"15mm Chuhuac "Space Raptors"" Topic

Hello all,

I am pleased to announce the formation of Loud Ninja Games ( loudninjagames.blogspot.com ), a small miniatures company committed to the creation of interesting and unique miniatures for wargaming and role-playing games.

Just to be clear, many of you already know me from my time on TMP as emu2020 or, my real name, Eli. This is my chance to give back to the hobby that has given me so much.

Anyhow, on to the fun…

CHUHUAC (CHOO-hwok)

The Chuhuac are a species of aliens that bear a striking resemblance to Earthly dinosaurs, more specifically the Dromaeosauridae family that includes such famous dinosaurs as Velociraptor and Deinonychus. An advanced species these aliens fight with lightning fast tactics promoting speed, hit and run, and maneuver over pitched battles.

Pictured above is the Chuhuac style sheet illustrated by the talented Chris Miller aka Biscuit of the Minions of the Monster Master podcast. It depicts the basic body design, as well as the head and tail variations for the Alpha Leader type and the various weapons that will be included in the first release. The miniatures will be sculpted by Mr. Bug Man, Pedro Navarro, himself.

The Chuhuac will be scaled to 15mm though they will be slightly large figures as their anatomy dictates. I estimate about 10-12mm tall and 18-20mm long in a neiutral pose. The illustration below show the general scaling plan against a human miniature.

Sculpting has already begun and I hope to have the first green to show you soon. If you would like to follow the project development and read more about my creative process for the miniatures, feel free to visit the blog at loudninjagames.blogspot.com .

Thank you all,

-Eli

Get them into production, and I'll buy some!

These are going to be some fun minis!

-Chris K.

They look great, but could you include an empty handed (clawed?) option for those that wish to model them without weapons or technology, eg purely as predatory pack hunting beasties?

Cheers and all the best in your new venture

Jon

Shut up and take my money

Who plucked that chicken?

They'd be more plausible if they were shown to have evolved a bit, to move at least a few steps away from the animal that they copy -- because dromaeosaurs were, after all, creatures that didn't use manufactured weapons or technology, not even spears and woodslat armour, let alone blasters and carapace armour.

You know, I was just thinking to myself this morning: "Richard, know what would be awesome? 15mm Velociraptors with guns."

Get out of my head! :D

Interesting design. Easy to justify the lack of evolutionary change – perhaps they're an artificially uplifted species whose creators geneered them for intelligence without modifying their physical features any more than necessary for tool use. They'd make a good servitor-soldier race – until they inevitably turn on their masters and devour them. :)

because dromaeosaurs were, after all, creatures that didn't use manufactured weapons or technology

Okay… think less "Anthropology 101," and more "Saturday morning cartoons." Just relax and enjoy the ride.

-Chris K.

Thanks all for the initial positive responses.

@Johny Boy – I won't be making any without weapons or armor, there are plenty of good raptor figures out there for that.

@Grumpy Monkey & Vis Bellica – I'll be happy to take it when they are ready. Enjoy the ride until then.

@Porfirio – An honest gripe, if these were intended as anything more than a "rule of cool" type of figure. Though I certainly tried to give them some scifi credibility, I had no pretensions regarding their accuracy, or scientific viability. They are what they are – raptors with guns.

@Richard – Nice to know the dream is not just my own.

@Chief Lacky – I just sort went with, "They're already upright, they already have hands, they already have stereoscopic vision". I did go with a more evolved shoulder, wrist, and hand, if that counts

Heck, as a funny little anecdote, I had a professional shooter friend of mine pantomime the motions of these guys moving and shooting to figure out a believable place to put their magazines and arrange their weapons.

-Eli

Cool looking concepts Eli. Good luck with the company!

Regards, TC.

I like them alot :) and I'll be following there progress

Good luck with it all Eli :)

Very cool concept!

In terms of evolution, to me the only thing they need is a bigger brain-case, based on the idea that to have reasonably similar intelligence, even an uplifted species would need a roughly similar volume of grey matter. Of course you could fudge it and just say their brains are really efficient, or they have a second one at the base of the tail…

If you did go with a bigger rear skull, the only other mod that might need is a somewhat shorter and torquier neck to carry the big brain around.

Overall, very cool, though and I'm totally looking forwward to seeing what the sculptor does with it!

cool!! I see them fighting in small packs. Mean and mischievous.

Reminds me of Calvin & Hobbes -- Tyrannosaurs in F-14's!

"15mm Velociraptors with guns"

Why can't you people stop coming-up with awesome ideas?
I'm not made of money.

Shut up and take my money

/Signed

Though, as Porfirio points out. They should have in theory evolved… but… Who doesn't want raptors with guns? I always thought that would be cool since I first saw the 40K Tyranid Termagants and started getting images of velociraptors toting assault rifles.

They could also just be another "Uplifted" race. Like some of the others we've seen come out in the last couple years.

There is where the balancing act came in.

I could have made them more realistic but they might not have had as much of a cool factor.

-Eli

These look good to me. I think I might need a few.

Jeff

They'll be lining up with my spugs, harook, protolenes, crusties & all the other aliens I need to get against the human forces I got.

These are getting jetbikes, aren't they? I can just imagine them hugging an armed rocket engine and dodging through canyons at break neck speed.

Wonderful…something else I didn't know I needed 'till I saw it !

Wow. Rule of Cool indeed! I think they'll look at home in Khurasan's Jade Petal Throne. I in vision using them as flankers or assassins.

I like the look of the shotgun and SMG. They fit it very well. Something heavier (snub nosed plasma cannon?) that requires a top hold, I in vision something just a little larger. But it does look very cool.

I hope to see you flesh out a whole line of Dino-troopers!

@LordNth – I have my ideas about what they are armed with, but you certainly can call them what you want once they are in your hands.

I went with an all energy weapon base with – AR, SAW, and heavy plasma cannon (instead of missile launcher).

@Little Big Wars – Let me get these out and we'll see what other toys they get .

-Eli

P.S. forgive me posting from the wrong ID.

I can't wait to see these! Is there going to be a not a Turok mini also?

Heh. Live the dream, buddy. :D

I'm currently gathering tools to start my own line too.

These are getting jetbikes, aren't they? I can just imagine them hugging an armed rocket engine and dodging through canyons at break neck speed.

YES! DO EEET! :D Love this idea.

I believe we have a winner…..

How about tossing so Geek/civilian figs in as well. Armed with their equivalent of a lap top, holstered weapons etc….

An maybe some in their equivalent of environment suits…

I can see using something like these guys as notKroot….

"Why can't you people stop coming-up with awesome ideas?
I'm not made of money."

You know, considering the going rate for human organs . . . technically, you are! Y' only need one kidney, right?

"Rule of Cool" definetly fits here, very nice.

Maybe they didn't evolve, but were altered; looks like they have some implants so maybe a more advanced species "upgraded" them. It's hard to teach cunning and ferocity, but easier to add a laser to it (worked for sharks). That's how they would fit with what I would use them for.

I don't care how they fictionally evolved, I'm buying some!

Oh these in environmental suits would be very cool….

No promises yet, folks

Like I said, let me get these first figs out.

However, because you know I can't deny a good topic (You know it's true)…

Environmental Suits
Once all the mainstream aspects of the Chuhuac are explored, these could definitely see some life. The Chuhuac already wear a body glove with limited environmental protection under the armor plates. To do such figures would mean closing in the extremities (tail, hands, feet, head).

Vehicles
A ways off I'm afraid. I am certainly exploring the options, but anything beyond a jet bike is so far away from doing troops minis that it'll require a totally different design and supply route.

There are also a lot of things to consider when developing vehicles for these guys, namely how to handle all those necks and tails (put simply).

I am excited to see this thing grow and follow through with various options. i invite you all to take a ride with me and see where this thing goes.

I plan to keep an open dialog going on TMP, but if you would rather please feel free to contact me through the blog ( loudninjagames.blogspot.com ) where you will find a link to LNG's own Gmail account. All questions, concerns, hot ideas, and general banter will be happily accepted and considered.

-Eli

Nicely done! I'm looking forward to them.

When / if you do a jetbike, use the same rider and put them in a monocycle. You know, where the pilot sits inside the giant wheel. I love those.

If the vehicle route is decided post jet bike, why not make the 'sitting astride the vehicle' stance the chosen control method for all vehicles?

Then the 'seat' of a jeep (say) might be two or three positions up front for driver, gunner, commander or something where each position is, for want of a better term, a (jet)bike saddle with bars for control (or grips to steady the rider[driver] or run a gun from).

Think racing motorcyle and side car but with two sidecars, one each side.

Just an idea – it's make the vehicles very non-human, which would be good

John T

These are getting jetbikes, aren't they? I can just imagine them hugging an armed rocket engine and dodging through canyons at break neck speed.

Oh, [expletives deleted] YES!

@John – I don't want to tip my hat too much, but I have given a lot of thought to the subject of seating for linear anatomy.

In general, the seating for the raptors would seem to almost work best as a reversed version of a human chair. In this case, the rest supports the raptor's chest instead of his back, maintaining the normal crouched sit he would do on the ground but allowing him to remain semi-upright just like a human chair allows us to rest our backs and remain ready. This just also happens to be a natural bike-riding pose.

As raptors cannot flex or curl their tails, any vehicle design will have to allow room for them, so your staggered seating arrangement idea would certainly seem to work best.

-Eli

I like those ideas Eli

John T

I want them, I want them NOW!

saw the first work on these last night…..

I can see using something like these guys as notKroot….

These are what Kroot should have been! *BlackWidowPilotEvilGrin*

That's what I love about 15mm. The opportunity to indulge in an entirely new army every month. *BlackWidowPilotEvilGrin*

Lampyridae Those "new" armies start to add up…. Man I need to paint…

Pedro, the sculptor of the Chuhuac, sent me this quick heads-up to show the general scale of the miniatures. That's a 15mm GZG and a GW Mordheim plastic in 28mm.

-Eli

Excellent concepts and non-humanoid; a potential winner in my books!

-Will

Glad you posted that Eli – I wasn't going to mention the size or show a pic until you had. I think these are going to look great :-)

I hope Pedro doesn't mind the constant emails. I'm trying to be very on top of the details of this project.

Despite long necks and tails, I want these aliens to fall into the "human-sized" category.

-Eli

I think they are perfectly proportioned.

I concur some free hands, for civilans, tech, diversity and the like.

There does seem to be an increasing demand for civilians.

Question, for the Chuhuac, would something as little as a couple of poses unarmored with open hands work for folks?

-Eli

Eli yep unarmoured open-handed will do for me as adult civs; & there might be something similar in 10mm dino's for their kids.