What do i do with this grey Battletech stuff?

So as part of my current build of a Cappellen battalion i have a lot of spare grey miniatures.

The problem is that the selection isn’t great, I have:

Black Knight
Hellion
Exterminator
Dragon
Sentinel
Timberwolf
Mercury
Warhawk
Archer
Valkyrie
Enforcer

Now anyone who knows Battletech a mix of clan and inner sphere mechs isn’t great, but also there is a mixture of various faction specific mechs that don’t have great cross over. The factions that work best are Comstar/Word of Blake, Davion or Kurita.

So first of all is pick an era. The easy choice is to go for civil war as its very much a grab bag era, but i have a Fed Suns civil war force.

My current eras im missing that some of these fit with are the Republic eras and the Jihad.

So i’m settling on the Jihad.

Using master unit list ( http://www.masterunitlist.info/Home/Index ) i can see that the Draconis Combine seems to be a good choice.

Looking at building a lance I’ve decided on a

Warhawk – Due to Nova Cat involvement in the Draconis Combine
Dragon or Grand Dragon as its very on brief
Sentinel
Exterminator

This feels like a good start. Next? Pick a regiment and work out a PV for the force.

So that idea lasted about 5 seconds…..

I’m listening to the Eridani Light Horse (ELH) novel No Greater Honour and its struck home.

Having decided that the best bet is to do an Ilclan era force means i can use the Lament ive had sitting around, also the larger number of mechs means i have something a bit more substantial at the end of it.

I still need to work out PV and i’m also toying with making it a Wolfnet 350 tourney list, as i have a pile of inner sphere and purifier battle armour that can ride on the Hellion Mad Cat and Lament.

Lets talk colour. The official scheme is drab so i’ve ordered a velejeo ww2 us army tank paint set, but i’ll get back to that.

Theme is more interesting, in the Ilclan era the ELH are reduced to the 11th recon battalion and some other units claiming linage. So they will be an eclectic bunch of forces and in my head drab will be of different greens to reflect low resources and different commands coming together.

So what’s the force?

Lance 1

Black knight BLK-NT-3B (will need a shield conversion)
Archer ARC-5W
Mad Cat D3
Lament LMT-3R

Lance 2

Dragon  DRG-7K
Hellion F
Valkyrie C
Sentinel STN-3L

So a fast element and a heavy hitting element.

At 286 PV it gives me some spare PV for skill increases if i want to aim for 300 BV.

So next will be some decisions about decals, some test painting and thoughts on weathering.

Very quick update.

It’s a simple conversion using parts from old Gundam kits. Using old parts from old kits fits with the spring clean theme.

I decided to use parts that have mechanics on them, as if the old shield had been lost and a new shield had been jury rigged.

This fits with the theme of a rag tag force making do with what they have.

Ignore the bad paint job.

It’s base coat. Colours? Well Halfords ‘camouflage acrylic spray paint’ (see you can buy camo paint!), Army painter ash grey and a Burnt Umber oil wash.

but i get ahead of myself. Tanks aren’t metal, they don’t have any shiny metal showing.

See what I mean, it’s green with some black bits. So I wont be using any metallic paints…….yet…..

Now the Eridani come in green, well that’s a dull colour that no one really wants to paint, so as the green I’m using is a grey green, I’m going to use a light grey to give a bit more colour on the mini while still being tied into the over all scheme.

Now if we look at the last image on Battletech colour schemes ( a great resource, link here  https://unitcolorcompendium.com/ ) we can see that grey has also been used here.

Now over this i have chucked down a burnt umber oil wash. The reason for this is to a) panel line but also b) it will have a really nice matt finish.

So that’s going to sit and dry for a while, probably for a week as oils take a while to dry. This will give me some time to make a choice.  Do i either do panel lining and high lighting or do i b) rely on the oil wash  panel lines and use weathering to make the mini look less flat.

Below is an example of base coat and oil paint washes with no highlighting and it looks good.

So now the burnt umber oil was is dry, over the camo basecoat i have painted the panels in model colour olive drab and then i have used a VERY messy edge highlight of green grey.

Hopefully this puts dirt in the panel lines from the oil wash and the messy edge highlights make paint look worn and faded, which will help with the paint chipping later.

Now one of the big things is at this point i need to add the decals. I’ve chosen to do the Eridani logo via water transfers, i’ve picked up some very small number decals and now just have to wait for both to arrive while i finish putting paint on the rest of the minis.

What i do need to do is have a proper think about:
a) Highlighting the greys
b) If I’m going to attempt reflective chrome canopies
c) Try and find my spare inner sphere standard battle armour
d) As the Eridani are a combined arms force in lore, do i buy some new minis to go with this spring clean project. Would that be cheating?

Just a quick one. So rather than edge highlights, i have added army painter green grey lines on the edges, but this isn’t with a mind to highlighting, but rather where it is worn the paint is starting to fade.

When it comes to weathering with metal and rust this will give rust and metal more pop.

As an aside, i have a new phone so there was an exciting couple of hours trying to find the white balance on it so the green grey would show up.

I’ve also added US field drab to the base, now im going to highlight this however i cant do that till the decals and weathering are on as i will pull the drybrush highlight up the legs so simulate dust sticking to the legs.

Hopefully the decals will turn up at the weekend, and between those and a HUGE stockpile of Gundam decals adding those will make it look more like a machine than a miniature.

So whats been added?

2 decals. The Eridani logo on the top, with a spot of white off centre under it to give the paint a faded look and a red lance number.

Both need a dab of matt varnish over them, but the micro sol is drying.

After that a sponge-on-a-stick tm was used to dab first black and then gun metal onto edges. Also rubbing it down some edges or flat surfaces.

After that a dry brush of model colour khaki on the brown base and lower legs. The base dry brushing doesn’t show up in the photos, but the main take away is it looks good, but potentially too dark for sand, i’ll have a think about that as just adding either snow or vegetation will make it look good.

What’? well edging the base obviously, but also adding rust spots, soot on vents and around the launch tubes. Along with the cockpit and the lasers

Not a huge update, but a couple more with the base weathering before oils and rust powder.

So this is with a bit more weathering.

Over the top of the metals and along some of the edges i have used Humbrol light rust. This gives a bit more colour against what is a very flat single colour scheme.

Next up around the rear vents and joints ive added black oil paint. Put on neat and then rubbed away. I’ve also rubbed some into the lower areas and some of the panel lines.

Finally on the base and lower legs i’ve added a mummy robes dry brush to give the base a bit more pop and to give the legs a worn sand covered look.

Group shot.

So thats all the weathering on them.

Whats next?

Well need to get all the canopies done along with painting the energy weapons.

After that…..well the Eridani are a combined arms force so I’ve dug through boxes and found battle armour, both IS standard and Fa Shih.

For armour i have some spare pegasus hover tanks and some MKii Scimitars. I think the Scimitars work well because it gives a late era feel along with the omnis among the mechs.

In fact the book No Greater Honour makes a point to talk about both the combined arms and the use of omni mechs. One of the things im considering is taking the spring clean once its finished and expanding it with another lance to bring it up to a company, specifically with either a strike, scout or pursuit lance to keep it on theme with the Eridani.

So here we are. This one i think is finished? But for a bit, but i’ll get to that…

The canopy is a simple blue, with brown along the bottom to give the impression of a reflected landscape.

The bush is just hedge foliage from Javis countryside scenics.

What i want to add to each of them is some personalisation. So for example adding a skull to the Lament to indicate the pilot is ex republic from stones brigades or kanji on the shield of the Black Knight to show the pilot was from the DCMS originally.
Obviously i wont do this for all of them as otherwise it will look less special.

Last part, going through some of my other stuff i have found a Wolfhound that needs a repaint and a unassembled Jackalope. That’s the beginnings of another lance right there.
Now one of the repainting issues is for this project i don’t want to use any 3d printing so i need to go through some of my older paint jobs and decide which fast mechs im happy to repaint and break up existing units.

A slight digression if you will indulge. the Eridani Light Horse are fast. the slowest unit i currently have is the Archer. Not super slow, in fact the same speed as an average heavy mech. Speed often comes at a PV price in battletech, and most of the spares i have of above average speeds either are not available to mercenaries or have a PV that sits around the cost of a clan assault mech, yes im looking at you Flashman.

So the next lance is currently:
Jackalope
Wolfhound
And two others.

Building that lance out i need to use lights and mediums, so to my army boxes! Oh and group shot later.

So based, bases rimmed, bushes added and cockpits and lasers painted. Pleased with the group.

Now i just have to do the vehicles battle armour and next lance.

Irritatingly going through my collection of stuff im willing to repaint that is in the merc availability during the ilclan are not very scouty. I may have to rethink the idea of a complete lance……

One thing that has peaked my interest is Wolfnet are developing what they are calling the Epic tourney format. 600pv lists, now i can get this to around 600 but i need to find 2 more mechs from somewhere to build it out.
That however is an issue, sticking to spring cleaning of owned stuff means i cant buy more for this force. So time to dig through the back of the shelves.
I do have a pile of 3d prints, but i’m loathed to use them still, desperation may change that however.

So the list is in, really digging in my stuff i found some spares. Obviously its not optimised as its leftovers, but i think it has the speed and feel of an Eridani company. AND OMG THIS WAS SUPOSSED TO BE PAINT 8 MINI’S NOT A HOLE PROJECT……

Battle lance – painted
Archer ARC-5R
Mad Cat (Timber Wolf) C

Black Knight BLK-NT-3B

Lament LMT-2R

Pursuit/Striker Lance – painted
Sentinel STN-3L

Valkyrie C

Grand Dragon DRG-5K

Hellion E

Scout lance
Wolfhound WLF-4WA

Jackalope JLP-BD

Phoenix Hawk PXH-1c “Special”

Wasp WSP-3W

Armoured recon lance
2x Pegasus Scout Hover Tank (3058 Upgrade)
2x Scimitar Mk II HCV

Battle armour platoon
2x IS Standard Battle Armor [Flamer] (Sqd4)
2x Fa Shih Battle Armor (Support) [Plasma] (Sqd4)

So i’m away in Norwich with my partner this week, so i may not get a huge amount done. BUT here is the last mini’s that i have from my back of the draw to finish the company.

I only have three Fa Shah so i think an IS Standard BA will fill in for one if i use 2 to a base for BA bases.

The combat vehicle lance actually looks great as well as being functional.

I’m falling more and more in lover with the Eridani Light Horse, to the point that my officer swag may end up horse related from the Battletech kickstarter. The lore is great, the colours are military.

Weird aside. I have one lance left of my Capellan Cav Battalion to do and then pick up some aerospace for it to just finish the force org, however i do want another project. Something non BattleTech and i’m not sure what.

I keep looking at the new edition of 40k and thinking 1k kitbashed proper messed up bio cybernetic theme, but also keep thinking that the factions it works with are all annoying and irritating. This maybe a project in the future, i’m almost tempted with a Primaris army, but based on the illustrations in the the old rogue trader book……but my understanding is that every time a box of space marines is sold an orphan cries so ethically i really can’t.

Suggestions folks? Something small, kitbashable and actually fun. (Dont say custodes, i have an oil painted custodies army and i hate how overly complex the rules for them have got, its why i quit 9th….)

Happy easter folks!

So the hover tank recon lance. Ive done the greens of the main bodies. Now i need to add decals and weathering followed by windows, black oil wash, base edge and thats it.

Aside, i love battletech tanks, they really are fun to paint, look great (and sometimes very silly) and they always have a ‘weight’ to them that things like epic scale and other games of a similar scale don’t.

One day 15mm tanks to go with my 15mm scale mechs that i have.

So thats the armoured recon lance done.

One of the things you will find with Battletech vehicles is they paint very easily. In fact you could get away with just dry brushing them rather than the long winded way i go about it with oils etc.

So whats outstanding:

Battle armour platoon of 4 units
Battlemech recon lance, again 4 units.

Once this is done the project is done, which will be a shame. I think once its done i may make a display base? possibly expand it with a wing of aerofighters (but thats outside the spring cleaning, so needs to be a separate project.)

So battle armour. The eagle eyed of you will spot that there is a base with a Fa Shih and IS standard BA on it. This is because this is spring clean and i dont have more than 3 Fa Shih. So i’m making do.

Also because im making do with what i have its bases of 2, even though an IS squad size is 4. Its a marker, its for a specific project, im okay with this.

They are being painted the same way as the rest of the army…..just smaller.

And there are the finished units. Black Knight legs for scale 🙂 For very obvious reasons i have not painted unit symbols on them and they are rougher as they need to look smaller than the mechs and tanks. If they are too detailed they will look super weird next to the larger pieces.

And thats the last lance!

Jackalope, Wasp, Phoenix Hawk, Wolfhound.

So that is a full company of Eridani Light Horse, with attached Battle armour platoon and combat armour recon lance.

What’s next? Well I need to get a group shot of them, get an outside shot for the spring clean and then i think I will add individual touches to each mech to get that Topgun vibe going.

If it wasn’t for the spring clean i’d probably go out and buy a pair of aero space fighters to add an attached wing.

So now i’m going to take a little time away as i’m currently away with my partner and its Empire larp the weekend after. But that will give me time to think things through.

However i might do a ‘what i would have built if i could choose the miniatures list.’

Because some people cant leave well enough alone….

If you look at the rest of the project the Lament looked brighter than the others and certainly looked like a very different style of paint job.

I think partly because i has less detail to pick out with oil washes due to it being an old metal sculpt. In fact the Jackalope, also metal suffers from the same.

So what have i done? I’ve used black oil paint in recesses to add depth. Its really easy. Put a tiny bit of oil in and then with a separate brush and just rub it in.

I’ve also, as you can see, done the same on the RHS vents and radiator on the back to give the impression of smoke and super heated metal.

Other than that ive added a tiny free hand skull to the left hand shoulder. This is to give a bit of story.

During the Jihad the Stones brigades, who later went on to become the RAF of the republic, had skulls as their predominant symbology to identify them.

The Lament being an RAF mech and with the fall of the Republic to Clan Wolf it feels right that the pilot is ex RAF, took his mech with him.

The pilot wouldn’t have been in the jihad as it ended 3081, which with the current timeline hitting 3151, however they would have been part of the Brigades during late republic and dark ages. I imagine because the Lament is a very technical and hard to maintain mech they probably also took their tech team with them.

No a skull isn’t going to tell you all this, but it gives me more of a feel for the unit. After all if your playing classic your running about 4 mechs so why not name them?

So Pier Duchamp callsign: Errant

Oh god I’m doing this aren’t I?

As an left field ‘wtf? my dude?’ I’m also in real life and artist and i’ve had a whole punk battletech thing going on with my mixed media collage.

Enjoy.