Wildcats, Hellcats, and Prowlers; Oh My!

I have finally gotten the first 'wave' of my Infinity painting done! Ten models ready to be matte coated and based as soon as I can get good weather and some spare time to do it. In the meanwhile, pictures for all!

Pay no attention to the background...

I struggled for a while on how to do their symbols. The entire reason for this paintscheme is that it makes more sense for a military unit to be drab than bright red. That is contrasted by the fact that the Nomads primary colour is red. (Also known as the least camouflaging colour you can pick next to "dayglo"!)

I did a photoshop mockup of where I'd put the symbols in each case, and toyed with them until I found a setup I didn't dislike. First I'll show the easier ones to solve, then on to the harder choices.

The Prowler was one of the first models I painted (and one of the first I bought: Such an awesome pose.) He's the test-case for drab, and other than his pistol's grip, is remarkably subtle compared to some of the other schemes I've seen of him. The symbols for him seemed pretty straightforward; Nomad on the left shoulder, Bakunin on the right, so any enemy that spots him will see the "national" pride, whereas his allies will know where he came from.

Next up were the Hellcats. Being troops that scream in from a dropship on jets of antigrav (?), I was less concerned about 'stealth', which is why their shoulderpads have a nice distinctive Corregidor and Nomad icon. The back of their burners have squad identifiers (3-1, 3-2, 3-3) in case I ever have to distinguish them quickly stats-wise.

Ahh the Wildcats. After much debating, I decided to use that random circular patch on their right shoulder to be the Nomad symbol location, and put Corregidor's icon beside it. Their unit identifiers (4-1, 4-2, 4-3) were likewise done in low-vis beside it, with a kind of sci-fi font styling. Since I didn't want big obvious indicators on their leading shoulder, I decided to do an imitation QR code on each. I figure any Nomad helmet and HUD unit will know to read the codes to indicate "Nomad", and perhaps even name, rank, and branch of service. This way you don't lose your IFF even if you're hit with electric countermeasures (just hopefully your allies haven't been as well), and no enemies will be immediately able to identify.

I did struggle with this at first, because though they are line troopers, it's implied in the fluff they're often called upon to do shipboard combat. I figure in such situations, with cramped corridors, and a race against the clock and overwhelming odds, it's more important to whip around a corner and recognize an ally. Also, camouflage in an enemy ship would be difficult to guess ahead of time. Eventually I went more subtle because it kept the theme more consistent.

Also note the Wildcat's random disks at the front of the armour. Again, since Corregidor is often called upon to engage in zero-g or hostile spaceborn environments, having on-suit lamps that aren't attached to a gun or hand-held would be incredibly useful. I figure they're suit lamps (off when in daylight, of course) and perhaps that left-forearm device is as well.

Thus is my war against glowy armour on stealth units going strong! Since these photos I gave a dark, dark cyan wash to the helmet visors to make them richer, and to the gems to help settle the layers in.

Soon, pics of the Reverend Custodier, Zondbots, Intruder, Alguacile... I wonder if I'll have them all done by the time Icestorm shows up!

Wildcats Armour

It seems the world is conspiring against me finishing my Infinity force.

I finish Pandora, lay out all the Nomad stuff to be painted, and both Wyrd and PSC announce painting contests! Expect a few non-model updates over the next bit, and delay between true model updates. Wyrd is asking us not to show any work until it's finished, so I won't be able to document what I'm painting for the next bit.

That said, Wildcats!

I debated using a more stand-out scheme, before deciding I liked the Prowler one enough to try just them for almost all the units in my force. The first mix on the armour is a mix of "Japanese Tank Crew" (Vallejo 70328) and Leather Brown (70871) at about 50/50, gradually highlighted with the ever useful pale sand. I wanted to do a more muted overall look, making it appear like some kind of advanced ceramic compound. I also had a rule for myself of limiting (or eliminating) all the glowing elements, because that Penny Arcade comic is right!

At first, the armour is a very muted brown, just the straight mix. For these ones I was so thankful for my wet palette letting me do thin gradual highlights of colour. The legs are about half-finished and will likely stay that way until I decide exactly how bright I want to make the red.

After a few layers, you will start to know if you were exactly even with the mix, or had more green or brown. I took some creative liberties on which sections of the boots would have armour plates; I know the default scheme has a few reds, but I figured that any place not covered by the red 'pliable flak armour' (as I am sure it is) would be harder ceramic compound shock plate.

At the same time, I was working on the others. I have all the potentially-covering pieces placed on a bit of model wire to allow me to get under. Infuriatingly, the Nuln Oil wash has a 50/50 chance of going milky, as you can see on his gun. I am going to have to start infusing the wash with Vallejo black to stabilize it...

You can also see on the shoulderpad how the pale sand is starting to show as the primary colour.

The super-thin layers eventually build up to a good slick armour, where I start focusing more on refining edges, and accentuating certain armour sections. This has the downside, though, of meaning the time per coat slows down as I delicately trace each line, and hit each highlight. Thinner coats are critical here!

Odd as it is, I love this pose. The hunched over look of this and the other male Wildcat gives a feel of attempting to sneak down a corridor before spotting the enemy. Sadly, it does make the female stand out somewhat. I think if I ever decide to run a Wildcat hacker, I'll just call her the one.

Originally, I had the arms to these two mixed up. I couldn't figure out why they didn't cleanly line up, but then looked more carefully at the box. This guy's pose is _almost_ shooting at a target in front of him (or is targeting someone ahead and a bit below).

Eventually, I will have the three fully highlighted in the armour, touched up on the pants and boots, and glowing only where a self-respecting soldier would be glowing! Just one single model, a crew, and a duel/diorama away!