Because I seldom if ever play anymore, gone are the days when I am frantically trying to ready a force for a mission, only to need to replace it with another when the mission is over all too soon. Instead, I paint for other reasons… The 349th Dragoons and 256th Support Group are both part of my non-canon Stormbringers and therefore hold a special place in my heart. Meanwhile the 23rd Arcturan Guards has become something of a signature piece for me. I love purple, so the 9th Marik Militia was an easy pick. The blues of Reaper’s Pure Blues triad really blend well, and make a choice like the 3rd Davion Brigade of Guards, or the 3rd Lyran Guards, almost natural… But of them all, it really seems like the 17th Galedon Regulars are the most fun. Sure, they are a solid mass of grey, but the mini street scene dioramas are almost as much fun to do as is reposing them (my favorite part) and really allow me to get creative.
I’ve been kicking this idea around for about 4 years now. Sadly, with my production grinding down to about 1 a year, it took some time before the idea could be realized… The original idea was to have the Charger peaking around the corner, with kind of a “Please Dear God, don’t let there be anybody there” stance. To pull it off, I really think it needed to be bending more at the waste, something that the Charger does not lend itself to (at least not without filing down half of the waist and torso). Instead, I think I got more of a “cop about to bust a bad guy around the corner” look. Still cautious, but not timid. Meanwhile, I’ve added infantry again, something I started back with the dead guy on my ARC-2K Archer. This time the infantry is friendly, and it wouldn’t be too hard to believe the guy also looking around the edge is in command (although the Charger is actually numbered as a Lance Commander). I thought about adding a 5th guy, considering the almost superstitious nature of that number with Kuritian troops, but then I realized the Charger WAS the 5th guy… And speaking of the troops, it is the guy with the flamer I like most, probably because I could add a touch of color to their uniforms.
I had to explain this to Diamond Shark already, so I figured I would mention it here… In a perfect world, I would have a prebuilt city-scape that would have hexes cut from it, and this ‘Mech would just drop right in completing the building. Therefore, what you are seeing is a slice of the structure, that ends at the edge of the hex base. Which is also why you see four different living rooms and some furniture…
Finally, for those who have spotted something a little different about the head, I’ve added back the head mounted small laser. If you look at the original artwork it is there, although it is a bit more pronounced on my version. I modified it slightly with a protruding barrel, which necessitated the larger weapon. I don’t think the extra size takes away from the mini though.
As always, comments, suggestions and steal-able ideas welcome...
Caz
