Toby

The latest (and slightly incongruous) addition to my skeleton robot/Necron/Terminator project is this robotic dog, Toby.

Toby is an unusual character from the well regarded “The Ballad of Halo Jones” story written by comics legend Alan Moore in the eighties.  The character was visualised by Ian Gibson.  I wont spoil the story (even if it is thirty years old), but I will say that Toby is a talking robot dog with some security duties.

I have had the Toby model (which came from the Wargames Foundry 2000AD line) for a while but I hadnt worked out what to do with it.  While I enjoyed the Halo Jones stories, they dont lend themselves to miniature gaming in any way that strikes me.  Toby is the only figure available from that strip anyway, so the model languished unloved for a while.

This bugged me as as I really like the crazy Ian Gibson design which was in turn  translated extremely well into miniature by sculptor Tim Prow.  The problem was that I needed a gaming role for the figure or else I wouldnt paint it.

Then as I was working through my skeleton robot project I had an idea that I could fit Toby into that.

“Where is it Toby, huh? Huh? Wheres it gone? Whos a good boy! Are you ready Toby, huh? Huh? There it goes! Go get the Ressurrection Orb Toby, go on! Good boy!”

Among other things I plan to use the skele-bots as Necrons in future 40k skirmish games.  The modern take on Necron Lords is that many of them are aristocracy preserved for eons in mechanical bodies while their already tenuous grasp on reality degrades over time.

The ruleset that I plan to hammer into shape around my 40k skirmishing features an “Unhinged Toff” archetype as a bad guy leader.  In that rulebook the silhouette of the Unhinged Toff is shown with a pack of hunting dogs, so I decided that my Unhinged Necron Toff should have his own pack of robo-hounds, of which Toby is the first.

L to R: EM4 Skeleton Robot, Foundry 2000AD Toby, GW Necron Warrior.

Toby a reasonably large model, mounted on a 40mm base.

The original strip that the character featured in was black and white, so few colour images of Toby exist.  Those few colour images that are around are contradictory in terms of his colour.  The character tends to be portrayed as either silver, gunmetal or blued steel.  I went with the silver interpretation so that he would fit seamlessly in with the skelebots, in colour if not entirely in concept.  I also used some artistic licence to colour Tobys nose and ears black, to help him to fit in that little better with my skeleton robot scheme.

I have another four robo-dogs from a couple of sources to add to Lord Hector Decimals hunting pack.  They should be quick to paint and will hopefully show up here once I have made a dent in my Dreadball stuff.

Dreadball Referee

+++ ENGAGING SASS SUBROUTINE +++

This fem-bot (?) is the referee from the Dreadball sci-fi sports game, displayed alongside a pair of balls.  As every single game of Dreadball played uses the Ref and a ball I figured that they should be the first things painted for the game, with my first team to follow.

Eyes on the back of her head.

I went with a simple black and white scheme over metallic “flesh” areas.  I considered incorporating stripes, but as time is of the essence for this project (I have an intensive weekend session of DB coming up and I need to have my team finished for that) I decided not to take that route.

The Dreadball miniatures are more true 28mm scale than the heroic 28mm/30mm/even bigger scales that dominate these days.  Initially I thought that they might be quicker and easier to paint as a result, but have not found that to be the case on the Dreadball figures that I have painted up to now.  This model came out alright, although I will have to include a comparison shot in a later post to illustrate the smaller size.

I am currently working on a human team.  I hope to be able to put some photos of those up soon.

Necron Lord Hector Decimal

Lord Hector Decimal addresses his troops using traditional binary cant.

Hector is the leader of my skirmish sized Necron force.  I traded for the model which was originally supplied as part of one of the plastic croissant shaped Necron vehicle kits.

L to R: Space Crusade Chaos Android, Necron Lord, Necron Warrior.

The Necron aesthetic has got more ornate in recent years and panto villain leaders have taken the place of the mute and faceless Lords that used to be in charge.  There was online bitching and moaning about this change as you might expect, but I am in favor of that shift.  Who wants to spend all of that time assembling and painting a force that literally has no character?  Not me.

Lord Decimal rolls his optics at yet another report of botched plans.

This cloaked, crystal ball and glaive wielding mech looks like all of his nefarious schemes will be bungled by his his incompetent minions every Saturday morning.  I like him all the more for it.

Hector is a little further removed in concept from the Skynet influences than most of the previous miniatures for the project.  Daft as the Terminator setting is, even the seriously thick Skynet AI is unlikely to start issuing capes to future human killing robot designs.  That said Skynet taught a newly forming AI to sing “Donald Wheres Your Troosers” in an episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connors Chronicles (1.07 in to the video), so anything is possible.

The figure is off the peg apart from the addition of a 30mm base.  The supplied 25mm base is far too small for the larger Necrons like Hector.  Speaking of the larger Necron models, I have a few of those in the pipeline.  They are similarly ornate miniatures to Hector here, so I added some height to his base, something that I dont normally do.  With the cape and the increased height there should be no mistaking who is in charge.

“We meet again… for the last time!“

Terminator Necrons #2

The silver ranks of antagonistic anthropomorphic automata swell today with these Copplestone “Terminator Robots”.

These models are part of the Copplestone Future Wars range which is itself an updated version of the old Grenadier Future Wars range currently sold by EM4 (I think.  I am pretty sure).  Both ranges were sculpted by Mark Copplestone and the design of these guys is identical to the EM4 Skeleton Robots except for three factors: the overall size, the weapons and the head.

The Copplestone range is slightly larger than the original range.  The scale difference is not enough to bother me much generally when applied to miniature humans.  As such it definitely doesnt bother me when it relates to evil skeletal robot types such as these.   I mean, whats the correct size for an evil skeletal robot?  In a break from tradition my evil cyber-hordes embrace individuality (because its more interesting to paint).

L to R: Copplestone Terminator Robot, Reaper Cyber Reaver, Copplestone Terminator Robot, EM4 Skeleton Robot.

The revised heads may have put off some potential buyers as they dont feature the leering skull look so representative of the Terminator franchise.  The heads look more like the sort of robot design seen on a  robot in a Judge Dredd or ABC Warriors story to me.  Which isnt to say that I dislike the head design, just that I can see why it may appeal less to people interested in creating a miniature force reminiscent of the Terminator movies.

I do slightly miss the glowing red eyes.  The eyes on these figures are empty slots.  The head design and the lack of glowing eyes combine to make the figures less “scary” than most of the figures in my skeleton robot force.

L to R: MB/GW Space Crusade Chaos Android, Copplestone Terminator Robot, GW Necron Warrior.

Necron Middle Management

In between the more slight Reaper Cyber Reaver and the EM4 Skeleton Robot above squats one of the first official Necron designs that GW made.  The figure was given away free on the cover of White Dwarf in 1998 or so and after recent exhumation made it to the top of my painting list.

L to R: Space Crusade Chaos Android, GW Necron Warrior (90s), GW Necron Warrior.

This as yet unnamed droid will feature as a hench-bot or lieutenant in my skirmish sized Necron force.  Dependable right digital manipulator or bungling robotic nincompoop?  Only time will tell.  Either way the more ornate and decorative style of the miniature compared with the later Necron plastics makes this guy stand out just the right amount.

The colour scheme follows the same pattern as everything else in this Skynet-ron project.  Everything is the same scheme as the test pieces: silver chassis, black weapons/trim with eyes, chest and weapon details in a glowing red.  Quick to apply and satisfyingly tech-noir to look at en masse.

ED209. But its sort of a Necron. And a Terminator.

“Please put down your weapon. You have twenty seconds to comply.”

This rather dated and crude yet decidedly fun model is a “Chaos Dreadnought” released as part of the GW/MB Space Crusade boardgame in 1990.  I picked up a copy of that game in 1993.

In Space Crusade the dreadnought model had some associations with the “Chaos Android” model, which is a prototype Necron.  I used an android as one of my test pieces for this project (and I have a few more due to be finished up soon).  As both model designs are already associated and both designs also feature daft robotic skull faces I decided to include this liked but neglected model in this project.

“You are in direct violation of Penal Code 1.13, Section 9.”

I figured that I could extend the concept from the Necrons and other skeleton robots to this guy, who easily fits in as some sort of Skynet Hunter-Killer (HK) or Necron canoptek unit like a wraith or whatever.  Add to this that I have been wanting to paint this figure since I first bought it (a staggering twenty years ago.  Christ.  I had twenty years to comply) and it all starts to come together.

“You have five seconds to comply. Four… three… two… one… I am now authorized to use physical force.”

Further fudging the inspirations and influences for this sub-project is the ED 209 from the original Robocop movie.  Robocop was released in 1987 and the visual similarities between the ED 209 and the Chaos Dreadnought designed and produced a couple of years later are obvious.

I wanted to give the model a little bit of the Omni Consumer Products look if possible, but without throwing it too far out from my more standard scheme for this project.

The more metallic look that I have gone for looks a little more like the design from the Robocop remake than the pale grey of the original ED209, but it fits better with the the other miniatures in the Necron/Skynet project this way.

The new design for ED209 from the upcoming Robocop remake.

The arm weapons on the model point slightly upwards due to their design and manufacture, which is a little weird.  Not weird enough for me to bother modifying the fitting so that they ended up parallel with the ground or anything though.

 

 

I magnetised the arm weapons instead of using the weak clip assembly.   Various combinations of the three arm weapons are visible in the photos above.  Allowing the weapons to swap out is theoretically useful in games of Space Crusade, so retaining that functionality was fun.  The weapons on ED209 will be interchangeable with any further similar models in this project.

Skeleton Robot Assault

Lastly, I normally avoid square bases on my figures.  Circular bases just look better as far as I am concerned.  The square base on the Chaos Dreadnought is convenient in games of Space Crusade however, so I kept it.

T800 Terminators

Continuing with the Skynet-rons, todays bunch of bad ‘bots are the closest models that I have to the endo-skeletal bad guys from the Terminator franchise.

L to R: Space Crusade Chaos Android, EM4 Skeleton Robot, Reaper Cyber Reaver, GW Necron Warrior.

The figures are Reaper Chronoscope “Cyber Reavers” that I bought from a gentleman on LAF in February 2010.  That means that these little guys have gone from the package to painted faster than most of my miniature purchases…

L to R: GW Space Marine, Reaper Cyber Reaver

Like everything in this project so far, the Cyber Reavers have been quickly painted in an identical fashion to the test pieces.

L to R: Mongoose Judge, Reaper Cyber Reaver, GW Rogue Trader era Assassin.

What I quite like about these skinny fellas is that they are very slight.  They look like they could at least sort of be hidden under a 28mm scale layer of flesh if required.  As you can see in the comp shots, the Cyber Reavers are quite petite models.

Eighties stop motion, blue screen goodness.

Three of these models had interchangeable arms.  That meant that all of the figures could be armed.  It also meant that I could assemble one figure that wasnt holding any weapons at all and another armed with a pair of weapons, both classic Terminator poses.  So I did.

+++BEEP+++
+++I AM A ROD PUPPET+++
+++BEEP+++

I suppose that if I were to ever play “proper” 40k with these guys they could be used as Flayed Ones, but as that is not likely to ever really happen it doesnt matter.

I was tempted to paint one of the Reavers in a bloody fashion, as if it had recently been covered in flesh but I didnt bother in the end.  I already own plenty of blood splattered miniatures.

Necron Scarabs

These tiny robot drone guys are probably the easiest miniature painting task that I have had for a while.  They look kinda cute anyway I think, despite how straightforward they were to paint.

Plan view. Thats a 20mm base.

In 40k games scarabs are mounted in multiples on large bases to represent swarms.  As these miniatures are intended for use in skirmish games I mounted my scarabs individually.

L to R: GW Scarab, EM4 Skeleton Robot, GW Scarab, GW Necron Warrior

The design of the scarab is only vaguely insectile – more like some sort of generic robot drone thing really – so I can see these models with multiple duties.  They would be suitable as Mega City One Justice Department spy-in-the-sky cameras for example, which might be useful for a scenario some time.

Terminator Necrons #1

As noted previously, I have been experiencing a seasonal slump in my painting routine.  In an effort to jump start the process I decided to get stuck into a quickly painted, high turnover project starting with some Necron test pieces.

L to R: Space Crusade Chaos Android, EM4 Skeleton Robot, GW Necron

This approach has worked to an extent and the skeleton robot/Necron/Cyberdyne (Skynet-rons? I dunno) project is progressing at an acceptable pace.  Pictured here are the latest models to roll off the Skynet conveyor belt.

L to R: Mongoose Judge, EM4 Skeleton Robot, EM4 post-apocalyptic guy

The project has also inspired theottovonbismark to get working on some of his old robo-skeleton figures.  Tag-teaming with him has helped to keep project enthusiasm levels up.  Its always fun to tackle hobby projects in tandem.

L to R: EM4 Skeleton Robot, GW Space Marine

The first guys finished since the test pieces are the EM4 “Skeletal Robots” shown.  They were originally Grenadier Future Wars figures sculpted by Mark Copplestone I am pretty sure, now manufactured by EM4.

These figures are obviously inspired by the Cyberdyne look shown above.  As such they are less hunched than the Necron or Chaos Android figures shown before.  The Skeleton Robots are arguably a little large to be reasonably expected to pass themselves off as a human when covered in human meat, even human meat of Schwarzenegger like proportions.  Not that it matters for my purposes of course.

The figures were nicely sculpted and cast as I would expect from both Copplestone and EM4.  I quickly painted the lot in an identical fashion to the earlier test pieces.

Necron Test Pieces

I tried a couple of quick ways of painting Necrons recently.  The hope is that I can find a fast way of getting a small group (about twenty I guess, but  who knows?) of evil humanoid robots and some of their less humanoid but just as evil kin ready for the table.  If it works out then I will have a fun little force that I can use in a variety of settings, from Dredd to the 40k-verse to post-apocalyptic rise-of-the-machines settings.

The above test figure is a plastic Necron Warrior.  The figure below is the Necrons “Chaos Android” precursor from the old Space Crusade board game.

The main inspiration for this project came from a couple of unscheduled games of Space Crusade that I played with MT and SOS/theottovonbismark during the summer.  I am tempted to paint up the entire Space Crusade set (as the game was surprisingly fun) but that seems unlikely to be a project that bubbles to the top, but who knows.  That said, the Chaos Androids and Chaos Dreadnought are part of both projects, so it could happen.

The rather gimmicky green translucent rods on the Necron miniatures have never really appealed to me very much.  As well as looking somehow a little out of place on painted figures I also have never been keen on how it locked the figure to a scheme that features green.  Additionally my brother-in-law pointed out that it looks like all of the Necrons carry spirit levels, which I have never been able to get out of my head when I see them.

Different coloured Necron rods can be bought from various online suppliers but as I plan to use more than just actual Necron miniatures for this project, I decided to simply paint the existing green rods red instead.  Corresponding areas on non-Necron skeletal robot models can then be painted to match.

As well as being easy to paint, the silver and red scheme is suggestive of the Cyberdyne/Skynet evil robot skeleton imagery that originally inspired a lot of the Necron stylings.  It may not be a very original scheme, but it is striking.  Being reminiscent of a big Hollywood franchise has never hurt progress on a miniatures project for me either.  That sort of visual shorthand also tends to make games played with those figures more fun.

Lastly, I made my first attempts at OSL when painting these guys.  Both of the figures ended up with embarrassed looking glows on their “cheekbones”, which mirrored that on the painters face.  So I covered it up and decided to leave OSL for another day.