Home Forums Sci Fi 6mm Sci-Fi Unidentified Armored Force (3mm Scale "Team Kukri")

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  • #64015
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    I like to be an early adopter of all things 3mm Sci Fi, and so I swiped a pack of the new “Team Kukri” just released on Shapeways by javelin98 at the National Cheese Emporium.  Let me tell you, it’s his best yet, and easily matches Oddzial Osmy for level of detail.  And I say that as a committed, longtime O8 fan (and a once, future, and continuous customer of Picoarmor).

    https://www.shapeways.com/product/3GTUWAGCR/3mm-quot-team-kukri-quot-tracked-armor-task-force-48pcs?optionId=62848107

    For anyone familiar with Battletech, these forces look a lot like the old Rommel tanks, and have a lot of very nice variations, including artillery, antitank, anti-aircraft and engineering.  I put them in SimpleGreen overnight, and they came out clean and dry, a testament to the fact that Shapeways has been improving their parts cleaning – previous models I’ve gotten required a lot of detailing with dental tools to get the support wax off of them, but these seem much better right out of the box (although they still ship with that clearing oil on them).

    Unfortunately, the unit arrived with some ready-made battle damage from transit – the artillery took some tumbling in the mail and two guns and an AAA vehicle needed some repairs.  Fortunately, Frosted Ultra Detail receives liquid cyanoacrylate very well.

    Here’s the force drying in the sun after a clean and a rinse.

    Since they’re made of Frosted Ultra Detail material, they don’t photograph very well – I hope to prime them today while the weather is nice and moderate, which will bring out their detail much better.  You can see the damaged units there, but after repairs they’re indistinguishable.  Fortunately the broken parts were in the pouch the models shipped in so it was just a little glue and steady-hand maneuvering to get them back together.  Although FUD material is still fairly strong, when it breaks it tends to break very sharply and so it takes repairs pretty well.

    As usual the unit pack is a great value and gives a wide variety of units, just right for a good sized force for Dirtside II, Strike Legion Tactical, or, which is my preference, Planetary Operations.

    At the moment I have no idea what this force will be.  Some ideas include pairing them with a unit of DP9 Fleet Scale mecha to make a JGSDF force for the Pacific Theater of the First Upheaval.  Alternately, they could be forces of the Russian Confederation, although I don’t want to give them such advanced hardware as it doesn’t suit their idiom.  They may end up being an early-war version of the St. Vincent or St. Michael Brigade, or perhaps an American mercenary company like Advance Global Management.  Either way, superb models.  With any luck, we’ll see them in metal one day.  Any suggestions?

    #64047
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Some better photos: before priming:

    And after priming:

    Two things I’m noting about these.  First, they’re far, far cleaner than previous Shapeways models I’ve gotten.  They primed up very well and were free of oil and debris with only a standard 12 hours in the degreaser.  Previously, I’ve had primer fail to adhere well to 3D printing resins, but there were zero problems on this batch.  I also managed to prime them before the weather changed so that probably helped.

    Second, the level of detail is the best yet from National Cheese Emporium, an easy match for O8.  Also, quick tip – a spray can generates enough force to blow these guys all over the place when you prime them, but double-sided adhesive tape holds them very nicely without damaging the models.  I’m being careful of leaving them on the strip TOO long, but I was concerned about using white glue to hold them down, as it might damage the treads when I removed them.

    I’m leaning towards making this unit Vanderdecken’s Brigade (with apologies to Steve Jackson), a semi-legendary “lost brigade” of the USWE state of Benelux, which went missing in the chaotic fighting on the Donbas-Bryansk Front early in the First Upheaval.  I might give the unit a modified “VoC” flag, even, as their unit label.  We’ll see.  For purposes of Planetary Operations games, this is a unit about the size of a well-supported mobile Division, with an Armored Brigade and a Mechanized Brigade (if one model equals one company).  I’m going to base my mechanized infantry with their carriers on a single base, and see how that feels.

    Either way, highly recommended.  I likely won’t get to painting for a while yet – this represents about 15 minutes of work around the edges here, but if I get a day off sometime soon I’ll paint them up.  Something green and grey feels somewhat military, but with some nice highlighting maybe.  Or perhaps I’ll go off the deep end with reds and browns instead.  Hmm.

    #64050
    Avatar photoMike
    Keymaster

    They do look nice.

    FUD is the lowest I would buy in though. Do they offer better than FUD?

    #64058
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    The pieces I bought are in FUD, but you can get them up to Frosted Extreme Detail.  I have never noticed a significant difference between the two, though.

    #64060
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    They do look nice I have to agree with you, thanks for sharing!

    #64068
    Avatar photoMicroworld Steve
    Participant

    I think you will be seeing a lot of javelin’s 3mm stuff in metal 🙂

    These are looking really nice.

    #64069
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Would you call that a promise, Steve?

    Hopefully, if I do, they’ll be in these great little unit packs – they’re ideal.  A whole force in one place!

    #64074
    Avatar photoMicroworld Steve
    Participant

    Yup, a promise.  Team falchion and team katana are on deck, hopefully have them ready by August.  Trying to decide the most cost effective way to mold them.

    #64079
    Avatar photojavelin98
    Participant

    Thanks for the shout-out, Mr. Average!  Based on your feedback, I went ahead and made the artillery barrels into separate parts and reinforced the barrel on the air defense vehicle.

    These vehicles were indeed inspired by the BattleTech Rommel/Patton tanks.  There was a request on TMP for that, which I fulfilled, and then, because it bugs me not to have a complete line-up available, I went ahead and worked up the IFVs and all the support variants.  Glad you like them!

    It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

    #64094
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    I think you two just became my personal heroes!

    Team Falchion and Team Katana are DEFINITELY on my list now!

    #64154
    Avatar photoEvil Dave
    Participant

    I was considering putting in an offer to get them in metal too, glad someone did it. I’ll be picking some up Steve.

    #64234
    Avatar photoWilliam Minsinger
    Participant

    Wow, those do look great.  I’ve been considering javelin98’s line for awhile now for mass-sci-fi-armored clash needs, this might push me over the edge.

     

    -Will

    #64259
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    Very neat, seriously tempts me to play more 3mm.

    Great to hear that the stuff will be available in metal later this year 🙂

    #64371
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    You know, my upcoming foray into the Italian Wars (after a fashion) is halfway making me want to do these guys up as Pontifical Swiss Guards. With three brigades (once I add mechs, that is) it’d be ideal: The St. Sebastian Brigade for the Mechs, the St. Martin Brigade for the mechanized infantry, and the St. Nicholas Brigade for the tanks. A purple and gold pattern breaker could make the details stand out.

    #64382
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    That does sound very interesting 🙂

    But where will you find a 3mm pope mobile for the supreme commander 😉

    #64383
    Avatar photojavelin98
    Participant

    Mmmm… mechs.

     

    I never made these available for sale, because they were just too expensive, but maybe now that Shapeways has dropped the price on FUD, maybe they will be more affordable.

    It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

    #64386
    Avatar photoThuseld
    Participant

    Those have a very Tiberian Sun look to them. They are gorgeous.

    #64388
    Avatar photojavelin98
    Participant

    Thank you!  They were inspired by one of the combat walkers from the sadly-departed Battlefield 2142.

    It could be that the purpose of your life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

    #64389
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Now THAT is superb.  They will DEFINITELY be the Clavian Lunar Hoplites.

    #64396
    Avatar photoThaddeus Blanchette
    Participant

    I have examples of some of Javelin’s older stuff painted up on my blog. I am very happy to hear that these figs will be coming out in metal! 🙂

    http://leadnobleed.blogspot.com.br/2014/11/3mm-wheeled-combat-team-by-national.html

    We get slapped around, but we have a good time!

    #64457
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    The quality of the NCE 3mm range is consistently going up, and the mix of units in those packs is just the best – it works perfectly for Commander System, Dirtside, Planetary Ops and Strike Legion in the same package.  These mechs are amazingly excellent, too.  Really can’t wait to sample them!

    #64459
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    Javelin, those mechs are simply awesome! If it is ever viable, I hope you release them 🙂

    #64480
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    So it’s definitely the Pontifical Swiss Guard.  I base-coated about half the force last night – and again, I’m very surprised at the uptick in quality with FUD, which used to kind of reject the first coat of paint.  No idea why.  But this time the paint went down perfectly well and really brought out the detail in the models.  They look a mess at the moment because they just have a layer of sloppy orange paint on them but you can already see the detail is sharp and well-defined.

    #64491
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    A nice and bold color, vibes very well with the swiss guard!

    Good to hear that the FUD seem to be taking to the primer better, that’s always one of those things I’m worried about with 3d printed models.

    This post had me thinking about 3mm again, you are not making it easy to stick to my current projects 😉

    #64613
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Prototyped the Swiss Guard tanks this evening.

    Unfortunately, under artificial light the purple doesn’t show quite as well as it really does in person.  Still, I’m happy with this.  I’m going to sleep on it before I consider extending the purple stripe over the turret, which I might do, to make it stand out a little more.  Have to consider it.  At the very least the color mix feels pretty effective.  Maybe a thin red stripe next to the purple.

    #64741
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    I think having the purple stripe extend over the turret edge would look good, sort of make the whole thing pop a bit more.

    #64762
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Yeah more purple would make the turret less of a mass, and a thin red band outboard of the large stripe would be a nice color accent. Especially given how wide the stripe will look on the APCs with their smaller turrets.

    The infantry, for contrast, will have purple battlesuits with yellow helmets I think.

    I can’t imagine the papacy on the offensive, though, so this basically means opening an Italian Front in the First Upheaval, with the PSGs defending Rome against… who? So many possibilities. A civil war? A ZPDR invasion? Maybe a humanitarian mission to the Middle East that goes cross-eyed unexpectedly.

    #64912
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    That sounds like it would look nice I think.

    I can’t imagine the papacy on the offensive, though, so this basically means opening an Italian Front in the First Upheaval, with the PSGs defending Rome against… who? So many possibilities. A civil war? A ZPDR invasion? Maybe a humanitarian mission to the Middle East that goes cross-eyed unexpectedly.

    I don’t know about that. Neo-crusaders, bringing the light of god to the heathens once more?

    But I agree it would be more likely to see them in a defensive war or peacekeeping mission. Defending Jerusalem against an invasion perhaps?

     

    #65038
    Avatar photoMr. Average
    Participant

    Definitely looks better with purple on the turret.

    #65062
    Avatar photoAlexander Wasberg
    Participant

    Yep, you called it sir, that looks very nice indeed!

    #65139
    Avatar photoWilliam Minsinger
    Participant

    In awe of your paint job on these.  Great scheme and execution.  Even the base looks amazing!

    -Will

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