Since I decided that for my 5 Parsecs game, l suitable miniature proxies for K’erin are the Predators aliens, I went ahead and got some GZG Kra’Vak to add to my old QRF miniatures. These are a little bit bigger as well, and more suitable for K’erin.
Getting them to look like ugly mfers as Arnie pointed out, was a challenge in 15mm, as I had to choose my colour palette carefully.
For the unmasked ones I painted the heads in an undercoat of Yellow Ochre followed by Naples Yellow Deep. Hands and feet were undercoated in Primary Green Light followed by Yellow Ochre. Under-suit and Dreads were painted Sap Green, and Masks, Weapons and Armour Silver. The entire mini was washed in Subterrain Wash. I think they turned out nice. The photo colours are a bit washed out; they’re more vibrant in real life, I’m still working out how to take nice miniature photos in 15mm.
Kra’Vak without masksKra’Vak with masksKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with maskKra’Vak with mask and rapid fire weaponKra’Vak Kra’Vak Kra’Vak Kra’Vak Kra’Vak with rapid fire weapon
Expanding on the Star Wars imperial proxies, I’ve gotten some Jaeger Colonial Light Infantry from GZG. I think their command pack is a great proxy for Imperial Officers and having watched a lot of Andor episodes, the rifles pack will fit well for Imperial troopers without helmets.
I painted them in Andor style. After a lot of research, I came upon the explanation that the greenish uniform in the Aldhani episode was due to color tint of the entire episode. So I went for a feldgrau mix this time to work according to Mina-Rau episode. I dunno if I got it right; being colour blind doesn’t help either.
For the uniforms I made a mix of YMC (Yellow-Magenta-Cyan) inks in the ratio of 2:2:1, and desaturated it with white paint. Boots and officer gloves are Paynes Grey, backpacks and webbing are Warm Grey and belts are a mix of brown and grey. Weapons were painted Paynes Grey and drybrushed with Graphite metallic. The entire mini was washed in a 1:1 mix of Army Painter Strong Tone and Soft Tone.
I also have another set of doubles for the same miniatures due to the GZG packs coming in two poses, that I’ll most likely paint with black uniforms in Ferrix/Ghorman style.
Imperial Troopers SquadImperial Officer with gunImperial Officer with binoculars Imperial TrooperImperial TrooperImperial Trooper with datapadImperial Trooper with binoculars Imperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooperImperial trooper
So, I wasn’t thrilled with my 1st take on Imperial Stormtrooper proxies using Bluemoon Galactica Mercenaries, and greenstuff. My Greenstuff skills are mediocre, and also they ended up being a bit short in size. You can find them on Miniatures pt105.
I am in love with the Star Wars universe, and also with 15mm scale, so I kept on trying. There was a remaster set of the 15mm unofficial Curious Chaps, which claimed that they’re now Heroic scale. I got them, and was severely disappointed. They’re true scale 15mm, perhaps a tiny bit larger than their previous casts, but still no close to heroic 15mm scale.
So I searched far and wide and decided that the GZG US Army in Hardsuits could be good proxy candidates. Got them, painted them in Stormtrooper colours, and I think they fit the bill closely.
US Army in Hardsuits painted as StormtroopersStormtrooper StormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooper StormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooper Unit leaderStormtrooper StormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooperStormtrooper unit leader
Since I had some doubles from the Islamic Federation range from GZG leftover from the packs I had painted as Star Wars rebels, decided to go at a different angle.
I used some gas mask and goggles heads from GZG and did some head swaps. Painted them in the Cadian color scheme I’ve used, so I can add them to existing units as say, special units, or just mercenaries as standalone.
MercenariesMerc with cigarMerc with gas maskMerc with headset Merc with headset Merc with gas maskMerc with chipped helmetMerc with gas maskMerc with gas mask
The perfect gaming board doesn’t exist. What we’re trying to do is have something that is the ideal gaming board taking into account factors such as, storage, replayability, usability, setup, modularity, looks, durability, effort, cost, and time.
The above factors many times work against each other, for example a well detailed board with height maps and rivers looks great and takes no time to setup, but is a pain to store, has no replayability, parts of the board aren’t usable, and of course there’s a lot of effort needed to make it. On the other end of the spectrum, a highly modular set of tiles stores easily, but doesn’t look as good with the seams breaking immersion, and may take a long while to setup and store. In between, rollable mats look good overall, store very easily, but may lose their shape over time and are prone to shedding if flocked.
So I wanted something that stores easily, doesn’t shed, looks nice, and is quite usable. Didn’t want to spend a fortune, or take too long to make it.
The initial concept would be a double sided gaming board made of XPS. I’d print a few texture rollers to give it texture, prime it with spray primer and drybrush, wash and seal. I bought a 2×4 board from the hardware store for about 3 bucks, and cut it in half. However things didn’t go as planned. The texture rollers left a seam between each roll, the spray primer was too dark and didn’t close up the various foam cells, so the coverage of the following drybrushing was terrible. I had to throw away the first half of the board.
I went back to the concept design. Decided against using a texture roller. A texture stamp would be a better fit, but I didn’t want to spend more time searching, designing and printing, so I did manual texturing with a sharp rock, a thin stick and my fingers and knuckles. The dark gray spray primer meant for XPS (Gamemaster line from Army Painter) would not be covered easily. So instead I found some of my leftover house paint (latex paint) which was in earth tones (a brownish grey and a light beige ochre) and painted each side differently. Two coats were enough per side (turned it around when it was dry to the touch) and coverage was great. Finally I made some diy wash with acrylic paint, water and PVA glue. Did a brown-green wash and a brown-ochre one for the other side. Applied it liberally, soaked out any excess with a sponge and let each side dry overnight. Sealed with a spray mat spray sealer, though I’m unsure if it was needed. Just for extra durability.
I’m very happy with how it turned out, and I intend to buy another 2×4 XPS board and make four more different terrains.
What I love about it, is the stability, flatness which allows for scatter terrain to sit on top, no shedding, and still enough texturing to give this uneven look.
XPS board is really cheap, so is house latex paint. Making a diy wash with PVA and some acrylic craft paints is low cost also.
Effort was minimal, each latex coat took a few minutes to do, as well as the wash application.
Painted the second poses of my Brethren of New Light troops from GZG in the scheme of Star Wars Imperial Navy Trooper. Painting full black minis can be quite an issue as you lack contrast, especially in 15mm.
Painted their coats in Paynes Grey, and the Helmets and Boots in the primer gloss black. The blasters in graphite for the gunmetal look. Painted their helmet straps black and the visors white.
Finally I gave the helmets a satin varnish compared to the mate of the rest of the figure for a shiny look.
Imperial Navy TroopersImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy TrooperImperial Navy Trooper
Jedi and Sith in 15mm? Yeah not likely to find any suitable miniatures. 3d printing is also not so much of an option as the Star Wars stls are true scale, which doesn’t scale down nicely in 15mm, and the few epic scale sculpts aren’t FDM-friendly. So… kitbashing is the way.
I had put this project on hold for far too long as I wanted to use LED lighting for the lightsabers using acrylic transparent rods. A couple years later I realised if I waited until I was ready for such a kitbash, I’d never get it done, so I decided to go ahead with a regular painted straight wire instead.
I did two Jedi and a Sith, using different models as a base, some green stuff and some pewter heads.
Galactic Knight from Alternative Armies with head from GZG.Esper Psyker from Alternativr ArmiesPenal Legion from Alternative Armies
I like how they turned out. On hindsight I realised I could do some mix of sci modular digital kitbash with some greenstuff, pewter heads and clip wires for more options, but I have a basis to build on. I can attempt more options.
Having tested my Cadian style colour scheme on the Not-Rebels, I went ahead and painted the Colonial Defence Force troopers from GZG in the same scheme.
I can proxy them for Imperial Guardsmen, or any colonial defence force.
Solo, Pen, Paper and Dice 
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