OMWB: CASE-2X Kneeling

 

Still feeling a bit rough from Covid, so this is just a compilation of pictures taken so far with this project, which by comparison, made the conversion I did for the Hunter running pose seem like a piece of cake.

There was just so much fettling to make the pose work.

When one cuts a casting apart to rebuild it, what one finds is how much is wonky with the sculpt. Nothing is truly square or symmetrical, and well this just makes everything more difficult.

Nowadays, with digital sculpting this would not be a problem

However, digital sculpts can end up looking lifeless, which takes a really good artist to add life back into the finished product.

Also, for this conversion I wanted to mount a gauss rifle, as described in Bad Dog.

So, I assembled some parts to make a nice chunky, but not too oversized model. I used a Rapid Fire Bazooka from the Dream Pod 9 1/144th range as the base on which to mount  a combination of original RAFM weapon parts.

As before, there's still some detailing work to finish this conversion, which is delayed by my ongoing infection leaving me a bit ragged around the edges.

Still, I'm pretty pleased with the repose.

OMWB: CAS-3-Mod 1 Kneeling

After gathering a bunch of a parts I eventually got around to assembling my kneeling CAS-3-Mod 1 Ape. I changed out the yellow part in the picture above for another for this conversion.

After drilling to magnetize the torso, I found that the body couldn't turn because it interfered with the raised plates on legs. Hence the photo on the right showing how I rebuilt the parts so that the torso would clear the plates, which I really shouldn't have had to do because this was sculpted as a kneeling Gear.

So, I bit the bullet and re-sculpted the lower torso top, and corrected the mismolded lower torso.

Finally, with that corrected, I could finish the conversion. As you can see I've added some stowage.

I have some old RAFM weapons, quite a few in fact, but some of the weapons are ridiculously large. Hence the substitution of the new Heavy Grenade Launcher from the current Dream Pod 9 1/144th range.

I decided to make the torso on this version a recon specialist variant inspired by the Ape suits that in my novel Strike Dog.I used a part from the current Kodiak from Dream Pod 9.

My plan is to make six mechs given that each half of the detachment was a mirror of the other. So, this model represents either Sergeant Mary Lewis, communications, or Sergeant Miguel Sanchez, communications from my novel Strike Dog.

Combat Armor Suit Detachment Alpha 5136

    Captain Anthony Downey, detachment commander
    Master Sergeant Campbell, operations and team sergeant
    Staff Sergeant Morales, combat engineer
    Sergeant Mary Lewis, communications
    Sergeant Schmidt, medical
    Sergeant First Class Frank Radoslovich, weapons

    Chief WO1 Andrew McAdams, assistant detachment commander
    Sergeant First Class Thomas Nguyen, assistant operations and intelligence
    Staff Sergeant Julia King, combat engineer
    Sergeant Miguel Sanchez, communications
    Sergeant Daniel Robinson, medical
    Staff Sergeant Juan Espera, weapons

And yes, this means I working on three more CAS-3 Ape conversions.

Still some final detailing to finish, which is going be delayed because after three and a half years of avoiding catching COVID19 I've tested positive. To say I feel ill only scratches the surface, and I can't remember being this ill in over forty years.

Guess it sucks to be me.

Girls und Panzer

We've seen some of these Girls und Panzer episodes and they're all a hoot to watch.

For those who like to play wargames then TooFatLardies What a Tanker would be perfect for recreating a Girls und Panzer campaign.

KINO NO ANIME: Memories of Britain's Anime Boom | Documentary

It has been a honour to share a love of anime and mecha with Carlo.

WIP: Still Rebuilding and Magnetizing

Back here I started work on magnetizing models with ball joints. The extra flexibility for poses and alternative weapon loadouts from magnetizing is very alluring for someone like me. 

It allows me to have lots variations with only a handful of models.

Useful when one is converting long out of production miniatures, like the old Heavy Gear models from RAFM. But, it can be quite time consuming too. As is the case when the rotation magnets for the ball joints on my large Buster conversion turned out too wimpy to hold the arms firmly enough.

So, I ended up ordering some medium sized X-Wing rotation magnets from Green Stuff World. Hence the lack of progress while waiting for the items to arrive.

Then when they arrive one has to remove the old small magnets, and then re-drill larger holes for the new magnets etc., etc. It's a thing. A process that involved a lot of cursing.

Now moving forward. Catch you all on the bounce.

Big Little Wars: Post 11 - First World Infantry Formations

Continuing on from my last post, let's look at First World Militaries; though as one of my readers said, should we be using first, second, and third world anymore? One alternative term in use is Global North versus the Global South to differentiate between.  

The answer is I don't know. Feel free to argue the case for retaining or changing the nomenclature.

Armored Exoskeleton Infantry

First World and upcoming nations have access to powered armor exoskeleton that enhances mobility for their infantry. This also enables them to carry a full load of ammunition, and grenades with ease.

Often considered to be another form of mechanized infantry.

They also have the advantage of not being so easily disabled or killed, but when they are, it affects the perception of the battle's success. The standard weapons include a grenade launcher, which are treated like regular infantry light specialist weapons.

Creating Armored Exoskeleton Forces

Teams are the building blocks for a squad. And those squads are the building blocks for a platoon.

When a players' force takes casualties, the results are assigned to the team that has been attacked, according to how it is organized.

Therefore, squads with two or more teams have the option to spread the results across them all. And then players add leaders as follows:

  

Armored exoskeleton infantry can be be upgraded with

RAV stands for Robotic Attack Vehicles; think Boston Dynamic BigDogs and their ilk. These will be covered next, as they require a separate post.

 

Armored Exoskeleton Infantry Options

1. Sniper. Attached to the  platoon as a specialist team of two (spotter and shooter) included in the base cost of 30. Veterans can upgrade a team for 10 points, limited to one per squad.

2. ATGM. Embedded with the squad with one team member carrying the weapon, with reloads spread amongst the rest of the team. A team with an ATGM can choose to as normal or fire the ATGM.

3. Heavy machine guns are tripod mounted weapons with two crew. Can be attached to the squad or a platoon and deployed on a RAV. The crew allows the weapon to be dismounted, which then becomes emplaced. It can be left as a remote controlled sentry gun.

4. M252 81mm mortars are mounted on bipod with three crew and costs 30 points. Can be attached to the squad or a platoon and deployed on a RAV. The crew allows the weapon to be dismounted, which then becomes emplaced.

5. M121A: 120 mm mortars require a crew of five and costs 70 points. It's too large to be mounted on a RAV, but can be mounted on a vehicle. The mortar can be dismounted from the vehicle, but then becomes emplaced. Once emplaced cannot move and fire. Large 120 mm mortars are always attached to a platoon.

6. Robotic Attack Vehicles are assigned to teams and squads to allow them to carry extra ammo or supplies. Weapons and electronic counter measures can be fitted instead.

Let me know what you all think?

NB: Big Little Wars posts to date.