“The Son Of A Bitch Is Huge.”

“According to Mother, he's a primitive form of encephalopod.”

These four 15mm scale metal miniatures of some Xenomorphs are produced by “Ground Zero Games” as code SG15-X01 from their Stargrunt Infantry range, and come in packs of six figures (consisting of two alternative sculpts). The models are actually 22mm in height from head to base, and make excellent proxies for the LV-426 life-forms seen in James Cameron’s 1986 science fiction action film “Aliens”.

The quartet were super-glued onto a pair of medium-sized plastic “Flames Of War” stands by “Battlefront Miniatures”, and primed using two layers of “Citadel” Abaddon Black. The extra-terrestrials were then dry-brushed with “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey, before being given a wash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil in order to help tone down their highlights and better blend them in.

"Flames Of War" WIPs - A German NCO, Machine-gunner and his Loader

I’ve actually got a fair few more of these miniatures left to paint up, as they’ll form the backbone of the invading Xenomorph force I currently use for the vast majority of my 15mm sci-fi battles. As a result I have already paired up half-dozen extra aliens on three additional bases, as well as a handful of single figures on some smaller stands. I’m even considering populating a couple of “Flames Of War” large-sized bases to create a truly-terrifying ‘horde’ unit or two.

Staying with “the most popular scale for pre-20th Century wargaming”, I’ve managed to get another stand’s worth of infantry primed, shaded and dry-brushed for my “Flames Of War” German Panzergrenadier Platoon. These plastic soldiers by “Battlefront Miniatures” are proving a lot of fun to pigment, but due to their sculpts’ incredible level of detail, they are taking a tad longer to finish than I had initially expected; especially when it comes to painting the odd camouflaged helmet covering.

"Battletech" WIPs - A Griffin and Wolverine

Lastly, I have been focusing a little hobby-time upon two of my “Battletech” 1:285 scale plastic models by “Catalyst Game Labs”. I recently decided to add some green and black to my Griffin mech, so as to better represent the colours predominantly used on the old Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" aircraft. Until this particular plastic model becomes available outside of the Battletech Beginner Box I don’t expect to get my hands on any more, so wanted to include as many nods to the Japanese carrier-based fighter as I could.

Infinitely less demanding has been the Wolverine I plan to use as a Russian Yakovlev (Yak) medium-class war walker. As I’ve previously painted two Wasp mechs in a largely green palette, with the war machine having a single red hand to provide some contrast, I plan to replicate the scheme on this significantly larger model too – which will hopefully provide some striking cohesiveness to the Soviet forces on the tabletop.