Infinity (or other near future games) - Matchbox Drones

I found a couple of Matchbox toys which could be useful for games like Infinity. The toys are called SB94 Drones. They are diecast metal, painted in a sporty lime green, with little missiles on pylons moulded under each wing. (Not PC, Matchbox, but no worse than any other armed toy.) They were for sale at a local supermarket, for AUD 3.50 each. Bargain!

The missiles aren't very well moulded but will stand out fine with a good paintjob. The propellers and landing gear are plastic, and they can turn (or at least they would if they weren't gummed up with paint.) The other details such as cameras and panel lines are at the level you'd expect for a toy of this type, just like doors and mirrors on a Matchbox or Hot Wheels car.

Since these are fictional drone aircraft, scale is up to you - they could be anything from model aircraft to airliner size. I have included an old 28mm scale figure for comparison. In a roleplaying or miniatures game these could be props, objectives or actual UAVs.

The Matchbox paintjobs are actually quite thick. If you look closely at the starboard wing of the drone behind the figure in the overhead photo, you can see a chunk of paint is missing from a mid air collision (which happened in my car on the way back from the supermarket). If you were really keen, you could strip the paint off and start again. I didn't bother.

I gave them a coat of Tamiya grey primer, which was the only grey spraypaint I had handy. Next will come some markings, perhaps an Evil Corporation, and picking out panel lines, weapons and surveillance equipment. The underside of the drones has the usual manufacturer's and copyright information, in raised lettering. I didn't bother removing it, but you could probably file it off.

 

Dust Warfare - Allies Walkers in 'Mickey Mouse' Camouflage

Two MCW-2 Walkers, painted in 'Mickey Mouse' camouflage. I just cut circular shapes out of masking tape and masked off the walkers. I separated the legs, hulls and turrets (easy to do on these models) and painted them with Citadel Black undercoat and a dash of Tamiya NATO Black, both straight from the spray can.

Painters with more skill and time (and patience) than I have would have done a better job, but I am happy with these. Any overspray or missed bits will be covered with weathering, 'battle damage' etc. That's the easy part of painting armoured vehicles over, say, aircraft.

I will also paint weapons and mechanical bits in appropriate colours, and then decided how to decorate the bases.

[Some notes on realism: because I rushed this job, I didn't try to make each vehicle's camouflage paint job identical (poor OPSEC!). I also didn't try to replicate the original 'Mickey Mouse' camouflage scheme; rather, I went for what was easier to do and looked OK. Remember - this is a game about WW2 robot tanks, Nazi Zombies and rocket men!]

28mm - Ren and Stimpy

To show the scale of the resin scenery dumpsters in the post below, I used some old figures which I painted in the early 1990s. They are from the Grenadier 'Future Warriors' range, now sold by Mirliton, an Italian company. That particular pair came from the 'Interview to Rebels' pack.

Here's a pic of the bare metal from the Mirliton website:

On that day, way back when, I experienced a bright moment of painting zen perfection: the planets aligned, my mind focussed and I was able to paint Ren and Stimpy on their tshirts. I did this by just putting dots of colour on the minis, occasionally wiping off a mistake, until I had the figures just right. Although I think my painting has improved since, at least when it comes to rough and ready techniques to make an army look smart on the table top, these are two of my favourite minis, and I consider the detail work the best freehand painting I have ever done. Of course the rest of the minis are very simply painted, because I didn't want to distract from the logos on their shirts (and I honestly didn't want to mess up the rest of the paint job!)