Thursday 25 April 2013

My First Order from Mad Mecha Guy

By Chris

I would like to share the best-kept secret in 15mm terrain - Mad Mecha Guy. Here is what $55 worth of terrain looks like on a 2' x 2' table:


Not a bad way to fill a table! Everything is thoughtfully designed (he simply refuses to waste material when cutting his sheets!) and features nice detailing. The cuts are nice and clean - most pieces just needed a few seconds with a sanding sponge before they were ready to glue. My initial order from him was for these five packs:

Here's a quick look at each pack...



Hardened Mini Mecha Shelter

These come in a two pack - the shelters themselves are four walls, a three-part roof, four four-part buttresses, a two-piece hangar door, and two human-size doors. They are completely hollow on the inside. The door is large enough to accommodate all but the largest 15mm mecha. A pair of Rebel Minis HAMR suits are exiting one of the hangars in the above picture, while the below picture featuers a Ground Zero Games Charger.


The Charger certainly is a great fit for that door. It's almost like the two items were designed by the same person... I'm going to paint one using just the parts it came with, while I'll find some plasticard and resin bits to "upgrade" the second. I thought about including some catwalks and access ramps on the interior of the second, similar to the Bandai Macross Armored Factory.

Containers


The containers are an excellent value, and have many potential uses. You could fill a table with nothing but these containers - everyone remember the final scene from the A-Team film? Out of the box, they look great in a starport or other major shipping hub. They could also sit in alleys behind commercial buildings for long-term storage. But I'm wondering what they will look like with some extra bits added on... There are plenty of pictures online of buildings made from converted storage containers. A pewter door here, a couple windows there, some kind of A/C unit on top, and you have instant shelters or field offices. I also like the way they are offered - you can get packs of a single size or choose from variety packs.  

One-Storey Shops


Mad Mecha Guy actually made this green roof variant after my suggestion on TMP, and I'm eager to get these finished. The pack includes enough floors and roofs for six buildings, and there are some extra walls in the pack. You could build dozens of these without repeating the same design twice. They have a good variety of single entrances, double entrances, low windows, high windows, and everything else you need. Originally I wanted to make these into single houses... but realized that very few skirmishes happen in the suburbs. So I'm more interested in making these into commercial buildings. The window punch-outs will actually be useful in making exterior signs for the businesses. 

Two-Storey Shops


These larger structures are ideal for the larger "commercial" buildings needed in a settlement or futuristic city. Banks, medical clinics, even police or fire stations could be made from these buildings. Like the single-storey buildings, these can be built in numerous wall combinations, with some leftover bits. The large roof has some simple lines etched into it - I'm going to try painting them as solar collection panels. 

Garages


A very impressive little pack! I haven't decided exactly how to use them yet. I could paint them individually to match the shops/houses from the other packs - these would simply be detached storage buildings. But it's also tempting to paint them in matching colors. I could see a few skirmishes being fought in one of those rental storage facilities... Storage Wars taken to the next level! There are two different roof/floor options - one has the solar panel/textured gridwork, and another just has a single rectangle inside the roof outline. The two-car garages also include options for both single- and double-width doors.

While building them, the first thing I wondered was how well they would work with some of the light vehicles in my collection. Turns out - they are perfectly scaled for everything I own! From left to right: a Khurasan Rockjumper, Ravenstar Studios Grav Jeep (my personal favorite for "standard" civilian vehicles), an Antenociti's Workshop Zebu patrol car, a Ground Zero Games light civilian hovertruck, Old Crow Gecko, Goanna, and Hammer's Slammers Jeep, and a Ground Zero Games Mini Mule.

What's Next?

Well, obviously, some paint, and a few experiments with translucent plastic for the window openings. I'll share the results as I get them finished. For my next order, I definitely want more commercial buildings - both the multi-story shops and some of the condos. There is just enough here to start building a real city - the kind of urban battlefield I've wanted since switching to 15mm science fiction gaming. 

22 comments:

  1. Okay, that does it for me- particularly the commercial buildings for a cityscape! Thanks for an informative and clear review Chris!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ditto Gunny's comment.

      Delete
    2. It finally dawned on me that the commercial buildings were exactly what was missing from my collection. I have plenty of military buildings... plenty of industrial/refinery type buildings... an assortment of rusted-out shacks... but nothing in between.

      While I was assembling the MDF pieces, I started seeing things like "station house for my Laserburn Law Officers," "urgent-care medical clinic," "guns and ammunition store," and "sushi and Slurm bar."

      Then it all made sense... this is the basis for a proper sci-fi city. It's the exact terrain I've wanted for scenarios involving law enforcement, gangs, organized criminals, and the like.

      Delete
    3. Yes, and at a price you can afford! I'm going to sit down later and decide which 'packs' I'm going to order. Your review has made it much clearer for me. Like you, I am short of commercial buildings for the city, though I have some nice ones from Critical Mass, but they are more 'military'. I'd be interested to know what you painted yours with- brush or airbrush? Thanks Chris.

      Delete
    4. The few containers that are already finished were sprayed with black primer and painted with normal figure paints. Then I used a fine black marker to touch up the recesses. Nothing fancy at all.

      Delete
    5. Thanks Chris- they look fine!

      Delete
  2. Great showcase... I had no idea how cool they were.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Those are absolutely amazing. I had no idea that they made 15mm Lasercut terrain! I'm going to have no money next month...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Incredible. I've been putting off an order for a while, but this pushes me over the edge. A little bit of GZG metal detailing and you have an instant city. And the price is literally unbeatable.

    ReplyDelete
  5. That's an impressive amount and good looking kit too.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Wow, wow these look amazing. I must get some of those for my cityscape. Wonder if the scale will be right for the upcoming robotech tactics game.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought Robotech Tactics was going to be 6mm? Everything he makes so far is 15mm... though the vehicle and mecha shelters might suit the smaller scale well enough.

      Part of me still hopes that they upscale to 15mm for MOSPEADA/Invid Invasion, but I'm not holding my breath. :)

      Delete
  7. There's definitely a niche for affordable, durable scenery pieces. You _could_ fill a table with printed paper buildings, but they just won't last. These look nice and sturdy.

    Also, my hippie side highly approves of the green roof option: sustainability is never a bad idea, even on the tabletop ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've found that paper terrain is an "all or nothing" proposition. Mixing paper and "hard" terrain never looks right to me.

      And green roofs are very underutilized in science fiction cities. I can understand those first few "off-the-transport" settlements not having them... but why would any permanent offworld structure not utilize a green roof, rooftop solar collectors, or some other form of sustainability?

      Delete
    2. ... because until very recently green roofs were a somewhat esoteric building technique probably restricted to hippies and a very few forward-thinking organizations/companies. Also, a lot of techy-oriented sci-fi buffs don't always think past the flashy mechanical technologies of The Future to incorporate more mundane things people will have to use to survive. But these things really flesh out a fictional environment.

      Delete
    3. Honestly, I see those first, off-the transport habs having them more than those in established colonies.

      The first settlers would either be equipped with habs that had them, utilizing the same fluid and waste recycling systems for their plumbing to work these rooftop greeneries, or they would likely adapt them quickly as a way to make use of their existing plumbing and protect the from ground-scroungers.

      Delete
  8. Those hardened mecha shelters would make good airship hangars for, oh, say, 6mm VSF. Hmmm...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Those are very tempting. I'm inclined to agree that 15mm is the way to go for games set in a sci-fi city. You could portray an area of several blocks-- not just a cluster of a few buildings, which is what most of us end up with in 28mm.

    ReplyDelete
  10. It has to be said that you do get a big bang for your buck's...

    ReplyDelete
  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I've made 2 orders from Mad Mecha Guy already, I've been very impressed both times by the astounding speed of service and how much you get for your money.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Excellent Review. I just bought the 3 story residential buildings and a crates pack. If anyone fancies taking a look at the residential stuff i have a video review here: http://youtu.be/Tm1sWoEzlSw

    ReplyDelete