Ground Pounders Need Love, Too.

WHEW! After all that air power, I better give the ground forces a bit of face time. First up is a custom sculpted alien hover/grav tank. I guess you could say my inspiration came from countless hours of playing Halo. One night I was just kinda screwing around in my studio and got the itch to sculpt something...well, different.

Not a very big tank, but she is packin'! This is a picture taken in standard light.

This is a picture taken with the UV light on. Yep, she glows!

I also gave her an iridescent, sparkling paint job to further convey the alien nature of this tank.

Onto some more standard fare. You may be able to guess where I got my inspiration for these....Again, I'm not really sure why I built these, but enjoy them anyway!

Believe it or not, these are Gundam shields that I turned into land speeders! I made the rear spoilers out of plastic card stock. The cockpits are just blobs of epoxy.

The speeder on the left needs no introduction. I sculpted it myself, other than the driver and the cargo stowed behind the seats. The speeder on the right is a Micro Machine speed boat. I stuck a pair of big jets and a NOS tank on the back!

Luke's speeder isn't exact...but it is fine by my standards!

Now for something just a little different. I am currently working on a large commission of vehicles and battle armor suits for a good friend of mine. In return for my services, he shows up with a big collection of super rare and OOP Anigrand Star Wars models. I took up the offer the same way I would answer Vanessa Hudgens if she called me up and asked me out- there is no way I could say no! Anyway, he's a 15mm gamer and has a selection of 15mm goodies for me to paint up. I like to step outside of my 10mm scale once in a while, and it is that much easier when the minis are totally sweet! Here are the first few vees that I have finished. These vehicles are resin-cast and made by Antenocitis Workshop:
http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/governance-of-technology/g-o-t-vehicles-15mm.html

A pair of 15mm Dodge-Tata Zebu patrol cars and a 15mm T-Pea hunchback APC/MRAP.

My friend wanted his scout cars armed, so he also supplied me with a bunch of spare weapons. Naturally, I thought the miniguns were a good choice!

The one thing I felt was missing from the minigun was an ammo feed. I created my own ammo belts using little zip ties. I also drilled out some bolt holes for the "hubcaps".

Scout cars need radio antennae, right? Hair brush bristles fit the part perfectly.

The APC was already cool-looking, but I thought it should have a front bumper. So, of course, I added one.

See? This post was short and sweet! I have tons of projects lined up for the next few months which means there will be lots more to show eventually. Plus, I am going to try to make a tutorial video this year. Thank you all for dropping by and a special thanks if you actually subscribe! I am amazed that I have acquired 93 followers!

The Show Isn't Over Yet....

Alright, here we go with a whole lot of new air power. Let's start with a light aerospace fighter that I sculpted. Sometimes I look through all my old lead and pewter minis for some inspiration. I found that inspiration in an old fighter from the classic Interceptor game by FASA. Of course, the original mini is too small for my preferred scale, so I dug into the Super Sculpey and began to make one in the proper size....

Isn't she cute?

The entire body is sculpted from Super Sculpey with the exception of some small details like the gun barrels and afterburner nozzles.

I put her next to an F-Toys 1:144 Harrier to show just how small she is. I do not recall what the fighter's name was in the Interceptor game, but I do know it was a light fighter.

In keeping with the spirit of air superiority, here's a whole squadron of some familiar flyers. These are Hot Wheels toys that I determined were as pretty damn close to 10mm as I thought possible. I was turned on to these when a friend of mine posted a pic of a Batman flyer ornament he had in his Christmas tree. I mentioned that I might need one or two, but he kindly informed me the ornament was quite large and I should look to the Matchbox or Hot Wheels toys for something a bit more my size. Here's a helpful bit of info for all you 15mm gamers- the Matchbox bat flyer is right up your alley! I saw them at my local Target store. I had to get the Hot Wheels off of E-Bay where I found a guy selling SIX of them! CHA-CHING!!

New paint jobs and A few upgrades! I decided to paint 3 in a standard military green, 2 in an urban grey, and one with desert wasteland camo.

The one on the left is stock. The one on the right has a pair of larger caliber cannons.

Say cheesecake!

Why not rocket pods? I sculpted a pair for this one.

Here is the belly. I had to grind off the manufacturer's raised letters and added some ammo drums for the larger cannons.

Wasteland camo with the standard load-out.

Are we having fun yet? Show's still not quite over, folks. Hope none of you are on dial-up....
Here is an old project that sat in the "to do" box for a loooong time before I remembered it was in there. When my TIE fighter forces began to grow, I knew this was destined to be a part of it. I'm not sure what it is, but it is from the Star Wars Titanium series of collectables.

Here she is with a squad of TIE-Ds. I'm going to call it the TIE Broadsword- A very heavy assault version for the TIE family.

I sculpted a little launcher pod for the hull surface and the ventral cannon is a spare part from a Wizkids Mechwarrior mini.

I added the engine panel on the top of the hull and the three engine nozzles.

Ventral view showing where I also added some VTOL nozzles.

Still not done.....
Next up are a pair of super-rare Anigrand Chiss Clawcraft. These were included in the 1:144 Anigrand Lambda Imperial shuttle, of which I have one. My friend ( who traded me some wonderful and rare Anigrand models in exchange for my painting services ) gave me the clawcraft out of his kit because he didn't want it. Who was I to say no?

While they have the familiar TIE body, the wings are quite alien and elegant. I wanted to give them a more artistic flare to better represent their alien origin. I put some alien markings on them  and even added a bit of alien nose art to the one on the left. Don't ask me why I have GW necron decals...I haven't the slightest idea how they ended up in my decal box.

Some small patches of color to set them apart.

Those barrels on the arch of the wings are not guns, but maneuvering thrusters!

 Finally we draw to the conclusion of the air power post.....
When I went to Target to find the Bat Flyer, I did not succeed. However, I did discover a few other excellent things to make my trip worthwhile. These are from the Matchbox line of Sky Buster aircraft. Excellent finds for my scale requirements!

A heavy lift Helicopter!

I added a few extra details like the hydraulic hoses.

I added the cargo clamps, too. I sculpted the clamps and the clamp housing.

I also added the hazard lights to the belly and the hatches on the nose.

A pair of super-cool fighter jets!

I decided to go with a dark paint scheme for a night fighter.

Since there were no guns or missiles on her to begin with, I had to sculpt my own. I figured a pair of massive gatling cannons in a pod on the belly would do the trick. I also added a pair of VTOL nozzles and an ECM dome under the nose.

The second bird I just went with a wild sky theme.

Hello Nurse...

This one has the same modular pod on the belly, but it is sporting a pair of heavy particle cannons instead.

That finally concludes the Spaceman Spiff air show. I do hope you enjoyed it! Stay turned for the ground forces....