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.