Freeborn Domari Squad - part 1

So the box contains two sprue consisting of eight Domari infantry and one spotter drone (for a total of sixteen Domari and two spotter drones).

As you can see, the torso has fixed arms, all of the torsos have fixed arms. This limits the poses available.

 Above is the plasma carbine, one of which is provided on each sprue.

The minimum size of a Domari squad is one leader and five troops.

This was the first squad. Four of them are armed with Mag Guns, one with a Micro X grenade launcher.  The squad leader is armed with a Mag Pistol.

Because there are no separate arms, the pose is not particularly inspiring, the arms are designed to take a rifle weapon. There are only two left hand options, the archaic tablet and a grenade. The right hand options are a Mag Pistol (above) and a Plasma pistol.

The almost toga like clothing does not mesh between the torso and legs, so there will be a need to use some Greenstuff to fill in the gaps.

The second squad is again one leader, one Micro-X grenade launcher and four troops with Mag Guns.

For this figure I cut the right arm below the elbow away from the torso and used some plastic rod to get the arm the correct length. She is armed with a Mag Pistol and is holding a grenade in her left hand.

Her headphones obscure the profile of her nose in the following shot. Greenstuff will be used to blend the right arm in, the elbow pad from the arm has been cut off, sculpted and added back to the arm.

There will be a need for some greenstuff to blend the torso and legs together.

Three of the figures were used to build a Domari Garrison command squad from the Garrison Army list. The basic command squad is one leader with a plasma pistol and two bodyguards with plasma carbines.

For the commander figure, the forearms were cut at the elbows and the arms rotated. The grenade hand was used for left hand, the plasma pistol for the right.

 This will need some Greenstuff work.

The optional headset was narrowed so it connected both sides of the head..

As you can see, there is a need for some greenstuff on the join.

Domari Freeborn squad

I bought the new Warlord Games plastic Domari Freeborn squad. The box contains two identical sprue, each has nine multi-part infantry and one spotter drone.

Unlike most multipart figures, the arms are integral to the torso (a figure comprises legs, torso and arms, head and a weapon). This limits the poses available. There is no specific leader body, nor are there specific arms for the optional weapons.

Colours 2017

So it is that time of year again, so it was off to Newbury Racecourse for Colours. The convenience of the station opposite was slightly spoiled by the train set owner closing the line after 1400 (they are converting from clockwork to electric or something).

What was noticeable was the absences this year. This slightly spoilt my buy list, but never mind.

Crooked Dice had a nice selection of items (unfortunately I did not get the secret base set, too heavy). There were some new MDF and resin scenery items including a set of bunk beds. Photographs when I start building and painting them.

On my buy list was the new Rubicon Models Jeep. Even though I was there early I could not find any at the usual suspects. Having given up, I found one (of two) on the Great Escape stand. More on Jeeps later.

I had a rather badly written list of figures I wanted from Empress. This included their new "universal" figures in generic uniform with Soviet/Russian weapons. They can be ordered with a range of heads. Perfect for ImagiNation armies. I had forgotten to add the Mutton Chop British infantry suitable for Operation Sealion.

On the subject of Sealion, I bought one of their Spanish Civil War Panzer IB with 20mm cannon.

I also bought one of their new Jeeps, not for WW2 but for later conflicts.

 Scale shops with William Killian (the wheels are just blutacked on)

 The jeep is scaled at 1/50 rather than 1/56, so it is bigger than the Warlord one.

The Rubicon one is also scaled at 1/56 (you might be able to see it inside its bag).

Simple Miniature Games had an offer on Halifax box sets, so I took advantage of the offer to buy some more Resurectionists and other figures. Admittedly the "Stitched Together" was bought for looks rather than utility.

Spectre Miniatures had their new Technical upgrades on sale so I bought a number of them and a Technical Bravo that they had sold out of at Salute.

Technical Bravo is a more modern version with a four door body and shortened cargo space.

 This is a comparison with the SUV, also from Spectre.

This is the Spectre Technical Bravo compared to the Empress Technical.

Salute 2017

Salute was well organised, the very long queue moved smartly along the twelve twelve columns in hall N11 before we finally entered the hall.

For the true connoisseur of queuing, there was the option of joining the orgeworld queue before you actually entered Salute.

First stop was Mantic (in a change from the normal programme), to buy all the Walking Dead goodies and collect the free walker.

They were down to the last box of the show exclusive Lee and Clementine set by the time I got to the front.

Next was Simple Miniature Games for some Malifaux. They have a multi-buy offer which is always worth a look. They also had the Games Shop only bonus model version of the Queen Returns (an Undead, Neverborn Fey Master and her associated entourage). The bonus model was Doctor Dufresne (an alternative version of the McMourning character).

Then it becomes a bit of a blur.

Hasslefree were high on my must visit list, and I picked up most of what I wanted (some of it was so new they had not received the first casts).

I now have Pulse (female pulling the hood of a hoodie over her head) and Danica armed with a pair of Tonfa (?) which will be added to my A.G.E.N.T.S. cast. Lots of other nice figures, I will get round to building.

Anvil Industries have on their website pre-set regiments based on their Regiments multi-oars resin figures, at shows they will, if ask nicely, collect all the bits for you. I bought the Martian Orbital Fusileers as they reminded me of the old Laserburn Dennis the Dustbin Imperial marines. No icea what they are for, but I will find a use for them. They also had a nice wheeled APC and a Goliath mech.

Crooked Dice had their excellent range of figures augmented by new scenic items in MDF and resin. Highlights are the Giant Gorilla and The Beast Below. I did manage to forget the new Darius figure, but I went back to get one with resin base and one without.

Lots of other stuff to go here, but I do have a couple of photographs of a Ground Zero Games bot that I thought was cute (V15-68A if I remember correctly).

Was not quite the droid I was looking for.

By the time I got to The Plastic Soldier Company and Warlord, quite a lot of their stock was gone. This was especially true of PSC, I did manage to get an M4A3/M4A3E8 Sherman kit, the last one.

Warlord had a special offer on the plastic tanks, but had sold out of the IS-2 I was looking for. They also had a range spanning offer on boxed sets, so three boxes from Beyond the gates Of Antares joined a Konflikt '47 Walker.

I also chatted with someone from Clock Work Goblin about the future direction of Konflikt '47. Nice preview of a British walker and a print of the Automated Carrier (a Preying Mantis would have been nicer).

New figures from Empress, but I could not really justify the U-Boat, nice though it was. I also bought a FV103 Spartan (an HLBS model) having nagged about Empress doing one for years.

From Spectre, I bought their Cops vs Clowns starter set, one of their Technicals and a civilian car. They had sold out of the other technical and the Fast Attack Vehicle. Oh and a DSHK for use on one of Empress's M113s.

Concord Faction splinter troops

So, here are the first two blocks of Concord troops from two splinter factions.

Base colour is PSC German held Grey.
Most visors are Vallejo London Grey.
Drybrushed with Citadel Terminatus Stone.
Washed with Athonian Camoshade.

Base colour is Citadel Mournfang Brown.
Visors are again Vallejo London Grey.
Drybrushed again with Citadel Terminatus Stone.
Washed with Citadel Agrax Earthshade.

C3M4 - Gates of Antares combat drone

So, for reasons that are unclear to me, I dug out my Gates of Antares figures and drones and have been doing some work on them.

The Drone is coming along nicely.

I still need to blend the glow on the domes below the turret.

I had not spotted the sensor dome on the nose by the three vertically placed sensors.

 C3 Strike trooper for scale.

For reasons that probably made sense to the designer, the sensor things either side of the turret can pivot. As you can see I have pivoted mine in past the point it was painted. Another fill in job.

As I do not like the tripod based figures in the box set (a tripod is stable, but immobile), I painted the C3 figures as two opposing forces (Citadel Mournfang Brown and PSC German Field Grey).

I have an additional box which will give me sufficient figures for a reasonable game.

Salute 2016

Salute 2016 was held at the Excel centre in East London.

In previous years, the queue to get in has run the length of the Excel centre, much to the bemusement to annoyance of the Marathon Runners, Urologists and Property Buyers who also have registrations or conferences in one of the halls.

Last year the organisers had the queue in an adjacent empty hall, and this year once again the queue was in an adjacent hall.

I arrived at 1000, and there were a lot of people.

The queue was good humoured and we were into the show in good time.

So, what was there. Well, lots, and I managed to miss a number of stands that I had wanted to visit, plus I was unaware that Nexus Miniatures had a presence on one of the stands (which is a pity as I wanted some of the figures - oh well).

Normally my first stop is Hasslefree, but because of the entry point being from the side, I ended up stopping at the Wayland Games for a Terminator Spider Tank.

As I was passing Warlord Games (it was on the way), I picked up the Project Z game and a set of Project Z Special Ops, Gates Of Antares Concord and Ghar Bomber box sets plus the pre-release Concord CM3-M4 Combat Drone.

Assembled and undercoated (Citadel Mourning brown) with a squad of Concord troopers.

Finally I reached Hasslefree. Excellent range of figures, below is the Ekaterina figure painted up as Chloe from A.G.E.N.T.S. for 7TV.

 Plastic Soldier Company had the recent Rubicon models kits on a four for five deal, so, well...

I also bought a can of PSC British Tank green, only one of the above is not going to be green, guess which one?

Crooked Dice had their new figures and so I am now up to date. I also bought the Department X and Paranormal Exterminators' character cards. I also got the Camera man.

Spectre Miniatures had two SUVs, one normal, the other with off road mods including bull bars and extended air intake. This is the off road one (the air intake is not fitted).

On the Warlord Games stand, Clockwork Goblin had their 28mm Conflict '47 range on pre-release.

Here is the Spinne mech.

 Warlord Games Stug III for scale.

The crew man has a hat, I will convert the figure with the Westward SHS German head in helmet and gas mask.