Zentraedi Control Zone

I played a lot of Robotech RPG back in the late 80s.  Most of our adventures happened in a place called the Zentraedi control zone, an area in South America where over 300,00+ Zentraedi who survived the epic battle with between Dolza's armada and the UEDF/Breetai fleet have carved out their own warlord kingdoms with aims to conquer Earths inhabitants.

It was also the location of Khyron's base for a number of years.

 
 The jungle quickly recovered from the devastating bombardment given by Dolza's fleet so the land is a combination of Jungle and parched desert, littered with the wreckage of Zentraedi cruisers and mecha.  Sounds like a fun place to do battle.

Inspired by this idea, I decided to begin work on some mecha rubble piles since I have loads of spare battle pods.

They are mounted on 1/8" MDF that I shaped with a sander, plastic card, broken sprew, Z scale cars and rocks.

  I have a few more to make, then its off to painting.

SDF-1 Table pt. 1

Happy Boxing Day.  With a few days off, its time to get back into some RRT.

With my Mars Base Sara base complete, my mind drifts to a new project and I am strangely drawn to the challenge of building a table representing a portion of the SDF-1.

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As with my Mars Base table, my work begins with research and there are a few episodes that make great references for designing a SDF-1 table top, specifically:

• Sweet Sixteen - Episode 8
• Battle Cry - Episode 16
• Farewell Big Brother - Episode 18
• Battle Hymn - Episode 22
• Reckless - Episode 23

Based on viewing the above episodes, I have made a few observations


Colour:  The hull of the SDF-1 varies from light gray, to dark gray, to blue.  Ground markings on the hull are white, yellow and red.

Terrain:  Although the surface looks flat, there are numerous obstacles to fight around.  Hatches lead to a multitiered interior city where a great deal of the fighting occurred.

Goals:


With the possibility of the battle breaching the exterior of the ship and entering the streets of Macross city, well the temptation is just too great.

• Exterior of the ships hull
• Turrets, and exterior buildings to block LOS
• Access to the interior of the ship where Macross City is located
• Streets, blocks for buildings
• possible multiple levels
• Modular set up to give both exterior and interior options and transition between the two.

The challenge is going to be fitting it on a 4'x6' table without it looking cramped.

So with that, my next phase awaits. 

The 12 Days of Khyron - Day 5

Welcome to Day 5.

You have already seen how you can turn a few spare mecha into objective markers in my previous post.

Today I would like to put forth a challenge to my readers, to scratch build your own objective markers and submit your pics to me for a future post.  But first, here are some ideas based on the later events of the Macross saga.

1)  The Protoculture Matrix - Season's Greetings Episode 35

• This pic shows the matrix to scale with a Glaug.  It would be a great objective marker for Malcontent games or scenarios based on the series.

2)  The Protoculture Chamber - Khyron's Revenge Episode 34

• This could be made from tiny craft store bottles.

 

3)  Kyle and Minmay - Broken Heart Episode 32

• Ok, this one is  a stretch for even the most hard core Robotech Fans.  But rescuing captured micronian prisoners is not too far fetched.  
• Z scale miniature people fit the bill for this one.

So go out and make some objective markers, send me your pics and I'll share what you made in a follow up posting.

 'Do as I command!'

The 12 Days of Khyron - Day 3

Its already day 3 and today we have a simple terrain tutorial for you.  Miniature war gaming for me is far beyond just the game, its the visual experience.  If I am playing a game that makes me feel like I am right there in the action, I don't even care if I lose.  Its the experience of it all that makes it fun.

I love great terrain, nicely painted miniatures and terrain accessories so today we bring you some basic and simple instructions on how to make explosion markers.  They are perfect for use with missile strikes and exploding battle pods.

What you will need:

• Poly fill stuffing
• 1 1/2" wood disks (found at Michaels craft store or its likeness)
• Hot glue gun
• Yellow, Orange and Red craft paint
• Make-up sponges

Form the poly fill stuffing into puffs about the size of your miniatures and hot glue them onto the disks.  I apply a lot of glue to cover most of the disk then push the poly fill onto them so that the whole disk is covered.  Painting the disks black beforehand is also a good idea as you don't want the original color (in this case white) showing through.

 Apply a liberal amount of black spray paint and allow to dry.  Using a hair dryer can speed the drying process up.

 Purchase yellow, orange and red craft paint along with some make-up sponges.

 First apply the yellow using the make-up sponge, then orange over top, and finally a bit of red.

"That boy has really gotten a lot better." - Roy Fokker

Jeraro's Periscope

 There is a great scene in Bye-Bye Mars when the Zentradi solder Jeraro and his buried scout pod pokes it's sensor pod out of the ground to observe RDF movement.  Jeraro is then able to feed Lord Khyron intelligence on RDF activities.
 

Since there is nothing that really accurately represents the above periscope on the miniature sprew, I settled for modifying the existing sensor mast with and extension, antennae and sensor eye added.  ( I have 4 recon pods, so cutting up one for parts is no great loss)

In the above pic you can see the parts that were needed from the Glaug/Scout sprew.  I also used one of the large missiles from the Vertitech fighter sprew to make the mast longer, but any similar size diameter piece of plastic will do.  In addition you will need a standard sized base

Making the periscope will require some cutting as you will have to remove the wings off the flat radar part, glue a piece of antenna to the top, glue two antennae to the sides.  The periscope mast is made from the recon sensor pod mast, cut in two, then glued to either side of the mast extension (made from the veritech missile).  Sorry I did not take more pics, but I hope you can get the idea from the above description and pics).

Painting in 6mm is quite a challenge, so please excuse the shabby paint job, but I think I accurately represented Jeraro's periscope.

House Rules:

Jeraro's Periscope - Zentradi Special Force Asset

Cost:  10 pts

As long as there is a Glaug within 18" of Jeraro's periscope, your army will gain +1 command points.  Jeraro's periscope can be placed anywhere on the Zentradi half of the table.  The periscope is undetectable and can not be fired upon.

Rescuing Lisa pt 4.

Why?

Because I could.

You saw it here first!

I give you 6mm Lynn Minmay and Lisa Hayes (Bye-Bye Mars Vacuum Suit)

Made from Z scale civilian rail road miniatures.

Rescuing Lisa pt 3.

Wow, what a productive morning.  With the news that my kickstarter pledge will be here in a week or two, I was jacked up on protoculture.

'If I can sit here waiting patiently, everybody can!'

First off, I made more progress with the Riber barracks.  I added some detail with plastic card, gave it a painting and here is where its at.  I'll need to paint on some windows so Lisa can be rescued from within.

Next I decided to paint on some roads as seen in episode 7.  I am glad that I did as it definitely makes it look more like a base.

 

The base is getting crowded now.  Lots of terrain to shoot and scoot behind.

Lastly, I completed some detail with the Bio-dome.

It now has an exterior hatch and some panels around the outside.  It still looks like crap to me, but will pass until I find a dome with the proper look to it.

Rescuing Lisa pt 2.

I have not had much time to work on the table terrain this week.  But I did manage to get Riber's barracks assembled.  Still lots to do with it.

Canadian RRT ships this week!  Yahoo!

Rescuing Lisa pt 1.

 I have always had a thing for Lisa Hayes and no Mars Base Sara campaign would be complete without a mission to rescue the Lt. Commander.

After a few views of the episode, Lisa (while lamenting over Karl Riber) looks to have been rescued from the below building by Rick Hunter.

So this afternoon, armed with my trusty X-acto knife and a sheet of foam board, I will start work on what looks to be one of the most complex buildings on the base.

Check back in a couple of days for a progress report.

Oh, and if you like the work I am doing on this blog, let me know by leaving a constructive comment below.

Back to the Workbench

I now have a few days off to work on my Mars Base project.  Word has it that my Showdown pledge may be shipping to Canada in the next two weeks.

First up, the hills were completed.

Next, Mars base gets a couple more bunkers.  These were made from wooden boxes and bits that I had.  The doors were made from a hirst-art sci-fi mold.  Radar dish is Monsterpocolypse I think.

Finally, I made a bit more progress on the Bio-dome.  Still more detail to add.  Overall, this is my least favorite piece.  Maybe more detail will improve its look.

Dome part 2 and the Hills have Zentradi

I was able to make progress on the Bio-dome today.  I found a 1" thick 12" diameter foam circle at Michaels for $8 (yikes.... good thing I had a coupon).

I wrapped the outside in painters tape to cover the texture of the styrofoam.  I'll give it a coat of white glue then paint it white to match the rest of the buildings.

Next I dry fitted the dome on top.  The inside I will spray paint light blue sometime later this week.


On to the Hills.  These were made from 1" thick blue foam insulation boards, rough cut using a knife, stacked, glued and based on 1/8" thick MDF that I cut to shape and sanded the edges on a belt sander.  They were then coated in white glue and gravely sand.

Followed by a coat of 'Mars red' paint.  Once dry, they will get dry brushed.

 Thats all for now as I am back to work tomorrow.  I hope to have another update for you this week.

Painting Mars and Bio-Dome

I finished painting the surface of the Mars table today.  It was a combination of spray painting different shades of pumpkin orange, brown and tan, followed by a dry brushing of a light tan.

Next up, the Bio-Dome.

 

No, not those two idiots.  BTW, how sad is it for Stephen Baldwin that this movie is the defining point of his career.  So sad.

By Bio-dome I mean that green house looking thing behind the spartan.

 The problem is finding a clear plastic half sphere that looks similar.  I was going to go with the hamster ball, but thanks to someone on the Kickstarter Comment section, I opted to try and convert a clear salad bowl from the Dollar Store.

Check back for more updates on the Bio-Dome build.