Start of a Hoffman Crew

[Rob_Jedi]

Funny idea of Peace - Malifaux Guild Peace Keeper

Not sure what got me started on doing up my Hoffman crew, it might have just been wanting to see if I could put cool flared smokestacks on the Peace Keeper like I made for my Robogear Spider or just wanting to rush through a crew simpler to paint than McMourning's.

In any case yes I totally can fit on two badass smoke stacks on the Peace Keeper in place of the stubby ones it comes with.

I made the smoke stacks from Evergreen plastic tubes. I measured some marks on the top and snipped with side cutters to get the crown top then filed to clean it up before heating it a bit and mushing it with pliers to flare it out before more sanding to clean it up again. Then a strip of plastic sheet was wrapped around it under the crown and rivets added with plastic rod. Making it all from styrene made life easier to glue it all together with plastic cement. So much less hassle than super gluing on rivets on a metal figure. Which is why I glued down a strip of plastic sheet along the center of his carapace and added more rivets to that. After assembling the stacks I super glued them in place and added a spacer between them to make them a bit more solid.

The next big conversion on this guy is that the stock legs are just tiny and in an extreme lunging crouch. I guess it gives it a low center of gravity but it seemed to me to have one too few joints for a working set of legs. So I decided to copy the top segment from an AT-ST leg and made some from lasercut MDF leftovers from a building kit (think these were the bits inside the window frames). I rounded the ends, drilled holes to take pins from the hip and the legs and added heaps of bits of plastic card to detail them up.

Plus I added some hex bolts from a Kotobukiya options sprue. These can be bought from online or if you're lucky your local hobby store around the Gundam kits.

Also digging through the off cuts bag I found some broken wagon wheels so thought I'd put one to good use on the base to let him stand on something and have a touch more height. The cactus is from Pegasus Hobbies.

Next on the converting list was getting the spear gun into a more sensible position than sticking out wide horizontally from the body in front of the close combat claw arm behind it. So I put the support arm vertically on the back socket and did some pinning to get the gun into position. Maybe it needs some extra hydraulics to make it look like can tilt a bit more I think it's much better where I put it.

The other arms I posed in forward and back to counter the stride of the legs so it looks like there is some more movement to the mech. I had to cut back the wrist sockets so I could get the hands to co-operate with the new arm positions.

Now for a little turn on the catwalk:

Bit like a big robot genestealer isn't it?

From the front on shots you can really see how much difference my leg mods made to the height and stance of the robot, he'd be dragging with claws along the ground otherwise.

I'm working on cleaning up the rest of the crew now, will put them in the next post then on to paint.

[Evilbleachman]

Holy ship! Cool proxy and damn good conversion. Can't wait to see it painted up!

[Rob_Jedi]

Ah Isembard Kickass Brunel he's just standing around showing scale and lending a spanner. I have the real Hoffman on the table getting cleaned up with the rest of his starter crew.

[underdog6750]

That is one awsome peacekeeper

[ttsgosadow]

Looking great! Can;t wait to see the rest of the crew, and see them painted ofcourse

[Linus Mcmold]

I don't get it why The Peacekeeper doesn't get much love.

It's a nice mini and your conversion just made it steampunkier.

Looking forward to see it painted...

[Rob_Jedi]

[h=3]He's a Rocket Man... Hoffman's Crew Malifaux[/h]

After converting the PeaceKeeper I mostly intended to do up the rest of Hoffman's crew as pretty stock. They seem to be cast in the most bendy metal I've had to work with over the years so I was having a hard enough time cleaning off mold lines while limbs were bending all over the place to really worry about doing interesting stuff. I did however get an idea of doing something interesting with the flying Watcher.

The Guardian got his legs pinned on and down onto a simple bit of decking base made from coffee stirrers. I've also drilled out the chest power gem he had to later put in one of those shiny gems I got for the spider a few posts back.

The Hunter was a bit of a pain to assemble, it's open stride does not fit on it's base and I had to do a lot of leg bending to get it to just fit, even then that space is stretched out a bit by adding the wagon wheel at the front for it to perch on. I can't count the number of times it's harpoon has been straightened too. Really wonder if I should have replaced that with a bit of wire and sculpted a new tip. Like the Guardian I've also drilled out the power gem on it's back.

Not really part of Hoffman's crew but it got assembled along with them is the Large Steampunk Arachnid. Did a bit of converting adding some panels and pipes and a valve handle on it's but instead of the weird stinger.

Hoffman and his helper robot have the most incredibly fragile arms on their back. After taking these photos I ended up gluing bits of wire onto the sides of them to stop them bending and twisting constantly. I'll update the pics later showing what I mean. Something I'm unsure of with Hoffman is whether he is supposed to be suspended in the air a bit by his robot harness. It's confusing because the miniature tab is under his feet and they are sculpted flat but the harness attached properly lifts him several mm off the base. In the end I added a bit of decking under his feet and bent the toes of the robot feet down to touch the rim of the plastic base. It's a bit odd like this but it'll hold securely when I glue it down.

Now the reason for that Rocket Man title. The Watcher is an odd fragile looking thing that most people base stuck to the side of some bit of terrain on it's base, be it a tall rock or a lampost or archway or something. Instead I wanted to try and make a rocket blast coming out of it's jet pack on it's back. I got inspired by the rocket blast special effect addons that Shawn Lux sculpted for Armorcast. I didn't have any on hand so decided to make my own.

the start of the base is just a bit of bent wire glued into the tab of the base that goes into holes drilled into the bottom of the jet pack.

a bit more inspiration to give you an idea of what I'm doing. The figure is from Dark Void (a kinda OK game with a very Rocketeer vs Aliens thing going on)

I got this far on the 1st night of sculpting

and the 2nd night I cut back a bit of my flames to shape them better then added a pile more green stuff billowing smoke plus bits of flame poking out all over the place at the edges plus gave a bit more shape at the top of the flames.

Pretty happy with the result. Hopefully it paints up well.

Now I just need to base up the Mechanical Attendant and maybe buy a Mobile Toolkit or a Warden.

[Final_Crucible]

Wow, I love how you've been showing the step by step, and that sculpting looks amazing!! I can't wait to see the direction you go as you paint and the final outcome

[ttsgosadow]

I love the bases! The broken wheels are cool, I want those for my bases

[Rob_Jedi]

Thanks for all the kind comments. I'll get started on painting them this weekend. I primed the bases last night and need to crack out the airbrush and compressor to experiment a bit with the robots. Not something I use often so hopefully things turn out.

ttsgosadow the wheels are from Aetherworks kits, I'll try and talk them into selling just wheels cause they are useful.

[HaggisMcMutton]

love the customization you did.

[kmdl1066]

Thanks for the step-by-step on the jet pack smoke. Very instructive.

[Rob_Jedi]

http://robjedi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/they-said-airbrushing-was-easy-hoffmans.html

After the fun packed day of Free Comic Book Day and a concert of Axis of Awesome with my friends I got stuck into painting the crew. Following on from the bizarre order I've done a lot of my western minis I started by painting the bases. Guess I was putting off setting up the airbrush as well.

here they've all had a base coat of earth brown on the ground and khaki on the cacti

here they are again after a bunch of drybrushing and some washes to define areas like the rocks and the cacti for more colour and a bunch of darkening and weathering on the wood painting on streaks of grey and washes of dark brown. They still need flock though which drove me nuts cause I couldn't find where the damn stuff was hiding

I did find the grass clumps though which was enough to finish off Bette Noir's base so I could stick her down and call her finished. (That's one down for my McMourning Crew)

Everything was given a base coat of Tamiya flat black. I think I should have used the single action airbrush for this, using my fine tip double action took ages to do. Also I really should have given them a coat of MrSurfacer or some other primer 1st, I think this stuff may rub off down the track. Hopefully a finish lacquer will hold everything down at the end.

Next step I had hoped to spray the highlight areas with copper leaving dark recesses. That didn't work out. The metallic paint behaved very differently and was quite spitty. So I had to basecoat everything in copper instead.

quite a bit of temp basing and clamps were used to hold on to the models while spraying.

The next day in a marathon session I thinned down flat black and airbrushed in shading all over the models. Now this is very new to me so I may have gotten carried away but I was spraying rivets and crevices and panel lines and adding shadows underneath. It gives a very different look to just using washes for shading.

The helper robot is the closest to finished. I've added a bit more copper on the round surfaces and a touch of brass for highlights. Then I used boltgun metal to add some contrast with some steel areas. I've also added one of the green gems for his eye to see how they'll look. Very very bright in real life.

The rocket blast was really relying on the airbrush for the right look. I started with a coat of yellow all over by brush over the white primer.

Then I airbrushed on some Citadel orange ink around the bottom of the flames and over the base. Then I painted some raised areas with a touch of yellow with a brush.

Along with the shading on the models I went in with the black and airbrushed black onto the smoke clouds around the flame column. Each blob was carefully sprayed leaving orange in the gaps.

The Watcher still has a ways to go but it already looks striking perched on the rocket blast.

Lastly I started painting Hoffman himself.

[worked out what wasn't working before so have tried again to copy and paste in my post]

Edited May 10, 2013 by Rob_Jedi

[underdog6750]

That is an amazing looking crew. Wish i had the skills to airbtush like that. Really original and captivating crew

[Rob_Jedi]

This is pretty much the 2nd time I've even tried airbrushing minis. I'm hardly experienced at it, and kinda worried the Tamiya paints are going to rub off...

I can only say give it a try.

[underdog6750]

Yea id love too. Its more the expense getting the brush and compressor detering me than anyone else. Can you recommend any good retailers or online stores to get one in the uk?

[Rob_Jedi]

Not sure about the UK but I can show you the compressor I bought for around $100 on ebay, I've seen bundles which include a double action airbrush and hose as well.

[Vinncent]

Awesome looking crew.

Congrats!

It's amazing what people can do and what interesting ideas they have *shock*

[Rob_Jedi]

Bit more progress on the crew, painting till the wee hours of the night with the last Star Trek movie playing in the background getting me eager to see the new movie.

I've pretty closely followed the official paint scheme for Hoffman himself cause it does actually go well with my metallic colour scheme I'm painting the robots. I've also added some grass tufts to all the bases. So the Mechanical Attendant is now finished and glued down to his base.

As you can see the experiment in the sparkly gems on the minis has worked quite nicely, they're hugely reflective and just shine under pretty much any light. I've put a bunch on the Robogear spider to give the look of a Jumping Spider's face.

These are the source from a local dollar store if you missed the Robogear Spider post.

Lastly I bought the last two robots for Hoffman's crew a Mobile Toolkit and a Warden. The toolkit was damn fiddly to clean up and glue those fragile arms. I've drilled out the eye and chest power gem things to later put my gems. The last spindly guy is Jeeves, the clockwork robot from Reaper. I've lopped off his tiny head to later put a big gem there instead. I have no idea what to use him for but may as well paint him with the rest of the steampunk robots. Oh I have to recommend the primer I used on these guys Mr Surfacer 500, it sinks like hell (leave it to dry overnight outside) but it's coverage in a single spray is very good and it really dries close to the surface without obscuring detail like a lot of sprays do.

[if you want to the pics a bit bigger view the update on my blog]

http://robjedi.blogspot.com/2013/05/hoffman-c-hoffman-at-your-service.html

---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:15 PM ----------

Something I've got ticking in the back of my mind to do after finishing the crew is to do up a building with Hoffman's workshop. Like Emmett Brown's barn in Back to the Future 3. Anyone have good idea's what the sign on the building should say?

Edited May 10, 2013 by Rob_Jedi

[LonelyPath]

Very nice work all round and I do like your Bette Noir. I hope you have more luck with your Guardian than I have with mine, despite pinning it's legs have snapped at least once each time I have taken it out for gaming, I think there is now more pin in the legs than there is left of the original metal

[Rob_Jedi]

Where has he broken? I'm guessing just bellow the hips, that part seemed way too thin and fragile. I've put a bit of glue on there a few times hoping they'd stop twisting.

[Viruk]

Great stuff, I really like the coherent look on the crew, the paintjob is excellent and the bases are great too. Looking at these makes me want to paint more Guild constructs

[Rob_Jedi]

[h=3]C.Hoffman finished and some basing WIPs[/h]

I finished up Hoffman's exo frame on the weekend and attached it to his back and base. I made it a bit brighter than the mostly copper of the other robots so far. I may yet highlight them a touch more.

What do you think of having little gems on the ports on his carapace? I'm a bit undecided at the moment so they aren't glued in yet.

Worked up some basing for these 3 using the same materials as the rest. A few placed rocks, a couple bits of coffee stirrer split in two and some plastic cacti from Pegasus. I'll do a separate post with the stages of painting them up and the colours I used.

[as always you can see bigger pics quicker on my blog http://robjedi.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/choffman-finished-and-some-basing-wips.html]

[LordDarcy]

I like your conversions, which seem to make the miniature much more special. The changes don't appear to be made just for the sake of making changes. They make the miniatures look unified some how. I liked your WIP photo's clearly demonstrating how it was done. Great work.

[Rob_Jedi]

[h=3]Painting Wild West Bases[/h]

I got a lot of comments about the bases as I've been painting my Hoffman crew so I thought I'd write up something about what colours I use as I do up the next couple bases.

The starting point is a few bits of broken coffee stirres, some rocks, a couple plastic cacti from Pegasus Hobbies and a heap of sand.

This was given a spray of undercoat, in this case Army Painter undead flesh but white would do.

All the ground was basecoated with a nice earthy brown and the cacti with khaki. I actually used a sample pot of house paint for the brown since I had used it for my big base board for my Western town.

Drybrushing: a sandy yellow over everything including the cacti.

Next a very light drybrush of off white on the larger rocks.

Next washes: a bit of Army Painter Soft Tone painted around the rocks and cacti to give a bit of depth. Also a bit here and there on the cacti.

Next some Thraka Green wash over the plants.

Now some Strong Tone washes over the wood planks and a bit more defining around the rocks..

Using a warm light grey I picked out the planks a bit for that weathered look.

Now using grass tufts I give the bases some foliage. It's a good idea to have the minis on the base when you do this so you don't get the grass obscuring the figure.

All done.

Finally paint the edge whatever colour you like, I've gone classic black. Now I just need to get the minis finished.

[As always you can see bigger pics on my blog http://robjedi.blogspot.com/2013/05/painting-wild-west-bases.html ]