I've been painting quite a few vehicles lately. In fact I think I've painted more vehicles for my SSU army in just the last couple of months than I ever did for any of my 40k armies back in the day!
Anyway, the Nikita is done and both self-propelled guns are done (although one still needs its crew) so it was a nice change to paint some infantry when I got started on my Red Guard command squad. I did pretty much the same thing I did when I started painting my regular SSU infantry last year: blocked out solid colours and washed them with Army Builder Strong Tone. Except this time I didn't stop at that stage but followed up for some quick highlights and a few more details. I also picked out the faces better and a couple of them even got eyes!
This is basically what I aim to do with all my infantry once I get around to it - wash and then pick out faces and some details. The Dust infantry models are overall pretty cool looking and look good on the tabletop, but they are not individual works of art like what you see released for Infinity, so I don't really think spending any more time with them than this is worth it. Besides, with the historical connection they have actually not doing strong highlights and leaving them a bit flat adds to the "model builder realism feel" of them. :)
Now I have two Red Thunder anti-tank squads and the crew of the second gun tractor left to paint. I just started with the first basecoat on one of the Thunder squads last night so they'll hopefully be done soon enough.
Also, here's a quick teaser shot of Anders' first project, his Horton fighter jet:
He's actually almost finished it by now, but he couldn't get pictures to me in time so this WIP shot will have to do. For now.
Finally, here's a group shot of what's done so far:
Since I've got no first hand experience with DUST models, how would you describe the plastic quality of the models? Does the plastic bond with polystyrene cement or do I need something stronger? Anything particular I should be aware of when painting the models?
ReplyDeleteI may plan to do some kit bashing with some of the walkers from DUST, if they seem so be worth the time and money.
Hey! Sorry for the late reply. Been a busy week. :)
ReplyDeleteThe infantry is a bit bendy and is of lower quality than most hard plastic models we're used to in this hobby. They're not bad, not anything like say, Heroclix, but don't expect too much of them. They look good on the table though.
The walkers, being the stars of the show, are of much higher quality and while not as detailed as a real model kit would still not look way off besides a Tamiya or Airfix tank. The plastic is harder as well, but just as with the infantry polystyrene cement won't work on it. I use superglue on all my Dust models and it's been working fine.
If it's mainly the walkers you're interested in I say go for it!
I was thinking of using the walkers with the new Perry Miniatures WWII plastics. But thanks for the answers :)
ReplyDeleteThat should work fine I think. Is this for a particular game, or something of your own concoction?
ReplyDeleteNot for a game, but for a diorama scene for a local painting competition which will coming in a few months time. At least that was the original idea and I may construct the diorama in such a way that the miniatures will detachable for later gaming use.
ReplyDeleteIt's still a rough idea and may end up changing in the end. Perry Miniatures's Desert Rats and the just released German Afrikakorps are actually quite small and closer to 25mm than 28mm, so I might end up using 1/35 scale hobby models. And if I want go all weird WWII, there's always the Dreamforge Games's Eisenkern and DUST models themselves.
For gaming, I probably would go with Bolt Action and just count the walkers as tanks. Of course Warhammer 40K Imperial Guard with DUST walkers as Sentinels is another option, but I stopped playing that game after 3rd edition. I prefer Bolt Action to Warhammer 40K as the army sizes are much smaller, closer to Warhammer 2nd edition, and the focus is more infantry based. Also rules are much clearer and you can get pretty much a complete army with only one box of miniatures with one or two tanks or other support weapons.