This 1:285 scale plastic model of a Stormcrow is manufactured by “Catalyst Game Labs” and can be bought together with the Dire Wolf, Summoner, Mist Lynx and Shadow Cat in the company’s “Battletech: Clan Command Star” boxed set. All the pre-assembled miniatures in this “supplement to the BattleTech: A Game of Armoured Combat box” come with an assortment of Alpha Strike cards depicting various colour schemes. However, as I plan to employ this particular sculpt as a (second) German Heinkel Flugzeugwerke class War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign using some homemade rules, I decided to go with a predominantly grey palette.
“Designed by Clan Hell's Horses and debuted during the Battle of Tokasha”, the 38mm tall figure was initially undercoated with “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII, shaded in “Citadel” Nuln Oil, and dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” German Fieldgrey WWII. I then ‘picked out’ the second generation OmniMech’s three-toed feet using a combination of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. These areas were later carefully dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Heavy bluegrey.
Having previously later returned to my first, significantly darker grey, Stormcrow and picked out its shoulders using some “Vallejo” Sun Yellow, I thought I would apply a similar palette to this model as well. I therefore brushed a couple of coats of “Vallejo” White to the war walker’s shoulders and a couple of small areas beneath its cockpit as a base colour, before using some “Vallejo” Sun Yellow. These parts were then shaded in “Citadel” Reikland Fleshshade, and very carefully dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Sun Yellow.
Finally, the miniature’s joints, exhaust vents, ER Medium Lasers and SRM-6 launcher were treated to some “Vallejo” Gunmetal and a splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. I also pulled out a couple of German crosses from my collection of “Decal Details” and positioned them onto the somewhat flat pieces of armour fronting the miniature’s feet.
In addition, I’ve started work on the fourth of my Weekly Challenges, randomly chosen via a deck of playing cards. On this occasion I’ve got to paint a single 28mm miniature, so having been completely caught up by Judge Dredd becoming a playable character in the “Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War” video game, I thought I might finally apply some pigment to an old Cadet Judge I received as part of the infamous Judge Dredd Miniatures Game: Block War Kickstarter by “Mongoose Publishing”.
As a result of scouring through my backlog I actually seem to own five Cadets in total, albeit the one I’ve selected is the only copy of Cadet Judge 2. However, I thought as I was applying a brush tip to one, I might as well see if I can do the same to Cadet Judge 1 and Female Cadet Judge, especially as I’ve been asked to put on a Judge Dredd game at the LVL Up Gaming Store in Bournemouth using what models I’ve previously painted with some homemade rules…
Nice looking mech. I like the group shot and the variations in their colours and patterning looks good.
Judge Dredd? More different stuff coming in from left field!
Excellent work on the mech, that yellow/orange works so well as a contrast colour. And that's a great group shot of the German force you've built up!
What was "infamous" about the Mongoose Judge Dredd game? And I'm looking forward to seeing those painted!
As Dave said that's quite the impressive little force of German Mech's you have there mate, they look awesome, I agree that the lighter Stormcrow looks better, but I think the variation between the two add to the overall aesthetic though.
Nice to see some more "JD" stuff on the painting table too.
Cheers Roger.
Another great looking Mech Simon, and that is an impressive looking German force you have now. Look forward to seeing how you progress with your judge cadets