Sunday 17 May 2009

Small Scale Sci-Fi Update


Just finished putting together my mix of 2 and 6mm scale sci-fi minis, in this case a Terran Infantry Battalion and supports as well as some Alien forces, all of which were glimpsed in their unpainted state in my previous post on this subject. I'm quite pleased with the results, as they've given a 'small, medium and large' look to the forces which represents the classifications into light, assault and heavy units that I'd been aiming for, and shows that in terms of visual scaling, at least, you can mix and match quite successfully. One point to note , however, is that the 2mm Sci-Fi range from Irregular is built on a much bigger scale than all their other ranges; a sci-fi tank dwarfs a similar one from WWII. A great summary of how they shape up with basing tips can be found at this old workbench article over on TMP:


First up then, a couple of 2mm miniatures that I really like from Irregular; here's the Yobbo MBT, IKSF17. the sculpt is a little flat and squashed, but I think makes a great mid-tech tank, with its triangular track set and trailing wheels:


Then we see a couple of shots of the Four Legged walker, IKSF27, which is a possible contender for a small scale Hoth battle; perhaps a future project? :-).
These have good animation, looking as if they are about to pounce! (in as much as a transport weighing hundreds of tons can pounce...)




Next we have a view of the Aliens that I'm calling the Telosians, a desert race that make use of vehicles 2mm from Irregular and 6mm from Brigade. In the rear we have the Pacfed Minigwal from Brigade, and in the front the two-legged walkers from Irregular. I've mocked up a command vehicle amongst the Minigwal having broken one of the weapon sets, seen on the central base.




Needing, of course, a suitable Heavy Unit, I could not resist the brilliant 'Ray Gun' look of the Pacfed Tanami SPG, Brigade SF300-708:



Turning to the Terrans, this is where I mixed 2mm Infantry with suitable 6mm vehicles, giving the transport a really 'beefed up' look. The Infantry arrive in Buffel APCs, and deploy all arms teams, made up of Irregular's Power Armour Inf and Heavy Weapons bases. The Command APC seen in the rear just had a bit of sprue added to the roof to give antennae/aerials, and the 2mm Human Transport had some plastic block I had lying around added to the rear compartment to make a good stab at a Medevac vehicle:



In the right rear you can see the Light Armoured Support formed by Brigade's new NeoSov tankettes. Everything is based on 50x40mm card backed with magnetic sheet:


The infantry, are really teeny-weeny, (although larger than the figures in the other 2mm ranges) but have enough detail to give a good version of armoured skirmishers, and the Heavy Weapons in particular are great fun, with two large tripod mounted weapons and various cables, boxes and power units.


Heavy support comes in the form of the Zhu De SPG:


and finally, the Baldur Light Tank forms the armoured contingent. I went a bit wacky with the colours/camouflage, basing it upon the really interesting urban scheme sported by the British 'Berlin Brigade' vehicles during the Cold War; for a normally conservative institution like the British Army, it was quite experimental!




7 comments:

  1. I've never considered mixing scales - good idea that. The Buffel APCs look very smart.

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  2. Hi Mad, (if I can call you that!) you have to pick your minis, but it can be quite effective; I often think that 6mm vehicles, whatever the period, tend to look a little small for the accompanying figures - you'll never fit a squad in some APC models as far as 'visual' scale goes, so that's why I went for the 2mm infantry here.
    It might upset some purists, but I think it's part of the fun of the hobby, mixing and matching various figures and manufacturers!

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  3. Yes you can call me Mad - the Doctor certainly does! I've never really considered small scales before but thanks to you and Peter at Bacchus I'm hooked - started painting some 6mm fantasy figures and intend to move on to a VSF project in 6mm! Yes you can certainly call me Mad.

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  4. I was someehare that someone have used these walkers from SANY0092.JPG in Land Ironlcads game :)

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  5. Hi Fjodin, thanks for the comment; yes, the quadraped walkers from Irregular just need a couple of funnels or steam pipes added to give them a VSF look, but I like them just as they are!

    Thanks 'Mad', glad to hear of another convert, must of been the Kiplingesque nature of my 6mm NWF that did it for you!

    Cheers, SteelonSand.

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  6. Hi,
    I'm sorry but I'm a little bit confused!!!
    Is there only IRREGULAR for historical 2mm miniatures?
    Thanks

    Roby

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  7. Hi Roby, don't be confused! Sorry if my mixing and matching of scales has your head in a spin :-).

    Yes, currently, as far as I am aware, the only manufacturer of 2mm sized historical miniatures is the UK company Irregular Miniatures.

    There is a manufacturer of 3mm miniatures for WWII and Moderns, namely Oddzial Ozmy, available in the US through PicoArmour; these are obviously larger in size than their 2mm cousins.

    As you might see in another post on this blog, there are also nominally 1/600th miniatures available from Tumbling Dice and Peter Pig, and again these vary in size, being larger than the 2mm or more properly, 1/900th from Irregular Miniatures.

    If you are looking for blocks of figures for pre-twentieth century, brigade, divisional or even army level gaming, then the 2mm from Irregular are your best bet.
    If you are looking at armoured conflicts in the twentieth century and beyond at company or battalion level, then Oddzial Osmy is probably better.

    Hope this helps!

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