Weekend update (Windows and robots)

So I tried Windoze 10 for a couple of days, and while there were a few nice features, my overall feeling was that the new OS was half-baked shite. Actions were laggy, the ability to customize seemed very limited, and most importantly, trying to transfer to, or access files on external drives was severely impaired.

Long story short, I rolled Microsoft's unwanted install of Windoze 10 back to 7. Here are some more reasons why Windows 10 sucks.

Happily, restoring the old OS was painless so I was able to get quite a bit of modeling done on the weekend. The first thing I worked on was my Comanche Battle Suit with flamethrower. What I noticed about these models was that they seem to have high lead content, and they were slathered in mold release agent.

The softness of the metal made cutting the fuel tank off of the arm very easy. I mounted it to the hip girdle of the battle suit, and re-positioned the hoses. There was a smaller third hose from the center of the fuel tank to the arm, but I just removed it altogether because it would have been too much trouble to sculpt an additional length of hose to cover the increased distance between the two locations.

I thought about making the nozzle of the flamethrower smaller, but then figured why not have a giant over sized nozzle?

I'm going to have to rebuild the upper portion of the right arm, but after that the model will just need painting.

I was also able to complete my conversion of a Robot Soldier to a Robot Gardener. First, I used my heat gun to soften the arms and re-position them.

Then I cut off the spikes from the arms. The left hand was also cut off and then re-attached rotated 180°.

Finally, I used wood glue and Woodland Scenics Fine Turf to create the moss on the robot's shoulders.

Comanche Battle Suit

The Comanche Battle Suit comes from the Secrets of the Third Reich wargame by West Wind Productions. I liked the look of the Comanche because of its diesel-punk aesthetic and also for its similarity to the Koubu from Sakura Wars.

The Comanche is described as a battle suit, but looking at it, I have a difficult time seeing how a 28mm figure is supposed to fit inside it. Then again, it is also described as a light mech, so maybe it is not operated by someone inside the armor. In any case, I believe that it fits much better with 1/72 scale figures than 28mm figures.

There are three different versions of the Comanche: the following models are the .50 HMG mounted version (US-SOTR14) and the flamethrower version (US-SOTR16). A bazooka and assault pod mounted version (US-SOTR15) also exists, but I don't own one.

The models come with the national identification symbol cast on the front of the hull, but I plan on removing it from the models. It just seems like kind of a bad place to have a big white star.

I don't particularly care for the layout of the flamethrower either, so I'll modify it so that all the weight is not distributed to the right side of the model. I'm thinking that the fuel tank would be better off fixed to the back.

For one of the suits, I hollowed out the interior so I could display it with an open hatch.

A comparison of a Koubu, a Comanche, and a Colossus.

The Comanche in the above picture is fitted with two arms, but they cannot rest at the sides of the suit. They need to be placed either to the front or the back of the body. To see if I had other options, I tested a pair of Chaos Space Marines Lightning Claws to see how they would look on the model.

I'm thinking that in general they look pretty good except for the spikes. For the actual finalized models, I'd probably attach some Power Fists instead of the Lightning Claws though.

Goblins in a Plenty

Whether you consider them to be small orcs or their own separate race, goblins are ubiquitous bad guys that have populated fairy tales and fantasy stories for centuries.

I've been trying to put this post together for quite a long time, and finally forced myself to sort out my pile of goblins, take all the necessary photos, and publish the thing to get it off my list for the New Year. So without further ado, I present the following sampling of goblins that can be used for 1/72 fantasy gaming.

I will start off with goblins in various types of plastic:

The first picture is of Caesar 1/72 plastic goblins (Caesar 105). They are a primitive looking bunch, lightly armed, and unarmored. Their proportions are fine, though I think the ears are a bit overdone.

The next set of images are of goblins from the D&D CMG. The first picture includes the Goblin Skirmisher (Dragoneye #31), Goblin Underboss (War Drums #31), Goblin Warrior (Dragoneye #32), Silent Wolf Goblin (Aberration #43), and Blue (Giants of Legend #29).

The next picture is of the Goblin Blackblade (War Drums #30), Goblin Picador (Dungeons of Dread #34), Lolthbound Goblin (Demonweb #13), Acheron Goblin (Blood War #28), Goblin Delver (Dangerous Delves #21), and Goblin Sharpshooter (Dangerous Delves #22). The Blackblade, Picador and Lolthbound Goblin have also been released for the Heroscape Warriors of Eberron expansion as part of the Ogre and the Goblins set.

The final picture here is of additional repurposed D&D miniatures, and includes the Goblin Cutter and Goblin Champion from the Legend of Drizzt boardgame, and their Dungeon Command equivalents. These were originally released as Goblin Cutter (Legendary Evils #23), and Irontooth (Legendary Evils #28) respectively.

I find the DDM figures suitable for use as either orcs, hobgoblins, or goblins depending upon size. The paint job on the Dungeon Command versions are are not particularly well done, but it's easy enough to repaint them, and they tend to be much cheaper than the original figures.

The Pathfinder goblins have often been described as not being your typical goblin, but they still fall into the stereotype of small, green humanoids. To me they seem to behave similarly to the gremlins from Joe Dante's Gremlins. From left to right are a Goblin Warrior (We Be Goblins! #1), and two Goblin Pyros (Legends of Golarion #1 and #2).

They have incredibly big heads that make them look totally out of proportion when placed next to a 1/72 scale figure. Luckily, the heads come off rather easily, and can be replaced with something smaller.

To round out the soft plastic goblins, we have goblins (and hobgoblins) from the BattleLore boardgame and two of their specialist packs - Goblin Skirmishers (Harceleurs Gobelins), and Goblin Marauders (Maraudeurs Gobelins) - produced by Days Of Wonder/Fantasy Flight Games. The figures include a Hobgoblin Swordsman, Hobgoblin Archer, Hobgoblin Spear Bearer, Goblin Band Leader, Goblin Drummers, Goblin Slinger, and a Goblin Skirmisher/Swordsman.

The plastic used to make the BattleLore goblins is a bit more bendy than other types of plastic, but their limbs are pretty chunky so there should be no problems with warping.

Finally, I include some hard plastic figures. The largest one on the left comes from Warhammer Quest, followed by two snotlings from the GW Night Goblin Fanatics set, and a whole bunch of Mantic imps. I bought the imps as bitz, so I'm not sure what sets they come from.

Now onto the metal miniatures:

The Terronus Isle of Goblins game is produced by West Wind Productions, and comes with a small line of goblin miniatures. The Terronus goblins are all slightly on the tall side, but they are slender, and thus more like goblins than orcs.

The first picture is of the Goblin Barbarian and Barb (TR-01), the Goblin Cleric and Chain Fighter (TR-02), and Goblin Fighters (TR-03).

The second picture is of the Goblin Paladin and Ranger(TR-04), the Goblin Monk and Rogue (TR-05), and the Goblin Wizard and Sorcerer (TR-06).

The last picture is of the Goblin Druid (TR-07), Goblin Villagers (TR-13), and a Sepulchral Guard (TR-14).

Hasslefree makes a nice set of Multi Part Goblins (HFO012) that come with separate heads, arms, and shields. I've only attached the heads here, but there are two right arms with swords, two right arms with spears, and four different left arms with attached shield.

They have a bit of that Angus McBride look to them, and look pretty good alongside the 1/72 Dark Hold Orcs.

The next picture contains three goblins from Prince August (Fantasy Armies GB7), and a pair of goblins made by The Goblin Factory (GOBSP014 and GOBSW007). The Prince August goblins are tall, and could be used as either goblins or orcs. The Goblin Factory figures are perfectly sized, and I will have to order some more in the future.

Citadel produced a line of lesser goblins that are perfect for use with 1/72 figures. These include:

C12/C13 Lesser Night Goblins

C12/C13 Lesser Goblins

GW snotlings come in a huge number of variants so a good group of goblins can be assembled relatively easily. They are on the cartoony side, and while I am not a huge fan of stereotypic comedy relief races, the miniatures actually paint up rather nicely. Some of their heads are pretty over-sized for 1/72 miniatures, but not so much so that I feel compelled to make a head swap like for the Pathfinder goblins. For coloration, my preference is for the traditional AD&D colors, though I do have some green goblins.

C14 Snotlings

Bit, Bob, Bog, Bogy, Chug (x3)

Dig, Dit, Gaz, Gig, Greni, Gug, Lud

Rud, Snif (conversion), Snit, Snot, Tug, Xen

Zid, Zot, Balg, Beet, Glup, Hev

Jab, Perc, Pik, Puff, Ret, S.A.A.

Shaman, She-Snot, Sik, Slik, Snek

Spet, Stug, Troom, Hic-hic

Gim and four anonymous snotlings

Marauder MM36 Snotlings

Snotling Pump Wagon Crew

Bloodbowl Snotlings

Rogue Trader Runts

Alternative Armies makes some Lesser Goblins (KC1) that are suitable as goblins. To me they seem rather influenced by the appearance of GW goblins.

Reaper goblin from the Familiars IV set (Warlord 14297), and Familiar Pack VI (Dark Heaven Legends 02870). This pair are unarmed civilian-type goblins.

The Ral Partha Lesser Goblins/Goblin-Imps from the CS/Fantasy Collector Series are some of my favorite figures. The first figure is actually from the Monsters boxed set (The Adventurers 98-003), and is called a Demon Imp, or in other instances a ghoul, but it fits right in with the Goblin-Imps.

Tin Soldier Giant Goblin Command (DFA12) are in a crouched position similar to the Ral Partha Goblin-Imps, but are a lot chunkier.

Blood Dawn/Shadow Corps goblins are small and weedy, and fit well with other 15mm figures, unlike the Shadow Corps orcs and dwarves. The first picture contains two pairs of figures from the Goblin Command Set (SC3009) and Goblin Infantry with Mace set (SC3010), and one pose from the Goblin Infantry with Side Arms set (SC3011).

The next picture is of the Goblin Infantry with 2-Handed Arms (SC3012), and Goblin Archers (SC3013).

The next group are 15mm Alternative Armies goblins. Many of the figures are used interchangeably with their orc sets with the exception of some of the figures from their Goblin Command set (HOT3), and Goblin Archer set (HOT61). The command set was supposed to have three poses, but I ended up with four. The first two figures are unique to the goblins, while the second two are shared with other orc sets. The final figure is of a Goblin Hunter (MDA22E) from their Table Top Fantasy line.

Additional small 15mm goblins come from Splintered Light Miniatures. These include Goblin Warriors (ORC07).

Some somewhat larger Goblin Archers (ORC03)

Finally, some figures that I use as goblin proxies. The first figure below is of a Ral Partha Mite (AD&D Monsters 11-460), followed by two Grenadier Kobolds (Wizzards and Warriors W22). These kobolds are not the iconic Sutherland versions, and I vaguely recall them also being used as lesser orcs or goblins by Grenadier.

More Grenadier kobolds include some sculpted by John Dennett (Fantasy Lords 148; Monster Manuscript Vol.V 1505, MM43, MM44). These kobolds are horned, but do not have tails. I use them as a type of hobgoblin.