Twinhammer Part 2: Exterior Paint Part 1: Base Layers

The Twinhammer, last seen in July 2023, has finally gotten a start on its exterior paint. I had a few evenings this week without the kids around, and I used it to work on the messy, space-consuming process of priming and sponging this two-foot-long ship.

The paintjob isn't finished by any means, but she looks a lot better than the unassembled, unpainted white/grey/black PLA that's been sitting in pieces on my shelf. Here are the colors that I used:

• Primer: Liquitex Basics Acrylic Fluid "Mars Black"
• Base layer: Craftsmart "Dark Grey"
• Layer: Craftsmart "Grey"
• Dark layer: Craftsmart "Deep Grey" 
• Accent: DecoArt Americana "Deep Burgundy" (DA128)

The Liquitex primer isn't something I use on miniature figures, but it's great for terrain and ships like this. It's opaque, matte, strong, and dries quickly. Also, the coverage is fantastic, so it usually only needs one pass.

While this ship will hopefully get more love before 2027, it's currently in a place where I can display it on my shelf without feeling bad about its state of disrepair.

Dhole

Another big monster from the C:DMD:FotU box, the Dhole is... almost four inches tall. Other than that, I'm not really sure what I'm looking at here, even after painting it. Some kind of alien snake, possibly with fur? The H.P. Lovecraft wiki describes them as "huge, slimy worm-like creatures, at least several hundred feet long. Because they avoid daylight and are covered in viscous goo, their features are nearly impossible to discern." Well, this guy seems a lot shorter than that, but I can believe the goo part. In any case, big monster.

Having no clue what to do with this, I just slapped down greens and drybrushed on some yellows and whites. The mouth and its three tongues are a spectrum from Vallejo's Heavy Charcoal through Heavy Blue to Deep Sky Blue. The eyes are random mixes of Heavy Blue and Deep Sky Blue. Bish-bash-bosh, throw on a wash and it's done. Not too impressive, but good enough for a random, inexplicable creature. I can see this getting used as a space monster in a scifi game.

Space Landsknecht Android

Just looking at this figure, you might wonder why I called it a "Space Landsknecht" android. The reason is because it serves the two Space Landsknechts that I painted up back in 2023. It's basically the same as the Outpost Androids from last year, but in a slightly different outfit with the space landsknecht color scheme.

Beep boop.

Outpost Androids

I recently built three androids for RPG use, and I think they turned out pretty well. I considered several options for the skin color, but I went with an off-white, almost Michael Myers-looking dermis. Unintentionally, but possibly subconsciously, they share a general color scheme with the Working Joe androids from the Seegson Corporation in Alien: Isolation.

• Base: DecoArt Americana "Lamp (Ebony) Black"
• Drybrush: Mix of above and Ceramcoat "Burnt Umber" (02025)
• Highlights: Ceramcoat "Burnt Umber" (02025)
• Skin: Craftsmart "Grey" (622598) (Multiple layers)
• Eyes: Craftsmart "Pale Blue" (402477)
• Straps, pockets, and wrists: Craftsmart "Orange Spice" (194111) then Vallejo "Orange Fire" (72.008)
• Wrist screen: Vallejo "Deep Sky Blue" (70.844)
• Armor: Vallejo "Luftwaffe Uniform WWII" (70.816)
• Metal: Vallejo "Brass" (70.801)
• Wash: Citadel "Nuln Oil"
• Boots: Vallejo "Black" (70.950)

The parts for this pretty much all come from the Stargrave Mercenaries II box. The three bodies are identical, the three heads are identical, and all of the arms come from the same sprue. I cut off the end of a club to make the little flashlight/lantern thing. I wanted them to be unarmed, because they're not technically made for fighting despite being stronger and more durable than humans; their hands are dangerous enough if their programming goes haywire.

Two of the androids have some robotics showing through on their arms. For one, it's just an elbow joint, but the other has their (entirely metal) skeleton showing for one arm. That one also has half of its face messed up, so I assume it was in an explosion or something on that side. There hasn't been time to repair it yet; I hope it's not angry about that—not that androids can get angry or want revenge, right?

Belospian with Derby

Here's another standalone scifi alien, which I'm calling a Belospian. The base parts are from Stargrave kits, so that's where the head, body, and arms come from. I clipped two of the tentacles off of the head to go with a two-tentacle look, just for something different. The derby hat is from a Dead Man's Hand sprue, and I clipped off the top of the head to make it work. The synth-fur collar is built from one off the Wargames Atlantic Einherjar sprue, but I significantly expanded it and filled in some gaps with green stuff; I'm happy with how that turned out.

I don't really have any plan for this model, but the wrench implies mechanical skills and the dapper chapeau implies people skills. Maybe a high-skill character to even out the little pistol? Maybe just a memorable NPC. In any case, I'm happy with how she turned out, but I doubt I'll be putting together any more Belospians any time soon.

BurnA.R.D.

Here is another one of my FDM-printed miniatures (or mostly 3D printed, at any rate). I've previously posted some of these guys here and here. Again, this was a free STL file on Thingiverse called "The Fridge" by Skellify. It's amazing. Of course, this one has a slightly different left arm, what with a giant flamethrower cribbed from an unused part of the "IMEF Bulldog I" from Reaper Miniatures that I built here.

I think I'm going to call this model of robot the A.R.D., or "Automatic Roughneck Drone." Is this just so I can call this specific figure BurnARD? Yes. Yes, it is. But I think the name is pretty nice.

Have you seen this mech before? You might not have recognized him because of the red arm.

Inquisitorial Terminator

There isn't generally much Games Workshop on this blog, but here's a newly painted piece. I found a great deal on the Combat Arena: Lair of the Beast box, which has 13 miniatures, many of which could be put into an Inquisitor's retinue. As I waited for it to arrive, I pulled out this terminator from my old stash of Assault on Black Reach models and figured I'd paint him up as part of the inquisition, or at least as a non-Primarus terminator seconded to the inquisition. Some Inquisitors wear terminator armor, don't they? In any case, he was a good test bed for the color scheme.

The model was undercoated with DecoArt Americana "Lamp (Ebony) Black," which is my current go-to paint for priming. Then he was drybrushed with CraftSmart "Graphite." Some edges and other places got another layer of the Graphite. The red is DecoArt Americana "Deep Burgundy," with some layering of "True Red." The cream-colored bits are Vallejo "Bonewhite." The gold is Citadel "Gehenna's Gold," which is a bold, warm color. The base is my usual texture paste, then FolkArt "Coffee Bean," then a drybrush of FolkArt "Coffee Latte," then a very light drybrush of more Vallejo "Bonewhite." This is the basic paint scheme I have planned for all of the members of the Inquisitorial forces.

Prisoners and a Warden

Inspired by a new RPG ruleset I'm messing around with, this is four conscripted prisoners and the warden that keeps them in line. While most Tier 3 units (the weakest kind of units) come in groups of three, prisoners specifically come in four. Their options are more limited than other units (such as only using melee weapons in this case), but they make up for the lack of quality with quantity.

The figures are primed black, then painted with a base of Heavy Brown. The orange is a mixture of Vallejo Orange Fire, Heavy Orange, and Craftsmart Dark Orange. This orange is washed with Agrax Earthshade. After this, the main grey detailing (and the warden's uniform) is painted Basalt Grey. The weapon haft is Luftwaffe Uniform WWII. The blades, shotgun, and warden's helmet are Heavy Charcoal (simulating carbon fiber materials). Wash with Nuln Oil on the non-orange parts. Serves five.

This warden is entirely made from Anvil Industry pieces. The prisoners are a bit more diverse. The main bodies are Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder. The arms and weapons (bardiches!) are from Perry Miniatures Agincourt French Infantry. The heads are from that Warlord Games WWII British Paratrooper sprue, but I think they're big Polish airborne berets. Taken altogether, I think it makes a pretty good science fiction prisoner conscript uniform.

So this is 1.5 points of an approximately 3 point squad for one player. I enjoy the concept of each player controlling several "units" in an RPG, but I'll need to see how it plays out.

Corporate Security 4: Riot Guards

Back in 2022, I put together a few squads of sci-fi corporate security forces. I also assembled and started these three soldiers—armed with axes, shields, and pistols—but they languished, forgotten, on the shelf since then. Well, languish no more, corporate riot guards!

The bodies are Stargrave Troopers, the arms are Frostgrave Cultists, the helmet heads are Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder, and the Rudulian head and the shields are Anvil Industry. That's a lot of sources.

This force is good to have for sci-fi or even modern RPG games. In Stargrave, they could be run as a crew with Tekker Captain (Grenadier), Veteran First Mate (Rudulian with Shield), Gunner, Sniper, Trooper x3, Recruit x2, and Chiseler/Hacker (Setla with pistol). Maybe I'll add one more model so that they're a perfect fit for a 4x4 storage tray, but currently there are 15 members of corporate security:

• Sergeant
• Trooper (5)
  
• Agent (3)
  
• Gunner
• Sniper
• Hazard Trooper
• Riot Guard (3)
  

Yellow Cargo Bots

These two filthy, filthy cargobots have seen prolonged use at an industrial outpost. They're more 3D printed versions of "The Fridge" by Skellify on Thingiverse. I've already printed (unassembled) pieces for two more, but I haven't built them yet.

These two bots are painted yellow, or at least they were when they were factory fresh. Lots and lots of grime has muted the colors significantly, but a new coat of paint isn't exactly a priority in the bowels of a far-flung mining colony.

I really like these big bots, and the price point is great. The STL file was free, and the total filament per bot comes to maybe 33 cents? There are extensive weapon options included with the files, so you could literally build an army of these bots for ten bucks.

3D Printed Cargobot

Here's something new and interesting: A 28mm scale miniature printed on my FDM 3D printer. This is a cargobot. I found the STL file on Thingiverse; it's called "The Fridge" by Skellify. Nifty!

As you can see, the cargobot is a chunky bot. It's mounted on a 50mm base and stands about 50mm tall. The painting was black undercoat, then Americana Zinc (DA304), then some Vallejo Blue (70.925) on some of the central bits. Then I drybrushed everything with Vallejo Gunmetal (72.054). After that, I dirtied it up with some washes and some browns to give it a well-worn industrial look.

I can see the Cargobot (and its upcoming kin) being used as a sort of automated forklift, useful for picking things up and putting things down. This one may find itself a permanent fixture aboard the Twinhammer spaceship, if I ever finish the thing.

Additional note! My wife received a photography light box for Christmas, and I've been messing around with it. It may take a little bit, but once I dial things in, hopefully my photos will look better than ever.

Big Purple Alien and Operative (and Operative's Hologram)

These two (three) scifi figures don't have a lot in common, but they were finished together and the operative can give a sense of scale to the big purple alien.

The big purple fellow is from the Core Space First Born Starter Set, and his name is given as Balcor. In official art, he has white fur over most of his body, but I went with a fully purple look instead. He's big, has a cybernetic arm, and carries an array of tools. The figure is mounted on a 40mm poker chip.

The man in the gas mask with the pistol and axe is a scifi operative. I made a second version in a different pose to try out something new. The second figure is a "hologram" version of the first, painted with Nighthaunt Gloom contrast paint and given a white drybrush. It could also be used to represent the operative while he's invisible. I'd really like to use more of this ghostly contrast paint in the future, since it gives a very nice effect.

Alien Horde 6: Boomer and Large Harvesters

New year, new subspecies of alien monster.

Along with the three Large Harvesters, we have the Boomer Harvester, so-called because it goes boom. Unlike the others, it is done in more orange hues, with bright orange used on some of the... pustules? The big, explosive pouches on its back are made from the egg sacs that were included on the Harvester sprue.

This means I have six regular Large Harvesters finished now. The total size of the alien horde is 32 units.

• Alien Horde (32)
• Rock Worm (2)
• Large Spawner
• Small Spawner (3)
• Spore Mine - Frag (4)
• Spore Mine - Gas (2)
• Spore Mine - Acid (2)
• Large Harvester (6)
  
• Small Harvester (10)
• Boomer Harvester
  
• Infected Crewman

Alien Horde 5: Eight Small Harvesters

These are eight more little aliens, which gives me a total of ten. This uses up all of the small Harvesters that came in the box. Once again, they were a bit of a pain to paint, and finding the right points to glue to the base was kind of frustrating. I did not do what I did last time to raise them up with beads, so the attachment points are largely on their elbows/knees and/or claws/blades. Still, now that they're done, they've contributed greatly to the size of the Alien Horde.

As a note on how big they are, since they're based on 1 inch bases (which represent a 5 foot diameter), the bodies of these things are about four scale feet long, and with their tails and arms fully extended, they could probably reach six or seven scale feet long. While they appear small, these things would be utterly terrifying as they crawled and skittered toward you, and their armored carapaces would probably make their bodies at least somewhat resilient. With that in mind, the larger Harvesters would be utterly, paralyzingly horrifying when charging toward you.

Outpost Crew

Here are four crewmembers for a scifi mining outpost. I have a scenario in mind for a game, and these are some of the primary NPCs.

The captain (What do you call the person in charge of an outpost?) is an older gentleman with a datapad and a charge pistol. I don't often use bright colors on weapons, but this one has a nice industrial look that distinguishes it from normal guns.

The security chief is a tough-looking lady with a beret and a carbine. She's the toughest remaining member of the crew, and it's her job to keep the others safe.

The technician with the cybernetic arm has a stubby SMG in one hand and a remote controller in the other. He's wearing a sweet ushanka.

Finally, another technician. She's frightened, unarmed, and in an awkward position, as she was hiding behind a stack of crates. Not a usual look for figures I paint up, but it follows the narrative.

Three of these (captain and both technicians) are using Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder bodies, which make for good jumpsuits. The security chief's body and all of the arms are from Stargrave sets. The scared technician and security chief have Stargrave heads, while the captain is from a renaissance set, and the ushanka head is from a Russian WWII set.

The jumpsuit is painted a base of Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal (72.155). The gray portions are Vallejo Basalt Grey (70.869), and there is some lighter gray on the zipper and other highlights with Ceramcoat Rain Grey (02543).

Aliens: Infected Human

Has anyone seen Crewman Smith? He's been gone for--oh my stars! That's him! He's been turned into some kind of horrible alien-human hybrid! Noooooo!

The arms/claws are Wargames Atlantic Harvesters. The melty head is what I think is supposed to be an alien egg, also from the Harvesters sprue. The jumpsuit body is from the Wargames Atlantic Cannon Fodder.

The jumpsuit is painted a base of Vallejo Extra Opaque Heavy Charcoal (72.155). The gray portions are Vallejo Basalt Grey (70.869), and there is some lighter gray on the zipper and other highlights with Ceramcoat Rain Grey (02543). This is also a test of this scheme for some planned scifi survivors.

Alien Horde 4: Big and Small Harvesters

Here are two more of the large Harvesters (with their legs on the right way around this time) and two small Harvesters. I need to reiterate, this set of miniatures looks very nice, but they are awful to actually work with. I clipped off the tips of the large Harvesters' claws and they did attach to the base more easily. The small Harvesters come as a single piece, and they are just the wrong size to fit on a 25mm base. They look like they're kind of crawling, but unless you prop them up, they're at a weird angle. I attached them to some tiny beads to get them up off the ground a bit.

As another interesting development, I used my 3D printer to make the 50mm bases for these models. They turned out usable, but I need to dial in the system a bit before I print any more. Still, much cheaper than buying bases.

Supervillain: Dr. Chimera

It sure would be swell if all these aliens I've been making could fight superheroes. That sounds like a job for... a bridge miniature! Enter Dr. Chimera. The aliens can be controlled by this epic miniature lady, either in a superhero scenario or a scifi scenario.

Dr. Chiyo Kimura (because Kimura looks/sounds vaguely similar to Chimera) is a well-intentioned extremist. Born August 6, 1936, Chiyo Kimura (Ph.D., M.D.) has seen first-hand the damage that humanity is capable of doing to itself and its homeworld. When humanity wipes itself out (whether by war, damaging the environment, or scientific accident), Dr. Chimera and her creations will survive and adapt. She will see to it that humanity survives, even if its form is completely different than it is now. She sees herself as an ignored harbinger, and she believes this justifies doing what she does; the rest of the world is short-sighted and self-destructive.

Dr. Chimera is immensely intelligent and resilient, can shapeshift to suit her needs, can regenerate, and explicitly cannot be killed by any known means. She also has minor psychic abilities, the most notable of which is a kind of hive mind with her biological creations. All of these powers are self-developed by altering her own genetic code based on collected (largely stolen) samples.

The miniature's main body and head are from Stargrave parts while the alien legs emerging from her back are from the Wargames Atlantic Harvesters box. The alien legs are in the same colors as my growing alien horde to tie this miniature in with them. The body goes with a white and green color scheme with a Nuln Oil wash (instead of the Agrax Earthshade) to make the two sections noticeably different.

This is one of my favorite figures that I've done this year and is a great example of what can happen when a weird kitbash goes well. Figure of the Year Nominee!

Alien Horde 3: Harvester

This is my test piece from the Wargames Atlantic Harvesters box. This set is going to make up the main bulk of my aliens. The paint scheme is the same as the Rock Worms and the Tyranid spores; they're all in this together.

These figures have great detail, but they're really fiddly to build. Also, gluing them to a base is a nightmare, since they stand on tiny claw points. There's hardly anything for the glue to adhere to! I'm probably going to try snipping off the tips so there's more surface area going forward. Also, I think I put the back legs on his front and vice versa; this figure is going to be a bit taller than his peers.

After trying a few base sizes, it looks like these creatures need a 50mm base to have any posing options.

I'm happy with how this creature turned out and will definitely make more soon.

Alien Horde 2: Tyranid Spore Mines and Spawners

These figures are a blast from the past. The Battle for Macragge box was a starter set for the fourth edition of Warhammer 40k. It released in 2004, but I picked up a copy in England in 2006. These were basically some of my first miniatures. Some 17 years later, I've finally painted them up as part of a larger project to build an army of aliens. Here's what we've got:

• Large Spawner
• Small Spawner (3)
• Spore Mine - Frag (4)
• Spore Mine - Gas (2)
• Spore Mine - Acid (2)

This is basically the same color scheme that I used for the Rock Worms, but I didn't write it down then, so I can't be absolutely sure. For future reference, I'm writing it down now:

• Carapace: FolkArt Coffee Brown (940), FolkArt Real Brown (231), FolkArt Coffee Latte (2559)
• Fleshy Bits: Ceramcoat Dark Foliage Green (02535), Ceramcoat Medium Foliage Green (02536)
• Drybrush: Vallejo Game Extra Opaque Heavy Ochre (72.150)
• Bone/Accent: Vallejo Game Color Bonewhite (72.034)
• Wash: Citadel Agrax Earthshade

The basing material is Vallejo "Dark Earth" Earth Texture (26.218), which is about 1/7 the price of Citadel basing stuff like Stirland Battlemire (about $2 per oz compared to $14 per oz). I prefer Battlemire in general, but this looks nice and is just so much more economical.