In Space No-one Can Hear You........

.......buy GZG SG15-V14 Armed crew figures in heavy EVA suits. These miniatures are perfect for any number of scenarios inspired by Alien, Outland, 2001, UFO, or yesteryear Sci Fi classic. Whether set on a lunar surface, an abandoned spaceship or the deep vacuum of space.

SG15-V14 contains 6 BIG figures, with two each of 3 different poses for £2.50. The figures themselves are 16-17mm to eye level, approximately 10mm across the body and 19mm tall overall. They also carry huge life-support systems on their backs, looking not unlike that beer fridge you have in the garage!


Don't be put off by the size of these figures when compared to more conventionally sized Sci Fi miniatures. A quick Google will show them to be correct in size and bulk, and I think they look great for shambling down starship corridors or into those alien caverns. Rather than try to describe the detail on the figures, I'll let the photo above do the talking. They will repay a colourful paint job that makes the best of the sculpting and are perfect for a wash of GW (Citadel) Devlan Mudd or similar over a light base colour and then picking out the detail.

I chose to use these figs to give the Master Chef's 'wash' technique a go. In the photo below you will see the successive stages as each wash is applied over the BARE METAL. I'm delighted with the results. I painted the gold visor after the second wash, then added another careful thin blue wash over it during the third coat, before a final quick gold highlight.


I love the 'electric blue' metallic fabric effect of the wash. Whilst the original plan was to paint the boots, gloves, and equipment in white or yellow, and maybe even paint the helmet white, yellow, orange or red - for that utilitarian starship crew effect - I may well just leave them as is and pick out the weapons and other minor details.

I thoroughly recommend this technique if you need to paint a number of figures quickly for a game, especially miniatures like these with full faced helmet visors. It's not just speed painting but warp-speed painting! By the time you finish applying a coat of wash to the third miniature, you can return to the first to apply the next coat. 24 figs given 3 coats in an hour. To block paint visors, weapons and bases takes just one more hour. Though the paint job is still to be finished as you can see in the photo here, that gold visor really lifts the figure above the ordinary.

TIP: Don't be tempted to add black or brown ink for more depth to the shadows. It just looks muddy. I've tried.

TIP: Make sure you don't allow the wash to pool or create tidemarks on flat surfaces. Further coats of wash won't hide them!

There's even less excuse now for that pile of Sci Fi lead to get any larger. They probably won't win any prizes but it does get a platoon or more of 'painted' figures on the table with just one evening's work.

Cheers
Mark