I gave the Prussian Empire Konigsberg Class Battlecruisers a white undercoat.
The next stage will be a basecoat of grey.
Really impressive detail on these models.
Category: victorian science fiction
Putting them together, Prussian Empire Konigsberg Class Battlecruiser
After washing the resin, I constructed the Dystopian Wars’ Prussian Empire Konigsberg Class Battlecruisers.
Very simple to put together, as you only need to glue the turrets into place.
Flying Ships
Having undercoated the Britannian Flyers the next stage was to paint the base coat. I have been thinking about the colour scheme for my two large Dystopian Wars Kingdom of Britannia airborne models, the Illustrious Class Sky Fortress and the Eagle Class War Rotor.
I thought very early on that I didn’t want to follow the same colour scheme I had used for the naval vessels. They had a dark grey basecoat, followed by a dark brown wash and then successive light grey drybrushed onto the models. I was quite pleased with the end result.
The Illustrious and the Eagle though flew in the air, they did not sail in the sea. Even though the “fluff” from Dystopian Wars talks about a combined armed forces for the Kingdom of Britannia, I still liked the idea of a slightly separate naval air corps. I was inspired by a conversation I had with Simon about the current US Navy where the East Coast Atlantic Navy think the West Coast Pacific Navy are beach boys who can’t handle cold weather and are too relaxed, whilst the Pacific Navy think the Atlantic Navy need to loosen up and chill a bit! In a similar vein many in the British armed forces in 1914 thought that the Royal Flying Corps was full of crackpots and madmen.
I have this idea that though there are combined forces in the Kingdom of Britannia, there are still issues and there are those who command the naval ships thinking that those who fly about in the air are a little “weird” and not quite right in the head!
On the Spartan Community forums there are a fair few pictures of painted models, which have given me a few ideas.
Initially I did think about a camouflage scheme as used by the RAF in World War Two, light egg blue for the under surfaces and khaki and dark green two tone camouflage on the top surfaces. I then did consider using the RAF night camouflage, so with black under surfaces. However upon reflection I did wonder if this was too “modern” for Dystopian Wars and so went back to thinking.
I then remembered I really enjoyed reading The Ministry of Space comic
It is written and drawn in the style of Dan Dare and the Eagle Comics.
As a result I am now thinking bright shiny aluminium with aircraft markings. So for the basecoat I used Citadel Boltgun Metal.
Prussian Empire Konigsberg Class Battlecruiser
Sitting atop the Konigsberg Class Battlecruiser’s conning tower is one of the most unusual weapons to be created by Prussian engineers – the Pattern V ‘Speerschleuder’. This strange device, believed to have originated from a secret Teutonic Order development, is a massive launcher that hurls an immense metal spear over vast distances. While the harpoon normally only causes superficial damage, its true value is as a focal point for Tesla weaponry subsequently fired at the unfortunate victim. The spear acts as a huge lightning rod, drawing the worst effects of the devastating Tesla bursts through itself and into the hapless target, multiplying their destructive power.
This is how the Prussian Empire Konigsberg Class Battlecruisers look from the marketing material.
There are two models and they come in a single blister pack.
These are nice clean castings.
Not a lot of rear armament.
The Prussians are coming…
The first Dystopian models I finished painting were some Prussian naval ships. The main model was a Blucher Class Dreadnought. Alongside this large ship I have six Arminius Class Frigates in support.
Though I have some Airships, two Pflicht Class Scoutships and a Sky Fortress, what I wanted to get was a few more naval vessels in order to have a naval battle group for the Prussian Empire.
I did initially consider getting the Prussian Empire Naval Battle Group boxed set, but the only models I actually wanted from the box were the battleship and the cruisers. I already had the frigates and, as mentioned elsewhere I am not a great fan of the flyers and the bombers. Buying the blisters of the battleship and the cruisers would be a lot cheaper than buying the boxed set.
In the end I got three more blisters of Prussian ships. Another Blucher Class Dreadnought, Konigsberg Class Battlecruiser and the Hussar Class Gunship.
Maybe a little heavy in firepower, but I can if need be get a blister of frigates and corvettes to balance out the force. However I think I have just the right number of ships.
One of the reasons I went with “bigger” ships was less to do with cheese and beards, much more to do with ease of play, at this stage playing Dystopian Wars, I am still getting use to the rules, so less models (in my mind) does make it a little easier to play.
At this stage I do feel that I now have sufficient models for Dystopian Wars and I don’t think I will be buying any more, well not many more. In a recent game I did capture an FSA Lexington Cruiser and I did consider buying one of the models to paint up in captured Kingdom of Britannian colours. I also recently saw the Covenant of Antarctica models and I did like the look of the Dreadnought!
So never say never…
Undercoating the Flyers
After constructing the Kingdom of Britannia Eagle Class War Rotor and the Illustrious Class Sky Fortress I gave the models a white undercoat using a Citadel White Skull spray can.
I also gave the two Doncaster bombers from the Naval Battle Group an undercoat too.
Eagle Class War Rotor Workbench
Illustrious Class Sky Fortress Workbench
Putting the Eagle Class War Rotor together
Having cleaned the resin and metal parts I put the Eagle Class War Rotor I have for Dystopian Wars together.
Though the model did go together easily, there was quite a large gap in one of the wing roots, so I filled the gap with Green Stuff.
The next stage will be a white undercoat.
Putting it all together
Putting together the Kingdom of Britannia Illustrious Class Sky Fortress was not as simple as I thought it was going to be and certainly not as simple as other Dystopian Wars models I have made.
The rotor pylons and the rotors themselves were quite fiddly and I even needed to do some drilling.
I am not as much of a fan of this model compared to the Eagle Class War Rotor which I do like a lot. I might think differently once it is painted.
Kingdom of Britannia Illustrious Class Sky Fortress
High above the waves the Illustrious Class Sky Fortress gracefully glides into battle, held aloft by six gigantic manoeuvring rotors and the Royal Engineering Corps’ most advanced Sturginium Gravitation Generators.
The model itself comes in a blister. It mainly comprises one large piece of resin.
In addition to the engine pylons, you get an ‘island’ and aircraft flyer tokens.
Next stage after washing the resin will be putting the model together.
Kingdom of Britannia Eagle Class War Rotor
The Eagle Class War Rotor is a marvel of Her Majesty’s Flying Corps and the pride of any pilot that is granted the honour of captaining one. Years of engineering have gone into the development of this flying behemoth, and the utilisation of hybrid rotor driven propulsion and Sturginium-enhanced Anti-Gravitation generators allows thousands of tonnes of British steel to glide into the sky above the battlefield, much to the horror of its foes.
The model itself comes in a blister. There are three main resin pieces and some other parts in metal.
Really nice concept for the model and something that I will enjoy painting.