Hunter Class for Traveller: new project

Been a busy week and the Holidays are putting a crimp in my timeline, so It looks like, I won’t be making much progress on the Traveller miniatures conversions until I get some supplies, and that won’t be before the end of the year. However, I did an inventory of modeling supplies and I was able to get started on ship miniatures I have been think of for some time. White Dwarf 70, has a sweet diagram of a Hunter class ship and I really liked it so I decided to try to make my own. This is my first ship scratch build and below is the first stage rough in. Using tracing paper, I traced the out line of the ship on some plastic sheets and cut them out. Spaced them out to represent the rough scale and used plastic model glue to hold it together. I will use Green Stuff to fill in the deck spaces and make the plates; finial skin will be Pro Create since it’s can be sanded. Currently it’s generally symmetrical, with a few errors, but I believe there are correctable. I will most likely glue a vertical strip on the rear with some engine ports.

Scale wise it’s just a tad bigger then the RAFM Traveller ships of old, it’s a little big, but hey, it’s my first try. I will get a comparison shot on the next update and most of my pictures where out of focus and did not turn out.

The Traveller Miniature Project

While sculpting miniatures appears to out of my grasp at the moment, the conversion and molding of existing miniatures, appears to be more attuned with my current skill set. In a two phase plan, I plan on converting WOTCs Star Wars figures to Traveller miniatures, and then experiment on enlarging the old 28 to 25mm to a scale equal to the 30mm of the Star Wars line.

First the conversion of the SW miniatures may seem simple. However, I demand a certain level quality in my miniatures that the current SW collectables cannot provide. They are made of a soft plastic with a strong elastic memory; this makes flashing the miniatures and other standard paint preparation actions time consuming, making said action relatively impractical. In addition, the relative standard conversion of heads and extremities as well GS conversion is equally difficult and futile considering the durability needed in gaming. As pre-painted collectable figures they are painted so poorly, that most would be compelled to repaint them, yet ironically they are painted using a paint that is difficult, if not impossible, to remove without destroying detail.

With a mind toward gaming durability and longevity, I’m forced to take radical action. To recast the best figures for Traveller in resin then modify them accordingly. This is a relatively expensive and time consuming process, but for my own use this is the best solution. Resin is a superior for conversion work, then flexible plastic, allowing for details to be re-sculpted and enlarged. The rigidity gives GS a better hold, as well as cements. Some will accuse me of piracy, but these are for my own use and are conversions, I have just elevated the art of the Green Stuff molds to the next level.

The enlarging of older figures to match the newer scales will be more of an experiment. There are resins that are used for prototyping, that enlarge in water, to there quality I cannot attest to at this time, but It will be interesting to see the results and judge it practicality.

New Project due soon

Well the foray into sculpting Traveller miniatures from scratch was postponed due to time and talent issue, mainly talent issues. I will be updating this blog with my new project shortly.

I told you this is a process, an ugly one at that

As you can see, my first attempt at armatures was educational. That said they are bad, why? First of the scale, while it almost impossible to tell, the proportion are for the most part ok, the black marks, marks are also too wide and therefore variable, indicate the foot, hip joints, while the bottom of the loop and top of GS glob is the shoulder, simply put thought they are too big, about 35mm. The wire is not stiff enough as well as being aluminum, which I have read is bad to use for the vulcanization process. The putty was real old, when I was working the GS. I was wondering why the GS was feeling stiff and old, when I just bought a new box. I started to worry, that I have lost what little feel, I had for the GS, after a relatively long modeling hiatus, it was from my old stock. Finally, I also made a very common Newbie mistake, even thought I tired to mix a small batch, I was compelled to try to use it all, and I made more armatures, each worse the last, should not rush the process, its as important as any other step. I read in a FAQ that you should have a relative large project to use what left over you have, so they do not go to waste.

Also, I have a number of reference site and material to review and I will be trying once again.

God this will be Ugly

For years, I have been on this self styled crusade to get new licensed Traveller miniatures available, or really any complete Sci-fi miniatures, but recently I have decided a change in strategy is in order.

Time to make my own, Sci-Fi figures, from scratch, and god this will be ugly. I have painted and done quite a few conversion using GW and WOTC models as a base, over the years, but now it's time to go independent. I expect to fail, quite a bit, and that’s ok really, only a lack of relative progress will give me pause. Do I have thick skin, a little, but this is when I remember what my favorite professor said “Criticism: has a Greek root meaning to make better thought discussion, don’t take it personally, learn from it.” With this in mind, I commit myself to learning how to sculpt.

First step is design. An alien or non human seem to be the logical first, I doubt I will try a human for a while. Aliens also give some leeway in size and proportion, things I’m very concerned with. First shall be a Lupuserectis, or a standing wolf, a kind of a space werewolf, and you can’t license that. I will generally keep the proportions human, as for biology, I think some creative evolution is in order. I think this will be fun, like a sculpting ‘Spore” game.


Next up armature with pictures:

Piracy: why it hurts us all.

I’m sure miniature piracy has been address here a few times, but some how it seems that most people think it doesn’t affect them as long as they don’t do it. I can understand that, a little, but from my perspective it’s hurting us all, in some ways. Here’s how, right now there are people on Ebay selling pirated miniatures we know them, they are not hard to spot. Sure, they are selling items that are old and out of print, and maybe the copyright is a little nebulous, but the more they sell the less incentive there is for a company to put out a new product.

For example, I’m a Traveller, Star Wars and general Sci-fi gamer, and I want new high quality Sci-Fi figures, but the pirated figures are only hurting the rightful owners of the license, especially Traveller, and preventing newer and even better figures from being produced. Ebay is fine, I use it, and I hope, miniatures makers pay attention and use it a marketing tool, after all the computer gaming industry does, if secondary sales on Ebay are high enough they re-release the game or produce a nostalgic version of it.

So what can we do? Let our voice be heard, write, and let the gaming industry and the license holders know we want the golden age of miniatures to come back, we have to demand and support it. There was a time when Traveller had some thirty blisters and box sets from various companies. Currently we are forced to scrounge and choose lines and companies for bit as pieces, when the bits should be the spice in our miniatures collection not the entire bulk of it. We are all, so use to making do, that when someone raises the clarion call for what we could have, or even should have, the general response is you can use these miniatures here and others there. If we want our cake we should asked for it, pay for it and leave the crumbs for those who don’t know better.

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Matters of Scale will be a site dedicated to my favorite hobby of miniature collecting and painting, with the occasion foray into role playing and gaming reviews.