[sefadu] Complete!

I spent a lot of time fiddling around with different designs for the yellow warpaint on the helmets, before settling on a simple, consistent scheme.

Overall I'm happy with the end result - I changed my sefadu for v1 to have light brown fatigues, but for MERCS 2.0 I opted for the standard black fatigues, which I think turned out OK.

Individual model photos up next week - stay tuned!

Sync out.

[ISS] Complete!

I'm happy with how this faction turned out, and though I was hoping to use my Infinity Kaldstrom terrain set as a background for the photo (it's still en-route), I thought I'd just throw a photo up anyway.

Individual model shots coming up soon - stay tuned!

Sync out.

[GCC] Complete!

I realised I hadn't yet taken a family photo of my painted GCC faction, so while I had the scene set for USCR, I thought I'd snap one for my GCC as well.

Sync out.

[USCR] Complete!

I'm really proud of completing this faction, mainly because painting the clean white was challenging! It wasn't difficult per se, but painting so many watered-down coats of white was quite tedious, and now that they're finished I'm proud of myself for the achievement.

But looking at these models now, it's heartening to see how I've improved as a painter since painting the original metal models for MERCS v1.

Sync out.

[CCC] Complete!

Well, here are my CCC, all painted and ready for the tabletop! I'm really happy with how the yellow turned out, and I have a huge feeling of accomplishment and pride in finally having four completed MERCS factions painted and ready for the table.

I'm not sure what faction I'll paint next, but when I decide I'll be sure to post my progress!

Sync out.

[EU Inc] Complete!

And here's the completed EU Inc faction! Great looking models, and I'm particularly happy with how the colour scheme turned out, even after having to repaint the first 5 models!

Out of the four factions I've been painting for MERCS 2.0, these were the only ones that I hadn't painted before as part of MERCS 1.0, so I always looked forward to painting them.

Stay tuned, next week I'll hopefully be able to post up photos of my CCC.

Sync out.

[Keizai Waza] Complete!

And that'll do it for the Keizai Waza! Out of all the new plastic MERCS models I've worked with, these were by far the hardest to clean and assemble, with difficult mold lines making it a bit of a chore.

That being said, I'm happy with how my models turned out, even with my inferior assembly skills.
I'm also really happy with how the orange turned out - I used a different recipe for the orange on my MERCS 1.0 Keizai Waza, and this newer orange is much closer to the orange used in the faction artwork.

Next week, EU Inc - stay tuned!

Sync out.

[KemVar] Complete!

My first completed squad for MERCS 2.0 - KemVar! Here's a quick-and-dirty group shot of the KemVar set up on my easily accessible Corvus Belli Navajo Outpost Scenery Pack.
These models were really fun to paint, and I'm keen to see how they fare on the table in MERCS 2.0!

For my KemVar page check out my [KemVar] page under the MERCS 2.0 section of my blog, or for all KemVar related posts, follow the KemVar tag here.

Sync out.

Sync's [Keizai Waza]

I'm really happy with how these guys turned out! All those layers of red and orange blends were worth it, and now my Keizai Waza are ready to take to the table-top!
I'm quite interested to see how difficult it is to drop the Tactical Nuke in-game, and get some good play-testing done with these guys - but that might have to wait until I finish my Texico!

Sync out.

Sync's [FCC]

I feel like such a moron for ever disliking the FCC models. They look awesome - even though they aren't as sci-fi as the other MERCS Megacons, there is definitely a place for them in the world of MERCS. The models are beautifully sculpted, and fit the background of the faction perfectly.

Well, next up I'm going to start on the Keizai Waza - a very sci-fi looking Megacon! Stay tuned!

Sync out.

Sync's MERCS Madness Month Complete!

This month has absolutely flown by! I started my MERCS Madness Month on July 29th, and it's now August 27th - so I've got a few days up my sleeve. I think all the late nights have paid off, and I have four MERCS factions, now painted to the best of my ability - and I can look back at my accomplishments with a sense of pride and achievement. Here are the squad shots of my MERCS factions:

[CCC]

[KemVar]

[USCR]

[sefadu]

With four factions to play with, I'll need a MERCS tabletop for them to wage war on - so my next MERCS project will be creating one! Stay tuned, PLENTY more MERCS to come!

Sync out.

Sync's [sefadu]

And this marks the end of my MERCS Madness Month! I know I said this before, but I can't believe I've spent the past month painting so much!
The sefadu are a well-posed and sculpted faction, all very dynamic and aggressive, and I think I owe them some table time!

Sync out.

Sync's [USCR]

I think the group shot really helps to emphasize how the big the Behemoth really is. The USCR are already a big faction, and the Behemoth towers above the rest.

The most important thing I've learned in painting my USCR, is to avoid painting solid whites, at ALL costs. Never, EVER, paint solid whites!

Well, that's three factions down, and one to go in Sync's MERCS Madness Month - this week I'll be tackling the sefadu!

Sync out.

Sync's [KemVar]

There is the general opinion that the KemVar are overpowered in MERCS, which is understandable at first glance of the faction. Their Active Camo Corporate Ability is certainly a great advantage in MERCS, where increasing your opponents FNs while reducing your own FNs is a crucial element of play.
I'll need to give these guys a bit more table time to really work them out, but after a few test games (on MERCS specific terrain!) I can already see that they're not unbeatable - the CCC Demo and Incinerator both have template weapons that can ignore their Active Camo, and keeping them suppressed while moving other units into short-range or the flank/rear seems to do the trick as well.

Sync out.

Sync's [CCC]

This is the third time I've 'finished' my CCC, but I'm actually really happy and satisfied with how they've finally turned out. Being the only MERC in my area (that I know of), I wanted to start running demos at clubs and conventions - and I wanted to do the fantastic models justice by making sure they were painted to the best of my ability!
In the coming week I'll be touching up my KemVar. These guys won't be complete repaints like the CCC were, which is great because I won't be up late every night trying to get each model done!

Sync out.

CLANS: Lords of Valhallen

My first CLANS squad - the Lords of Valhallen. I bought Games Workshop's Battle for Skull Pass a couple of years back, not really to play WHFB, but simply because I've always loved dwarves and goblins. They're my favorite fantasy races!

I've always liked the traditional fantasy fiction of dwarves, and kept that consistent in my background for CLANS. I also plan on doing a squad of dwarf slayers, firstly because I like the lore behind them and secondly because I'm an avid reader of Gotrek and Felix (reading through the saga for the second time now!).

Being from a large plastic boxed set, these models aren't as detailed as some of the other stuff available, but I had them lying around gathering dust, so I thought why not. I got to take my pick from the 30+ models in the box too, and it was nice to get some use out of these guys.

They were really fun to paint though, and I think the completed result looks cool. Anyways, onto some close ups of my Lords of Valhallen! (click to enlarge)

Sync out.

Sync's [CCC] Squad finished... again!

That feeling of pride and accomplishment is now consistent when I look over at all my MERCS squads, and the CCC look great as the bright flagship faction they were intended to be.

Hopefully I'll actually get to finishing off my Infinity FCC now, but I have another MERCS project in mind I'm really excited about  - so stay tuned!

Sync out.

Sync's [KemVar] Squad finished!

Well, the basing turned out pretty good! I wanted a kind of 'rocky jungle-clutter' kind of look, and I think it hit that right on the nose. I originally had a bit more foliage on there, but took some off when I thought it was 'too cluttered'.

My third MERCS squad finished! As I've mentioned before, I haven't bought the KemVar cards yet due to the known errata (which I believe will be rectified soon with the Sefadu release) so I'll be using my KemVar as FCC proxies while my actual FCC proxies are still being painted.

A shot from a higher angle to show the basing a little better.

Sync out.

Sync's [USCR] Squad finished!

I think they guys came out better than my CCC - painting the whites was a pain, but I'm happy with the results, so I think all those layers of white were worth it! I think they're a really well designed faction, both on the shelf and on the board, and the Behemoth model makes the perfect monstrous centerpiece for the faction. 

I've given them snow bases, as the USCR hail from Russia and Alaska, so it was fluffy and appropriate. I was asked how I did the bases, so I'll write up a short How-To and post it when I get the chance.

Here are Sync's USCR!

Sync out.

Sync's [CCC] Squad finished!

It's taken a while to get this squad of 5 done. I guess I've been pretty busy with work and I had also took an overseas holiday during the Easter period. I've also been distracted with making my battleground, wargaming tools, and generally settling into MERCS.

But I'm really happy with how my first MERCS squad turned out, and found that they were definitely a challenge in terms of painting. I'm used to painting Space Marines, which have relatively less detail when compared to the individual MERCS, so painting MERCS has forced me to up my game.

I've made some touch-ups since I posted the individual model shots, and hopefully these photos don't look as washed out and flat as the photos from my previous posts. The finished models are actually much brighter in hand, but my photography skills aren't able to capture that.
I've given these guys my standard dirt/grass basing, with some long dry grass for some basing flavor. I've decided to give each of my MERCS squads different basing, but I'll look into that later.
Next MERCS squad, my USCR!

Sync out.