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Though I painted the drill on my VSF Tunnelling Machine with a basecoat of Boltgun Metal, for the tracks I decided to use my usual method of a black basecoat. Like the tracks this was quite a challenging area to ensure it was fully painted.
This will then be drybrushed with Boltgun Metal.
Having undercoated my Ironclad Miniatures Victorian Science Fiction Tunnelling Machine, I painted the drill using Boltgun Metal.
This is a different process to the way I would usually paint something like this. Normally I would give the metal parts a black undercoat and then drybrush with Boltgun Metal. This time I am intending to use a black wash.
This is quite a difficult part to paint, as due to the design it is very easy to miss bits as you paint. I found rotating across the three dimensions certainly helped avoiding missing bits with the paint.
The Ironclad Miniatures Steam Tank was given a white undercoat.
The resin pieces of the Ironclad Miniatures Tunnelling Machine were very clean and needed minimal work to get them sorted. The pieces went together very easily. I then gave the model a white undercoat.
I do like this model and think it will be very useful as the core of different kinds of Victorian SF scenarios, even if it actually doesn’t get used itself. It could even just be scenery in the background.
The next stage will be applying the basecoat to the various parts of the model.
The recent Christmas special for Doctor Who got me thinking about some Victorian gaming scenarios with Alien twists.
We’ve already seen various episodes with the Doctor in Victorian London, often at Christmas and usually with snow. There has been “ghosts”, werewolves, Cybermen. There was of course the quasi-Victorian planet with flying fish and sharks too. This year we saw snowmen, a Silurian, Madam Vastra and a Sontaran. There is some talk of a spin off involving Madam Vastra and I hope there is, because I think it would work well, and there are quite a few connections to existing stories and canon. For example, there may well be steampunk influences with a Victorian Torchwood using alien influenced tech to find and defeat alien threats to the British Empire. if you watch Tooth and Claw you will hear the doctor talking about steam powered starships of the British Empire if the wolf gets its way. Tooth and Claw in itself would make a good scenario, Victorian British Infantry versus monks and a werewolf.
The real way to play games in the Doctor Who universe is to avoid using the Doctor and focus on the other characters in the story, use UNIT for example, or play out the scenarios prior to the involvement of the Time Lord.
I have been looking at the forthcoming releases for the Dystopian Legions and quite like the look of the Britannic and Prussian steam powered tankettes.
These I think would work well in my Steampunk Old West setting. They seem to fit in well with the Ironclad Miniatures Tunneller and Steam Tank.
I do like the concept of Dystopian Legions, and probably will get the rules, but I think I might actually use the Old West rules instead using aspects of the Dystopian Legions background and miniatures.
The Dystopian Wars is a miniatures games from Spartan Games, one of the models I have is the PPrussian Blucher Class Dreadnought.
Having washed the resin model and glued on the metal pieces, I gave the model a white undercoat, the next stage was a grey basecoat.
I use a Tamiya acrylic and had my usual problem, exaggerated by bad light, in the paint not covering the whole model. I find the paint rather thick and it doesn’t thin well compared to GW paints. So it will probably need some touching up, before I start adding detailing to the model through a drybrush and then adding the decking. I will then give the model a thin wash.
The Dystopian Wars is a miniatures games from Spartan Games, I now have a few models in the range.
Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher was a famous Prussian Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshall) who was known for his rather direct military tactics. ‘On it like Blucher‘ is a term synonymous in the Prussian military for taking the fight to the enemy. The designers behind this Dreadnought certainly took this to heart. FOUR powerful Primary turrets rain death on enemy targets and row after row of Tesla Coils rip into enemy vessels.
Having washed the resin model and glued on the metal pieces, I gave the model a white undercoat.
At some point the rear guns got bent, so I had to bend them back.
The next stage will be a grey basecoat.
I recently wrote a blog article on adding Science Fiction elements to Old West gaming, SteamPunk Old West.
I wanted a couple of vehicles to go with the Old West miniatures that were on my workbench. I bought a couple of resin models from Ironclad miniatures, including one of the steam tanks. It comes in a variety of pieces.
In order to paint it I am going to keep the tracks and turret separate from the main hull. The model went together very easily and needed minimal work or preparation.
Here is the tank assemblies together to see what the finished tank will look like.
I will be giving the model a white undercoat and then a basecoat of sand.
The pieces of the Ironclad Miniatures Tunnelling Machine were very clean and needed minimal work to get them sorted.
The pieces went together very easily.
Next stage will be an undercoat, I am undecided to go with a black or white undercoat. I am going for a wooden hull though.