Kitbashing Scrapjacks

As March rattles towards its conclusion and we see the turn of another season (and I see that bus pass edge ever closer), how am I doing with the Scrapjacks stuff I planned last post?

Well, everything is built and I'm on with the painting.  They were generally fun to do, so here's what I've got and how I did it.

Scrapjacks 

There are four types of  'jacks in the Quickstart.  Each has a different role, and, conveniently, they have different equipment, so should be recognisable on the board.  

While I'm not trying to match every bit of equipment, it does give me something to aim at and it should help with identification when playing the game.

The four 'jacks ready for painting; Patch, Torch, Rigger and Yard dog

Patch 

Patch is the medic who also deals with suit breaches; essentially it's their job to keep the rest of the crew functioning.  A big case full of first aid gear and something that looks like it might seal tears on EVA suits will emphasize the role.

I used Stargrave body and arms, with an Anvil Industries helmet. I chose the left arm with big case and found a neat device on another left arm that looks like a staple gun. It was easy to switch this on to a right arm/hand; presumably it seals suit breaches. I used one of the fabric looking packs on the back.

Torch

Torch 

Torch carries a wrecking bar and a coil pistol. Its their job to open things up to find that valuable salvage. The wrecking bar is the distinctive kit, so I modelled something to show it.  I was actually thinking of something along the lines of a Hooley Bar* (Halligan Bar in the US). I'm sure it would do the job nicely. 

The body is one of the Stargrave Mercenaries, with an Anvil Industries bubble helmet. The Halligan Bar is scratch built using plasticard built on the Stargrave arm holding a missile which was shaved down to leave the shaft for the bar and provided the spike.

They have a pistol in the right hand (I couldn't think what else to use). The pack is from the Warpath Firefight GCPS Infantry sprue.

Rigger

Rigger's fancy pack

Rigger is armed with a coil pistol and a vibro-knife, a fairly generic load, but their speciality is getting stuff to work, even if only temporarily; if Torch can't break it open, Rigger bypasses the electronics.  

So some sort of tech device, and definitely the data pad to show the role.

I chose an open helmet. I see it as a clear secondary visor inside the gold tinted one; Rigger needs the best vision possible when working.

The left arm with data pad is was a given. The device in the right hand is the top of the missile from one of the Stargrave sprues (definitely not a sonic screwdriver).

The fancy pack is the Rangers Com Pack from Mantic's GCPS Infantry sprue. 
.

Yard dog (sorry, no pic, I seem to have lot it) is the muscle, armed with a Riot gun and a shock baton.  There's lots of gun options on the Stargrave sprues, it's just a case of choosing a nice one.  

The shock baton is a mace taken from the Oathmark Human infantry sprue, and the pack is a cylindar and greebles from the Stargrave sets.

There are some options that closely match the illustrations in the Quickstart, but I chose something a bit like the Pulse Rifle in Aliens.

Maintenance 'bots 

"Remove all unauthorized organics"

These are the Mechanite Dreadball team, one of two teams that came as multi part kits allowing coaches to choose different accessories. I chose parts that hopefully make each bot look a bit different from it's fellows. I didn't really have a plan beyond that.

The team, like most of Mantic's Dreadball stuff, is made of 'Restic'. This is a resin/plastic, and gained quite a reputation.  It doesn't clean up as easily as either hard plastic or metals and it can need the hot water treatment to fit. 

In Mantic's defence, it allowed them to get a lot of stuff out at a reasonable price, in a short time, and once cleaned up and painted it looks fine.  I don't think they use it anymore, it's been replaced with resin or a PVC style plastic. 

The bits fit together pretty well, though the arm joints don't have a large contact point.  I foresee some drilling and pinning in the future. 

Raiders 

Six Marauders contemplating a career change to Raiders 

Raiders are the basic humanoid opposition in the Quickstart. I'd grand plans for kitbashing these using GCPS troopers or one of the human Dreadball teams, or even spare Star Saga minis.

But time was passing, and in the end I went for an easy option; Warpath Marauders. 

These date back to the original release of Warpath, shortly after Kings of War. They are variants of the plastic orc sprues, but with some Sci Fi bits replacing the traditional axes and shields.

They are not what I imagine the raiders to look like, and if I like the game well enough to buy the full version, I'll definitely replace them with something like the Stargrave Scavengers or the Death Fields Cannon Fodder. But I've a large box of the Marauders (I've already used some for skulks as they have a useful unshielded left arm), so they'll do.

What's Next?

That's the Scrapjacks built, I'm applying paint now. 

I suspect the main problem will be deciding on colour schemes, though I've a few vague ideas.

Scenery wise I've gathered more than enough bits for the POIs, and I've got a spare computer terminal from Star Saga for an objective. Even better, quite a bit of this is already painted, though I might do a bit of touch up as they are quite old paint jobs.

I've also made a 12 inch square board, which should be sufficient to try the game, though ideally I'll make a second one.

I do have other stuff to do too; some undead for the next Dark Shadows game, and I need to start planning for the next live D&D session.  Plenty to keep me busy!

*I first came across this neat bit of real world kit in "What Abigail Did That Summer", by Ben Aaronovitch.