From SimonM: "Catalyst Games Lab" Battletech & "Brigade Models" Land Ironclads (30 Points)

For my ninth post I thought I would work on some more 1:285 scale Battletech models by Catalyst Game Labs which I plan to use to bolster my single French Weird War Two walker, and probably the beginning of a quite large company of French super-soldiers as well. In addition, I’ve started on the beginning of a 1/1200th British force of Land Ironclads by Brigade Models, having found the some flat-looking, diminutive sculpts gathering dust after over a decade in a drawer.

The two plastic models of the 43mm tall Warhawk and 32mm tall Kit Fox are produced by “Catalyst Game Labs” and can be found together in the “BattleTech: Clan Fire Star” along with a Cougar, Fire Moth, and Nova Cat. All the pre-assembled miniatures also come with an assortment of MechWarrior pilot and Alpha Strike cards depicting various colour schemes. But as I plan to use these particular sculpts as a Bloch class and Caudron-Renault class French War Walker for an upcoming Weird War Two campaign, I decided to go with a predominantly pale blue palette.

Both figures were therefore initially given a double undercoat of “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey and shaded in “Citadel” Drakenhof Nightshade. They were then dry-brushed using (more) “Vallejo” Heavy Bluegrey with a softly-bristled make-up blusher brush, and had their tiny cockpit windows ‘picked out’ with the odd a dab of “Citadel” Abaddon Black.

In order to add a bit of interest to the rather lightly-coloured models I decided to add a few ‘points of interest’ on them where possible by ‘picking out’ the odd detail using a combination of “Vallejo” German Grey and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Later I gave these diminutive areas a delicate dry-brush of (more) “Vallejo” German Grey to help highlight their details.

I also applied some “Citadel” Abaddon Black to all their weapons, before pigmenting them with some “Vallejo” Gunmetal and a splash of “Citadel” Nuln Oil. Finally, I applied some French roundels, Tricolore and Croix de Lorraine by “Decal Details” to any parts of the figures I thought appropriate.

The twelve Elemental battle-armoured infantry are all 6mm in height, and were painted using the self-same colours as the Warhawk and Kit Fox. I did however, apply some “Vallejo” Sombre Grey to the super-soldiers’ smoke trails, before washing them with “Citadel” Nuln Oil. The jet-streams were then dry-brushed with (more) “Vallejo” Sombre Grey and some White too.

The twenty-four Mk.I Armoured Gun Carriers are approximately 4mm x 9mm in size, and had previously been super-glued in fours upon a 30mm x 40mm plastic rectangle (presumably so they could be used in Land Ironclads – whose rulebook I’ve currently misplaced). All the tiny tanks were primed with a couple of layers of “Vallejo” Earth and shaded using a combination of “Citadel” Agrax Earthshade and "The Army Painter" Strong Tone Quickshade.

I then carefully dry-brushed them all with (more) “Vallejo” Earth, before patiently picking out all their side-mounted guns with a combination of Gunmetal and “Citadel” Nuln Oil. To be honest, the hardest part in painting these little guys was subsequently tidying up the grit surrounding the vehicles so I could later dry-brush their bases and get them tabletop ready.

Hopefully this latest AHPC entry will provide:

1 x 28mm Mech as per previous Battletech posts = 5 points

1 x 40mm Mech as per previous Battletech posts = 7 points

12 x 6mm Infantry = 6 Points

24 x 2mm (small) Vehicles = 12 Points (based on their size/painting time being similar to 6mm Infantry figures)..?

Total = 30 Points

I really like the utilitarian blue-grey with deep, oily shadows on your mechs. I think 0.5 points per tiny tank is about right.

Barks