The good and the bad.

The Easter weekend found me laid low with a nasty cold putting paid to a whole series of projects.  It was so bad, I  had to take a nap during the family D&D game. One of the projects put on hold was a steampunk monorail based on an RAFM Cyclops blended with an early 20th century armoured draisine. More to follow on that one.

The good news is some overtime came through so I was finally able (read coerced) to buy a storage cabinet for all my miniatures that have been cluttering up the hall way (why my wife objected I don't know). I went with a portable tool chest from Canadian Tire that rolls and splits into three separate boxes. The drawer unit was very quickly lined with magnetic tape and is now a safe and comfy home for some of my troops.

With the rest, I bought a contingent of hill martian cavalry and a contingent of hill martian infantry to back up my canal martian troops. With all the hardware the Brits have, the martians are going to need all the help they can get.

Cyclopean delights

A while back I mentioned that RAFM had made a limited run of their 25mm Cyclops tri-wheels . I received mine a while back. Below are a few comments on the build so far.

The parts:

The vehicle body is a soft cast resin with the wheels, boiler top, smokestacks and small cannon in cast metal.  The body has a wonderful rough texture that gives a much nicer effect than flat plate would. The ventilation grid in particular had lots of crisp relief. This is the first resin cast I have worked with and I found it quite soft and easy to clean up. The boiler casting is clean and well detailed with rivets and re-enforcing bands. The smokestacks and gun were very basic and the stacks a bit rough in places. They do the job but I expect to replace them on future builds. The wheels however are works of art. Cleanly cast with no flash minimal mould lines and loaded with detail. I may try seeing if I can commission a run for other projects.

I had to heat the garage up beyond our sub-zero temperatures to undercoat with my usual grey automotive primer.  Drying took a long while and there was some bubbling on one model - entirely my fault.  For the first version, I decided to go stock, pretty much following the colour scheme on the website:

There is more dry brushing to do and more detailing possible but I am quite pleased with the results.  The next version will have a Martian dazzle scheme, tactical signs and perhaps some additional armament. The creative possibilities of this great little kit cannot be understated.

As for the rest of my Martian forces - I am not that great a figure painter so here is an arms length look:

 Yes - Lovecraft has put in an appearance stage centre.