Hobby Progress – Dropzone Madness!

It’s been a while since I did a hobby update, simply because I took a week or so off from painting much of anything. It wasn’t really a conscious thing, my energies were just spent elsewhere and that meant, unfortunately, no time for painting.

This week I’m back with some more Dropzone Commander kits, including a Shaltari Ocelot to continue my work with the diminutive aliens. Also, I have the first kit completed in my second Dropzone army: the Scourge!

First off, here is a shot of the Ocelot. It took a long time to complete, but I think using it as a template will make work on the Jaguars and Coyote much faster.

Maybe now that it is painted, it will remember that it has a 2+Ac value and should hit fairly often!

Next up, I have the first of my Scourge painted. Right now this is the only kit I own; I bought them on a whim a month or two back at Grand Adventures. I did this simply because I like the Scourge aesthetic. After watching my friend play them against my Shaltari once, I quickly fell in love with their “Rush ‘Em and Crush ‘Em” style. So, I decided to paint them up and start budgeting to build a Scourge force, similar in size to my current Shaltari (about 2,500). This will be a double plus for the group, since it means we can do Scourge vs UCM campaigns soon!

   

The paint scheme is very simple; I just primed the models white and then started working up with washes, followed by a drybrush to “cap off” the white as the top coat. A few details (sensor lenses, plasma coils, engines) are painted, but the rest of the model was knocked out quickly with just washes. This is a big plus for me, as I get discouraged with the process when it takes too long.

Once they were painted, I followed the same procedure to base them that I used on my Shaltari. The models are just difficult to move around; elevating them with chopped off flight stands adds a nifty aesthetic and also provides an easier way to get a grip on them.

I was going for a strange look with the “eyes” on the sensors, but I’m not sure I’m happy with how it came out. I may repaint these in a simple metallic color, to add to the “faceless” feel of the rest of the Scourge line. Thoughts, comments and criticisms are always encouraged!