Cazaril Collection - The 23rd Arcturan Guards - Picture Heavy

[Cazaril]

Grab your snow goggles and polarize your cockpits, because we are going to Carse 'Mech fans.

The Arcturan Guards can trace their history back to the formation of the Lyran Commonwealth, when they were originally know as the Capitol Guards. When the capital was moved to Tharkad in 2407, the unit changed their name to what it is today.

Originally comprising of nine regiments, by 2786 that number swollen to twenty-five regiments. Now in 3025, they are back to just nine, although none of the original units have survived.

Created during the First Succession War, the 23rd Arcturan Guards, also known as The Frost Giants, is currently stationed on Carse. Originally composed of the descendants of Arcturan Northern Nomads and Tharkan woodsmen, the unit prides itself on its skill at traveling through rough terrain and cold-weather survival. These skills serve them well on Carse's unforgiving surface.

And now it is time to meet the crew...

   The 23rd Arcturan Guards - The Frost Giants   

Regimental Command Company

04 - CN9-AL Centurion - Mechwarrior Lars Overgaard





05 - FLC-4N Falcon - First Leutnant Sorcha Astor





12 - LCT-1S Locust - Mechwarrior Johanna Voss





1st Battalion, Alpha Company

13 - WHR-6R Warhammer - Kommandant Jared Storm





14 - TDR-5SS Thunderbolt - First Leutnant Lori Harman





15 - RFL-3N Rifleman - Mechwarrior Cody Permiakov





16 - CRB-20 Crab - Mechwarrior Francois Billeaudeaux





24 - SDR-5V Spider - Mechwarrior Amanda Grey





1st Battalion, Beta Company

1st Battalion, Gamma Company

44 - HCT-3F Hatchetman - Mechwarrior Vidkin Geier





45 - GRF-1N Griffin - First Leutnant Michael Cross





46 - PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk - Mechwarrior Rafael Fuchs





47 - PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk - Mechwarrior Robert Pennington





48 - PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk - Mechwarrior Michelle Baugh





2nd Battalion, Alpha Company

2nd Battalion, Beta Company

2nd Battalion, Gamma Company

3rd Battalion, Alpha Company

3rd Battalion, Beta Company

97 - AS7-D Atlas - Hauptmann Donald Hulsey





3rd Battalion, Gamma Company

Lightning Company

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The idea for a compilation of all a unit's images came from the "Miniature of a Fortnight" series of posts. For over a decade I have been creating individual posts, with the occasional group picture, but never have I brought everything together in one place. I have a index of all my old posts (see "A Link to the Past" in my signature), but nothing where you can scroll through all of them all in one post. Also, with Lords of the Battlefield down, I've lost access to many of the older images and posts.

I also thought about adding each compilation to my signature, but I think I'll add them to the index instead. That way my signature stays clean, and everyone will be able to still easily link to an older post...

I still plan to create a new post for each new miniature, but also add to any collection I create. The nice part is that by modifying an existing post, I won't be bumping it back to the top when I do.

I'm also thinking of linking each miniature back to it's original post, so if people want more information about a particular Mech, they can easily link to it (assuming of course the original is still accessible).

I'd like to know what everyone thinks of this idea.

Caz

[Cazaril]

There was a time when I would take commissions... I don't do that anymore... But I will paint for or friend, or to help one... Those Mechs are no longer part of my collection and are not part of my unit, but they are part of my painting past. So I'd like to add the couple in that I no longer have.

The Departed

AWS-9Q Awesome





Done for a charity auction long ago...

TDR-5SS Thunderbolt





This one was done for Grud, the biggest Thud-a-holic I know... And one of my top 5 favorite 'Mechs of all times.

[Mecha82]

Sweet! :thumbsup:

[DEZOAT]

 :o 8) :thumbsup: WOW!! Now that total AWESOME looking minis SIR!! Great job on the minis.

[SteelRaven]

They all look amazing!

That Thunderbolt TDR-5SS has to be one of the best depictions of that model!

[Jhousdan]

Love the re-poses on all the phoenix hawks! Makes me want to do some!

[Simon Landmine]

Excellent!

[Cazaril]

Love the re-poses on all the phoenix hawks! Makes me want to do some!

The entire 23rd Arcturan Guards started in the early '90s with just four Mechs. Those were the Griffin (picture isn't up yet) and all three of the Phoenix Hawks. The basic story is that they were left behind (presumed dead) when Carse was invaded, and while they knew they couldn't win, Cross's Cavalry just wanted to be a thorn in the oppositions side... Because this was always meant to be played out, I painted the four Mechs... Now back then I didn't have the internet, and I made some mistakes. One of the biggest, was I used polyurethane to seal them... Eventually the Mechs and paint brushes got put away, and my Mechs were forgotten.

Fast forward to 2008... I had just lost my job and had all day to do nothing. My sister, who lived near by, calls to tell me that my nephew was interested in learning to paint miniatures. She asked me if I would work with him... Being broke meant I had to use what I had, so out came all my old stuff, and what a mess it was. The epoxy I had used as filler on several of my Mechs apparently never completely hardened, as it was now leaking out. The papier-mâché snow I had created for Cross's Cavalry was flaking off. And worst of all, the polyurethane I had sealed all my minis with had developed an amber patina... For most of the minis (which were dark colors) it really wasn't a huge problem, but for my four white ones, it was disaster. So I did what I had never done before, or since, to a completed mini; I striped it back to bare metal.

Now unlike when I was painting in the '90s, I was no longer in a bubble. The internet made available a cornucopia of resources that not only taught me how to paint better, but also served to open my eyes to the potential of reposing and bashing, which was something I had only dabbled in before. I never liked how the three Phoenix Hawks always looked the same. For an opposition force, I didn't care much, but I wanted my "Heroes" to be unique. Once I saw what could be done, I knew I couldn't leave them alone. So from that came a couple of trial runs (my Rifleman and Marauder form the Albion Military Academy), and then I started on the Phoenix Hawks.

The Phoenix Hawks are some of my oldest reposes, and are part of the original four that launched Cross's Cavalry into The 23rd Arcturan Guards.

Caz

[jimdigris]

 :o :thumbsup:

[Grognard]

Caz,
Your minis have always been a treat to see.
... and after that two months and --mumble#--- of restrips...
I'll never try to paint white like you can, again.

[Cazaril]

I'll never try to paint white like you can, again.

I am flattered that you would ever try.

But before you give up completely, I'd like to offer three little bits of advice. The first and last are sort of general, the middle one is the most important.

1) Don't go to dark on the panel lines... I see people all the time that use black for the panel lines. This is supposed to be a shadowed area, not the inside of the Mech. I use Reaper's Rainy Grey, which is a nice medium grey that is a bit on the light side.

2) This next one is the hardest of all, because it involves rethinking how you paint... Stop using white as a highlight color!.. I can't tell you the number of times I've seen people paint a Mech grey then dry brush it white. Drybrushing is meant to hit the edges and highlight them, white has no highlight color... Or more accurately, white is both your mid tones AND your highlight color... On a side panel that is meant to be not in shadow, I try for 2/3 to 1/2 all white (at least). Your shadow color (I use Reaper's Misty Grey), needs to be used minimally.

3) It will look like garbage until you are done... I can't tell you how many of these white minis I wanted to stripe because they looked horrible, and then suddenly they didn't. I can't explain it, but it will suddenly look good with that last coat of paint, so stick with it.

Anyway, those are my three tips for painting white...

Caz

[Grognard]

I don't know if you recall, but RPGSHEETS was a huge fan of your work.  And he painted professionally.

yeh.
that guy
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[MarauderD]

Hoping Cazaril does some of the new Kickstarter minis so I can borrow some of his good ideas when I paint mine. 

[Cazaril]

Hoping Cazaril does some of the new Kickstarter minis so I can borrow some of his good ideas when I paint mine.

I certainly have enough coming (130+ in the first wave)... But a "fast" mini for me still takes about a month. So it will be a moment.

Caz

[avon1985]

WOW! Really WOW!! :thumbsup: