looks pretty good, not something I'd be willing to repeat a lot but definitely something that adds a little interest.

Naval Brigade of HMS Atropos & HMS Panther.

As I've stated previously I have a pair of Nordenfelt's and a pair of Gatlings to add to the Naval Brigade (I want to end up with at least 2 Bases of Infantry and 2 Machine Guns I think) but I need to place another order with Renedra before I can get started on them. This means that  next up will be the Highland Infantry.

Naval Brigade of HMS Atropos & HMS Panther.

Obviously I couldn't take pictures without doing an army shot, so the army so far:

Pictured: Naval Brigade to the front, Durham Light Infantry on the rear.

Pictured: Naval Brigade on the left, Durham Light Infantry

Anyway in further news, I've also made progress on my entry for the Lead Adventure Forum "Build Something" Competition, after several coats of dry brushing the whole thing began to look much, much better and a lot less like the "crushed weetabix" that it resembled. Since I had the static grass and foliage out today it got a coat of that too, now it's just a question of whether I have anything else to add to it. Once again pictures once the competition has closed.


Haarken

[W.I.P] Naval Brigade - Progress.

Welcome back to Martians & Machine Guns,
                                                               I've had a day off today and the girlfriend is at work so I've been able to make some progress with my Naval Brigade. During the week I finished off painting the miniatures, this was mostly just touch up work on bits that I had missed the first time around. Once that was done I began basing them up on their bases. 

Work In Progress: Naval Brigade

Work In Progress: Naval Brigade

As with my DLI Infantry stands these Naval Brigade stands were covered with Games Workshop sand and PVA. As an experiment, I took an officer from one of the Marching Infantry stands for use as a Naval Officer, I think the result is quite nice, but I can't help feeling that he should be in the firing line rather than stuck out on the edge of the base, unfortunately it's too late to change.

As you can see, not a great deal of progress made, but I've also been working on my competition entry for the Build Something Competition over on the Lead Adventure Forum. With the deadline looming nearer I decided that I couldn't afford to wait too much longer before painting and so after a quick coat of black I began applying colour. Unfortunately there are no pictures, but once the competition is over I'll post up the finished result over here.

Work In Progress: Naval Brigade

Anyway that's all for the moment, hopefully I'll be back soon with pictures of the finished Naval Brigade and news on some new idea's I've had.

Haarken