No not a comedy double act. But 2 more Battle tech "Mechs" painted. It has been a LONG while since I painted any mechs one of the reasons is I never know what colour to paint them. One school of thought is to paint them camouflage patterns and colours as they are fighting vehicles. The other line of thought is to use heraldic colours. Personally I do like both approaches and being totally inconsistent will flit between both with different mechs as the mood takes me. But this time I have settled on a hybrid scheme that is both heraldic and camouflage in nature. I used a sandy colour up to the waist and a light blue for the torso head and arms. You can see the camouflage colouring on the right. I will not do very many mechs this colour but you can see it might just work!
The models are that very nasty plastic and not the metals of yesteryear. They were included in the 25th anniversary box set of Battletech I bought a couple of years ago. And these were the first things started AFTER the Analogue painting challenge. The plastic has lots of casting issues and quite a bit of "Flash" overall I am not impressed with the choice of materials. The Mechs however are just about the same as the metal ones from when I was just a tad younger. Firstly we have a 100 ton Atlas class mech, it is just about the largest Inner Sphere mech you can get. It does not carry the scary PPC, but does have the more devastating Ac20 for close in work. This does not mean you can stand off at long range and snipe kill it either as it also has a LRM 20 for those long range shots. As one of the biggest and most powerfull inner sphere mechs you knew it was not going to be so easy to deal with.
Secondly we have the Hermes class mech. It is only 40 tons so we cannot expect too much from it. But it has a running speed of 9 so it can move about quite well, OK very well despite the fact that it is not jump capable. It is one of the rare mechs that has a flamer and while that does not do oh so much damage to other mechs and only has a 3 hex range it can cause the opponent to "Run hot" which as battletch players we all know is not good. It also has an AC5 for long range work and a medium laser for closer in and when ammo consumption is an issue. Not as lightly armoured as some other mechs of this 40 ton weight limit but for the weight I would go for a "Whitworth" but it really is personal choice when it comes to Battltech mechs.. Some mechs are just horrid but most can be good if you choose to play them in the right way. And that is what I like about Battletech even 25 years on, it can be quite balanced if the weight classes are the same. I still don't fancy 4 "Urban Mechs2 against a single "Awesome" though.I apologise for using some of the slang from the game as if you have never played Battletech most of it will be a foreign language to you. But if you are a battletech player the slang is like music to your ears.
Thanks for looking today and I hope to have some more new stuff by Friday. (Working on it now). But most importantly have fun take care and get some painting done.
Cheers Clint
Interesting idea there.. can understand the logic, and the background that you have for the photos reinforce it.. though can't say that I would have thought of painting them like that though! Cool idea, concept, and delivery!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kyle. I cannot take any credit for the idea as I have seen other people paint Mechs with sky coloured torsos INCUDING Silver. But I am glad you can follow my reasoning for the scheme if a mech stands 30m tall.
DeleteThey are looking very smart, good job on those, I recently got some myself, the paint scheme is the only thing that is holding me back, you made some good suggestions.... maybe a camo scheme.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the next ones I do may well be grey. Any colour will work and if you search the internet that will be evident. So it is just one that you will b happy with.
DeleteThanks Extra
Good work on the paint schemes, Clint. As a long term Battletech player, the slang came naturally to me so no need to apologise on my behalf. Seeing these two mechs brings back many happy gaming memories.
ReplyDeleteThanks Bryan. For many the LRM's an ACs and PPC's will be well known but for some (who are obviously lacking in the knowledge of CLASSIC games) they will make no sense at all.
DeleteVery cool, Clint. The photography makes them look so menacing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dean they should look menacing in a giant robot kind of way. Not in some players /pilots hands perhaps but they would be the exception.
DeleteNice job not quite reminiscent of WW2 fighter aircraft with different camo patterns topside and bottom. I never really got into battletech I liked some of the miniatures but couldn't get my head around what the score was.
ReplyDeleteThanks Simon. I have never thought of them like ww2 fighters. But now that you have pointed it out it is so obvious. I must be a dullard. No worries about getting into battletech one cannot get into everything.
DeleteNice job Clint! They look like bigass Rogue Troopers.
ReplyDeleteTo give you a sense of size the hex base is 30mm across flats. (Hope that makes sense to you.) Given that they are describes as 30 foot tall robots that would be a rather large Rogue trooper.
DeleteThank you Bob.
Never played BattleTech but enjoyed seeing these models enormously. Great colour scheme and very well painted Clint. I'll avoid the plastic minis like the plague then if I see them. But you have tempted me if I see any of the metals.
ReplyDeleteWell Simon the game is very good even for it's age. But nothing is perfect. These plastic figures came in the 25th anniversary box set and would get you started that's for sure as it does cover a lot of the more standard mechs. It is all personal choice as to which mechs they should have put in there are some I would not have done and others I would have. I believe the metals are still available from Ral Patha or via eBay and the like, but If I was starting from scratch I would get the box set as It does have everything you need and is not weighed down with clan stuff too much.
DeleteThanks Clint. My eldest informs me we have an unopened boxed set somewhere, which has cardboard minis inside apparently. So I may well go hunting for that and see what's inside... not that I need another range of minis to paint :-)
DeleteYes the Original did come with cardboard minis. That would be enough for you to get started and try the game and see if you like it. I would copy the cardboard ones as opposed to chop them as you never know if you don't like ithaving them all intacty may make it easier to sell.. It may not but worth a try.
DeleteGreat stuff Clint! The plastics really are awful and you really did them up nicely here. I'm curious what faction(s) you play...
ReplyDeleteThanks Sander. I did not spend long on painting them just base colour a wash and the a single highlight.
DeleteAs for which Factions we play. WE tend to play Mercenary lances mostly working both for and against House Kurita or House Malik depending on the contract.
I've always wondered what Battletech is like and whether I should find out more (not enough time!). But while I like the painting on these models, I don't think much of the models themselves. They look, I dunno, not "industrial" enough.
ReplyDeleteThanks C6. I agree there is something missing in the sculpts of these mechs. Some are definitely better than others but some are a lot worse.
DeleteI was never interested in mechs myself, but I do like the paint scheme!
ReplyDeleteNo worries there will be no more mechs for a while. Thanks Mathyoo.
DeleteInteresting colour schemes, one I'd never had thought of and you've done a great job on them; I've never understood the logic of these mechas, even though I played the computerversion of the game manyyears ago.
ReplyDeleteI never played the computer games, only the board and roleplaying games. I really do know what you mean as I have never understood the logic of mechs either they just seem like too much work just to make them "human" like!
DeleteThanks Joe.
I'd love to see all your mechs together. The bases remind me of the original computer games.
ReplyDeleteI have surprisingly few mech done. As I lend to only need a "Lance" (4 Mechs) for each side on the board at a time.So a group shot at this stage would not be very impressive at all.
DeleteThank you Bacon