Dystopian Wars - Russian Coalition: Commission

I've done a couple of the Russian Coalition models before but this time around it was great to get a whole desk full of them, which you can see in the photo to the right.

Here they are in their first prep phase - drying under the lamps after being cleaned with a bit of warm water with a small touch of washing up liquid. This gets rid of any greasy residue from the residue - mind Spartan Games models are pretty clean anyway, but it's not worth the risk to avoid this step.

Getting them dry is a little bit more effort, but I just use a combination of blowing off the water droplets, carefully patting the models with some absorbent kitchen paper and air drying them under daylight lamps.


I've spoken before about the quality of Dystopian Wars and these are no exception: great casts, a whole lot of detail and a lot of model for your money - and I envy anyone getting a huge force like this to the gaming table.




I've recently switched from the over-priced and unreliable GW Citadel Chaos Black to Army Painter Matt Black for undercoating and so far the results have been far superior - a smooth effortless coat with no second pass or touch up required. After this experience I have no intention to using GW sprays ever again. If you're thinking of switching check out this blog post comparing the two: GW Chaos Black vs AP Matt Black.





For this commission, my client wanted me to use the painting palette I had used previously and here's a quick rundown of what I used:

Foundry Paints:
Arctic Grey Palette  __________  __________  __________
Forest Green Palette  __________  __________  __________
Sky Blue Palette  __________  __________  __________

P3 Metallics:
Pig Iron  __________
Cold Steel  __________
Molten Bronze  __________
Gun Corp Brown  __________

Army Painter:
Strong Tone ink (ink wash)    __________


Forgot to mention, all the guns are magnetised too - I really do love magnetising stuff!

Now onto the photos - Enjoy :)

Dystopian Wars - Russian Colaition Kostroma Class Battle Carrier

Okay it has been a while, there is plenty going on in the studio I will endeavour to share more of it here!

I have a few individual Dystopian Wars models in the pipeline because I wanted to get a look at some of the larger pieces and have some fun with them. I was immediately excited and daunted upon opening the parcel containing the first of these. These 'massive' category vessels are... massive! For a sensible price point you get a serious chunk of finely cast resin. The Russian carrier, which I started with, was in fact a blister pack full of goodies with flyer tokens, Icebergs and cards.

Two massive carriers begging for paint. Big thanks to the Prussian Battleship and Forest Green Light for standing in as comparison.

With the inspiration of the Russians and the White army of the Dystopian Wars Universe my mind wandered to the icy waters of the Arctic. I am always a huge sucker for themes, whether through; colour schemes, conversions, or basing. Together with the idea I wanted to try for a sturdier magnetized base my course ahead was set.

I traced the outline of the vessel and created a two layered plasti-card base. Aside from a sturdy structural integrity this provided the depth for 2mm magnets to be slotted into the top layer, it also gave some possible depth to the waves to be sculpted around the hull. The ice bergs are roughly cut plasti-card mostly stacked up in two layers. I was careful to attach these with the inclusion of some green stuff to give them some movement in the waves.

Green stuff was built up in stages, simply adding height to previous spots or filling in and blending gaps. As I built these stages up I was mindful of the following; the waves rolling off the side of the hull, the large bow wave, and the choppy engine wake at the stern,

The base was finishing lastly with a thin self adhesive cork bottom, which is rather luxurious for gaming.

The primary colour is the Arctic Grey palette from foundry, I envisaged an off white hull with some grubbier colouration and weathering with dark decking and even darker industrial structures. I was initially going to paint the obvious Coalition bear logo on the carrier deck, but after goggling some Russian inspiration I settled  on the bear and eagle of Russian Standard Vodka (Itallics require a thick Russian accent), this seemed fitting for a coalition aircraft carrier and is a classy logo. Perhaps not a piece for the purists out there. The flyers I kept purposely clean and simple, because their form can easily be lost on the table. Enjoy!

PS: The next piece is to be a Britannia Eagle Class War Rotor. I am dying to apply the colour scheme I have in mind but I am awaiting delivery of some vital and awesome "Omni-Stand" flying bases from Corsec Engineering.

Dystopian Wars - Completed Naval Battle Group, Empire of the Blazing Sun

Next up the Japanese. I finally decided on the sun beam markings I wanted to use. It uses a more subdued red colour than perhaps usual (Madder Red from Wargames Foundry) but this complimented the hull and gives a sufficient flash of colour. The three beam motif was carried over to the air units as was the white of the ship prows to give the air force a scheme of their own while still unifying the whole force.

Unleash the pictures!

Dystopian Wars - Completed Naval Battle Group, Prussian

Here we have the first of two Dystopian fleets I have been working on. Hopefully these can find a good home.

Since my last update the Prussian fleet only needed it's tiny flyer completed, I have been painted the 10 tiny flyers with two different wing patterns to help distinguish them on the table. I was tempted to paint a single Red Baron fighter as befitting the Prussian's but have resisted, for the moment.

When black washing the sides of the bases I dabbed the wash randomly on the blue surface previously painted. The intentional water marking this has left behind simulates a birds eye view of a seascape. Simulate is perhaps a stretch but it certainly gives a subtle and appropriate texturing that may not have been paint-able. The wing markings are a red or black line painted down the center of a wider white line. The wider white line is not too difficult to paint with the drag of a #2 paint brush and carefully painting down the center of this with a finer brush gives you the three stripes.

Prussian Black Wing Squadron

Prussian Red Wing Squadron

Here are all the updated pictures of the rest of the Prussians that have been featured previously on the blog. The work done on them includes; decking, windows, brass pipes, subtle blue glow for the Tesla batteries, scorching on the weapons and barrels, freehand markings, and sculpted bow wakes. The free hand stripes may be hard work but are definitely worth it I think. I can only hope I am commissioned to paint other vessels from the Prussian Empire so as to see this colour scheme put to more work.

Dystopian Wars - Painting Update, Prussian Bombers and Empire of the Blazing Sun WIP

Just a quick update on the Dystopian wars progress, the Prussian fleet is now finished and the Empire of the Blazing sun are coming along. I still can't quite decide how to incorporate the blazing sun imagery or accent red, somewhere between just a small free hand flag or blazing sun beams across the entire hull.

Full pictures of the fleets will be done when I have a decent lighting set up, for now some quite peeks of the fleets that should soon be available for purchase

Bases have been magnetized and I have staggered the heights to give the squadron a little more interest.

Nakatsu Class Cruisers. 3 Cruisers looking for 4th, for fun, friendship and maybe war!

Uwatsu Class Frigates.

Sokotsu Class Battleship - Another small conversion with the extended barrels of the fore turret (just for visual balance, because I'm a tart like that).

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Dystopian Wars - Prussian Geier Class Bomber Conversion WIP

Here is a quick scrappy look at the work in progress with the Prussian bombers from the box set. The propellers provided were very quickly discarded when I got these models. They can be rather wonky and delicate, I also wasn't keen on them aesthetically. They work well for many of the Dystopian models, but just not these. Perhaps if they had been iron cross propellers it would have been genius, but that's another idea. Meanwhile, to finish the models here and now I grabbed some 40k imperial guard flamer arms and created what might be described as an exhaust/vent/steam/jet engine piece (logic need not apply here, the model seems to remain airborne best not to argue how it actual does).

Drilling and pinning the pieces is a delicate procedure. (Note the angled section under the flamer piece pin, this matchs the angles on the bombers wing) \o/

The ever present smidgen of green stuff provides a robust and solid fit.

The air support 80% painted, shading and markings to come.

It is a more industrial look, and I like it. Will have to save flamers for any bombers added to my command.

Dystopian Wars Prussian Fleet

As I have been systematically completing and painting all models buried in my collection I have inevitably uncovered my Dystopian Wars fleets. Both a Prussian and an Empire of the Blazing Sun boxed set were purchased at the release of the game, however the game never caught the deserved attention. This was due mostly to the poorly formatted and ambiguous rule book I think. While the rules still continue to be ironed out and clarified (iteration 1.1 of the rule book still has numerous errata and omissions) the fantastic model range and additional nations has ceaselessly grown. Spartan games have fleshed out a fantastic alternative steampunk universe with hugely characterful and aesthetically varied factions. The rules hurdle for this relatively complex strategic game can perhaps be alleviated for anyone with the strong and dedicated forum community on the Spartan Games site. So as I am drawn back to this game system I set about finishing the models I currently own.

Starting with my favourite, the Prussian Empire.

I chose a colour scheme that echoed the pseudo WWII atmosphere of the game, in this case, dark gray/green. I kept most of the model very business like metal and brass and added the accent colours of the Prussian flag in a flash down the hull (this is angled in line with the funnels). I am more than happy with how the scheme worked out and hope to add other Prussian ships from the range given the change. As well as a possible commission painting service at this standard.

The bases are plasticard and have been coated with tinted water effect after painting (the white wave crests or my sculpted bow wakes were painted last).

The fleet as a whole, the spare frigate is on point.

The magnetized turrets of the Battleship are converted with Plasticard tubing.

Though a little OTT the larger barrels are suitably imposing.

Reiver Class Cruisers

The air support from the box set are also near completion with a small conversion to the bombers that I should be posting soon.