[Tomorrow's War] 28mm Aliens vs Predator (+Colonial Marines)

Sgt. Scream

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Sorry Leute, ich habe einfach nicht die Zeit zweisprachig zu posten (daher mein copy+paste aus den englischen Foren), bitte seht es mir nach. :blush: Ich beantworte trotzdem natürlich gerne alle Fragen in deutsch. Der Thread wird sich um einen Aufbau von drei "Armeen" drehen, um mit ihnen Aliens Vs Predators zu spielen. Ich habe den Index mal als "Tomorrow's War" betitelt, da ich mir für dieses Spiel (eine Eigenkreation) aus diesem Ideen herausleite. Da hier sowohl drei "Armeen", Umbauten und Bemaltes in einem Blog zusammentreffen, habe ich es in "Armeeaufbau" gepostet. Falls das ein Problem ist, bitte ich die Moderatoren, mit mir in Kontakt zu treten.

Let me begin this project-log with saying thanks to the following LAF members for moments of great inspiration:
*Arcturus (Alien stuff)
*Braz (Hadley's Hope)
*Westphalia Chris (some Aliens stuff)
*Commander Vyper (Xenomorph project)
*Uti Long Smile (Painted Aliens Project)
*Michka (Marines, terrain etc.)
*Manatic (especially for his "Dawn Of the Lead" blog)


RevirescoPowerLoaderwithrollcage.jpg

Reviresco's 25mm Sci-Fi Power Loader with Pilot. This is my heavily modified version to suit 28mm "heroic" miniatures sizewise. I used parts from a Mechwarrior Dark Age Construction Mech to add larger legs and hydraulics.

RevirescoPowerLoaderback.jpg

The back of the power loader. I pinned the MW:DA Construction Mech's feet into the pewter legs of the Reviresco miniature. The greenish base is one of Fenris Games' excellent 65mm diameter "Sulaco" series.

RevirescoPowerLoaderfront.jpg

Front shot, without roll cage installed (see in front of the loader). The pilot "Not-Ripley" is stuck down on a base for easier handling during painting.

RevirescoPowerLoaderleftside.jpg

The side shot reveals how I added hydraulic hoses made from bristles of a broom (no kidding). See the background pic of Reviresco's power loader and how it normally would look like. Too small for my needs, hence the mods.

So here it is: I do have to admit it took way too long until it began to take shape. I finally gave up trying to resist and started my 28mm Aliens VS Predator project. A dream of mine that started many moons ago while playing AVP on an Atari Jaguar 64bit console (who remembers this one?).

Its been on my mind for a long time now and I started collecting various stuff for this cause over the last couple of years. I will probably create a completely new game, based upon my own ideas and lots of ideas "borrowed" from other games that I have played in the last two decades. The game I want to create is supposed to be played with a minimum of two, but preferable with three or even more players. One will command all Aliens and play the game-master, while the others will either control Colonial Marine squads or Predator Hunting Packs. The goals to be achieved are depending on what faction you choose and can be done with support from the other players or alone, trying even to stop the co-gamers to reach their mission objectives. But more of those ideas at a later time...

Let's have a look at the stuff I posted pics of above. What you see here is a 25mm Sci-Fi "Power Loader" pewter miniature from Reviresco, made in the US. Its true to 25mm size as its way too small for 28mm miniatures. Its a nice kit and was only US $8.00 (!!!) excluding shipping. I was a bit sad when it arrived, seeing it won't fit my other stuff for my game size-wise.
When on ebay a Leading Edge Power Loader was sold for insane 78€ I was grabbed by my burning ambition: I won't burn cash that high for a Power Loader! Oh no - I can make a working power loader fitting my 28mm stuff on my own, all it needs is some thinking, kit-bashing and imagination! See my results above.

I re-named it P-3500 Power Loader as its not as big as the P-5000 was in Aliens. Imagine the P-3500 as a smaller cousin of the larger model.

The base is from Fenris Games. They sell a series of round bases called "Sulaco" (*hint*) that obviously is inspired by the floors to be seen in Aliens. The one above has a diameter of 65mm.

Alright, I'll be back with more later. Keep commenting, guys.
 
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Sgt. Scream

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RevirescoPowerLoaderRipley.jpg

The finished Power Loader with its "not Ripley" pilot in place.
RevirescoPowerLoaderbackshotfinished.jpg

The name of the model on the base for my forth-coming AVP rules. All items and models will have names attached based upon the Alien & Predator background universe.
RevirescoPowerLoaderbasedetailsfinished.jpg

I have added some of my Battletech decals for warning labels. Paint chipping was done using the sponge technique and boltgun metal.
RevirescoPowerLoadersideshotfinished.jpg

Some hazard stripes have been painted to the loader's "fork" claws. Heavily chipped go give them a worn and used look.
RevirescoPowerLoaderfrontshotfinished.jpg

Although not as cool as the movies' P-5000, I am rather pleased how my conversion has turned out. Now my "not Ripley" is ready to tackle some Xenomorph mommy. "Leave her alone, bitch!"
Ok, this evening's painting session was interupted by watching "Expendables 2", so you had to wait a little longer. I finished the P-3500 Work Loader to include the pilot figure and put it all together. Paint chipping, drybrushing, adding decals etc. all has been done now.
I know its not a perfect match of the movie's famous Power Loader, but for an US $8 model with minor cosmetical conversions it turned out really well I'd say.
I drybrushed and highlighted the miniature with adding some white to my base colour and made one more pin-wash with Devlin Mud. I then picked up a piece of an old sponge (from a blister pack made by GW) and used it to dab on spots of chipped paint using boltgun metal.
Last step was adding some decals (from my Battletech stuff) to give the Power Loader an industrial look. Hazard stripes on the "fork" claws add further detail.
Let me know what you think!
PS: the forward leaning pose is intentional - it has something to do with the Power Loader being in base-to-base contact with another particularly huge model and a famous scene from Aliens, taking place in a docking bay ;-)
 

Sgt. Scream

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Squad1fromabove.jpg

US Colonial Marines Squad 1 (Woodbine Miniatures)

Squad1.jpg

From left to right: Pfc. Hudson, Cpl. Dietrich, Pvt. Drake, Pvt. Frost

DrakeFrostfront.jpg

Pvt. Drake wielding a M56 "Smartgun", Pvt. Frost with M41 "Pulse Rifle".

DrakeFrostback.jpg

Drake's Smartgun has been modified with scratchbuilt parts, bases are from Fenris Games.

HudsonDietrichfront.jpg

Pfc. Hudson with Motion Tracker and M41 "Pulse Rifle", Cpl. Dietrich with M240 Flamethrower.

HudsonDietrichback.jpg

Pfc. Hudson is one of the platoon's Electronic Techs, Cpl. Dietrich applies her skills as a Medic.

RevirescoWoodbinesizecomparison.jpg

I know the question will come up: comparison shot with my Power Loader.

So here goes: my first Colonial Marines for AVP. Using bases from Fenris Games excellent "Sulaco" series (25mm) and the beautiful collection of Woodbine's military Sci-Fi miniatures in 28mm for a pleasing result.
The Colonial Marines' platoons are broken down into two sections of two squads each, lead by a Lieutenant. The sections are lead by Sergeants, while the squads are under command of a Corporal.

The squad displayed might not stay like that, but its already consisting out of all the necessary miniatures - a leader (Dietrich), a Smartgunner (Drake) and two grunts (Frost and Hudson). Squads can be split once again into fire teams of two Marines each.

My complete first section (under GySgt. Apone) will be based upon the characters of "Aliens". Section two will consist out of all characters from the AVP trading card game from the 90's. This will give me enough Marines, to have two players controlling the USCMC for my forthcoming game.

Woodbine doesn't do "official" US Colonial Marines. The Pulse Rifles and Smartgun clearly are inspired by the movie but have been altered, probably due to copyright concerns. Their entire range (I will soon have all available ones) has all miniatures to display the whole movie's characters - to include the supporting individuals, like the Dropship's flight crew, Ripley, Burke etc. They are a little cartoony, but to me are probably the best "true" 28mm USCMC on the market.

Lesson learned so far: I just can't paint faces. Lots of practise should go into that topic :angry:
Let me know what you think - especially about the camo!
 

Sgt. Scream

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Section1completefront.jpg

The complete first section, with squads #1 and #2 (Woodbine Miniatures).

Squad2fromabove.jpg

US Colonial Marines Squad 2 (Woodbine Miniatures)

Squad2front.jpg

From left to right: Pvt. Wierzbowski, Cpl. Hicks, Pfc. Vasquez, Pvt. Crowe

WierzbowskiHicksfront.jpg

Pvt. Wierzbowski wielding a M240 Flamethrower, Cpl. Hicks with M37 Shotgun

WierzbowskiHicksback.jpg

Bases are from Fenris Games' Sulaco series, Cpl. Hicks also has a M41 "Pulse Rifle" strapped to his back.

VasquezCrowefront.jpg

Pfc. Vasquez wielding a M56 "Smartgun", Pvt. Crowe armed with a M41 "Pulse Rifle"

VasquezCroweback.jpg

Vasquez' gun has been slightly modified, just like the counterpart of Pvt. Drake

Section1complete.jpg

Section 1, led into combat by GySgt. Apone.

Aponefront.jpg

GySgt. Apone armed with VP-70 pistol, M240 Flamethrower and equipped with IR Binocculars

Aponeback.jpg

M41 "Pulse Rifle" on Apone's back, making him the best-armed Marine of the section :happy:

allfiguresjanuary2013sofar.jpg

AVP project: humans painted so far (January 2013)

So here we are, finally in the year 2013. Projects don't get completed as fast as I was hoping for. Serious illness of a family member prevents me from painting most of the stuff that sits on my table currently. Small progress was made over the weekend, as I finally was able to get at least section #1 of my Colonial Marines completed. Next addition will be the supporting characters like Gorman, Ripley, the Dropship crew etc.
Once again I am not completely satisfied - I just can't make it happen - faces on my miniatures still look horribly. 20+ years in the hobby and I still can't paint them to a comfortable standard :angry:
Maybe that's why I do prefer 28mm figures to have fully enclosed helmets?! ;)

The long painting war continues...
 

HiveTyrantPrometheus

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Von der Bemalung find ich die Figuren in Ordnung und gut getroffen, aber ich muss mich dem Grenadier anschließen, dass die Figuren nicht wirklich gut modelliert wurden. (Aber als Maler kann man ja nichts dafür und bis man passende alternative Figuren findet, dauert das auch sein Weilchen)
 

Sgt. Scream

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Ich glaube, das mit den Gesichtern liegt auch zum Teil an den Woodbines. Ich hab selber ein Platoon von den Colonial Marines, und irgendwie sind die sehr holzpuppenartig. Waffen und Ausrüstung sind interessanterweise wieder sehr gut getroffen.

Insgesamt sehr interessant! Der Power Loader ist sehr gut gelungen.

Ja, das stimmt schon. Dennoch sind die Woodbines noch am nähesten an den Filmrequisiten vom Design her. Also zumindest Body Armor und Helm/Beinschienen sowie die Flammenwerfer. Danke für's Lob für den Loader. ;-)

Von der Bemalung find ich die Figuren in Ordnung und gut getroffen, aber ich muss mich dem Grenadier anschließen, dass die Figuren nicht wirklich gut modelliert wurden. (Aber als Maler kann man ja nichts dafür und bis man passende alternative Figuren findet, dauert das auch sein Weilchen)
Du hast vollkommen recht. Aber es soll mit denen gespielt werden, ich finde da wird man die Gesichter wohl (zum Glück - bei meinen Mal"künsten" :lol: ) nicht so arg sehen.


Progress was made today:

Gormandetails.jpg

Leading officer of my Colonial Marine forces: 2nd Lt. Gorman (Woodbine Miniatures)

Gormanfront.jpg

Not really expecting to be out in the fight, Gorman still got injured early in the mission

Gormanback.jpg

Standard issue khaki coloured uniform and only a VP-70 pistol - Gorman didn't expect to be in a fight (no, really!)

Not much to show at all but I managed to get Gorman painted. He's another piece of the Woodbine Miniatures Character Set. Depicted is Gorman later during the campaign, after he injured his head, when the remaining Marines were fleeing the planetary processing unit in an APC.

I went with a really simple scheme, showing the Marine standard issue one-colour field dress (khaki). I was however trying to add as many of the patches that are seen in the movie as possible. So, Gorman sports both USCM badges (shoulder and chest pocket) and an US flag. The green stripes on the chest are supposed to resemble his name tags and service branch (Marines).

Gorman is un-armed apart from a VP-70 pistol.

Stay tuned for more AVP items in the next couple of weeks.
 

Ritschi

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ABO! Ich freue mich schon auf die Aliens und die Predators. Und was man bisher so gesehen hat ist auch richtig nice. Wird es auch Gelände passendes Gelände geben?
(sry falls es schon hier irgendwo steht, hab leider grade nur Zeit um die Bildchen anzuschauen. Morgen Abend kann ich mir dann wirklich Zeit nehmen. :happy: )
 

Sgt. Scream

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@Nordmann: Danke, hoffe es gefällt auch weiterhin.

@Ritschi: Aliens für den jungen Herren! :D

Update: Alien Warriors and Royal Guards

AlienWarriordetail.jpg

"They grow into killers in a matter of days" - Alien Warrior drone

AlienWarrior2.jpg

Alien Warrior (rebased WizKids Horrorclix figures)

AlienWarriorsback.jpg

Since there is different types of Xenomorphs the bases are marked ("Warrior")

AlienRoyalGuarddetail-Kopie.jpg

"They protect the Queen with their lives" - Alien Royal Guard

AlienRoyalGuardsback-Kopie.jpg

Three Royal Guards. These are even more dangerous than regular Warrior drones

Alienhordefront.jpg

First batch of Alien Xenomorphs ready for gaming

Alienshordeactionshot.jpg

...there is way more where these are coming from :)

As the core of my Colonial Marines is finished it was about time to add some stuff to the opposition. In this case it is going to be Aliens of two types to start my "hive": Warrior and Royal Guard drones. I am aware that the Pretorians (as the Guards are also known as) would normally look different, but there is no miniatures available for them and I wanted to have some variation in my forces.
So the climbing Alien figures are all going to be Royal Guards while the other miniatures are going to be either Warriors for the most part.
Royal Guards are rare and chances for them to appear will be low in our games, but naturally they will be encountered en masse if you are coming to close to a breeding chamber of a Queen.
The regular Warrior drones are what is going to be the main enemy encountered by Predators and Humans alike. I have a huge pile of these figures and there will be plenty of these - some 40 or so.

Bases are once again from Fenris Games, the Alien saliva is made out of glue. Just put a few drops down into an old lid of a bottle and wait a few minutes for the glue to start to bond. Then use a toothpick and start to pull drips of glue out of it - the glue starts to leave thin strings - and add it to the jaws of the Aliens. Done!
 

Sgt. Scream

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Hui, die sehen ja abgefahren, aus, sag mal, wie hastn du die Sabber gemacht?
die sieht echt schön eklig aus!

Lg Lukey

Hi, ist einfach: nimm dir ganz normalen, handelsüblichen Bastelkleber. Drück ein wenig davon in den Deckel einer alten Flasche und lass es stehen (so 15 bis 20 Min.) Der Kleber fängt langsam an zu binden. Wenn du dann einen Zahnstocher nimmst und drin rumstocherst, fängt er an Fäden zu ziehen. Sobald dir die Dicke dieser Fäden zusagt, Kleber aufnehmen mit dem Zahnstocher und am Monster anbringen. Eventuell wenig später noch ein wenig nachkorrigieren, fertig!
 

Sgt. Scream

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Sehr cool find die recht stylisch und danke für deine Beschreibung, wegen dem Sabberschleim das wird gleich gemerkt ;)
Gruss nordmann

Jo, manchmal sind die Dinge echt so einfach, dass man erstmal gar nicht drauf kommt.

MEEEEHHHHRRRRR Aliens. :)


AlienWarriors2drool.jpg

Ten done so far. Only 30 to go.

AlienWarriors2front.jpg

Another bunch of teeth, flailing tailspears and razor-sharp claws.

AlienWarriors2back.jpg

Standard Xenomorph Warrior drones. There will be a lot more of them.

Marines bekommen auch Back-up. Unterstützende Charaktäre sind fast fertig. Bilder folgen.