ACTA - Federation Constellation Class (USS Stargazer)

From this... to this!

I wanted to have a few Star Trek TMP/TNG era Constellation Class ships to add to my growing ACTA Federation Fleet. I had a Micro Machines version of the ship that fitted my view of the size the ship would have been, and so decided to give it a make over. I prefer the Micro Machines version to the Attack Wing version because its larger and more to the size I'm after.

After producing what I felt is a pretty good result (for me that is, as I'm no painting guru). I purchased a few more on eBay and will be painting them over the coming month(s).

Anyway, below is the process of painting that I followed. Just in case you are interested.

• Base model on the appropriate flying base you are after. I use these for A Call To Arms Star Fleet and so base them with hexagonal flying bases.
• Ink the model in Black Ink. This goes straight over the model. Don't base coat the model beforehand. Just ink it so the ink fills in all the depressed areas on the model.
• Leave ink to dry.
• Drybrush the entire model in Skull White or White Scar.
• Paint nacelle exhaust ports in Teclis Blue.
• Highlight the Teclis Blue on the exhaust port in Temple Guard Blue.
• Paint Impulse Engine in Mephiston Red.
• Highlight the Mephiston Red on the impulse exhaust in Evil Sunz Scarlet.
• Paint windows, bridge dome and bridge view port in Teclis Blue.
• Paint nacelle engine red stripes in Evil Sunz Scarlet.
• Paint hanger and cargo bay doors in Codex Grey.
• Paint highlights such as the engine nacelle intake ports also in Codex Grey. Be subtle, but creative!
• Highlight the Codex Grey where desired with Space Wolves Grey.
• Paint Starboard running lights above and below the saucer section in Warpstone Glow.
• Paint Port running lights above and below the saucer section in Evil Sunz Scarlet.
• Paint flying base in Black.

That's it! Remarkably simple and I was able to paint this beasty pretty much in a single afternoon.

Finally, some more eye candy to inspire those creative juices!

Constellation with the Constitution Class CX behind

Photo of the work in progress

More work-in-progress

ditto...

and ditto again...

My plan is to use these as Federation Scout vessels during a campaign I want to run on the Cardassian / Federation War. The stats are yet to be worked up, but will be based heavily on the ACTA Star Fleet Federation CA with added Scout abilities. So for now one down, three more to go.

Halo Ground Command - October Release!

Latest news from Spartan Games!!!

Check out our October Release!

In our latest release for Halo: Ground Command we have turned our attention to two of the most eagerly awaited armoured vehicles from the Halo Universe: the UNSC Scorpion and Covenant Wraith. We've also got some really exciting changes happening to the way we sell our Dystopian Products, so read on to find out more!

Tanks for the memories

See what we did there? This month we'll be releasing both the highly-detailed UNSC Scorpion and the Covenant Wraith.

The UNSC Scorpion is a tank known far and wide to Halo fans, and now you have the ability to bring this fabulous vehicle to your tabletop games of Halo: Ground Command. Stunningly sculpted to accurately reflect the original video game design, our boxed set brings you one Scorpion tank hull in all of its glory, but with TWO turret choices - one to make the standard Scorpion and another to create the stunning Sun Devil Anti-Aircraft variant. Click here to order the UNSC Scorpion Box now!

and...

The Covenant Wraith is a sleek armoured vehicle that glides effortlessly around the battle-field, engaging targets and destroying them with ease. Just like with the Scorpion Box, a single Wraith hull also comes with two weapon options: the standard Mortar turret and the Anti-Aircraft turret. Click here to order the Covenant Wraith Box now!

Soooooo much Halo goodness.... My wallet is looking very poor right now.

10mm Undead Egyptian style shields for Warmaster

I've been dabbling a bit on Shapeways over the last year with a little project of mine. Anyway, I believe that its finally ready! Presenting 10mm Undead Egyptian style shields for Warmaster.

The miniatures are Pendraken Undead with my Shapeways shields attached.

I used superglue and tweezers to attach them to the miniature (and NOT my fingers... sick of sticking things to my fingers!)

The great thing is that where you place the shields is up to you. So you can play around to get the look you want.

Using a standard Warmaster base (this one is from Kallistra) you get roughly four per row, for a total of eight miniatures per base.

My plan is to build a Warmaster Tomb Kings army that looks more like the GW Tomb Kings warriors before GW went and destroyed the Warhammer world (What the heck were they thinking!!!). So more on this over the coming weeks...months...year...who knows!

Anyway, you can find them at my Shapeways shop here.

September Support for Halo: Ground Command

I'm a week late in posting this! But here's and update from Spartan Games regarding Halo Ground Command...

September Support for Halo: Ground Command

We're still working hard to fulfil the backlog of orders we've had for Halo: Ground Command. We're very sorry if your order is one of those affected by the delay, and we're doing everything we can to get every order shipped as quickly as possible.

We're excited to announce that this month we'll be releasing six brand new upgrade boxes, which will be shipping from the 28th September, and you can read below to find out more details. Our Pelican and Phantom dropships will also begin shipping this month - the Pelican in early September, and the Phantom later in the month.

Take cover!

Scenery is a really important part of the Halo: Ground Command gaming experience, allowing you to create cinematic, tactical warzones that will enrich your gameplay enormously. This month we're releasing two scenery boxes filled with pieces inspired by the exciting setting of the Halo Reach video game.

Pre-order both boxed sets from the Spartan Games online store here

Ghost it your way!

This month we're releasing the Covenant Ghosts as separate boxed sets, available with either Elite Minor or Grunt Minor pilots - the choice is yours. A super-tactical addition to any force, Ghosts are intimidating when piloted by Grunts, and lethal with an Elite in control!

Bring in the heavies!

We're also releasing a Covenant Hunters Box this month, one of the most fearsome opponents for any UNSC player. Its enormous size and devastating combat ability allow it to engage infantry and armour with confidence... So even Spartans had better watch out! Hunters are always fielded in pairs, and this box delivers two full units to a Covenant player.

Go wild for Warthogs!

An iconic staple for any UNSC player (and one of the most tactically-capable units available), the UNSC Warthog Box gives you the option for as many 'hogs as you can handle, and a wide range of weapons customisation. The boxed set contains 2 Warthogs, and an array of weapons and components - 2 Gauss Cannons, 2 Chainguns, 2 Rocket Launchers, 2 Riflemen Drivers and 6 Riflemen Gunners. You'll have all the force-building flexibility you could want. With such a choice of weapon systems, no enemy unit is safe!

Dropships landing soon!

The UNSC Pelican will be shipping in early September, and will come with:

• 1 UNSC Infantry Unit (4 bases)
• 1 HMG Team
• 1 Warthog (and attachable hook)
• 2 flight stands to show the Pelican landed or flying
• Stat card and an assembly guide

The Covenant Phantom will be shipping in late September, and will come with:

• 1 Covenant Grunts Unit (4 bases)
• 2 Plasma Canons
• 2 Ghosts
• Flying flight stand, stat card and an assembly guide

Both dropships also provide you with the option to place your miniatures inside and position the doors open.

ACTA Star-Fleet Enterprise era Star Fleet ships part 2 - SS Intrepid

In the post yesterday, I showed off the two SS Emmettes. Below is one of the other miniatures I bought through Coelian276's shop on Shapeways, the SS Intrepid.

The painting process was the same as for the SS Emmette.

The Intrepid is slightly smaller than the Attack Wing NX class Enterprise.

The detail permits a lot of painting highlights. You can see above the impulse engine outlets behind the saucer section.

From this angle you can see the similar style deflector dish to the NX class.

These have been based for A Call To Arms Star Fleet, but the FUD versions have hole pins beneath the model for insertion of the types of bases you prefer (such as for ACTA).

So, there you go. One more model ready for the table top.

ACTA Star-Fleet Enterprise era Star Fleet ships part 1 - SS Emmette

I've just had the chance to finish some of the Star Fleet ships I purchase for Coelian276's shop on Shapeways from the ST Enterprise era.

SS Emmette class of Star Fleet vessel

This one is of the Starship (SS) Emmette printed in Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD). Behind both Emmett's here you can see the Star Trek Attack Wing version of the NX class starship Enterprise. The NX looks slightly smaller than the Emmette's in the photo above, but they are roughly the same size. The NX being slightly longer due to its nacelle's.

Wet brush base coated models in Boltgun Metal

Based for ACTA Star Fleet

Closer view showing how they look after being coated in black ink

The painting process was fairly simple. All I needed to do was the following:

• base coat in black spray
• Wet brush in Citadel paints Boltgun Metal. [By wet brush, I mean dipping the paint brush in paint. Scraping off most of the paint on the edge of the paint tin to get to a point were most of the paint is off the brush and you have prepared it as if you would do for dry brushing. Then wipe the brush on a paper towel. Then dip the brush in water to make the paint glide over the model more smoothly.].
• Ink the model in black ink.
• Dry brush model in Boltgun Metal.
• Paint highlights in two paint shades of blue and two of red. Highlight nacelle features and impulse engine exhaust ports. I use the blue colours for the nacelles and impulse engine exhaust ports and the red colours for the nacelle intake heads.
• On one of the models I used a light gray colour to highlight around the top of the main hull in order to differentiate it from its sibling.

These are based up for A Call To Arms - Star Fleet just in case you are wondering.

The level of detail of the FUD miniatures from Coelian276's shop on Shapeways is fantastic. You can see the impulse engine funnels in the image below. To paint these I just used a light blue and then highlighted in white.

Impulse engines on the FUD model

View from above

View from underneath the models

There you go. I'll show the other ship I painted in the next post.

Halo Ground Command unboxing

My pre-order for Halo Ground Command - Battle For Reach has finally arrived! So here are a few pictures for the curious.

The game box is packed with goodies!

I was expecting the scenery to be made of card stock, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it is made of hard plastic. You pop out the shapes and glue them together. There is also a group of stickers that you can use for the scenery, or you can just paint it yourself.

The dice a the same as for Halo Fleet Battles. Always good to get more dice.

There are heaps of reference cards representing all the units present in the box.

The stickers for the scenery are in the top-left of the photo

And the rule book is up to Spartan Games excellent standard that we saw in Halo Fleet Battles.

Halo Ground Command miniatures are 1/100 scale (i.e. 15mm). I was surprised to see that the infantry are pewter metal.

The vehicles are all hard resin multi kits. The beauty of this is that it permits a degree of customization and damage.

The miniatures come as squads of a few solders each. The game provides bases for you to use.

UNSC Marines squad

You could fairly easily customise them to other bases or have them on a single base if you desire. Not sure how that would impact on the rules yet. But with the use of rare-earth magnets, you could customise the bases in the way you want and still be adaptable to the games primary base for the squad. I'm tempted to have them on single bases, but have those bases adaptable to be able to be incorporated onto the Halo Ground Command unit base. Have to ponder more about this one before I make a decision.

Covenant Grunts

Anyway, there you go. I'm sure by now there are a number of YouTube clips on this floating around the web. But this promises to be a great game. Just need to get my head around the rules now. Oh, and paint some mini's, of course!