"On the table: Khurasan..." Topic

…I have a few new Khurasan 15mm items to paint and though they won't be ready for a little while I thought I'd give you a 'heads-up' (more to follow…)
First up the 'Stalker' I have two to paint as there are options for the leg positions. One has it's base coat the other is primed

A Soriog 'Tank' and 'APC' (the engines on the rear upper hull are facing the wrong way – don't panic Jon, they pivot!)


and a couple of new turrets for the 'Caiman' (which will also fit the medium tank and APC with the help of a 'spacer' ring)

Love the new models, they look exceptional!

All except one… I love almost everything Khurusan makes, and this is, indeed, purely my personal taste – but the Stalker just doesn't do it for me. It kind of looks too much like a Voltron toy from my childhood spray painted black, and I (again my own opinion) find it a little 'out of synch' with the rest of the Khurusan universe.

Don't get me wrong, it does look ace… just… hmmm… out of place is all. :)

Apart from me being a picky SOB, the Soriog vehicles look fantastic! They'll look brilliant with a more streamlined 'high-tech' alien force!

Any idea as to the release date for these? Hoping that the new turrets can be purchased seperately, but it's not like I need a good excuse to buy more hulls from Jon.

Soriog kit looks damn fine.

Very nice pieces…

The Soriog vehicles are brilliant. That's exactly the type of vehicles I want to see – futuristic and alien looking.

I'd like the Stalker more if it didn't look so much like a "felined" version of the Critical Mass Protolene walkers…

But to be fair, there isn't much that could have been done differently if the basic animal form was desired. It will help to see them painted.

The Caiman variants will be a huge success. I wonder if we'll see any more Polecat variants? Ambulance and command post versions would be very useful on small tables.

-Chris K.

Those hatches make the stalkers look like they're wearing yarmulkes, I didn't know Voltron was still practicing.

I'm really liking those Soriog, very alien.

Thanks David! All looks great so far. Only comment is that the thing stuck on the front of the command turret is the comms mast extender I'd mentioned, an optional bit to make the mast on top of the turret taller.

Chatticus Finch, I make all sorts of vehicles, to meet customer expectations of what different alien races might field. I started the Felids and Garn with fairly businesslike vehicles, the Felids with a big eight-wheeled truck and the Garn with an even bigger grav-raft with turret options. The Garn truck sells ok but it became clear that many customers did not want human-looking vehicles for the Felids, they wanted a walker transport, and were using models by other companies to fill that need. It would be silly of me to discover that and not try to meet the demand myself.

The initial Garn vehicle completely tanked as a product, pardon the expression.

So I decided to go with mech-form vehicles for the reboot of the Garn Empire, which is called the Carnivoran Hegemony. (That's a euphemism -- like an alien version of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, as it's really the Garn who are completely in charge.) Whilst human mechs are usually human-shaped, the Carnivorans have mechs that are shaped like the savage creatures they evolved from.

I actually wanted both the Garn mech (which is enormous and shaped like a tyrannosaur) and the Felid transport to look non-toylike, and I think both designers did a good job making that happen -- I'm extremely pleased with both of them. At least to my eyes they have almost none of the baroque design sensibility of an anime dinomech. (I missed out on those comics by the way as I was an adult in the 1980s, when they became popular.)

But as first mentioned, there are lots of other vehicles in my ranges for those who disagree!

I actually wanted both the Garn mech (which is enormous and shaped like a tyrannosaur) and the Felid transport to look non-toylike, and I think both designers did a good job making that happen -- I'm extremely pleased with both of them. At least to my eyes they have almost none of the baroque design sensibility of an anime dinomech. (I missed out on those comics by the way as I was an adult in the 1980s, when they became popular.)

I would very much agree with this. The designers did an amazing job in producing something that could easily be toy-like but making it look like a weapon of war, and very intimidating.

Another great set by Khurasan Miniatures, I love all the amazing choices and the room for so many different styles!

Chris, I told the designer what I wanted, he produced a concept sketch, and he made the design from there. He's an animator in the movie industry--he worked on Avatar and then I lost him to the Wolverine movie--and does not work at all in the wargames industry, so he has no idea about other model designs.

"…the thing stuck on the front of the command turret is the comms mast extender I'd mentioned, an optional bit to make the mast on top of the turret taller."
Oops…ok, will fix. Nothing in that apeture then?

Nowt at all!

It's just one of the many lens apertures on the comms turret front.

Chris, I told the designer what I wanted, he produced a concept sketch, and he made the design from there. He's an animator in the movie industry--he worked on Avatar and then I lost him to the Wolverine movie--and does not work at all in the wargames industry, so he has no idea about other model designs.

I doubt there's anything you or your designer could have done that would have made a difference. It's just the overall animal form that is so similar… pretty much anything modeled after a quadruped would end up with that overall shape. Scotia Grendel also makes a similar vehicle, just at a larger scale.

If anything, this release will probably encourage more "mechanical beast" vehicles from the 15mm community.

-Chris K.

I love khurasan's stuff but the stalker is just too cartoon-like. I am really liking the soriog tank and apc though. Keep up the great releases though! You produce new stuff at a truly impressive rate and it is all top notch to boot. I have had great service from your one man show and I applaud your imagination and we, the wargaming community benefit. So thanks for the good stuff and count me a satisfied customer.

Even though "animal-visage" vehicles aren't my thing this is a really good example of one. The details are crisp and it's very much a classic style that evokes the childhood Voltron and Zoids vibe I was into in the past.

Folks who love this sort of vehicle will love this one.

-Eli

very cool models, they would go well with felid line.

The Soriog vehicles have to be the absolute best alien ones I have seen out there. A definite buy!!

Love the new Felid transport, though it can't hold a candle to the Garn one.

The Soriog vehicles are just what I've been looking for, can't wait for KM to release these.

The Soriog vehicles are brilliant. That's exactly the type of vehicles I want to see – futuristic and alien looking.

Yeah, can't wait to field those!

Need to see how much that prismatic paint is that people use on motorcycle helmets…

Can you imagine how they are going to look with a dwartist paintjob? Can't wait to see that myself!

Can't say I'm terrible fond of the quadrupedal transport. Looks too much like an old Voltron toy to me. I'm sure a good paintjob will help fix that though.

Everything else is pretty nice though. Is Soriog a new race or the in-universe manufacturer of those vehicles?

Thanks for the reply! Of course I wholeheartedly agree with your choice, and indeed, I am being picky about it. Hopefully with addition of weapons it'll make the walker look a bit tougher.

Don't get me wrong mate, LOVE your kits, and am desperately hanging out for the KarkPanzers and the MDMS gear when it launches! Of course, there'll always be that one or two, and I'm sure people out there would totally disagree with my idea of decent SF vehicles as well. Anyway, just thought I'd let you know :)

Stalker…pppurrfect!

I'm not sure if I like the Stalker or not; it's really the head that gets me I think, it looks a little *too* ornamental. But the model itself is well done.

I LOVE the Soriog vehicles, will definitely be picking some up as soon as they are released!

-Will

Soriog vehicles are at the level of futurism of your 20mm drone tank proposition.

They are different and menacing.

I quite like near future looking tanks. Not Abrams and stuff..

But those scream Sci-fi !!
not just "hey look flying WWII/modern tank.."

I will have to get few Soriogs !

The Soriog magnates also wear a war harness which is essentially a medium mech, largely designed on the same sensibility as the Soriog Crotalus and Naja. Those are also ready and will go up for sale as soon as they're painted.

Each war harness can be built in several different modes -- either with or without entry pack, and either crewed or ghost-driven. More on that later.

The perpetual tease, just like my first girlfriend.

the Soriog vehicles… will buy as soon as they drop. they're perfect!

McWong, you haven't even bought me dinner! Fact is, I'm as keen to get these things out as you are to buy them -- even more so. But this hobby is mostly driven by people who primarily do something else with their lives, me included, and things take time to get done. I'm hoping to have all this stuff finished so it can get to market as soon as possible.

You guys haven't even seen the Soriog, their Raug sepoys, or their small elite force, the Gurkh-worms, yet!

show us!

Do you have stock of those Soriog vehicles already? Frankly I don't need to see them painted up to know that I'll want a bunch.

My patience with Khurasan has never been disappointed. Got to wait to finish buying a house before getting a big order past the better half anyway!

Stalker nearly finished…