6mm Sci-Fi: Some progress on Real Estate....

Happy New Year to All - and just to prove that I haven't completely disappeared from the Blogosphere, a short photo update on various buildings and scenic items that I managed to work on over the Christmas break.

These were in the main the excellent new 'Junkers' buildings and OKI walls from Angel Barracks, interspersed with some containers and bits an bobs from the Old Crow ranges, here illustrated with some characters from an Irregular Miniatures' Posh Pack:

Real Estate Agent 'Old Ben' shows local first-time buyer Luke around some entry-level properties.....

"What's that smell.....?"

"Ermm - these huts are in your price range, but were last inhabited by some Nerf Herders....."

"If you can qualify for finance from Imperial Mortgages, how about this new luxury large MHU from the OKI Corporation..... check out those solar panels...."

"Maybe this one is more your size.... it would make a good starter home....."

Meanwhile, some unusual activity is detected at the OKI Industrial Complex across town.... everything looks quiet, just the usual range of containers, gas and storage tanks protected by walled compounds:

Local Defence Force troops fan out and scope out some newly delivered hexagonal cargo pods:

Whilst another unit checks out the Radioactive Contaminants Storage Silos near a medium MHU:

Back on the other side of town, Old Ben has finally given up on Luke, who is now being shown some rickety old R2 units by the local Jawa salesman..... "These are the Droids you're looking for...."

An Imperial Speeder unit though, has just noticed the archaic weapon being wielded by Old Ben....."Excuse me Sir, do you have a permit for that thing.....?"

I really enjoyed fooling around with these items - the Junkers buildings in particular were an absolute pleasure to paint, whilst good dry-brush thrashings were liberally handed out to all and sundry to give a suitably gritty and grubby Sci-Futuristic look....

The Nuclear Silos I think are actually Missile Silos from the 15mm ranges once available from Old Crow; since Jez has gone on a work-realted sabbatical, the website shop is sort of defunct, but things can still be bought via a contact shown here:

http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/

http://web.archive.org/web/20081017163825/http://www.oldcrowmodels.co.uk/ocproducts.htm

Some really great things to be found in terms of scenics and related items might still be available from the back catalogue if you ask nicely....

I rather lagged behind in what I wanted to achieve over the last twelve months, but hopefully 'Real Life' will be a little more indulgent in 2013 - here's to a Hobby-filled year for All!

6mm Sci-Fi: Review of items from Angel Barracks

Thought I'd do a 'first look' review of the new 6mm Sci-Fi items recently released by Angel Barracks, having today received a bulging Jiffy bag within three day of ordering - great service as usual!

http://angelbarracks.co.uk/

I had been looking forward to the release of the OKI walls set, as well as the new vehicles, at the same time as catching up by having a look at the excellent cargo containers that were available previously.

Michael at the Barracks has done a good job of describing and detailing his recent product developments in various places on the web, so much so that I feel even the most demanding gamer/collector will have been catered for - this is not the kind of manufacturer where you will have to struggle to find measurements, comparison shots or close-up photos of the products, as well as a straightforward  purchasing process  - and that is not even to mention both the quality and fresh designs of the minis themselves - truly a class act!

The items that I ordered were well protected when sent, and certainly did not disappoint in the flesh - no flash, casting irregularities or problems to speak of, and great proportions and clarity of sculpting all round.
The new OKI walls are in a smooth matt resin finish, and are particularly crisp - with a really close fit between all the component parts once you place them together. The containers are similarly well made, with doors at one end - the framework edging appearing smooth to contrast with the matt panels of the sides.
The vehicles, in this instance the Camel MPV and the MS1 Pathmaster, are absolutely lovely - great concepts and realisation, and I think extremely competitively priced given their quality.

We see below the two components of the Pathmaster, along with the weapon and sensor accessories, which slot cleanly and purposefully into place - the MLRS unit has an integral 'tilt' in the design, so that it looks ready to fire - a small detail, but an illustration of the thought that went into these - note also in the foreground the tow bar / umbilical link that comes with the vehicle components - this could easily get overlooked if you open the packet too enthusiastically!

This bar fits smoothly into two corresponding holes on the underside of the vehicles - like I said, a class act.

The weapon and sensor equipment is as well cast as the chassis themselves, and their mounting is straightforward - a recess on the Command Module, and with a small plate shim on the Pathmaster - all goes together smoothly, and of course means that you could vary the weapons fit as you might desire - plenty of space to put in your own ideas.

The Camel is of identical quality, detail being clean and finely cast - there is a space above the central portion that would allow the addition of more sensors or equipment, as well as the mounting spine of perhaps an antenna at the rear - a pin drill and some wire and it would be easy to personalise the vehicle.

Two in the pack also means excellent value, given how expensive Sci-Fi vehicles can be across the board.
Basing-wise, if that is a route you prefer, 50x20mm for the Camel and 70x20mmm for the Pathmaster would be quite adequate.

Moving on to the OKI walls - these are again going to have to attract some superlatives from me - these are not afterthoughts or contemporary ones scaled down, but rather freshly realised designs that are both simple and elegant - they ooze 'Futuristi-cality' (yes, it is a word, or at least it was since I made it up...), and have a lovely ergonomic curve to the outside face.
What is also impressive, and something that could have been overlooked by a weaker designer - is that the connecting 'corners' follow the same design and are beautifully and smoothly whole, ensuring that it all fits together nicely and in proportion.

I have to admit that I am sucker for a good cargo crate in a Sci-Fi setting, and any set-up that lacks them just doesn't look right to my eye - from Drop-ship pods via the cargo unit of a Space 1999 Eagle transporter, to well, anything painted Hazmat yellow with a radioactivity sign on it - it just has to feature - and these units are spot on.
The plain panel sides would allow for a number of different identities/employments through differing colour schemes, and perhaps the only complaint is that there isn't a half-sized version - just one 'cell' as it were - to add to the loveliness!

Finally an overall shot with a large MHU and some other bits inside to get an idea of the whole -  a ground footprint for the compound would be around 180mm wide by 130mm deep, with the wall heights easily encompassing vehicles and the housing units and containers, which by the way stand some 18mm high by 40mm in length.

As you might have guessed by reading the above, I don't really have anything negative to say about these, or indeed any of the existing range - my only concern would be to hope that we see more, more, and more of the same!

:-).

Plastic Fantastic 4: Sci-Fi Bio Domes

My recent dabblings in 6mm Sci-Fi, and the on-again/off-again 2/3mm Sci-Fi project has had me casting around for some ideas regarding scenery, and whilst as the regular reader might have noticed, Hobby activity has been a bit thin on the ground of late, I did manage to source these interesting candidates in Lego via Evilbay....

What could be more futuristic than Bio-Domes, from worlds-in-a-bottle archetypes a la Logan's Run, to the Agri-ships of Silent Running and Battlestar Galactica?

I think these particular examples relate to some sort of undersea diving toy, and most tellingly of course, the cockpit glass of a Lego T.I.E fighter, however when placed on a suitable base, could do duty as protection from the poisonous atmosphere of most Alien worlds.

They're not particularly large, but this example from the outbuildings pack available from Brigade Models looks pretty good ensconced in its 'bubble', I think:

Talking of worlds-in-a-bottle, how about this City base from Mighty Empires - this would certainly go well alongside the 2/3mm Sci-Fi stuff - adds a sort of super-villians lair look to the whole:

The smallest dome, seen here alongside the large MHU from Angel Barracks, with one of those ubiquitous plastic bottle caps for scale, is not going to fit much in the way of habitat, but would look pretty spiffing housing the mutant product of a deranged experiment in a laboratory complex, or maybe a single earth tree specimen the colonists couldn't part with when they travelled off-world:

Given the pocket-money prices these can be picked up for, (or free, of course, if you raid the kid's toy box...) they are never going to be big enough to contain full-on 6mm buildings, but they still scale well alongside some well-known characters from a certain Space Opera:

These are from Irregular Miniatures, and are among a few dozen cool minis I've been inspired into painting up recently, joined as you see below by my version of a unit of Decontamination Troops - Power Armour from Brigade Models, and the excellent Comms set from Michael at Angel Barracks:

Who of course are here to deal with any ugly and troublesome Alien Infestations that they come across - to whit the excellent Drill Worm Nests from Angel Barracks:

I'd like to see any parasitic Alien fauna, or even face-huggers take on these guys, in their hardened Hazmat suits.....

These bases still need finishing off, of course, when time permits, and I keep telling myself that this is all just a sideshow to all the rest of my projects, but I guess only time will tell.....

6mm Sci-Fi: New Buildings and other Cool Stuff.....

Now of course I am still loudly telling myself that there is no such project as 'taking the 6mm Sci-Fi plunge' anywhere in the near vicinity of the workbench; and therefore a purchase of some of the new and expanding ranges from Angel Barracks and Brigade Models was merely, ahem..... in the interests of research.....

Therefore I am justifying this latest diversion by sharing some broad 'compare and contrast' type photos of some of the newly available items alongside some other neat looking things.
In the photo at the head of this post, we can see the AB Large MHU with Solar Panels alongside a range of 6mm infantry; from left to right, an Irregular Miniatures' strip of NSF11, then a single NSF9 followed by an old Marine sculpt from Scotia Micro Models, then a pair of Germy's 6mm soldiers available from Brigade, and finally a pair of DRM's Pax Arcadia Light Infantrymen.

As you will note, the MHU sculpt is wonderfully smooth and crisp, and scales perfectly alongside the various 6mm types; below a smorgasbord of items that in no way form the basis of an entirely new project....honestly.....

Next up the representative infantrymen in front of two of Brigade Models' new Sci-Fi Desert structures; at left, the largest block from the Outbuildings pack, and on the right, the excellent Research Lab:

The Brigade items have a somewhat porous-looking surface, and are softer all round than the Angel Barracks ones, but I think are just right for their desert context; they'll certainly be perfect for a good dry-brush thrashing for an authentic windblown, end-of-the-galaxy look, whilst the latter are more corporate-looking and polished:

Michael at Angel Barracks has certainly hit the ground running in developing his FUBAR-related range, and no more so than in the flora and fauna that he has been exploring, including the amazingly alien Drill-Worm Nests - mounds of putrescent, pustulent alien weirdness:

Seen here alongside the aforementioned Brigade outbuildings, you'll see that these are moulded in a softer material, almost plaster-like, but this has not softened the detail, which is well sculpted and obvious:

Moving on now to another scenery type from the Barracks, below we have the new sandbag emplacement, inhabited left to right by DRM, Brigade, Scotia and the Irregular troops:

Closely followed by the same manning the amazingly well defined improvised barricade:

These are some really classy pieces with great detailing; anything from tires and boxes of various sizes to bits of furniture and all sorts of other detritus are clearly visible:

Finally an entry or two from Old Crow's range of 6mm Sci-Fi scenics - the grey building at right is actually a corridor section for a larger structure, but in 6mm looks quite good in its own right whilst the pile of cylinders and the free-standing containers are spot-on..... rumour has it that the Old Crow website should be up and running again soon - fingers crossed!

Not that I'm looking to acquire any more stock for a project that doesn't exist...... maybe I should be calling it 'Area 51'...... official deniability and all that..... or is it just self -delusion?  ;-)