Creating Autobots

These famous warriors need turning into generic soldiers. The chunky Prime figure will make a nice 'heavy'. I used some green stuff to cover his chest and make him look like a different character.

I went through some old toys and managed to find a few bits for kit bashing. Looks like this guy is actually a firefighter. Now I just need a name...

I first fell in love transformers in 1984 when I watched the cartoon. I never collected the toys as I was slightly too old. However, this never stopped me making a roleplaying game of the brand and becoming a fanboy of the universe. It even shaped my animation career as I would watch the cartoons and work out timings in the drawings. In a way, I owe everything to this cartoon. 

Creating a force for a wargame seems like it has come full circle.

 

I mapped out a very basic fighting force for Xenos Rampant. There was always less Deceptions, but they were always bigger and more warlike.

War for Cybertron

Lately I've been putting together a maniacal plan to create two Cybertronian armies.

 

German Mech Support

" Tommy... Get out of there!"

A Gothbot from Maxmini makes for a great retro robot. It has the rivets that I look for so fits in nicely to the rest of the force.

A huge machine gun arm looks like it could take care of most enemy armour. The other appendage is a huge metal opening claw for turret busting.

This is another walker type from Maxmini, the nice thing about this is the exposed head. I was able to swop it for a German one so it blends seamlessly with the platoon. It certainly looks in keeping with the era with its rivets and steampunky gait. 

The exposed head may seem foolish but it did give me the chance to make the Mech well and truly German.

It was good to get this two made and compare them both together. I have named the walker a Trench Jaeger, as it shambles through the earthworks, exterminating all in its path. The two heavy machine guns clear the trenches and the long arms reach into dugouts in search of prey.

 The Gothbot next to the giant mobile gun platform.

House work is a real pane!

It's time for a new lick of paint on the old house. These were painted over ten years ago and I really enjoyed painting the barns.

Once I painted the tiles I gave them a wash of brown paint to mute and blend them all together.

My top most favourite thing about painting these Hovel models is painting their windows. It's so simple, but really makes a big difference. I have a little jar with Kleer floor varnish and this stuff is great for dropping into the window panes to act as glass.

You can really see the difference between the two. The Kleer varnish really catches the light and makes the windows pop.

It's a nice touch that some of the windows are open, this creates a nice contrast with the shiny panes.

 

Another trick I learned from model expert Adam Savage, was to coat the odd tile in the Kleer varnish too. These tiles catch the light and add some pop to the model.

 They use this technique on starship models in films, as the camera moves over the model the light will catch the panels adding interest.