Scavengers Reign - An Exploration of Xenomorphology

I saw this trailed last year and, as a big fan of the art of the great french comic book illustrator Moebius aka Jean Giraud, I was gobsmacked with how similar in style it looked to many of his amazing strips.

It immediately brought back memories of watching Les Maîtres du temps (The Masters of Time) and I knew I would have to give it a watch.

More than just a Robinson Crusoe Rehash

The story revolves around the lives of three groups of survivors who landed their escape pods on a lush and verdant planet in very different circumstances.  Many of their shipmates have not been so lucky and did not survive to reach the surface, although it is not long before you start to realise that maybe its the dead who are lucky.

The 12 episodes are a busmans guide on how to create a planet full of interesting and diverse flaura and fauna which spends all of its time trying to eat you.  Wrapped around this core survival trope are evolving backstories which explore why each of the very differnt characters chose to thrust themselves out into the great void.

Beautifully animated and biologically complex, the writers have crafted a world which has so much natural diversity and complexity in their life cycles and symbiotic relationships with each other.  This goes well beyond the simple and makes Gieger's Xenomorph look like a children's story book.  

In the same way, the individual backstories of each character are explored in detail from the venal and pathetic Kamen to the strange relationship between Azi and her robot companion Levi.  These are as complex and interesting as their surroundings.  However, sometimes I feel this is designed to lull you into a false sense of security.  Needless to say in these more tender moments their next brush with the disaster is only around the corner.

Traveller Eat Your Heart Out.

This is exactly how I remember early Traveller scenarios going back in the day.  Every scenario was an exercise in exploration and discovering new and deadly lifeforms.  I remember playing those classic double adventures like Shadows or the Chamax Plague and loving them.   

Justifiers - Out of The Mists	Traveller - Shadows

It also brought back memories of running my favourite long dead sci-fi exploration RPG Justifiers.  With only a little modification each of these episodes would make for an entertaining set of encounters for any party.

Is Scavengers Reign Worth Watching?

If you enjoy carefully crafted and beautiful landscapes filled with interesting biology then yes, absolutely.  If you want fast paced action then this is not the animation for you.  If you can imagine watching a 6 hour long Studio Ghibli masterpiece where your own mortality is repeatedly rammed down your throat in the most violent but interesting ways.  Only then are you getting somewhere close to the gorgeous grotesqueness of this show. 

It is rare for a show like this to ever get greenlit or make it past a 30 minute long short so we have to reward the creative geniuses behind the scenes and watch their show.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 33 - The Girl with the Robot Hand

This week, I are mostly been printing... A girl riding a robot hand!!

Trix Robot Rider - Cults 3D 

I found this on EthanTSavage's Cults 3D page and thought it was an awesome sculpt.

The aesthetic is undeniably Anime, and for me is reminiscent of the fabulous Tank Girl comic of the 80s.  Whilst the movie ranks as one of the worst in history, I am a big fan.

I love Giant Robot anime, my favourite being Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still.  If you haven't watched it you should it's just the right shade of bonkers to make a strange sort of sense and is a blend of diesel punk / magical superhero anime which is incredibly rare.

This was a very quick model to make taking me only a few days to complete.  I used a skull base which I had originally intended for my huge demon model and slathered on the old poundland polyfilla to form a crust over the skulls. 

This is my homage to the famous scene in Terminator 2 where the T800s are walking across the field of human remains crushing skulls underfoot.

Jessie's Prints - Episode 32 - Cowboy Bebop Spike Spiegel Swordfish II

This week, I are mostly been printing... The Swordfish II

Cowboy Bebop Swordfish II - Thingiverse: Thing 3082811

Anime fans will instantly recognise Spike Spiegel's red starfighter the Swordfish II.

This is an older file designed for FDM printing and is therefore a abit on the low-poly end of the spectrum  but it is very well put together all the same.

Meet the Parts

I opted to print this on my Resin SLA printer and I was mindful of the large size of the model.  The main core of the ship needed to be split in two using meshmixer and I took the opportunity to learn how to use the hollow functions. 

I couldn't believe how easy this was and it's definitely something I will be using in the future when I make larger objects as I reckon it saved a metric ton of resin and didn't lead to those peeling and splitting issues I experienced when printing my 3D Printed Akira - Kaneda Bike.

Sub Assembly

Once I had worked out what parts I needed and got them all printed to my satisfaction, I began gluing up the sub assemblies.

The core body and nose were split in meshmixer so needed to be joined back together.  Despite a really good print whenever I use mesh mixer I need to putty the seams.  The hollowed out core and nose also needed the drain holes filled and sanded.  I then doubled pinned the wings to this main assembly.  In hindsight I should have spent more time on this as there was a little bit of an alignment issue between the wing root and the wing itself.

The back half of the model was an utter nightmare of badly fitting airfoils and I bodged as best I could.

The cannon barrel, cockpit and reversing gear were painted using various colour shift paints and left until final assembly   

This was all given a solid black primer with my go-to rattle can matt black car paint from Poundland.

Panel Scribing and Underpainting

I knew I was going to want to try out the underpainting technique I've seen a lot of AFV modellers use to create their panel lines, but this model didn't really have any.  I dug out a ruler and scribed the aileron's and the folding wing joins with the back of an x-acto blade.  The rivet detail was simply drilled with a pin vice and a few other panel lines added.  This was all recoated in black ready for underpainting.

I used a Daler Rowney FW artists white ink straight out of the bottle through the airbrush.  I'm a pretty novice airbrusher and I have always struggled with thinning and getting the right consistency of paint and prerssure to prevent spidering.  

However, this ink added the new complication of fisheyes.  I'm not sure if it is the ink or the undercoat, but it was a real pain.  Several coats went on and some had to be wiped off.  I persevered and finally it was time to add the red coat. 

Weathering and Paint Chipping

The Swordfish is an old ship and given the meagre budget that the crew of the Bebop operate with, there is only the money to do basic maintenance.  A scuffed up worn out appearance was a must.

I use the sponge chipping method lightly dabbing some black on all the leading edges that would take the most punishment on re-entry.  This was then highlighted with some bright silver from Army Painter.

A simple but effective method to weathering whilst maintaining a clean look and not taking an age to dry.

Spike Spiegel - MyMinifactory

No model of the Swordfish II would be complete without it's pilot and the main hero of the show, Spike Spiegel.

I found a lovely model of Spike on MyMiniFactory which was a breeze to print and paint.  I think it makes a great addition to the model.  Shout out to sculptor EthanTSavage whose work is prertty amazing and scales up really nicely. 

The Base

I considered lighting this model but to be honest it was a bit of a pain once assembled.  I had a plan for routing the LEDs to the engine and the two spotlights on the nose, but I was not confident that the effect would be worth it given the low-poly detail of this model.  

I did want a modern looking base and found the perfect match in a box style frame in a thrift store.  Removing the glass and gluing the mdf backer in place proved a sturdy enough platform for a coathanger to be glued in place supported by a generous volcano of milliput on the underside.

I also took the liberty of drilling an extra hole in the corner for Spike to be glued in place.

The Swordfish II Plaque - Thingiverse: Thing 6455107

One of the more iconic graphical elements to the show is the logo.  I love the big kanji script but wanted the center to bear the name of the ship.  I found a suitable image online and modified it with GIMP.  I then converted the JPG to an SVG using Convertio and imported this into Tinkercad.  I added a simple solid back to the object and exported as an STL.  

From start to finish this took no more than 10 minutes.  You can download the STL file for free using the Thingiverse link above.

Many Thanks to...

A big shout out to Lou Dalmaso aka Aztek Dummy on YouTube.  I've thoroughly enjoyed his forays into 3D printed models and it was his channel that inspired me to give it a go myself.  

Big thanks also to the rest of the Youtube modelmaking community for giving me hours of enjoyable content over the years. Plasmo, Mr E Models, SpruVerse, World of Wayne, TrekWorks, Interstellar Modeler, Boylei Hobby Time, Luke Towan, MSPaints, Squidmar, Ground Affected, Midwinter Minis and so many more...

Jessie's Prints - Episode 31 - The Ultimate Radical Centrist Demon Dude

This week, I are mostly been printing... A bloody great big Demon Bloke!!

Before anyone asks, my opinion on the Warhammer 40K and Games Workshop IP issue is, that I don't believe in direct recasts of currently available models. However, if you can sculpt something that is an homage to an existing IP or if the original miniature is out of production then I say it's fair game.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all.

The Ultimate Radical Centrist - Cults 3D

I can't remember how I managed to find this model but I'm bloody glad I did.  I don't play WH40K or typically use many demons in my own RPGs, but this was a love at first sight sort of thing.

Printing the body parts on my relatively small Photon Mono X was easy.  However, his wings were a challenge and I had to once again turn to meshmixer in order to slice them in half and even then they only just fit onto the print bed.  Even though the flat mating surfaces were printed flat on the build plate a good deal of sanding was required to join them together.  the discrepencies were filled with milliput original to make them seamless and whole again.

I wanted the wings to be detachable for transport and so I pinned them with coathanger wire.  Unfortunately they were so heavy and unbalanced that one pin made them rotate so a second finer pin was added.  If I were to do this again I would seriously consider adding some mini magnets.

The included base was insufficient for this quite top heavy model and so I printed a circular one on my FDM printer.  A square socket was carved out and the original base epoxied into place.  This was then covered in my go-to basing medium poundland wall filler.

Painting 

Painting was a game of two halves.  The body got the traditional zenithal, airbrush base colours, washes, highlights and dry brushes treatment.  For the wings I wanted something "Draconic" so I primed in black and then a layer of gloss varnish on the outside of the wings.

The outside surface is curves and I managed to stretch an old orange bag (the plastic mesh netting type) and used this as a mask.  This is the same technique that the Kustom car painters use when they paint the roofs of lowriders using lace table cloths.  I decided to go with the orange to violet colour shift paint from the Valleho "Space Dust" set.  

This was a great base but needed a silver highlight at the top edge to pick out the scales.  In hindsight using the gloss layer was a mistake.  It was a nightmare task to pick out the top edges of the colourshift in some parts of the model due to the reflected light 

The inside wings got a more muted leathery treatment with progressively lighter shades of brown through the airbrush and the finger spines were left darker.

Playtime 

Since printing him, he has debuted as the big bad in a game of Dark Heresy RPG at Hobbits Hole Roleplay Club.  I'm sure that he will also make an appearance towering over the streets of Mega City One in a prog in the not too distant future...

Mat Irvine, What a Modelmaking Legend

Whilst bimbling around on the YouTubes I came across a little documentary about the history of model kits.

I had the pleasure of meeting Mat Irvine at the Model Engineers Exhibition some time in the mid 90s. He was a gent and whilst I knew him from his sci-fi TV work, I was stunned by his impressive collection of car models.

Also in attendance at the show were a TV company looking for engineering contestants to enter into something called "Robot Wars"... Whatever happened to that?

The star for me was the Fantastic display for the upcoming movie Judge Dredd. Alongside the Hammersteinesque ABC warrior anamatronic puppet they had a Land Rover City Cab.

I think this is still one of the greatest futuristic vehicle designs ever to have made it onto the silver screen and, given my love of Judge Dredd, one model I would love to create in miniature for my 15mm Judge Dredd RPG Vehicle Fleet.  If anyone knows of a good STL pop it in the comments below.