This is the last of my workbench babies (miniatures that have sat unfinished for about 5 years) and was to be the last of my CSO submission packet.
As we move around the Inner Sphere, last and usually considered least of the 5 main houses, is the Capellan Confederation / House Liao. Even though I have no personal love for House Liao, I still wanted to do something nice to represent them... I know I had done green with the Proserpina Hussars, but I thought the dark greens of Kamakura's unit scheme would be a good addition.
The 'Mech represents the only miniature I actually bought for doing my submission (the others were "previously experienced" and usually required some kind of repair), and in some ways was a pleasure to work with something right out of the box. Early on I also made the decision not to modify the miniature much, and left it in the standard pose. I did however add a little greble in the form of a tapered half-round piece to act as shoulder socket to the right arm, and a little tapered piece added to the base of the antenna.
Overall, I was very happy with this miniature as I finished painting it... The different shades of green may not have blended as nicely as I would have liked, but the banding didn't detract so much that I was worried about it... My problem, I thought, was going to come from the final highlight color... I couldn't find the green I was looking for, as either it was too bright, or it was almost undetectable. I decided to go subtle and proceeded to finish the mini, although I got a little lax with a color even I could barely see. Then I sealed it and discovered where my problem truly lay... All the nice color shift that I had done, flattened out to what looks almost a single color. Worse yet, the subtle green highlights I added, lit up like a neon sign. Not only did it become entirely too bright, it then showed off exactly how lax I had been in completing my highlights... Needless to say, if this miniature had been headed to CSO, I'd have had to start over. But since it isn't, it lands in the "good enough" pile and go put up on my shelf.
Anyway, on to the mini.
For those of you whose eye is drawn to that multi-colored spot at the base of the Koschei's feet, that is a hot spring modeled on the Morning Glory pool in the Yellowstone Upper Geyser Basin of the United States.
If I was ever to attempt another of Kamakura's Hussars, my plan was to have them dotted on each of the subsequent mini's bases. As if the whole world they were on had them everywhere, as opposed to just that one here on earth (as least only one that I know of).
Finally, a little recap of all five Mechs I had planned to submit, going around the Inner Sphere.
Davion - Robinson Battle Academy - HNT-151 HornetKurita - 1st Proserpina Hussars - LNC-25-02 LancelotSteiner - 23rd Arcturan Guards - HCT-3F HatchetmanMarik - 9th Marik Guards - AWS-8T AwesomeLiao - Kamakura's Hussars - KSC-3I KoscheiEven though they never got used for what they were originally intended, I still ended up with 5 pieces that I am proud of (even with all the little flaws that maybe only I notice or even care about)...
And now, on to something else.
Caz