Monday 11 January 2016

Giiirls just wanna have... work ? - Colony 87 Mechanic


Today's is a special model... what's so special about it ? Well this model hasn't been released yet ! You might remember the Colony87 range run by Jon/Axiom and the splendid miniatures released in the Colony87 Kickstarter last year ? Well, there's another wave due for Febuary and this model is part of it. I've been kindly given the opportunity to paint those in advance and I have to say it's both an honour and a pleasure to be able to get my brushes on those !



As for the last project, the model is based on sketches from Will Beck and sculpted by the very talented Michael Anderson. Once again, the kickstarter is based on generic  28mm sci-fi models to use in RPGs and wargames.
The character here is a female mechanic which is nice as we tend to get a lot of models for men of all sorts and women seem to be left to showing their shapes... 
Her hood protects her hair and sort of hides part of a feminity and her suit conceals her shapes too. She's here to do her job.
She actually reminds me of an iconic character of the Sci-fi genre :

I really hope I don't have to tell you who Ellen Ripley is...
Painting wise, I was lucky to paint a resin master of the model which means that despite the little preparation involved, the level of details is astounding. Given the nature of the character (well, as I'm picturing it) it would have made no sense to just paint her in flashy colours so I kept real basic colours to emphasize the "mechanic" look. Just to make sure she looked like in a futuristic seting, I painted the barrel she's holding like a battery with glowing parts. I imagine those are the sort of devices needed for space crafts and all.



The battery has been weathered but I tried to keep her suit clean enough for 2 reasons : First one is that you can often notice in mechanic workshops that the best mechanics have the cleanest suits (probably because they work with care) and I wanted her to look like a good mechanic (I'll probably feel like painting a fat, careless and greedy mechanic at some point). The second reason is I wanted to let the sculpt talk since those are masters for display. Maybe I'll be tempted to add some stains here and there before varnishing her but to be honest I rarely come back on models.


Here's a quick pic of her next to some of the guys she must be used to working with... poor guys, lost and with a broken engine, how are they gonna do ?

- MAYDAY MAYDAY ! We are down!, I repeat : we are down !
- Oh my god Oh my god ! Where are we ? We're going to die, I knew it !
- It's alright guys, I'm just going to change the power module and things the turbo generator and we'll be good to go...
So here we are, I have more models coming for this project so watch this space if you want to see the rest. After my Goodwin spree, I might very well go on a Anderson spree as I've found the models I was looking for to finish a group in which I'll have some models of the first wave of Colony87. I might even end up with the complete set done ! In the meantime expect some more Frostgrave and surely some unexpected (for me) odds...

32 comments:

  1. Spot on JB! You've done the figure justice here. I like the utilitarian understated look she has. Perfect!

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    1. I was a bit torn I have to say but I just didn't want non-sense on this one, it didn't look like her. ^^'
      I'm really looking forward to finishing the next ones !

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  2. Fantastic! Looking forward to more Colony 87 models, the last lot were amazing.

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    1. The new set is exploring other shores but the quality is still here with really inspiring characters !

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  3. Excellent mini and as usual great pose. I like how well she goes with your frantic pilots. :)

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    1. For some reason, it really made me laugh to see the contrast between them and her !

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  4. I did wonder if this was what you were working on from your comment on your last post. Great figure - useful for lots of things. And very nice work on her - oddly enough, the shirt colour is my favourite bit!

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    1. Damn, I'm THAT predictible then heh ?
      Kidding, I cannot wait to have proper scenery to have that girl around a broken rhino or space craft. As a RPG character, she'd also be great !

      Thanks !

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  5. Brilliant job JB - I literally couldn't be more excited about new C87 minis! Thanks for the sneek preview!

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    1. There's some heavily cool stuff ahead believe me ! I still have some work to do on 4 of them ;)

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  6. I like the facial expression, it says to me "calm down, I've done this before", it fits perfectly with your vignette with s star captain losing his mind. Great attention to detail, looking good

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    1. Cheers, that's axactly what I wanted her to convey ! I think it's important to have cool level-headed characters amongst the goofy ones to make a contrast. I'm not for all character beng silly or super grimdark, I like a bit of everything so Ican have many flavours in one story !
      Thanks man !

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  7. Great figure, it's going to fit very well with my upcoming Sci-Fi project.
    And you did a great job on her, I like the subtle colour scheme.

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    1. Coming members will be a little less subtle... MOAR COLOURS !
      Cheers mec !

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  8. Who the hell is Ellen Ripley?!! I thought that was Sigourney Weaver :p

    Nice paint job on the female space mechanic JB....even if you can't tell it's a woman :)

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    1. The PJ and photo might be alittle misleading but with the mode in hand you have littel doubt. I tried to enhance that by pushing contrasts on the shirt to but didn't want to go OTT and I glazed her lips in red for something warmer. It would have been stupid to have her wear make-up given how she's dressed I think...

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  9. Excellent, I do love what you did here. I also envy you!! I'm looking forward to that second release! Agggh!!
    (But now you need a Space ship... a Rhino is too small, you are looking for a huge barge, don't fool yourself... do not resist, it's your destiny...)
    :D

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    1. I actually have the 2 ready, I only need to prepare them for painting. I may paint them at the same time as I want them both to be weathered and rusty !

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  10. Excellent work. Somewhat foolishly I did not go for the last kickstarter, but I might have to this time around...

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    1. The first release models should be available throught the coming Kickstarter so it's only delayed fun ;)
      Thanks !

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  11. C'est vraiment sympa ce qu'ils nous font chez Colony 87! Belle peinture.
    Ciao Nico.

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    1. Jon/Axiom a vraiment su créer un super projet et s'entourer de gens talentueux(dessinateur, sculpteur et mouleur) et le résultat est fantastique je trouve, je m'éclate bien sur ces figs !

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  12. I really like that sculpt. Very much like the no-frills look to it.

    Really well painted too, your scheme fits perfectly.

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    1. Cheers, I love that it's getting out of the usual T&A path for once. So pleasant to paint too !

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  13. Hey i know who Ellen Ripley is! Wasn't she the girl dating the weird dude in that GhostBreakers-thing movie ? She was playing basketball like hell !

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  14. I love the fact that this model is clearly female, but not a pinup.

    Great paint job, JB - Well Done!

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    1. Precisely ! Like all the models of the range, it feels "right" and not over the top.
      Cheers Chris ;)

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  15. Great application of paints to get that faded pastel look. Love it!

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    1. She's not eye catching, that's for sure , but that's how I "felt" the model was, nothing in the sketch or model suggests she's winking at other guys in the hangar so I tried this approach.
      Cheers !

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