Shocking Developments

Hi, All!

British Shock Troopers move into the streets of Ah-Pul-Sh'Napps...

Well, it's time for a new post and I've finished a few more bits and pieces...

First up: Her Royal Britannic Majesty's Armoured Shock Troops.

Sergeant Major Abbot, armed with Magna-Lectric Gatling Rifle.

I featured the beginnings of these in my last post. They were a very simple conversion and really easy to paint. I'm happy to have completed them quickly, as my pile of ideas seems to be growing a a frightening rate at the moment. I seem unable to just finish stuff without starting new stuff!

The full squad. The troopers are armed with Magna-Lectric Shock Rifles.

Anyway, here they are in all their glory. I went for a small unit of five men initially, as I figured they might be rather too powerful for fair gaming in larger groups. We'll see. I have enough bits and bobs to create about twenty of these, should I so desire!

Next: The Wutha-F'Kahwi Riflemen

Wutha-F'Kahwi rifles take up positions on the high ground...

This is the first unit of my natives to be completed. They also featured in my last post and were very quick to finish, using my usual inking techniques.

The finished unit in close-up. Orange and green will be featured strongly throughout the army.

Notorious warrior Ranseed B'tah leads the riflemen...

I figured that a native force facing Europeans with technology ought to be given a fair chance, so I will be featuring plenty of rifles and archers, along with more dangerous units to balance things out a bit, rather than simply charging steam-powered tanks and walkers with hundeds of semi-naked, spear-wielding religious zealots...

Wutha-F'Kahwi rifles, alongside the mighty warlord Guzz-Lin-L'aga and his fearsome mount Bé-Bé-Chamm.

And speaking of dangerous units...

Really crap toy dinosaurs, glued to washers...

I set myself a little challenge yesterday. As readers of this blog will know, I have on a couple of occasions picked up interesting looking toys and declared, "This should be a nice, easy and quick little conversion..." Many days and hundreds of rivets later, such creations as the Bazelgette Light-Armoured Perambulatory Contrivance and the Hydrothermicopters emerged. (Yes - I know the second Hydrothermicopter isn't done yet...)

The transition begins: Brass-foil blankets are smoothed into place and a saddle (and rider's legs) are constructed.

So when I happened upon a bag of the cheapest, nastiest dinosaur toys I had seen in ages, I said to myself, "This could be a challenge - make 'em look good, and do it quickly!"

The saddle and rider are fixed up with greenstuff. I also added a larger washer. Coz I can.

A nearly-finished model. Feathers are from GW High Elves. A bridle has been added using greenstuff.

Needless to say, I had been very happy with my warlord on his dinosaur mount, and the idea of having a unit of dino-cavalry was very tempting. But I didn't want to spend a lot this time around and decent dinosaur models can be very costly. So We shall see what the end result is in not-so-much time, I hope.

The five dino-riders in various stages of completion. The standard-bearer is finished and ready to paint. Reins were made from brass foil.

What you see here has all taken shape very quickly indeed - probably around three hours' work. The models are simple but should look pretty good when painted. Using brass foil was a great way to save time and I'm confident that I won't be disappointed with the final result.

Another group shot. Because eye-candy isn't bad for your teeth.

On a final note this week, I would like to apologise in advance to those of you who wish to post comments, as I have had to reinstate the bloody annoying encrypted text identification thingummy. I was getting bombarded with up to fifteen SPAM comments a day... I just hope this doesn't put you off leaving your comments - I love receiving them and really appreciate your thoughts...

So that's it for this week. By next week, I plan to have finished the dino-riders, maybe do a bit more on the Flunks and Lord Blandford-Fly's Lancers, possibly figure out what on earth I want to do with the second Hydrothermicopter, probably do some more Wutha-F'Kahwi warriors and continue with my designs for Lord Smudgington Smythely-Smythe's Hydraulicly Motorvated Sextupedal Land Traversing Vacational Domicile...

Keep watching, Folks!

Lord Smudgington Smythely-Smythe and the Shock Troopers take a moment to pose heroically...

All the Best!