Work in Prog-Rock

A few weeks back Spooktalker, celebrating my arrival on your planet, gave me a set of Grindhouse Games Dogface Combots from their tennative JUNK line of miniatures. The Dogfaces are currently out of production, but Spooktalker was able to get his hands on a previously owned set. The previous owner had severely neglected the poor 'bots. Shoddy assembly, lack of clean up, sub-standard primer, and improper handling had left them in a sad state.

So with a 2 week soak in Simple Green and a little tlc, they are starting to look like the crack team of metal militants they were made to be.

I made a few minor alterations to establish some character, for instance the CQB Combot with his auto-shotgun would be in the thick of the fighting and ought to have a few more scrapes, dents and blown circuits than the basic model. So I used round and leaf-blade needle files to add some realistic battle damage.

The set also included a boonie hat, designed to fit snugly over the 'Bot's camera eye. While test fitting, I found the slouch of the hat combined with the roundness of their domed heads to give a overly comical cartoon hobo appearance. Not the sort of thing that causes hardened Martian Commandos to quake in their grim, skull shaped gasmasks. Determined to rise to Spooktalker's challenge of, "I know you'll put this to good use," I thought of a picture of Carlos Hathcock wearing a boonie hat tipped back on his head. Probably protecting him from the harsh South East Asian sun while he rested after shooting yet another top NVA sniper straight down the scope into his no-good commie eye.

I also made a minor conversion to his left arm and hand, in order to give him a scouting "Hold, Contact" pose. An homage to several classic Perry Brothers Imperial Guard minis.

Miniature Review: Valkyrie by Art Crime Productions

Now for a product review. Lately I've been watching and learning about 15mm Sci-Fi wargaming options. One of them the new Gruntz rules (http://www.gruntz.biz). It's nice because you just build stats to the miniatures you already have, they don't have their own model line. Also been following their new YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/trybeinganihilist)

I stumbled upon a very small 15mm mini's producer called Art Crime Production (http://www.artcrimeproductions.blogspot.com). They gave away a few packs of their models to some lucky readers on their blog an here is what they sent me.



What's in the Box? (or blister):

Or in this case, it came in a simple small plastic baggy with a sticker along the top with the part number TC-001

• Three 15mm metal power suit Valkyrie models
• three square 25mm plastic slotted bases

The torso, two arms, and gun each come on their own sprue. The lower leg sections come separately.



Sculpting/Casting Notes:

I was very impressed by the quality of the castings. Flash was almost not existent. And it had very few mold lines to file off. Each joint has a peg & socket connection, so it is very easy to assemble. Just add glue and pose as needed. Each model does have the same pose, but with the joints they can be assembled with slightly different poses. The level of detail is really nice, with some fine details coming through clearly. The model stands about 25mm or 26mm to eye level.



Here is a size comparison to some other models.



Overall:

A great sci-fi model to use with 15mm or 6mm games. I assembled one model, adding some texture to the base with Vallejo Stone Texture Black Lava and a few small rocks. Looks nice! It looks like this 3 pack retails for $20, a bit on the high side of things. Thanks again to Art Crime Productions, and I am looking forward to more releases as they develop their line.