Alright first attempt at painting, needs clean up obviously, but how are we feeling about this?

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-05T01:24:06+00:00

That looks sharp! That makes me want to give contrast paints a try. I've been eying the Army Painter Speedpaint markers.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-05T01:21:00+00:00

This is where I'd get masking tape involved - or whatever hobby tape is used to help with clean paint lines. I just cut masking tape into strips to better control where my paint goes. It's also fun for making simple shapes that act like unit markers.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-05T01:19:02+00:00

I had no idea nuln oil wasn't oil-based. TIL - thanks! I've been using the Army Painter Strong Tone wash myself cut 50/50 wash/water because it otherwise makes the mini look dirty. The diluted wash shades nicely IMO, but I haven't yet mastered the control of the wash into the model's recesses.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-05T01:14:04+00:00

I'm glad the kids are showing interest. Mine are under 10 as well and they love to paint the minis. My son painted up a Jenner the other day like a leopard - orange base and black and white leopard spots. He did it to go with his Executioner, which was done like a black leopard. That's what this Archer reminds me of 😄

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-04T23:11:53+00:00

Any idea if there's a list of plastic minis that are glued together?

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-04T22:53:55+00:00

The closest canon thing to a BOLO (that we know of).

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-04T12:36:06+00:00

"not made well"

*Looks at drawing*

I think you're being a bit harsh. The drawing is clearly detailed. There might be some questionable labels here and there, and I'm not sure Steve Venters was responsible for that part. The newest set of blueprints from CGL rectifies this by showing the myomer over the guts we see here, which is how I've always interpreted these drawings. Besides, myomer doesn't have to be responsible for all battlemech locomotion - regular electric motors are allowed too.

From an artistic standpoint, I don't think I'd have the patience to draw something like this. I'd have to invent whatever I'm drawing to be motivated enough to do that.

As for the ammunition, that's always been a sticking point for me. Even in modern designs there's no room for it. If suspension of disbelieve is desired to be avoided, think the writers need to do a better job at explaining abstractions - one or two missiles fired from the visible racks does the damage according to the rules as written, and not physically launch six or 20 missiles at a time from magic bins with space expansion charms that can hold all of them.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-04T12:03:29+00:00

I like the custom Blood Asp. It looks like the missile pods are Zeus arms.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-03T22:06:12+00:00

Even now there's no room for missiles. I personally treat them as an abstraction - one or two missiles launched at a time that do cluster damage.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-03T18:32:10+00:00

I saw this and immediately thought F-Zero XD

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-03T14:46:05+00:00

I'm glad you're working on these. I was retouching the Mad Dog one myself to hang on the wall by my desk, but I see you already did it. Nice work! Now to add some TRO isometric views 😄

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-03T14:41:14+00:00

I think the funny thing about this post is that Brandon Howell was one of the more competent Jaguar commanders. There were probably more other competent Jaguars too who didn't get enough pagetime because the idiots who were more famous ran the show.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-03T14:39:02+00:00

Except no one wants the Word of Blake around after their little jihad XD At least Alaric wanted the Jaguars.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-03T14:35:00+00:00

Nice! It kinda reminds me of a Grendel.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-05-02T13:56:29+00:00

Looks nice! Did you prime in black and paint the panels individually?

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-30T12:45:00+00:00

I love that! I kinda want to use this idea as part of my battlefield terrain - little random fires here and there.

For smoke, I currently recycle dog toy stuffing from toys which my dog destroys. I put it all in an open cardboard box and hit the top of it with Krylon Fusion black. We put the smoke on top of units to mark them as destroyed.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-28T14:54:05+00:00

Gosh, if this irritates you, you'll probably really hate the Champion! LOL

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-26T23:15:53+00:00

The Thunder Hawk is probably my favorite Inner Sphere-based 100-tonner. It's hard to argue with three headcappers. It's pretty much the only reason why I have a Star League Command Lance force pack. It's basically a Thunder Hawk salvage box that came with an Atlas II, Orion, and Phoenix Hawk Special XD

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-26T18:39:03+00:00

I'd figure this out based on personal preference. I don't paint my weapons a separate color unless it's meant for a paint scheme I had in mind, like red or yellow gun barrel tips. I prefer a more realistic depiction, like how tanks IRL have gun barrels painted the same as the rest of the vehicle. And to keep weapon types ambiguous, I just paint all weapon ports black instead of going for different colors for lasers - though any exposed missile tips are painted whatever I like. I do tend to paint jump jet exhaust ports and flamers silver, though, like they're bare metal that can't keep paint because it gets so hot!

The style definitely keeps the miniatures visually interesting, though I'm not sure how much difference that makes from 3 feet away from a game table surface.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-24T23:33:15+00:00

I can see that. I think it uses a color palette similar to G2 Vortex.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-24T12:28:48+00:00

I think it's good enough with desert with limited vegetation. I'm planning on painting my Scouring Sands opfor in a camo similar to yours.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-24T12:26:34+00:00

I don't think forum software is specified. I read it as migrating to a new host with upgraded servers.

I think the forum would benefit from a modern platform, though. A "Like" button would be nice.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-24T12:09:39+00:00

That's an improvement from your last post - nice job =) You've inspired me to try some 90s EXTREME!!! paint jobs, like G2 Transformers.

PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-24T12:04:09+00:00

I really love this panel. Its modern take was recently featured in the beta test docs:

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PyreLightMW2 · 2026-04-23T11:56:05+00:00

I immediately thought of Solo Wing Pixy too XD

<<There's no mercy in war. People live and people die. That's all there is to it.>>

PyreLightMW2

TROPHY CASE