Wednesday 17 December 2014

Showcase: Viridian Skimmers

Introduction

Some of you may remember previous posts on my VOID Viridian models:
If you have seen these before then you'll know of my fondness for this army.  If not, then be aware that I display something from this force about once a year, as the fancy takes me!

Who are the Viridians?  As written in the original VOID fluff, they are technologically-capable fervent ecologists.  They usually choose not to use equipment which would harm the environment in any way.  Most of their military uses updated versions of 20th century weapons, with specially-bred dinosaurs acting as transport (!).  However, that doesn't mean they cannot build fighting vehicles as well, when necessary.  The fast attack skimmers are an example of that...

Viridian Skimmers

Here's one of the Viridian skimmers.  If you have particularly sharp eyes and a good memory, you might have spotted one just like this on my workbench in July 2012.  I've actually got 5 of these models (of 3 different subclasses) and I built them all many years ago.  After that, one was left out on my workbench as a reminder that I needed to paint them.  That lonely model stayed there for at least 2 years (possibly a lot more), until last month - November 2014.

In an attempt to reclaim some of my work space, I finally got round to painting the first skimmer a few weeks ago, though I had to give it a good dusting first.  Since then, I've painted a second as well.  Indeed, the bare model in the pictures above and below is the 3rd skimmer that I have brought out of storage!

I've done a head swap on this pilot; he's got a helmet from one of the EM-4 plastic troopers
I've made some slight adjustments to these models.  The most obvious one is the "roll cage" that I've made from brass wire and plasticard.  I felt that the pilot just looked too exposed on the original models and needed some form of enclosure.  Indeed, if I could have found a source of clear spheres about the size of ping pong balls then I would have used those as canopies, a bit like those on early US helicopters such as the Bell H-13 Sioux.

Since I didn't find anything to use as clear canopies, I went with my second choice and created the "dune buggy" effect.  I built a jig from scrap pieces of plasticard and used this to ensure that each piece of brass wire was cut and bent in exactly the same way.

...And Painted

Support skimmer on the left, regular skimmer on the right
 I've painted the 2 completed skimmers in my standard Viridian camouflage, with a dark green background, superimposed with elongated triangles of dusty, pale green, edged with black.


The basing on the skimmers is something with which I'm not totally happy.  It's meant to look like dust clouds being kicked up, but I think it just isn't right.  If I could think of a better way to achieve such an effect, I might rework the bases.


I think I went a bit heavy on the dark wash for the support skimmer (on the left).  It doesn't seem too bad under the bright camera flash, but the vehicle looks very dark when viewed in real life.  There's not much I can do about this, short of repainting it from scratch (and I'm not considering that!), so I'll just have to live with it.

Conclusion

2 down, 3 to go!  These aren't actually too difficult to paint, once I get round to it - I can hardly believe that I put off painting the first one for years!  Making the extra bars for the cockpit is probably the most time-consuming part of the job.

Finally, a word on realism.  Hovercraft don't have much purchase on the ground (well, that's the whole point, really) and therefore need to rely on aerofoils or directed propulsion systems to change speed or direction.  These skimmers seem as if they're capable of travelling very fast, but I wouldn't like to try turning or slowing down!  They also look very tail-heavy, especially the 2-man command variant that I haven't shown here.

But hey, they're science fiction models, yes?  So everything is all right!


18 comments:

  1. Absolutely fantastic looking stuff C6. Love the paintjobs. Excellent camo :-) I have a few of their dino-riders somewhere I think but nothing like your skimmers. Cracking post.

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    1. Thanks. These are a little awkward to paint, but only because of the myriad of nooks and crannies on the models.

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  2. I love your Viridians, they're so weird and wonderful; it's great to see you maintianing their colour schemes for these. The rollcages really do set the models off (and you could have inserted some clear perspex windcreens for them) but as for the "dust" perhaps brown/earthy coloured cotton wool or kapok, like most folk use for smoke may have given the effect you were looking for?

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    1. Thanks, Joe. I did consider fitting clear windshields into the cages, but it's difficult to find transparent plastic that doesn't look phoney on a model this size.

      Actually, that *is* brown-coloured kapok on my models. Something about the way I've installed it just is't right, though.

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  3. They look wonderful! Fabulous work.

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    1. Thanks, Michael. I'm quite pleased with these (though I cannot imagine how I'll use them in any game).

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  4. Top job C6! Those roll cages are really cool, dude!

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    1. Thanks, Bob. I felt that they needed something else, otherwise the pilots just looked too exposed.

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  5. The addition of the roll cages was an inspired choice, Hugh. Cool models!

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    1. Thanks, Bryan. The roll cages are a bit of a pain to build, but they're well worth it, I think.

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  6. I love these skimmers! Love the camouflage too.

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    1. Thanks, Robert. The camouflage is fairly straightforward to reproduce, though the pale green paint I'm using is very weak and needs 2 or 3 coats to cover properly.

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  7. The roll cage is a vast improvement to the model. Nice work mate.

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    1. Thanks, Clint. I felt that the models needed *something* and the cages were within my technical grasp. I'd still have liked to do these with transparent, spherical canopies though :-) ...

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  8. They look ace. I have to admit they had some pretty cool vehicles in that range. I was quite fond of the bikes both standard and jet.

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    1. Thanks, Simon - glad you like them. I've got a whole squadron of Syntha jetbikes as well - perhaps I'll dig them out and show them some time soon...

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  9. Fantastic! I've got to get some of those models, they would fit perfectly into our background. Great work on the camouflage.

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    1. They're old models, but still available from Scotia Grendel: http://www.scotiagrendel.com/Products/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=59_63&sort=20a&page=6

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