My Collection

[Wildonion]

After so many years in the hobby, I thought it would be a fun afternoon project to try lining up all my painted miniatures and getting them photographed for posterity. The pictures are not the best (and neither is my painting, if truth be told) and it has certainly given me a new respect for the level of work that goes into putting something snazzy up on these boards. I've included a little blurb for each, to give you some idea just what the heck you are looking at. It was a fun little project all around, so I hope you enjoy!

***EDIT***
Shout out to Worktroll, by the way! I love the way you use your map sheets in your photographs and I had to run with the look. That and years of seeing your stuff gave me the courage to go ahead and post mine, too. Keep modding those 'Mechs and showing us your stuff!


Everybody has to start somewhere and this little trio makes up the beginning of collecting and painting BattleMechs. While not the first miniatures I've ever painted (Good God, those poor old space marines from Battle for Macragge...) these are still some of my earliest work in the hobby. I just can't bear to strip off the old paint and do it all over again, just too much nostalgia, so these guys will stay this way.


In contrast, this is the latest lance I've painted up. The floor stain I used on them was just too light and it really doesn't have the level of shading that I have come to rely on in order to make miniatures that aren't just flat colors. I also got to dabble in trying snow effects, in preparation for a Frostgrave project, and that part seemed to come out all right. A good chance to experiment, if nothing else, and it was fun to try and make the most Kuritan lance that I could.

[Wildonion]

Next up are a unit that I built so that I could play Alpha Strike with my dad (and his damned Ghost Bears). Always a loyal son of Davion, I thought I would put together a few companies of the 5th Crucis Lancers; I never really thought I would get to a whole battalion. The green really isn't dark enough for the Lancers, but this was still one of the largest hobby projects I ever attempted. Felt good to get so many of these guys painted up!


Battalion Command just had to have the Atlas and, after that, it became about putting together a little team that would keep the big lug safe. Toward that end, the Crusader, Stalker, and Zeus provide long-range support and try to rubble whatever is getting close. Thankfully, they usually have a solid blend of close-range firepower to still be effective at killing whatever makes it through.


Alpha Company is here and ready to go. I used the Dark Age versions of the Firestarter and Hatchetman as a way to be able to keep using these guys in more modern fights. (Thank you for not killing off the 5th in 3145, CGL!) The only other figure of note is the Rifleman. That little guy has passed through the hands of a few of my friends, one of whom is sadly not with us anymore, before it finally came to me and it might be one of my most important miniatures. If for no other reason than it was the first miniature I used in a game of BattleTech and was single handily responsible for my love of the design.


Beta Company is on display and one of my favorites leads the batch. That Battlemaster came out pretty good and I love the way the red of his canopy was effected by the Quickshade and the gloss varnish. Beyond I wanted to build a pair of lances that made use of solid designs with similar movement profiles, which was harder than it sounds with my eclectic collection. This was the point that I decided to start trying to push to create a full battalion and to make sure there were good lances within each company.


Charlie Company was the result of my need for a ridiculous collection of missiles and the difficulty of getting something that moved as quick as the Commando and Raven, but without jump jets. Thankfully, the Centurion and Dragon filled the gap fairly nicely! The striker lance forced me to do a little digging, but I managed to get an old CityTech Victor from a friend, since I lacked any others at the time. I like to think that that is the VTR-10D, rather than the -9K, to justify that ridiculous barrel!

[Wildonion]

An attempt to add to my original trio after finishing the Lancers, my desert company is largely the result of a lucky find at a used music, book, and game store. Stumbling on the old starter set, and for ten bucks, made this a must buy and it turned into a fun challenge when I had to start piecing something workable together out of it.


Getting that damned Marauder put together was a bigger pain that I ever expected. It seemed miscast or something and I have to shave and fill to the best of my ability to get that thing looking like an actual 'Mech. The Battlemaster once again reaffirmed my love of the big bubble canopy, though!


I am not going to lie to you, one of those Rifleman was not from the box. I had him for a while. However, it seemed like a great way to finish out the support lance and, lets face it, I love that dumb little 'Mech too much not to take the opportunity to field two! Good thing the Archer is there to pick up the slack.


A pretty boring lance, since it is just the classic medium trio plus a buddy, but I think they would fight fairly well together on the field. Part of me thinks that I should just field it under strength and put the Phoenix Hawk with the recon "lance". Or just field all six as a reinforced lance.


Oh this poor little Locust. Like the Marauder, he was not in great shape when I found him. Bent, busted foot, and not quite sculpted right. It felt good to save that little guy and get him painted. His buddy in the Stinger is the left over, losing his spot because of my spare Rifleman. They are my plucky recon duo. Oh don't look at me like that, I had to grow up with the Toy Story franchise; it does things to a kid.

[Wildonion]

And we are coming to a close with my generic camo company! These guys turned out way better than they had any right to. I tried out the Army Painter color primer--greenskin, in this case--and I picked a day where it was too hot to really spray them. That and I was holding the can too far away, as you need to be much closer than with standard primers. The 'Mechs (all from the newest starter set and lance packs) came out waaaay too green and chalky to the touch. Had to try and use Simple Green and a toothbrush to smooth them out somewhat and it didn't really work. They sat that way for quite a while, as I was a bit miffed by what had happened, and only got back to them last summer. I cooked up a few lances, slapped some colors on, and then hit them with a mid-tone stain that is a pretty close match to the Army Painter Quickshades. After letting them dry for a couple of days, a matte varnish finished them off and saved the minis. The bases are mdf, primed black and gloss coated, which I affixed after the fact, since I usually play without hex maps. Overall, it was pretty successful! Which means I am going to have to finish all the rest this summer. Oh boy...


A group shot of the whole company, and the reason I started this little photo project. It is cool to see the full line up.


Oh Battlemaster canopy, you can do no wrong! This lance was an exercise is shoving a bunch of autocannon 10's into a force to back up the gauss rifle. Plus, I hadn't painted a Cataphract and I needed to after piloting one through the early days of MWO. So much for this force being useful as a generic unit! Nobody is mistaking that number of autocannons (especially with the next lance) for anything other than a FedRat unit.


Can I just say that, after the CityTech Victor, painting this guy was a real treat? Even better, he matches the older miniature from the BattleTech Compendium. That Victor, and the old Commando with his arm swung out, used to fascinate me as a kid. It felt good to get this one painted up and I think he pairs well with the Hatchetman. The Enforcer and Panther are there to provide some ability to fight at mid-range--and because the old art for the ENF-4D from the card game was a favorite of mine growing up. Felt right to pair the Victor and Enforcer on those grounds.


Sadly, I did not have said Commando at the time, though I do now. Probably wouldn't have used him anyway, since I wanted to stick to the same type of miniatures for this company. Still, I had to surround the Commando I did use with some solid buddies and these are the ones that made the cut. I was tempted to put in a Cicada, just to try and worm in another autocannon by using the CDA-3M (which I also played in MWO), but the Jenner was too good to pass up.

[chongobongo]

very nice group . nice to see multiple units like that.

[jimdigris]

 O0

[Luciora]

Great mechs!

[Wotan]

There can't be enough 5th Crucis. Go for it!  ;)

[tsmpaul]

I really like the desert company! Nice work!

[worktroll]

Great stuff there. Got to agree with tsmpaul - the desert company is extremely sharp!

I know what you mean about the 3rd Ed Marauder. A teaspoon of putty in the middle, and trimming all over. It's come up well though!

Now you have to take the next step into deeper madness - vehicles to support'em! ;)

W.

[Wildonion]

I do have a couple SRM Carriers and a couple Demolisher II tanks...

[worktroll]

If only you knew the power of the Battalion side ... ;)

[Wildonion]

You can't do this to me, Worktroll! The 5th Lancers field more vehicles than they do 'Mechs and then become a giant combined arms force in the modern era. It is just too many tanks, man! Too many!  #P

[Wotan]

I know that - and it is hard to cut such a great project.
A regular RCT with its 3 tank regiments would be hard to paint anyway. But the 5th has 6 regiments of tanks! And 6 regiments infantry instead of the regular 5.
For my own 5th Crucis RCT i limited the amount of battle tanks to a battalion, same for the infantry. But give a bit more room for additional support units. I think 120 mechs plus 40 ASF aside of 36 tanks, a lot of infantry marker and around 50 minis for support units is a good number for a painting project. Somewhere you need to draw a line.  ;)

[Valkerie]

Don't sell yourself short, you've got some nice work there!  Quite the little collection.  Hope they got you some good wins  ;)

[Kibutsu]

Very nice collection!

[Daemion]

A Locust with the original arms! You don't know what it's like to only see a few of those, ever.

[avon1985]

Sweet!

[I am Belch II]

Great Job!!